South Carolina, Georgia and North Florida, there is evidence from a warm climate all over. From the beauty of the vegetation which takes me by surprise to the mash wildlife around. I had not really an image of the south, but sub tropical forest was not what I had in mind. Palm trees, Spanish moss draping from oak trees, savanna and swamp. Its beautiful.
In Charleston, I am rescued from a party where the men are about 25 years older then the girls they bring in. When T and B tell me they are leaving, I beg them not to leave me behind and so they take me to a good party were I ring in the New Year with new friends. 
And as always, the next day you do not much. We hang around with neighbours, eat and just relax.
I can couch surf at Ts house and spend a couple days in Charleston. T and B show me around town with its European style houses and vibrant rainbow row. Its cute and I like the town.
The South is also synonym of large cotton plantations, where slaves did the hard work. 
Still downtown in Charleston, descends from these slaves make sweet grass baskets and sell them for extraordinary prices. According the New York Times also the first lady, Michelle Obama is a straight descend from a slave girl.
My knowledge about this part of history is mostly from the television series I watched with my mom and sister: "North and South". For six weeks we sat clustered around the television admiring Patrick Swayze and Kristie Alley. The Boone Hall plantation is where the series was filmed and thats the plantation I am visiting. 
Here the separation between rich and poor is also a racial segregation. The house is big and expensive decorated, the still standing stone cabins from the skilled slaves are bare. Its very frustrating that the tour I take has a little: "We didn't really do anything wrong" feel to it. In my opinion, we did something very wrong. And thats "we" the world. Its sad though to learn about how far we have come, but even more how far we still have to go. To blow my head clear of all these impressions, I take my kayak out in the Cohapee Sound, which are shielded of by some barrier islands. I see pelicans trying to take off and dolphins playing around me. Shouldn't it be warm then too.
And there it is skewed. Its all around, this sub tropical climate, but what fails are the temperatures. Iguanas are falling from the trees, turtles are rescued in the power plant, fish are dying and dead manatee are washing on shore. Its cold, very cold. Its even that cold, that apparently its the second-coldest reading since 1873. For me, I am freezing my ass off and wake up with the Oto covered in snow. This is Florida!!!Dag,
Iris (Hopkins Prairie, 29422 miles)
