from atlanta to Charleston
Travel Location: North-America,United-States,South-Carolina,Charleston
Atlanta, Georgia is the home of Coca-Cola – a typically American, consumer-driven way to summarise a place, – but in this case, it’s self-evident. We chose Atlanta because of its location as a useful stop-over, rather than out of any particular desire to go there; the skies were grey with the promise of rain, and other than being the home of Coca-Cola and some interesting museums, I hadn’t heard that there was much to see.
There is only one hostel in Atlanta (Atlanta Hostel), and it certainly takes advantage of its monopoly status, charging high rates for measly ‘breakfast’ and rentable linens. Perhaps my strangest encounter with an American happened here, when a man apparently working at the hostel asked me if I was Jamaican, then told me that I looked like Tia/Tamera from SisterSister and asked me ‘where the other black girl was’. I replied that there was no other black girl in my room, only (white, blonde) Fin, to which he thought it appropriate to respond that Fin could easily dye her skin black, after all MJ went white. Later on that evening, a mixed-race girl walked into the hostel and I heard said worker mumble to himself, ‘ah, there’s the other one’.
The second most interesting feature of my short time spent in Atlanta, was at the ‘World of Coca-Cola’ museum. Impressive as the tour was, there were several points where I felt slightly sick with myself for paying into Coca-Cola’s self-deluded vision; the first time the bile rose, was when my group was asked by our spirited and very efficient guide, to chant ‘Open Happiness!’ This, we were subsequently told, was the company’s latest advertising slogan. Brainwashing, was the first thought that sprang to mind. My advice would be to pay your $15 and go straight to the tasting room, where over sixty Coke brands from around the world are available to sip to your heart’s desire.
Our next stop was Charleston, South Carolina. To our dismay, the Southern prefix did not foretell blue skies and warm weather, and once again we arrived to a non-descript climate reminiscent of English summer. Fortunately, this did not hold up, and the sun broke through on the third day, but even without this welcome change, we found Charleston a much prettier and more hospitable place than our previous stop.
The ‘Not So Hostel’ that we stayed in is Charleston’s only hostel, but unlike the ‘Atlanta Hostel’, it does not bank in on this by being stingy and expensive. We payed $22 a night for great breakfasts, free towels and linen, and a stay in a lovely old Southern house only a short walk away from downtown. We were told that the hostel is often pretty quiet – something like Charleston’s best-kept secret – but while we were there, so were a group of travelling musicians. This ensured a bustling household (which is good), and campfire sing-alongs (debatable). For me personally, the laminated song-words were just a step too far.
Downtown Charleston is beautiful; resplendent with colourful Southern houses, sometimes decrepit, but always charming, you find yourself coveting the swings and furniture sets that embellish most of the housefronts. However, If you – like us – have travelled by bus from the Greyhound station, it’s quite unsettling to see the landscape alter so much. Where the first half of the bus-ride takes you through an odd caricature of Hicksville (where all the yokels are black), as soon as you hit downtown everything, and nearly everyone, becomes clean and white. This bus-ride was my most tangible experience of the polarities that run through American society, and it was strange to witness.
Charleston is picturesque, but as with so many such places there’s not really a huge amount to do. Without a car, it’s pretty much impossible to visit the plantations and landscape sights that are advertised in the visitor centre. It’s nice to walk down to the bay through the town and visit the aquarium, but you’ll probably spend the majority of your time sampling the food and drink on offer. A good place to visit is a diner/restaurant called Jestine’s that does all sorts of authentic Southern meals, and even a Coca-Cola cake, which was really like no baked good I have ever tried before. Because there’s not so much going on, this is definitely a town where you want to stay in a hostel, if just to meet wierdos and travelling musicians.
