When I was a senior in high school, my father and I drove to North Carolina to visit colleges at a time that I was trying to decide where to go to school. It was a fun time with my Dad, just the two of us on the road together.

On the way back to Florida, we drove through South Carolina. Dad was looking at the map and said, “Hey, there are cities in South Carolina named Walterboro and Ulmer, let’s drive through them!” (For those reading that might not know, my dad’s first name was Walter.)

Well, 37 years later, Dale and I have driven back through Walterboro and I don’t think it has changed much. It’s still a little back-water town.

Dale and I got to Walterboro about 8:00 at night and checked in to the local Walmart. We actually enjoy dry-camping at Walmarts when we’re focused on getting to a destination, rather than seeing the sights. There were about six other RVs and a bunch of trucks parked overnight at this one.

Anyway, we drove all over town and the place was absolutely dead. Until Dale spotted the sign for the Historic Downtown, so we went there.

Lo and behold, there was one street, anchored by a bar at each end and the place was hopping! It was a little weird though because one bar was all African-Americans and the other was all Whites. And right in between was an Italian restaurant and a beautiful Veterans’ Memorial. Here’s Dale next to our Jeep in front of the restaurant:

We had a great dinner at the restaurant an talked to the owner, his staff and a few customers. It seemed the place was full of New Yorkers and world travelers!

After dinner, we decided to see if the New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers game was playing at either of the bars, and it was at the all-White bar. What a weird place. Karaoke was playing – first a Country-Western song, then a hard Rock song – disco lights were flashing, there were teenagers, octogenarians, and people of all ages talking, singing and dancing. Oh, and one lone Yankees fan watching the game.

We bought him a beer and then rooted for the Tigers. Tigers won!

We got up early and headed north, stopping for a short rest near Charlotte, North Carolina. We hope to make it to Pennsylvania tonight.