As we turned off the interstate the scenery became very picturesque and we gradually entered the small town of Fair Play.There were few houses and a couple of shops, with lots of land between them.We found Sherry and Michael's farm and were immediately welcomed into the family and shown true southern hospitality.Sherry's brother Billy was preparing a fantastic BBQ for us, which included beef steaks from cows bred on Sherry and Michael's farm.You may be wondering why we chose to visit Fair Play - well, Graham got talking to Sherry for a few minutes whilst we were at an airport hotel in Bangkok, and she invited us to Fair Play.So here we were, and we are so pleased that we took the long drive across South Carolina to get there.

As well as being treated to home reared beef, they introduced us to some southern specialities.We had ochre cooked on the BBQ, and drank some homemade peach brandy (not quite moonshine, but close enough)!We also tried boiled peanuts, which were great, and peanut brittle.On our last morning Billy took us out for breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and I tried gritz, which is a bit like porridge, and had hash brown casserole with my eggs and bacon.They also serve scones with breakfast with sawmill gravy, which tasted a bit like thick carbonara sauce.Graham had pecan pancakes with sausage patties on the side, and his plate was so full that he could not eat it all.

We had initially planned to go for a hike on the Sunday afternoon, but it was so hot that we thought a trip to the river would be a much better idea.So, us, Sherry, Michael, Billy and 4 of their friends got into 2 trucks and headed for Bullsuice on the Chattooga River (this is the river where they filmed Deliverance).There were some great rapids and a small waterfall with water holes which you could sit in whilst the waterfall poured down onto you.It was quite busy, as it was such a hot day, but it was great, and some of us drifted down the river in the current, and then walked the pathway back.

We then drove to Brass Town Creek, at Long Creek, on the Chauga River.We took a short hike/climb and came to some fantastic waterfalls which were deserted.These were so beautiful and we would never have found them by ourselves.We then all went to a Mexican Restaurant for dinner.It was much nicer than the Mexican Restaurants in the UK and so cheap.You get free tortilla chips and dip, and our meals and drinks cost about $20 (about 13.00GBP) for the 2 of us, and we could not finish it all.It was a Sunday though, so no alcohol is served and you can't buy it in shops either.

So we got to experience a true taste of southern hospitality and saw and tried many things which we would not have if we had stayed in a motel.Everyone was so friendly and kind to us, and we love the southern accents!So many stereotypes are true - people do own and shoot guns, they do drive trucks, they do make moonshine and there are a lot of churches (we were in the Bible belt) - but it is also true that they know how to make people feel very welcome and show genuine kindness, and it is this that we shall remember from our short stay in South Carolina.