We got back on the road and headed south through the rest of North Carolina. Much of it was still a corridor of trees:
One town that we stopped in that stood out as being particularly nice was Laurinberg. It was a bit too small for us to consider living in, but it was a good looking town:
After a few hours, we were finally in a new state. Our initial experience was honestly a bit cheesy. There is a tourist trap called South of the Border, which was Mexican themed due to the choice of name:
After buying nothing but using their loos, we went on to the welcome center. It wasn’t the most welcoming of welcome centers, but it did have those hotel coupon books, which have been invaluable. We also had a look at their rather spiffy state flag, which I must say, is better than several of them:
Some people at the cheesy South of the Border thing who were very nice (and in no way worked for the place) recommended Florence to us, so we went there next.
It was either small city or a big town. It has the cheapest fuel we have seen in 27 states:
It also has a truly impressive library:
We did a bit of shopping and went on to a small town called Manning in South Carolina. It wasn’t bad and our hotel was quite good. After 3 weeks getting spoiled at our friends’ house in the North Carolina, we had been a bit worried going back to cheap motels would be a rude awakening, but instead, as hoped, Virginia was not unusual for being cheap. South Carolina also made it much easier to not pay too much but have a reasonable place to stay.
Check out the video: