featured-image

The Pack Roadtrip Travel Club members came from as far away as Mechanicsville, Williamsburg and Suffolk to meet at Indian River Road Park & Ride in Virginia Beach. The Friday morning sun started to climb in the sky as 30 people, including me, loaded a Venture Tours bus with Preston Ricks at the wheel. Our destination: Charleston, South Carolina.

Andrae Marable, owner of The Pack, has spent a decade curating travel experiences with delectable food and drinks in mind. Charleston was the perfect fit, with its rich history and culinary scene. I loved the idea of exploring the city like a local for the next three days.



Our second food stop before hitting Charleston was Buc-ee’s, a popular chain known for everything, including its fare. I had never been but Marable said it was like Walmart on steroids. He was right.

Our group was swallowed up in hundreds of other visitors picking up ready-to-eat Texas brisket sandwiches and shopping for Buc-ee’s souvenirs. I could barely move my handcart through the crowd, but I managed to grab some items that YouTubers swore by, such as the Beaver Nuggets (a caramel-coated puffed corn snack), jerky, fudge, hot roasted cashews and a chopped brisket sandwich. All were tasty.

I understood then the cult following and can’t wait for the New Kent location to open. We rolled into North Charleston around 3 p.m.

Hotels were plentiful and the rates were cheaper than downtown. A welcome reception was held — about 10 minutes from our hotel — at the .

Back to Beauty Page