For the Thanksgiving holiday Randy and I decided to head north to visit family and friends. To be fair, it’s pretty much the only direction you can go by car for more than a couple hours from where we now live.
Our first stop, Myrtle Beach, SC was a sweet little condo owned by the parents of my nephew’s wife. They generously made it available to Randy’s sister, Kristine (one of my most faithful readers and commenters) and her husband Gary. This year they invited us along for the mini-vacation at The Beach.
Unlike the last time we embarked on a road trip, I was looking forward to this one. First, the drive to the Carolinas isn’t nearly as long as to Wisconsin. Still, we broke up the 11 hours into a two-day drive, because 1) we could, and 2) that’s what old, retired people do. Thanks to another favorite relative, Randy’s brother’s wife, who is an employee at a Hilton Hotel owned property, we have the Hilton Friends & Family discounts available to us. It’s come in quite handy the last few years.
We drove about 7 hours the first day, stayed at a nice Hampton Inn in Hardeeville, SC, ate at a decent Mexican restaurant, and lollygagged around in the morning because we only had about 4 hours to drive to Myrtle Beach. Both days were perfect for driving, cloudy with just a mist of rain for a few minutes in a couple of places. As is normal in late November, it got cooler as we headed north. We knew this would happen, but because we’re still in the southern US, we packed only a few pairs of long pants and light jackets. And a portable space heater. Thank goodness.
I guess when you’re born in Wisconsin, and have lived the last 23 years in Missouri, you never think of 63° as cold, but after living in Florida for 16 months, I can now attest to the fact that 63° FEELS pretty dang cold. Especially when it’s cold and damp. Which is exactly what I was running away from when we moved to Florida.
It wasn’t until the 4th day in Myrtle Beach, a day we bought tickets for a matinee Christmas show at the Carolina Opry because the forecast was for rain all day, that the sun came out. By that time I was starting to suffer a bit from SAD (Sunlight Affective Disorder) which I never thought much about until I realized how happy the sunshine in Florida makes me every day. On the fifth day in Myrtle Beach, we finally were able to take chairs down to the beach to sit for a while. The sun was shining between a scattered, light cloud cover, but the wind was blowing so hard that there were 3-4 foot waves crashing on the beach, and we were getting sand blasted out there on the open beach. But hey, it was the beach, my very happy place!
Myrtle Beach reminds me of Branson, but with small, liquid mountains instead of big, rocky mountains. There are a lot more high-rise condo complexes, but the weekend after Thanksgiving is relatively quiet there. We enjoyed exploring a bit and relaxing a lot. On Monday morning we cleaned the condo so generously gifted to us and headed to Cary, a lively bedroom community of Raleigh, where Kristine and Gary have lived since 1978.
On the way, we stopped in Wilmington, NC and visited the Battleship North Carolina. With my strong interest in history, the tour and stories on the ship were fascinating and thought-provoking. The crew memories posted all over the tour serve to personalize what the experience of serving on a ship like that was like.
What particularly struck me is how a vessel that large and complicated is designed and built for function and efficiency, and to accommodate 2,300 men living aboard ship. It’s mind boggling. I think it’s an engineering and architectural marvel far superior to designing, say, a boxy skyscraper that people just move furniture and computer equipment into.
We have a few more days remaining with Kristine and Gary at their home. I hope we’ll be able to see their son and his sweet family for the first time in several years. The two great-nephews are smart and fun and tiringly active. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to keep up with them, but these people are why we leave our beloved and comfortable (warm) home in Florida and head north occasionally.
I know I sound like a broken record, but we are so blessed and so thankful for the family and friends we are visiting on this trip. Good weather or bad, the warmth of their love and the joy of their company make the trip worth it.
P.S. By next week’s post we’ll be home in sunny Florida again. For a week. Then we head north (again!) to celebrate our 47th wedding anniversary with some good friends who’ve invited us to share a beach house they’ve rented for the month of December on St George Island (Florida) . We’re humbled and blessed to have such generous friends. And, Lordy, I am sooooooo looking forward to that week on the Emerald Coast!
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