Congaree Couchsurfing.
I had a moment the other night where I was faced with the decision for the first time if I should sleep in my car. Let's be honest, at some point it will happen. I was just outside Columbia, SC. The town itself is pretty small which means that all the hotels in the area are easily $120; too much for your basic Hilton or Marriot. On the outskirts of town there were only a few motels and hotels all with descriptions like "dirtiest motel ever" and "roaches everywhere." Awesome, right? Yeah, I thought so too. I had also tried air bnb, no such luck. Which brings me to where I ended up first, the Walmart parking lot. Sitting there at 7:30pm, not tired and a little hungry, I remembered couch surfing. It's similar to air bnb except the people who (by the way are verified and have reviews and references) offer up their couch, extra bed, etc. for free. I had never done it before but decided to give it a try. It's basically like a hostel, sharing a room/apartment with someone else only there was no charge. There are three people who host in Columbia, one shot me down because I had no references yet, the second couldn't host me but he knew the third that could. Thanks to Richard and Josef I had a bed, delicious taco dinner, and an awesome night in Columbia, SC. I spent the morning walking around and seeing some of the sights and artwork throughout the city but I hadn't experienced the night life yet. Richard is a musician who told me all about the music facts of Columbia and showed me the Hootie and the Blowfish tribute statue. Josef was very interested in everything New York, having lived there for so long I had a lot of stories to share. USC is down the street so all of the bars are typically packed with students. We ended up at what I'm just going to refer to as a freshman/sophomore bar that had karaoke. After singing No Diggity by Blackstreet for the crowd and picking up some backup dancers for my performance, we called it a night. If you're ever in Columbia try and stay with them and tell them I sent you. You will have a blast. Be warned though, Richard will probably make you sing karaoke.
The reason I stayed in Columbia in the first place was to see Congaree National Park. If you've never been it's very worth it. It's about half an hour or so from Columbia and it has the largest expanse of old growth hardwood forests in the southeastern US. You can kayak, canoe, or hike through the park. I hiked and got to see the hardwood trees up close. The Oak Ridge Trail ran alongside the creek for the most part and everywhere you looked there were birds flying out of bushes and in-between trees. There were actually so many trees down I had to go over and around a bunch and stray off the path. I got turned around twice on the hike and had to double back. That was the first time I've ever been lost in the woods, like deep enough in the woods where I would really be screwed, and even though it was only for a short while it was still not fun. Walking through the swamps and trees was like something out of a scene from a movie. There were all of these small stump looking things sticking out of the ground called "knees". I'm not really sure what they do but I read that they may give the oaks extra support with their roots. Either way, they completely cover the forest bed and the oaks are still standing so they must be doing a good job. During flood season the park can get up to 11 ft. of water rushing through it and Cedar Creek overflows. It's not a bad thing though, this just means that new life will spring up into new places and the park's terrain is forever changing. The park is literally shaped by water and I find it very fascinating. I've only seen three National Parks so far, but I feel like this may be one of my favorites.
New stamp for my parks passport, another hike done, and another new place to visit. Charleston, SC., here I come!
- G.
The Photo:
A fallen tree in Congaree National Park.
South Carolina.
1/31/17.
