Heading North….

Well, I got up Friday morning in St Augustine and loaded up and headed North on US 1 towards Jacksonville. I was on my way to visit my cousins in Clarkton, North Carolina. I drove on US 1 until I ran into I 295. It was a nice drive with a train running beside me, Of course I watched for a graffiti covered Tropicana car and was disappointed as I saw only two of “Ours”. I have to say some of the graffiti was impressive on some cars, a rendering of the “Cat lady” from the Simpsons really caught my eye. The road is 4 lanes which makes it an enjoyable “back road” trip. Of course the I 295 ride removed any calmness I may have had, but it had to be done. With all the construction work going on it was an hour I think before I was able to jump off 295 and continue on my back road ride North on US 17. Again it was a much more chilled ride traveling through small towns and actually seeing the towns that most only see on a huge green sign and pointing that away. It’s a bit slower of course but worth it.

There are times when I break my own rules, and as I cruised north I realized I may need to hop on I 95 to make up a little time . I wanted to get there around 3pm, and 95 and 17 run parallel to each other at times so it was easy to find a place to get on. So around Savannah I continued on 95 north. What a pain. Not far from the South Carolina border traffic stopped. Waze said it was a hold up for a wreck ahead of about 7-8 minutes, Haha more like 25 minutes. Turned out to be three separate wrecks. Things started to move and we were on our way.

Driving north or south on I 95 you are either sleeping or not paying attention if you miss the exciting signs proclaiming “SOUTH OF THE BORDER, 33 miles ahead” . The place has been there almost 70 years, and as a kid, it’s one of the holy grail’s of roadside stops. Trying to get your dad to stop here, made those attempts at stopping at Stuckey’s easy in comparison, this was big time. Pecan rolls weren’t going to be enough to get a chance at stopping here, oh no you needed more. ” Hey Dad, they have fireworks” I mentioned. But as we took the exit, my excitement grew, until I realized it was the restrooms that caused the stop and not the fireworks.

I did stop, now as I am alone and I do make the rules. I can tell you the restrooms are still impressive and clean and damn it I bought some bottle rockets too.

I continued to Clarkton. It’s a small Carolina town about 50 miles from the beach actually, and in it’s Heyday was a bustling farming town, growing cotton, peanuts and of course tobacco. Not much now, small farms with some cotton and peanuts and corn still keep it going. My cousin’s have lived there their whole lives, their mother Wanda her whole life too.

Of course as cousins we grew up together even with the distance we were close. They visited us in Florida mostly. Their grandmother lived with us and she was my Aunt. My cousin Shelby was a few years younger than me, and could drive me crazy. They had a North Carolina drawl that for some reason as a kid it drove me nuts LOL. I have over the years learned to love that drawl. Her younger sister Tina and I always got along too.

I made it to Clarkton about 4 or so and went to Wanda’s house. Actually she was in a rental as her family home where she lived had a fire. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been and the fire department did a great job of keeping it contained in the attic. This had happened months before I arrived so she had been in the rental house for awhile. It was so good to see her, she has been part of our family all my life and was on my list of family to visit for Martha. We had a great evening reminiscing and talking about my folks.

Saturday I helped Wanda at a town BBQ for keeping the town looking nice. It was held in the old train depot which has been renovated recently. I met several of the ladies who made it happen and helped set up. North Carolina BBQ pork, homemade coleslaw(made by Tina), Baked beans and a variety of homemade cakes and brownies, all for $12. I went over and picked up Shelby who I haven’t seen in over 40 years. She has had a rough few years with health issues, but looked good and laughed when I reminded her how much she annoyed me as kids. We went out to Tina’s husband Jay’s farm. They grow corn for feed I believe, and also are raising turkeys. Quite the setup.

Sunday was rainy and cold so we didn’t do much, we did go to Tina and Jay’s house to visit. I met Tina’s kids, Rhett and Megan . They were in and out as it was Turkey season and they were on the hunt. Had a great visit looking at old pictures . One of the best parts was hearing them talk about my parents, they all loved them and their stories were good for my soul.

I needed to hit the road again and I really enjoyed my visit, but I needed to figure out my next move. I called my dear friends Blake and Jodi on the other side of NC in the mountains and asked if there was room at the hostel( their house). They told me they had friends there but to come if I wanted to and they would figure it out.

Monday I headed West to the North Carolina mountains where I had visited in October. I picked my route dissecting South Carolina in half from East to West. Most of it was nice, but again road construction was slowing me down. I arrived at their place about 4:30.