Up with the sun, almost, to bring dad to the airport. I really am so thankful that he got to come on this journey with me for a week. I really hope he enjoyed the time with me as much as I did with him. I know he loved everything we saw and I am just so so happy I got to give him some of the best memories of his life.
Unfortunately I’m back on the road again. This time my course is set for Myrtle Beach. After dropping dad off I had a 9 hour drive. A little less than half way through though I made a pit stop. An unforeseen perk of this trip has been being able to connect and see family that lives in different parts of the country that I don’t get to see very often. First it was seeing my uncle in LA and again in Vegas. This time it was seeing my aunt, uncle, and 3 cousins in North Carolina. After exchanging a few quick texts we were meeting up at a coffee shop and catching up on lost time. I told them all about my trip and they told me what everyone was up to for the summer. It was only about an hour and a half but I relished every second of it. To sit there and catch up with family, some of which I hadn’t seen in 3 years, was just wonderful. Like I said it was just another unforeseen perk of this trip.
After saying our goodbyes I was back on the road with another 5 hours ahead of me. I arrived at the Sheraton at about 7pm. By the time I checked in and got into my room it was about 7:30. I showered quick then headed down to the boardwalk. I knew there was a country concert going on so I figured I’d take a stroll and see if I could find where it was. I didn’t have a ticket but I had ears and last time I checked they couldn’t contain sound. I found a spot right outside where the concert was being held and listened to Billy Currington perform for about 45 minutes. By that time it was close to 9pm and I thought it would be a good time for my first meal. The whole boardwalk area was like a giant carnival with gift shops and food vendors aplenty. I grabbed a grilled chicken sandwich and listened to a bit more of the concert. I decided to grab a ticket for the ferris wheel, which is called the SkyWheel. It gave me a great view of the entire surrounding area. The lights of the boardwalk stuck out against the night sky. As I walked back to my hotel room I took a minute to really just let everything soak in. It was another perfect night. A light breeze served as a welcome refresher. I was more than excited to spend the whole day here tomorrow.
Day 2 in Myrtle Beach was remarkably uneventful, and at this point in the trip I am so okay with that. I slept in and hung around the room a bit. By the time I was up and out it was about 9:30. I walked over to a place called Olympic Flam Pancake House for breakfast. Quick side note, that may be one of the best restaurant names I’ve seen on the trip so far. I got a basic western omelette which came with grits and wheat toast. I continued my pattern of trying new things with the grits. I can safely say after having the grits that I still have absolutely no idea what they are. Is it rice? Is it oatmeal? Grits what are you!? So after having my breakfast I just roamed around the boardwalk. I had no plans at all. I just enjoyed the weather and people watched. I did stop into a souvenir shop to pick up the last few things I wanted to get for people but other than that I just walked around and people watched. The people watching wasn’t as fun as it would be later though. At around probably 1pm I decided to do something that I have rarely done this trip. I went back to my room and just chilled. It was getting a bit hot so I figured I’d cool down in the room before heading back out and getting something for dinner.
I relaxed in the room for a few hours and headed back out to the boardwalk at about 6:30. I listened to a few bands play and grabbed some food from one of the vendors. Nothing fancy just a grilled chicken sandwich. I made my way down to where the country music fest was so I could see who was playing. I found a spot on the sidewalk and propped myself up against a palm tree and proceeded to people watch and listen to Lee Brice. I watched a couple people be brought out of the concert in handcuffs, assumingly for being too intoxicated. A younger kid, maybe 22, was in tears with blood coming out of his nose apologizing for whatever he had done. He genuinely looked like a little kid as he struggled to get his breath while trying to work his apology in between crying. I saw a cop bust a guy on a bike taking pictures of girls in skimpy clothing. I stood there and watched as the cop told the guy to get lost because he was being a “creepy old guy.” That comment drew a laugh from me and the cop came up to me after the guy left and we talked about the stuff they see on nights like this. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, watching drunk people is one of my favorite things to do. I stuck around a little bit longer and chatted with the cops a bit more before heading back to my room.
At this point I want to insert two observations that I found extremely odd about Myrtle Beach. Number 1. People have a serious affinity for renting motorized scooters down here. Seriously they were absolutely everywhere and in most cases they were being driven by people who looked like they were ready to lose control at any second. Number 2. There is some sort of phenomenon down here with tricking out shitty cars and I for the life of me cannot wrap my head around it. Both nights I was out I saw a RIDICULOUS amount of trucks and cars that were customized with everything from neon lights on the undercarriage, neon lights on the wheels, bigger wheels, bigger shocks, souped up mufflers, souped up engines. Anything you could think of basically. And the cars or trucks that were being souped up weren’t nice ones. I’m talking like 2007 Ford F-150 or like a 1997 Tahoe. As I walked back to my room they would pass me one after the other. Revving engines, music blaring. I just don’t understand. It was a like a giant convergence of every douche thing you could think of all rolled into one. Not to mention that for the most part they were sitting in traffic because half the boardwalk was closed because of the country fest. And I can’t be sure but I swear I saw a few just driving around the block. Maybe they were just out to show off? I’m not really sure. I guess if you put that much effort into making your vehicle and attention grabber you’re sort of obligated to drive it around aimlessly right? Because if you’re just going to drive some place and park what’s the sense in souping it up? Anyway that was just a quick aside/rant on the stupidity I encountered down here.
After reading this entry it may seem like Myrtle Beach was one of the more mundane stops I’ve made so far, but that was kind of the point. In planning this whole trip I knew by this time I would have spent 4 weeks zig sagging across the country and I’d want time to chill and that’s exactly what I did. I had no place to be for 2 days. Nothing I had to rush to go see. I was able to sit back and relax and just enjoy the weather. It was lovely. I’m looking forward to doing the same for another two days in Virginia Beach. Hopefully this beautiful weather follows me there.
Joey's Great American Adventure 
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