We Almost Went to Europe. The air conditioner clicked off again… | by Chelsea Judge | Bless Her Heart & Mine Too | Sep, 2025
The air conditioner clicked off again. It had fought valiantly for most of the day, but around 3:47 PM every afternoon, the Southern heat always won. Sweat pooled beneath her thighs, trapped between her skin and the leather driver’s seat like prisoners in a war they didn’t sign up for.
She shifted uncomfortably, then glanced at the car next to her in traffic — an old man eating beer nuts from a brown paper bag with his window cracked. A squirrel darted across the road. A child screamed from the back of a minivan. The usual.
If she closed her eyes long enough, the sound of horns and the swelter of fried air could almost become the cobbled streets of Rome… or maybe the lavender fields of southern France. She wasn’t picky. Anywhere with bike lanes and breezy air that didn’t smell like diesel and desperation.
But this wasn’t Europe. This was the corner of Pine Street and Ridgeway Avenue, just two blocks down from her job at the call center and one mile away from the nearest trail she only got to ride on Sunday’s — if she woke up early enough to beat the church traffic.
She sighed and took a long sip of her homemade fruit smoothie, a peach-mango blend she was proud of, even if it was melting fast. In her free time, she taught herself new recipes from a cooking app. It helped with the daydreams.
That night, scrolling Craigslist out of boredom, she spotted a post in the “Community” section:
“Cyclist from Belgium visiting Aiken. Looking for quiet rides, company, and maybe peach pie.”
She stared at it for five minutes. Then ten.
It was either a charming miracle or a Dateline episode waiting to happen. But there was something about the way he wrote “peach pie” that made her curious. She sent a short reply:
“Hi. I’m not Belgian. But I do ride, and I make a mean peach smoothie. I also know a trail that’s only bumpy in a few places. Interested?”
The next weekend, she finally had someone to share the trail with — someone who didn’t mind that she rode slow, asked too many questions, or occasionally paused to rescue a turtle from the pavement.
They didn’t end up going to Europe. But they almost did.