Tag: South Carolina

One of My Favorite People – Day 134

One of My Favorite People

Day 134 – August 12, 2003 – Tuesday

I had a great time visiting Karen Jones in Charleston. She gave me a wonderful tour, and it was a pleasure to meet her boyfriend, Travis. Karen is one of my favorite people in the whole wide world, and while I was only with Travis at lunch, he seemed like a really special person, too. Looked to me like a match made in heaven!

We had a great hamburger at Your Place, a true “hole-in-the-wall” local restaurant. Home cookin’ at it’s finest. The BEST burgers for a fraction of what you would pay at fancy places. Two nice ladies served us.

Apologies to Charleston, as the magnet of home grabbed me and kept me from seeing sights the way I normally would have. Bozzie Jane and I will return to Charleston soon, and we will see everything then. So, I said goodbye to Karen and hit the highway. I drove down “the coast” to Savannah to complete the circling of America (as that was the coastal city where the trip began on April 1), and then I drove from Savannah to Atlanta.

I took a picture of the giant chair at Richardson’s Barber and Beauty Supply.

Dublin has very pretty Georgian-style and Victorian-style buildings and homes on Highway 80.

It rained most of the way from Savannah to Atlanta, so I didn’t see much, and I was simply tired and ready to be at home.

Lon was the first person I saw upon returning to Atlanta after 134 days. He was an actor. I met him at the gas station near our home.

I arrived home at 9:22 pm. I thought Boz would be surprised, but she was expecting me.

38,127 on the odometer. We logged 29,062 miles in our cars. I need to calculate the mileage in the rental car in Alaska and the loaner car in North Dakota plus the mileage we’ll do in Hawaii, and that will be the grand total for the trip. We could hit 30,000. We originally thought the trip would be about 20,000 miles, but we really didn’t know. It’s impossible to calculate the mileage on two-lane roads, the time you spend in towns, the mileage you’ll spend lost, the unexpected side trips that you’ll make, backtracking, etc.

The trip began 134 days before on April 1. The trip had been a spectacular experience, but I was happy to get home. We need to make reservations for Hawaii — state #50, and we will go just as soon as we can get a flight that will let us use our frequent flyer points. We hope this will be within the next two weeks.

I planned to spend a lot of time updating the website, processing photos, and writing. I planned to continue to maintain the Daily Journal until the Hawaii trip completed the journey.

And we do plan to take the trip Round America again. Next time, BACKWARDS! We’ll start in Atlanta, drive to Savannah, and then head north rather than south. The fatigue factor kept me from seeing as many sights in the east as I should have, so we’ll correct this the next time by starting there.

The lesson I re-learned today is that as enjoyable as travel can be, there is little that is more enjoyable than good friends and family.  And while there are fabulous places to see all across our amazing country, home is a mighty special place.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Each day, we collect our thoughts on a web page just like this. We drop in some of the photos from the day. Our goal with the Daily Journal is to write about the towns we visit, the sights we see, the people we meet, and the pie we eat. We write about where we are, where we’ve been, and where we are going, but we also make observations about what we’ve seen and done as well as about life in general.

You can follow our travels from the Daily Journal section of this website. Other pages of interest include the running report of “vital statistics” on the Trip Scorecard, our nominations for the Best & Worst of the trip, as well as a rating of the pie we eat. If you’d like to see information for a specific state or town, click here, and then click on the state of interest, and the full itinerary is shown.

 

More Information on the Sights Visited Today:
Charleston South Carolina — Your Place — Dublin Georgia — Atlanta Georgia
 

45 Miniature Golf Courses – Day 133

45 Miniature Golf Courses

Day 133 – August 11, 2003 – Monday

The day was spent in the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina area. It’s a nice beach area with activities galore, so it’s easy to see why 14 million people come here each year. Myrtle Beach has the Worlds Largest Number of Miniature Golf Courses — something like 45. I managed to see 23 of them. There are big Branson-like theatres, numerous Ripley attractions, and a great entertainment and shopping complex called “Broadway at the Beach.”

Broadway at the Beach and Celebrity Square are a huge entertainment / shopping complex. Very nice. I saw the big theaters, the aquarium, Planet Hollywood, the Nascar Park, and more. There was one attraction after another. We saw nothing like this when we visited Myrtle Beach a number of years ago. Either we were in more of a resort area, or it had grown tremendously. I suspected it was a little of both. I saw the huge Carolina Opry and the equally huge Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede.

Lunch was at Sam’s Corner — excellent hot dogs and the fastest service I believe I have ever experienced anywhere.

I drove up and down Business Highway 17 to see miniature golf courses. I saw Hawaiian Caverns, the home of the US Open, the US Professional Miniature Golf Association US Open that is. At Treasure Island and Captain Hook’s Adventure Golf, I saw gold legged mermaids on a fountain with an alligator. As with Sevierville, there seemed to be one pancake place after another in Myrtle Beach. Tons of pancakes.

I saw Mt. Atlanticus MinotaurGoff. Pretty clever. Jungle Lagoon Miniature Golf, Cap’n Cain Golf, Pirate’s Watch Adventure Golf, lots o golf.

Safari Golf. More pancake houses. Jurassic Golf…right next to yet another pancake house that had gone out of business. Shipwreck Island Adventure Golf, Ocean Adventure Golf.

There were a lot of painted carousel horses around Myrtle Beach?must be a fundraising program like so many others we’ve seen.

Rainbow Falls Golf, Lost Treasure Golf. Thunborough Family Amusement Park, Mutiny on the Bounty Caribbean Adventure Miniature Golf, The Tiki Miniature Golf. An endless supply of miniature golf courses.

Laura Lewis interviewed me for a newspaper article, and I met a number of nice folks. Natalie and Brian took care of us at the River Country Golf & Games Ice Cream Shoppe. Unfortunately, the place lined up for pie was unexpectedly closed for the day, so Laura and I settled for ice cream. Brian and Natalie served us. Cookie Dough Ice Cream…very good. I did manage to get some pie in Myrtle Beach later that day — got a Southern delicacy at a gas station — a Moon Pie.

Vanna White and Mickey Spillane are from the Myrtle Beach area.

I met Malcolm, John, and Thomas at the Shell Quick Lube. John spent a year and went across America on foot, bicycle and by rental car in various and sundry directions. I met Moose, Daniel, Wolf, Angie, and Michael at the Sparkle Car Wash in North Myrtle Beach. I took a few minutes for the PT Cruiser to get washed and oiled. This young man named Moose proved to be the only live “Moose” that we saw on the trip. Going mooseless was certainly one of the disappointments.

May Day Miniature Golf. Hawaiian Rumble Golf claimed to be the number one most famous mini golf in the world, the home of the Masters, said they’re rated number one in America by Golf Magazine.

I drove to Charleston, South Carolina at the end of the day, and I really enjoyed meeting up for dinner with Karen Jones. Karen worked with us in the late 80’s, and it had been 13 years since we had seen each other. Karen is one of my all-time favorite people, and she was, without any question, the best salesperson I have ever had the privilege of working with. She’s a professional dart player, a fine Wallyball player, and much more.

We had the best Fried Green Tomatoes and Fried Oysters at the Atlanticville Restaurant in Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina. And their Banana Cream Pie was fantastic! We met Jason, Jeff, and Ryan there.

49 states so far with just one to go. Hard to believe.

Pollianna and Patrick took excellent care of me at the Hampton Inn in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Each day, we collect our thoughts on a web page just like this. We drop in some of the photos from the day. Our goal with the Daily Journal is to write about the towns we visit, the sights we see, the people we meet, and the pie we eat. We write about where we are, where we’ve been, and where we are going, but we also make observations about what we’ve seen and done as well as about life in general.

You can follow our travels from the Daily Journal section of this web site. Other pages of interest include the running report of “vital statistics” on the Trip Scorecard, our nominations for the Best & Worst of the trip, as well as a rating of the pie we eat. If you’d like to see information for a specific state or town, click here, and then click on the state of interest and the full itinerary is shown.

 

More Information on the Sights Visited Today:
Myrtle Beach South Carolina — Myrtle Beach Miniature Golf Courses — Sam’s Corner — River Country Golf & Games — Charleston South Carolina — Atlanticville Restaurant
 

Stepping Back in Time – Day 132

Stepping Back in Time

Day 132 – August 10, 2003 – Sunday

Williamsburg, Virginia is quite a place! I’d never been. BIG. Quite a story.

Colonial Williamsburg is an honest-to-goodness fully restored/rebuilt Colonial town. John D. Rockefeller provided the money to acquire, restore, rebuild, and establish Colonial Williamsburg as a non-profit entity. It was and is an amazing project.

I had never been to Williamsburg, but we had heard so much about it through the years that I was really anxious to see it. It was different than I expected. It costs $39.95 if you want to be able to go in the buildings and learn about Colonial life. I always imagined it was just a real town that you got to walk around and see. It is fairly real, and you can walk the streets for free, but you do have to pay to experience it all. It’s quite expensive, but it must cost an awful lot of money to keep this place going. There are folks who just walk around as if they were working in the fields in Colonial time — just to set the tone for the experience.

I met an especially nice lady at the Visitor’s Center. She wants to take a trip like ours with her husband.

As you walk to the Colonial town from the Visitor’s Center, you pass over a bridge that takes you back in time with messages about significant points in time, such as — “At this point in time, you know people who own other people.” It was really effective in getting you prepared for Colonial times, and it caused you to think about how many really significant developments have taken place in a relatively short period of time.

It was really hot and REALLY humid. I walked and walked and walked, and didn’t even begin to see all the side streets. Boz and I will go back when it is cooler, and we’ll see more. It was truly gratifying to see something that has not been commercialized and touristized at all (with the exception of the entrance fee).

Just off the Colonial Williamsburg property is a row of “modern” shops. But in Colonial Williamsburg, everything is really authentic.

From Williamsburg, I drove down to Virginia Beach. I met Chris and Al at the Visitor Information Office. Virginia Beach has a nice beach area, but not a lot to see. Typical tourist-oriented businesses and hotels near the beach. Riding surrey-like bicycles up and down along the beach seemed to be a big thing.

I didn’t get a photo of them but there were “no cussing” signs all up and down the beach area. I’d never seen a “no cussing” sign before. Interesting.

I planned to visit the place that invented the ice cream cone, but I was unable to find it.

I met Delores and Judy at the Welcome Center just inside North Carolina — really enjoyable ladies to talk with…and very helpful.

I noted once again that the roads changed the second I passed from Virginia into North Carolina. North Carolina has had the best roads in the country for at least 50 years.

Due to the heavy overcast skies and rain (and forecast for more of the same), I skipped the Outer Banks and drove until midnight to get to Myrtle Beach. It was an ugly day.

I passed through the town of Windsor — chartered in 1768. I was sorry that it was dark and raining when I passed through Wilmington and the Cape Fear area. I saw a terrible traffic accident at 11:30 pm. At least one car had flipped.

South Carolina became state #49.

The Myrtle Beach area is really something for activities. There are more miniature golf courses than anywhere in the world, many golf courses, resorts spread out for miles along the coast. There are major dinner show theaters in Myrtle Beach…places where big country name performers come and perform. Lots of action in Myrtle Beach.

I checked into the Marriott Courtyard in Myrtle Beach just before midnight. Desk Clerk Barbara took good care of me at the hotel. Unlike a lot of nights, I never got sleepy tonight, so it wasn’t a bad drive.

Random Comments:

I watched the movie “American President” last night. It is an excellent movie, and one that I have enjoyed several times. I thought it was appropriate since I was just in Washington DC.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Each day, we collect our thoughts on a web page just like this. We drop in some of the photos from the day. Our goal with the Daily Journal is to write about the towns we visit, the sights we see, the people we meet, and the pie we eat. We write about where we are, where we’ve been, and where we are going, but we also make observations about what we’ve seen and done as well as about life in general.

You can follow our travels from the Daily Journal section of this website. Other pages of interest include the running report of “vital statistics” on the Trip Scorecard, our nominations for the Best & Worst of the trip, as well as a rating of the pie we eat. If you’d like to see information for a specific state or town, click here, and then click on the state of interest, and the full itinerary is shown.

 

More Information on the Sights Visited Today:
Williamsburg Virginia — Virginia Beach Virginia — Windsor North Carolina — Myrtle Beach South Carolina