Backstory
As my final hurrah before drawing my full-time travel lifestyle to an end the historic Total Solar Eclipse which occurred on August 21, 2017 and swept all the way across the USA seemed like a fantastic way to close out the era. The only hard part was choosing where to go.
Since I had just visited the Pacific Northwest and Wyoming on my travels, I decided to focus my concentration on the more Easterly destinations. I wanted to make sure that I chose a destination that would be fun to explore in and of itself. That way even if the Eclipse itself was bust due to rain or whatnot I wouldn’t be stuck in the middle of a field somewhere crying.
I was leaning hard towards Nashville, TN when Columbia, SC crossed my radar. They had all kinds of fun events lined up for the whole weekend and seemed to be a rather charming town. In the end, they got me with the Friday evening Historic Water Balloon Battle. Not only did this sound like a blast, but I figured this would be a cool place to meet other people with similar fun/quirky interests to hang out with for the weekend.
Truth be told a lot of my planning was left until last minute, but I was able to find a good Airbnb option that wasn’t using insane surcharge prices of $300+ a night, so I booked it. Right away, I was excited by my selection as it turned out my host also used to live in Thailand. When I found out she was also planning on going to the Water Balloon Battle, I knew I was in good hands.
So we met at the battle and afterwards she invited me to go out for tacos & beers with her friends and I already knew I had one of the best Airbnb hostesses of all time.
Saturday
I started the day with a historic walking tour and got to know this lovely little city:
Then the tour ended at the courthouse and I explored the Farmer’s Market for more local flavor.
All this walking around built up a thirst, so I headed out to Old Mill and spent some time relaxing and trying some local craft beers. Then I headed back into town to have dinner at Good Life Cafe before heading over the the Nickelodeon Movie Theatre (where you can also drink local craft beers while you watch the movie, which I did of course). After the movie, I stopped by TAPPs Art Center to get a taste of the avant garde “ECLIPSEploitation” show
Sunday
Went out to Congaree National Park for a hike. Was surprised at how swampy could be beautiful.
Monday
Finally, the main event was upon us! My sweet and wonderful Airbnb host invited me to watch the eclipse with her and her crew which wound up being a fantastic BBQ with good company on a private island. How amazing is that?!?!
Then the gang invited me to go whitewater kayaking with them. I was super nervous about it – but what another amazing opportunity and I knew I’d be in pro-hands. In the spirit of my year of adventures, saying yes to new things, and embracing my fears, I went for it. It turned out not to be nearly as white-knuckle inducing as I’d imagined and surprisingly tranquil and serene.