9;25am. Freg and Ant depart Charlotte, NC with absolutely no plans other than to end up in the Florida Keys- the official starting line of this adventure. The mileage and time between Charlotte and the Keys are our “warm-up” or “prep trip”. Ant’s first words upon getting in the vehicle were, “Head south young man”. We were only on 77S for less than twenty  minutes before losing interest in the fast lane. We want two lanes and highways. We want character- hard to see character going 80MPH on the interstate, unless one enjoys reading billboards, which, truth be told, can be very interesting in the south, indeed. Hwy 21 looked promising. By promising, I mean it was pointed south, and its not an interstate.

Boy, did we run up on a charm. Hiding in Kershaw, SC is an extremely large barrel of fun on the side of the road. As we approached checkered flag signs, we notice we have stumbled upon a speedpark. As I creep past the entrance, Ant immediately yells “Turn around!”. Around we go. We have now entered the Carolina Motorsports Park. We are gladly greeted by Bambi at the main office who immediately informs Ant and I that we have stumbled upon a hidden treasure in South Carolina. Hiding behind the pine trees lining Hwy 521 is a speedpark where Go Karts are maxing out at 50MPH. Needless to say, once Ant and I heard that we could sign a bit of paperwork and then go 50MPH with our rumps three inches from the pavement, our helmets were on.

We each spent around ten minutes on the .70 mile track, which allowed for more than an ample amount of time to utilize the cooler temps of the track and stickiness of the rubber. We were exhausted when we finished. Generously, Bambi and the Carolina Motorsports crew offered Jenny the Jeep a lap around the 2.3 mile road course (where bigger and much, much faster cars race)- of course we obliged. It was a struggle to be gentle on Jenny’s gas pedal after screaming around the curves with the karts. Those karts…wow. After an unexpected two hour visit (which seemed like five minutes in those karts), we thought we’d get back on the road. Making sure we left with information to stay in touch with the crew at Carolina Motorsports Park, we pointed towards Camden, SC, where Bambi recommended some good eats. Salud! caught our eye after parking downtown, so we concluded that Dos Equis, Victoria, burritos and quesadillas was a more than excellent way to close the curtains on day 1.