Thursday, April 9
Today was a travel day – straight up I-95 from Port Orange to Santee, South Carolina. With stops – including driving through the Chick Fil A for a breakfast sandwich – and a significant slow down north of Savannah, it took us nearly 7 hours to travel about 350 miles. Except for the construction traffic in Georgia, it was pretty uneventful, which is the way we like it. (We also took a slight detour at exit 42 in South Carolina – we intended to go to Buc-ee’s for gas and a bathroom break. The back-up off of the interstate was ridiculous; at least a 1/2 mile! So, we got back on I-95 north and went 7 miles farther for our fuel stop.)
We checked in to the hotel a few minutes before 4:00, got the car unloaded and all of our perishables put away in the refrigerator. We even have a small freezer for the ice packs! The hotel provided a list of local restaurants; we chose Cork and Barrell for coconut shrimp and a meatball flatbread (pick-up order). We returned to our room and poured a glass of wine to enjoy with our food. As is typical for us, we ate only 1/2 of the shrimp and 1/2 of the flatbread. Guess what’s on the menu for dinner tomorrow night?!
Accommodation: Hampton Inn, Santee, South Carolina
Travel Distance / Time: 345 Miles : 6.75 Hours
Friday, April 10
The weather was gorgeous today – perfect for a rural drive to Congaree National Park. The park was super busy with hikers (parking was completely full and people were parking on the access road), although, we saw only a fraction of those visitors on our 3+ mile walk out to Weston Lake on the Boardwalk Loop. Loop is a bit of a misnomer since the west side of the trail was closed for construction. But, we walked out to the end at the lake, and then back the same route. We spent more time in the park than we thought we would, however, we were back on the road to Myrtle Beach at 1:15.
The drive to Myrtle Beach took us 3 hours – again on mostly rural roads until the last 15 miles. We saw a lot of South Carolina farm land today! We checked in to the hotel at 4:20, and once again, we unpacked the car, stored our perishables in the refrigerator (full-size!) and heated the leftover coconut shrimp for a snack. We decided to keep our leftover flatbread for tomorrow when we have an oven, so we drove to the nearby Walmart to get dinner – P.F. Chang Chicken and Vegetable Chow Mein (heated on the stovetop). The food was pretty good (probably more salt than we should have had, but that’s just the way it is sometimes).
We spent the rest of the evening watching the Artemis Crew return to earth and also watching the Marlins lose to the Tigers. The Fish didn’t have a single run! Very disappointing.
Accommodation: Staybridge Suites, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Travel Distance / Time: 166 Miles : 6.0 Hours (Including National Park)
Saturday, April 11
We had less than 25 miles to travel today, so we decided to take a drive along the coast to Pawleys Island. Most of the drive south on US 17 was fairly boring – all retail and restaurants. Once out on the island, though, it was very pretty. The majority of the homes are huge and have beautiful oceanfront views. Many of them are available as vacation rentals if you are willing to pay the prices.
From Pawleys Island we headed north toward Myrtle Beach Boardwalk and Promenade. This section was incredibly busy with thousands of tourists. We could only drive about 10 mph because of the traffic and pedestrian crossings. On the upside, we had plenty of time to gawk at all of the shops – some of which were nice and some of which were nothing short of tacky.
By the time we made it to the northside of the promenade and swung by Publix for dinner provisions (Italian stuffed chicken and Mexican corn – both bake in the oven), it was almost 3:00 and we stopped at a beach bar intending to eat a late lunch. The bar wasn’t very busy so we decided to skip it and just go to the resort (even though we were about 45 minutes early for check-in when we got there). Registration was really busy when we got to the Wyndham, but even with the wait our room wasn’t immediately ready. In the end, we waited less than 10 minutes and were off to our room – a 2-bedroom ocean view condo. It’s bigger than we need, but it was the only type of unit available when I booked it three weeks ago.
As soon as we got the cooler unpacked, we heated our leftover meatball flatbread; it was nice and crispy after ~20 minutes in the oven. It was a great appetizer, which we needed since it had been 7 hours since breakfast. We baked the chicken and the corn and ate an amazing dinner around 7:30. Even though we didn’t do much today, we were really tired and are looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow morning!
Accommodation: Club Wyndham SeaWatch Resort, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (2 Nights)
Travel Distance / Time: 58 Miles : 4.25 Hours
Sunday, April 12
Today was a lazy day. We enjoyed our morning coffee on the balcony (it was a little cool since we were in the shade until after noon), then cooked eggs and toast for breakfast. We took a walk on the beach in the afternoon – about 2.5 miles, followed by a beer (we shared) from the Tiki Bar afterward.
In the evening, we took showers and did a load of laundry; we are ready to hit the road again in the morning! Dinner was leftover chicken and corn. We are nothing if not predictable!
Monday, April 13
We woke up early this morning and enjoyed a leisurely morning with coffee and eggs for breakfast before checking out at 9:45. The local residents (geese) were very vocal this morning. They remind us of the vuvuzelas at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa – they are that loud! Also, we forgot to mention that our nearest neighbor is an RV park with 900+ spaces; it is HUGE!
We drove north on US 17 toward Atlantic Beach. After a brief foray into Publix to stock up for the next 3 nights, we stopped at Fort Macon State Park. We had previously toured the Fort in the fall of 2023, but our visit today was much better because we had the place nearly to ourselves – we saw only 4 other people over the course of the hour that we were there!
We checked into the hotel just after 4:00, had crackers and cheese for happy hour and cooked all of the chicken that we bought at Publix so that we have meals for the next few days. The rest of the evening was devoted to watching the Marlins game and preparing for tomorrow’s adventure!
Accommodation: Bask Hotel at Big Rock Landing, Morehead City, North Carolina
Travel Distance / Time: 165 Miles : 6.0 Hours (Including Stops)
Tuesday, April 14
We didn’t have far to travel today – only about 20 miles. We were scheduled for the 11:30 ferry from Davis to Great Island Cabins, but we had to check in at 10:30. We were on the road at 9:45 because we wanted to make sure we had enough time to stop and fill up with gas and for any other contingencies. After stopping at the Speedway in Morehead City to fill the tank, we were on route 70 north to Davis. We arrived at 10:25 – with 5 minutes to spare! All parties had checked in early, so we were on board and underway to Cape Lookout at 10:45, way ahead of schedule! There are 6 “slots” on the ferry. For our crossing, there was one SUV with a trailer, 3 additional SUVs, and our Gladiator. Except for us, all of the other vehicles and people (with a ton of kids!) were all together.
The crossing took 30 minutes. Fortunately, when we arrived, our cabin was already cleaned; we got checked in and had the truck pretty much fully unloaded by 11:45. To characterize the cabin as rustic would be an understatement! It has 4 bunk beds (8 beds), two tables, and 8 folding chairs. Although there is no electricity (we had to bring camp lanterns), there is running water, a propane stove, and most importantly, a flush toilet. We also had to supply our own towels, sheets, sleeping bags, pillows, and everything for the kitchen including dishes, cutlery, pots, and pans. On the upside, the cabin has a lovely, screened porch.
After getting settled in, we went for a drive along the beach to the south end of the island – about 15 miles. Since it was low tide, we were able to go all the way out to Shark Island, turn around and make our way back north on the sand road (deeper sand than the beach road). We circuited the Historical Village and drove past the lighthouse. The light station was really disappointing because it is surrounded by scaffolding and the view is completely obscured.
We also passed a large sailboat (about 40 feet) with its dinghy still attached that had been washed on shore. I asked about it at the ranger station and they told me that it has been there only about a week and that salvage is ongoing. It was 2:30 when we returned to our cabin; we spent the rest of the afternoon on the porch, enjoying the view and the sound of the surf. Dinner was Tuscan white bean soup with chicken sandwiches. The weather is cool at night, so the soup was extraordinarily good!
Accommodation: Cape Lookout National Seashore (2 Nights)
Travel Distance / Time: 21 Miles : 30 Minutes
Wednesday, April 15
Happy 37th Anniversary! We had a very leisurely morning sitting on our porch with coffee, then taking a beach drive. We visited Codd’s Creek and decided to go by the lighthouse, despite the limited view. As we noted yesterday, the lighthouse is undergoing a major restoration project and is completely shrouded in scaffolding. That said, you can see how beautiful the structure is and there is also an interesting museum – so there is something to visit from a tourist point of view. Another item to note about the lighthouse is that there is a nearby passenger ferry dock that brings day trippers from the mainland. There are 4×4 rentals at the visitor’s complex so you can go out and play on the beach for the day before returning to the mainland. A nice way to spend the day!
To be honest, there isn’t a lot to do out on the island if you are not into fishing. Also, the cell service is spotty at best – so we played cards in the afternoon (about a dozen hands of gin rummy – Mark won more games than me).
It certainly wasn’t very romantic, but we had chicken sandwiches (again) with ramen noodle cups for dinner. At least we had wine and the sound of the ocean surf to serenade us!
Travel Distance: 50 Miles Over the Last Two Days (Basically Up and Down the Beach)