Click on a photo to enlarge it.
On Monday we drove into South Carolina and ended up talking politics to the employees at the welcome centre. The
election is tomorrow and it struck us that we have talked to a lot of people in America, but none of them have
supported Bush! We also found out that the petrol was cheaper in Georgia, where we´d just come from and that the
nearest dump station was the Georgia welcome centre about 3 miles back along the freeway. So we went back into
Georgia and then continued south heading for Charleston, South Carolina.
We got there the next day and found the cheapest motel room so that we could watch the election on TV. So for $35
we had our en suite shower, delivery pizza, and hours of watching the election. It was a long night and in between
we worked on the computer. We eagerly watched as the votes came in and the numbers were crunched to death to try
and find out who´d won.
Election curiosities:
1. How disorganised the whole thing was. There were massive queues to vote. Philadelphia had to extend the voting time to beyond 19-00 due to the queues. Neither of us have ever seen queues to vote in Germany or England! And the deadline to vote has never been extended.
2. The last person to vote in Ohio took place at 01-30, even though the polling booths were supposed to have closed at 19-00 because they were still waiting in the queue!
3. The counters in Iowa went home at 02-30 without having counted all the votes! They just went to bed!! - and left all of America wondering who had won!! AND it was a very close race. (Ended up 50% Bush and 49% Kerry).
4. The news that some votes wouldn´t be counted for up to 14 days after the election, which was announced before the polling stations had even closed!
5. Most states were not just voting for who would be president but for a number of other things and each state was different. E.g. stem cell research, yes or no (California. They voted yes). Whether alcohol should be sold in mini or large bottles (South Carolina. Haven´t got a clue how they voted!)
6. All large cities went to Kerry. He won 90% of the votes in Washington D.C. The place where Bush´s ranch is in Texas was one of few places that voted for Kerry!
7. Loads of states were also voting for senate representatives, house reps, sheriffs, district attorneys, name for Bush´s new dog (OK, that last one was a joke!)
8. The final result wasn´t reported until 11-30 am the next morning, when Kerry conceded that there was now, no chance that he could win, even though the votes were still being counted!
9. We heard that last news on the radio as we were driving into Charleston on Wednesday morning and spent 30 minutes speaking to some very disappointed visitor centre employees. Especially about the mini alcohol bottles! After all the election excitement we drove out to the beach and relaxed!
On Thursday, we hunted for a free parking spot along the waterfront in Charleston, but became suspicious of 2 youths
wandering up and down looking at the parked cars and talking to a friend, sitting in a (getaway?) car. So we moved
downtown and fed a parking meter. Then we wandered around the town which is quite old (for American standards) and
looked at all the old buildings and churches. In the oldest church (1761) we arrived just as a guide was about to
give a little tour. It was free but a tip was expected. We were the only ones to give a tip and then got a little
private tour to a part of the church that had been extended to accommodate an expanding church school. The
interesting part was that they had extended into the graveyard and moved the headstones. The floor was tiled mainly
red except for white tiles dotted around with the names of the people who were buried under the floor! We were
literally walking over graves. An unsettling thought!
Afterwards, we walked along the sea front and sat on a large swing enjoying the view. On Friday we drove south to
Beaufort (pronounced Bewfort) and spent a couple of hours walking around the old colonial houses (early 1700s) in a
very peaceful setting, among old oak trees, draped in moss, where a lot of the branches had grown downwards and
extended along the floor. Most of the houses and trees were protected.
On Saturday, we drove back into Georgia, and went to Savannah - even better than the more well known Charleston -
and hopped on the free tram shuttle, which was just a normal bus whose driver pumped the brake and accelerator
virtually simultaneously for a jerky ride along the narrow roads. How we got around some of the corners without
hitting anything, we will never know!
We staggered off at the waterfront where there was some kind of event taking place and watched some of the local
teenagers giving excerpts from the Nutcracker Suite ballet. Then we wandered around the many squares with monuments
dotted throughout the town and looked at more old buildings. A lovely town. Then we drove out to Tybee Island for a
look at the lighthouse.
On Sunday we stopped at a visitor centre and Helen corrected the spelling of the German town (Braunschweig) after
which Brunswick is named, in their main brochure for the town! Then we drove out to St. Simons Island for fish and
chips, a short walk around the pier and a visit to yet another church. We decided that was enough of culture and
