Winter Deep Down South

This Southern Girl
Jan 17, 2017
4 min read

This holiday season has flown by and in a blink of an eye Christmas has come and gone. I spent the week leading up to Christmas Day bouncing around the Southern United States visiting family and celebrating my little brother's graduation from university. He'll be heading off to the Navy in a couple of weeks and I valued every free minute I got to spend with him over the few days I was home.

It had been over a year since I'd been back to see my family and the first winter I've been home to visit in about four years. I had forgotten just how lovely Southern winters are. The coldest days are few and far between and the sun is almost always shining, even if it is a bit nippy outside. The only thing predictable about the weather is knowing whatever the current situation might be, it won't last long. I arrived in south Alabama to the temperature in the high 70s (F) and within an hour and a half it had dropped to freezing. However, overall the weather for my trip was not too shabby.

Trips home are often exhausting for me and this time was no different. I landed at the Atlanta-Hartsfield airport around six in the evening, found my way to the car rental centre (which is no easy feat I must add) and started the four and a half hour car drive to south Alabama to visit my grandmother. She lives in Opp, a little town of approximately 5000 people, which used to be thriving until the cotton mills closed about 20 years ago. The town suffered greatly and has never recovered. However, given it is along the route to the beaches in Florida, the little community still managed to survive for a time. Tourists and holiday go-ers often stopped and stretched their legs. They would even plan trips around the town's number one event, the Rattlesnake Rodeo (yes, I typed that correctly). It's Opp's little way of keeping the rattlesnakes at bay. There are competitions for the largest snake, largest rattler, who can catch the most and much more! We round 'em up, show 'em off and then kill 'em, cook 'em and eat 'em!. Then a bypass was built to cut out traffic in the main junction about eight years ago. It completely killed any traffic and tourism the little town was receiving and utterly confused me when I reached it four hours into my trip. I drove around in circles for 45 minutes before finally calling my mom and announcing that "they had moved Opp!" She, of course, responded, "it's the bypass, when you get to the light just go straight." (Like, Duh!) Turns out, Opp hasn't moved, so if you're planning a trip to the Deep South make sure you add the Rattlesnake Rodeo to your bucket list.

I had less than 48 hours to spend with my grandmother before heading back out on the road and we made the most of it. We woke up early, decorated her Christmas tree, had lunch out on the bypass at Doc's Old Country Store and visited family. I was sad to leave, but Sunday morning I loaded my car and started the long seven hour drive back up through Atlanta and onward to Greenville, South Carolina.

Greenville is an amazing small city. It's thriving and growing at tremendous rates. The downtown area was nothing when I was growing up. I actually remember not being allowed to walk the streets after dark because it wasn't safe, but the city made a decision about 15 years ago to regenerate the Main Street and a successful execution has propelled Greenville into one of the most desired places to live in the United States. The downtown area now spans three miles and is full of local gift shops, amazing restaurants and the home of the Greenville Braves baseball team. Trolleys run the streets from one end to the other for free on game days, but most people still opt to walk and window shop. Outdoor activities are on the rise in Greenville with the newly created Swamp Rabbit trail that runs alongside Reedy River (which also cuts through the middle of downtown). Greenville also is in close proximity to the mountains in North Carolina and the beaches on the eastern coast. However, our pride and joy is Paris Mountain, which offers significant mountain biking trails, hiking trails and much more and is just a ten minute drive from the downtown area. I spent my afternoons with my dad and brother, either running the Swamp Rabbit trail or hiking Paris mountain. It was great to be home and get some quality time with those that I love so dearly and see so rarely.

I boarded a plane back to London on Christmas Eve in order to drop one bag and pack another because on Boxing Day (aka December 26 to the rest of the world) Bestie and I were boarding a flight headed north to the Arctic Circle in the quest for a glimpse at the Northern Lights and some really cold weather fun!