North & South Carolina, y'all

The Carolinas are a beautiful part of the country and we've been exploring Confederate cities, towns and beaches.  Wilmington, NC was our first stop and once again, the old historic part of town was beautiful.  It has southern style mansions and all the vivid pink and purple azaleas are in bloom...

and a really vibrant waterfront that has old, loft style condos...

and a picturesque boardwalk along the riverfront.

We were in for a complete change of scenery as we headed towards Myrtle Beach which Danny aptly describes as "Wasaga on crack."  Didn't get many good pics as we didn't really want to stop...

Our favourite sign in Myrtle Beach was at KFC which announced "We have livers & gizzards!"

The scenery definitely improved as we headed towards Murrell's Inlet, aka the seafood capital of South Carolina. 

Lots of beach houses on stilts

and we had a delicious seafood lunch on the waterfront enjoying the warm ocean breeze.

We arrived at our hotel in Charleston, SC and had a fantastic evening with Celia's childhood friend from California, Sue.  She drove 4-1/2 hours from the Smoky Mountains area of NC and there was LOTS of catching up after 30 years!

Today was apparently a typical Charleston spring day - sun shining and 30 degrees with the humidity.  It was a perfect day to take a horse-drawn carriage tour through the streets and gawk at more southern mansions.

Hope you can view this video of the carriage tour, but have been having problems posting video footage...

As it was so warm, we took refuge in the beautiful shady parks on the waterfront, below

then off to the marketplace where traditional baskets woven from sweetgrass (like palms) are sold.

After a 2 hr. drive, we arrived in Savannah, Georgia which was voted the most beautiful city in the US by a European travel magazine.  We can't wait to explore tomorrow, but even the parking lot of our hotel is pretty, surrounded by these trees draped in Spanish moss!