Check Us Out Again Tomorrow

To all our loyal fans, we must apologize. Tonight's blog of Sam and my day in Greenville won't be ready until tomorrow. We had an awesome day full of cool stuff but we're having picture troubles and won't get the blog up by tonight. Please check back, I promise it'll be a good one.

Steve

I promised myself I wouldn't cry

Our first stop today was a big farmer's market in Asheville. We picked just the right spot because today was Vidalia Onion Day. The manager of the market told us that our Cheerwine would go nicely with the free onion rings he was giving out so we set up a table right across from the onion fryer. Here's Steve at our table with a shot of our spot opposing the onion table.


Not only were they giving out free, fresh onion rings, but they were raffling off sacks of potatoes. This little girl won a sack as big as she was.
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We had a really good time at the market. The staff even gave us ten pounds of onions. It was a hard place to leave.

Its the onions making me do that. Really. Anyway we left the market and headed to a plant to restock Red with Cheerwine. On the way, we drove our 2000th mile of the summer. Not bad.

In the same area as the farmer's market we found the NC Arboretum. To call it a nice garden is an understatement. We gave some Cheerwine to the people we saw as we walked around the grounds.



We finished off by hitting up a couple of random parking lots on the ride in. We're gonna get up and head south tomorrow morning to a town named for a color.

--Sam

Random Actsville

Sam and I left Thursday to another new place for me: Asheville, and thanks to the powerful engine in Red we made great time. We were both pretty unfamiliar with the downtown so we parked at the first spot we saw and headed out, full coolers (which everybody keeps asking us to give them) in hand. It ended up being a pretty central spot so we got to see a lot of the city. Just about right away we were waved down by a man outside a on old, vintage movie theater that showed mostly indie flicks. He recognized the logo on our shirts and called us over for the first CW he's had in years. It worked out great for us seeing as he volunteered to trade us some free popcorn for it. An offer that's pretty hard to refuse.

In town, we stopped and hung out at a couple of the interesting spots. Here, all I did was follow the footprints leading to me to these thirsty swine. I know we don't have the biggest fan base of pig statues but we don't discriminate at Cheerwine.

We were passing the bench below when Sam spotted this hat and cane and decided he wasn't going to leave until that man came back for his things and was given a cold Cheerwine. Probably wasn't Sam's best call considering they were made out of what we figured was bronze after checking 'em out. Nice one Sam.



We stopped at a local go cart track and spoke to the owner for awhile. He gave us a tip for our next sampling spot. He pointed us in the direction of a hotel where there were many bikers staying for this weekend's rally. He told us to remember that bikers were good people who took care of you if you took care of them. Sounded good to us, so we drove down the road and found them. We gave out a bunch there but not as much as we might have if it wasn't so late and most hadn't already moved on to their beer.


I figured I'd throw that second picture in there because Sam and I really dig the Harley's. It was definitely a good first day in Asheville and if you're out looking for us today, come find us at the biggest house in town.

Steve

Take me home tonight

Today we took a long road trip home to Chapel Hill, but not without making sure to stop and give out some Cheerwine on the way. On a whim, we decided to go to a town called Goose Creek because we saw a sign and liked the name. We found City Hall and went inside. The staff were about to eat lunch so we thought we'd just give them some sodas and leave, but much to our surprise, they invited us to join them for lunch. The mayor was out of the office because he also serves as the principal to one of the schools in Goose Creek. In case you were wondering how the town got its name, check out the picture.


After that we headed up a backroad until we finally found I-95. Not far north was a state park in Santee. We found some thirsty campers and tons of bugs. Here's a few of them and my attempt at cool photography using the side mirror.


After the campground it was back to I-95 for a while until we saw the exit for Latta, SC. Fellow UNC fans might understand why this town was significant to us. It's where Raymond Felton, former point guard for the Tar Heels, grew up. We found his high school and some men working in the back. After we gave them some drinks we casually mentioned that we were there because we knew Felton went there. Apparently that's all we had to say. We were then taken inside to see his retired jersey and awards. One of the guys stayed around and talked to us for quite a while and we gave some drinks to some of the girl's basketball team and some cheerleaders.


We finally got home in the evening and I'll speak for Steve and say we were both worn out after another five day weekend. We're not sure where we're gonna head out next weekend but check back for a hint as soon as we know where we're goin. Keep a look out.

--Sam

R.A.O.S. Team busted??

In case you couldn't figure out Sam's hint about yesterday's hotspot, it was Isle of Palms. We crossed this really cool suspension bridge from downtown Charleston where we were staying to the Mt. Pleasant/ Isle of Palms area. The place is pretty nice. Great beaches, lots of families and a pretty friendly little beach town to hang out.


Unfortunately after a little while doing some great sampling on the beach...we got busted. Turns out we needed a business permit to be giving out any product on the island. We didn't have one and we sure don't have the $500 a piece that the tickets would have costed us. The two young officers reluctantly had to tell us to stop despite the fact that you could tell they loved the idea of free Cheerwine on the beach. Just check out their smiles.
It was really too bad because after that, we couldn't come up with anything to do for awhile so we had to settle on bummin' on the beach for awhile. And, yes...we definitely love our job.

Today is a brand new day and I'd try to give you a hint as to where we're headed before we pack it in to go home but we're not even sure yet. We're thinking Edisto Beach, what do you all think?

Steve

Celebrating Our First 1000 Miles

We wanted all of you out there who've been loyally following the team to know that we hit our first 1000 mile marker on the way down to Charleston. We're now up to 1300 and counting...try and keep up

All in a day's work

Sorry about the hold up but Steve and I have been staying with a friend in Charleston and not had internet access for two days. Anyway, I'm writing from the library at College of Charleston which our friend attends. Yesterday we went to Folley Beach and it looked like we wouldn't get the chance to meet many people because of the weather. Persistence paid off though and we found some guys who were in a band and really loved Cheerwine. Here's the guitarist and drummer.


We hadn't found many other people on the beach at that point so we packed up and decided to just try the other end of the island just to make sure there weren't some beachgoers we hadn't seen yet. We were right. As we drove Red towards the other end tons of cars started appearing on the side of the road. Turns out there was a surfing competitoin for girls called Wahini going on. I know, I know. It's a tough job.


On down the beach we met these three ladies from Colorado, Ohio and California, all of which had never tried Cheerwine. It got a rousing response from all three. Perhaps it was to remember their first Cheerwine experience but they wanted to take a picture of Steve and I flexing our muscles. We let them. Man, REALLY tough job.


After we left the area around the surfing competition, we drove Red around with a cooler in the front with us. We drove along the strip of road next to the beach accesses and caught lots of people who were either going to or leaving the beach. One woman even said she had forgotten her drinks at home and we had saved the day. That translates to "we were heroes" in my book. Even if just for one day. Before turning in we gave Red another bath because he had mudstreaks on him from a huge puddle on Folley. Today we're going to another island but this one will have more "Palms." Look for us!

--Sam

Cheerwine Comes to Chucktown

Sam and I set out for Charleston a day later than we had planned after we decided we would stick around Raleigh to support the hometown hockey crew, the Hurricanes. Clearly it worked, because they got the victory over the Sabres and are now moving along to the Stanley Cup. Come On, Come On, Come On!! Let's Go 'Canes!! (Picture from www.TSN.com)

We got down to Charleston with a quick stop in Ladson, SC to pick up all the sodas we'd need for our thirsty fans this weekend. Even with all the sampling we'll be doing, I think this should be enough to satisfy our Chucktown faithfuls. I also thought this would be a real good chance to show everybody what our traveling compaion Red looks like on the inside. It's a beauty, right?

I had never been to Charleston before but everyone has always told me awesome things about it since I moved to North Carolina from New York so I was really looking forward to this trip. Right away, I loved it. The old buildings, the Palmetto trees, the beaches, the restaurants and all the good people that contribute to the city's vibe have been making for a real good weekend. One of the first people we ran into in town was a local bicycle police officer who gladly accepted a Cheerwine and even had a coozy handy to drink it with. He was also happy to give us all his information so that Cheerwine could contact him about all the good stuff we've got going on this Summer. This was in the middle of the fantastic campus of the College of Charleston where we also happened to find a dorm of the same name as the one Sam and I lived in last year at UNC.

We walked around town, mostly on King St. and the Piccolo Spoleto arts, crafts and food etc. fair that's been going on downtown until we retired, exhausted, for the day. Now it's time to head to the beaches to find our fans and maybe even make some new ones, watch some surfers and enjoy the South Carolina weather. Keep Zaggin'

Steve