Things to do in Charleston, SC and Folly Beach, SC?

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: ironwing
If you are traveling via Tucson and have a few hours the Desert Museum is great. If you don't have that much time but have a hour or so then the San Xavier de Bac mission, just off of I-19 is worth a visit. Also, Mexican food in Tucson is very good. Let me know if you want a list of places to eat.

Might as well post it. My interview/visit is at 4PM. I have no idea how long it will last, and what I'll do afterwards. If it lasts for a long time I may stay around the local area. If it's short, I'll make a break towards White Sands so I'm there for the morning. I actually don't have that much time left because my break is about to end, and I've still gotta drive all the way back to Ohio, prepare for school, etc.

 

[IronWing]

Your schedule doesn't look good for seeing much in Tucson. If you decide to drive out of Phoenix the evening of your interview then forget Mexican restaurants in Tucson as finding them at night wouldn't be much fun. I-10 through downtown Tucson is messed up right now with most of the exits closed. Also, traffic on I-10 from Phoenix to Tucson is getting stupid. You really have to pay attention as some folks are going ninety and others forty five. The stretch from the rest stop east of Phoenix through Casa Grande is a speed trap. The TTT truck stop on the way out of Tucson (Craycroft exit) is good.

If you hang out in Phoenix until the next morning then I do recommend seeing the San Xavier del Bac mission south of Tucson (I-10->I-19->5 miles south->San Xavier Rd->~1 mile west. Return to I-10 East via Valencia Rd. The current building dates to ~179, houses intact santos and frescos, and is still a functioning parish church. The place is deeply spiritual regardless of your religion.

If you go to the mission and want to try Sonoran style Mexican food then come back up I-19 to Irvington Rd. Go east on Irvington to 12th, South on 12th 0.5 miles and look for El Guero Canelo with a red-white-green awning on the east side of Irvington. If you hit Nebraska St you've gone too far. Canelos is very casual, even by Tuscon standards, and the food is good. In your previous posts you mentioned feeling a bit out of your comfort zone with all the Mexican Americans in Phoenix. In South Tucson you'll definitely be in the minority as the area has been majority Mexican/Spanish speaking since before there was a US. Canelos is worth the trip just to experience the most highly refined Spanglish in the world. Try the Mexican hotdog with everything.

Another recommendation is La Huerradura on the northeast corner of St Mary's and Grande Ave. When you come into Tucson take the last exit before the closure (Prince Rd, I think) and stay on the I-10 frontage rd to St Mary's Rd. Turn right (west) on St Mary's and drive for about a half mile to Grande Ave. La Huerradura is in a tiny salmon colored building on the NE corner. Park in the dirt lot est of the restaurant. The pozole (pork and hominy stew) is awesome and if you eat pork, I highly recommend it. If you like menudo, it is also very good.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

ironwing, those recommendations were awesome.

I had menudo for the first time at a place in Phoenix called Adrian's. Definitely liked it, but I was very confused by the hominy. At first I thought they were some sort of bean but then I remembered what menudo was made with and that this thing was probably corn. The kernels were a lot bigger than regular corn kernels and the texture was different, which is what threw me off.

I went to Canelos and I loved it! The hot dog guy was singing and kinda dancing. The people in the kitchen were having a good time. The joint was very rustic and open-air and totally my kind of place. I love the atmosphere. I had some sort of wrap with steak, tacos (they were really small), and of course the hot dog with everything. The hot dog was awesome. The wrap and the tacos were so so but certainly nothing to complain about. I would definitely have liked some sort of stew but they didn't have any.

Did I feel out of place? Yup. I actually still had some of my interview clothes on, so I was kinda dressy. I also had my laptop, PDA phone, and DSLR on the table, surfing the web and planning my trip on the laptop by using my PDA phone with SERO as a modem. A few people stared at me and I could tell they were wondering how I was surfing the web. All in all it was great. I love Mexican people. They're so nice

 

[ElFenix]

fuzzy, do you have a google map of your route? seems like you've been everywhere lately

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

I don't have one right now. I can't seem to figure out how to add waypoints to googlemaps. I feel like it can only do A to B, not A to B to C to D to etc. which is what I'm doing.

Basically I stopped in Phoenix to fly to Charlotte for my dad's birthday. A week later and I'm now back in Arizona, continuing my road trip. I'm currently on the returning leg of my trip and only have less than a week left before school starts Oh, how fast free time vanishes. I can't believe I'm going to have even less free time than this once I'm out in the workforce. Makes me want to just take up a job like being a high school teacher or something.

 

[IronWing]

Did you make it to the mission?

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Nope, I didn't make it to the mission, but I did make it to La Huerradura and got their pozole. I'm still not sure if I like hominy, but the pozole was definitely good and the small local place atmosphere was great. The closed exits in Tucson are absolutely retarded. Closing something like 4 exits in a row is absolutely stupid. Thank god I have a GPS or else I would have never found La Huerradura due to all of the closed exits. I got there at around 8PM and afterwards started driving towards White Sands in New Mexico. Got to the area around 2AM and slept in the car. Damn, I wish Ohio had authentic Mexican.