Yes, I did it! I arrived in Savannah on Sunday afternoon. I made up my own route for the last leg of the journey, so I was able to finish a day earlier than anticipated. I left Myrtle Beach and rode 108 miles to Monck's Corner, SC. From there, I rode 80 miles to Point South, SC and then I did the last 80 or so miles to Abbey and Joey's house in Savannah. And that is that, folks. Thanks all for reading! If you want to see photos, email (karliceran@yahoo.com) or call me.
Love, Peace, and Bicycle Grease!
Monday, August 6, 2007
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Beaches, Music, and Great People!
I left Southport, NC sometime after 9 am on Tuesday, and Paul rode out with me for a few miles, but then I was on my own. What a strange feeling that was after having ridden with others for so long. I found myself habitually pointing out potholes, sewer grates, and road debris as if there were actually somebody behind me who needed to know to avoid those road hazards! I truly discovered how much I miss Paul when I crossed into South Carolina and there was nobody there to take a picture of me doing something silly at the state line. I didn't even try for a self-portrait; it would never measure up.
Regardless, I am glad that I decided to continue to ride on rather than driving from Wilmington. I arrived in Myrtle Beach (about 12 miles off my route) around two in the afternoon. I went to Pat and Tom's house, but nobody was home, so the housekeeper let me in and showed me to my room. Shortly thereafter, their son-in-law, Colin, arrived home with one of his daughters, Audrey. Colin drew me a map to the beach, which is less than one mile from the house (eight tenths of a mile, to be exact). I then walked to the beach and went for a barefoot jog in the sand, and then I stood around in the warm waters of the Atlantic for a while. By the time I walked back, stretched, and showered, Pat had arrived home. I later got to meet the rest of the family as well: Pat and Tom's daughter and Colin's wife, Kristi and their two other children, Maggie and Sadie.
Pat cooked an amazing dinner of spaghetti with marinara, homemade pesto with basil fresh from the garden, portabellas, and a carrot shitake salad. It was so delicious, and believe me, I ate my fill! After dinner, Pat disappeared, and returned with a basket of fresh picked figs from the tree out back. My absolute favorite fruit! I was wide-eyed and overjoyed, for certain! During dinner, I learned that Colin is earning his MFA in Creative Non-fiction, and he's also really into philosophy, so we had plenty to talk about. We also got to talking about music, and as they live practically across the street from the House of Blues, I happened to notice that Pete Yorn was playing that night as I rode into town. They encouraged me to go, so again, wide-eyed and overjoyed, I jumped into Pat's convertible and she dropped me off at the show. For only $24, I got one crappy band, one decent band, and one amazing band...not a bad deal.
It was hardly a crowded house, so I got an awesome spot, general admission standing, right up front center stage. The first band, 16 Frames really bit the big one. If it weren't for the gorgeous bright-eyed bassist with curly blonde flowing locks, I would've have fallen asleep standing up out of sheer boredom. The band just wasn't tight, and they did nothing musically innovative. To make matters worse, the lead singer thought he was the coolest person in the world even though his voice was not impressive at all. Apparently they have a myspace page (who doesn't these days?), so you can check out their crappiness for yourself if you'd like.
The next band, Ben Jalen was interesting. They definitely had their shit together, and Ben had a lot of talent -- rocking the electric viola, keys, and guitars, and he had a pretty versatile voice. He was the only one in the band who looked like a normal person though. All the other guys looked like they had just walked on stage direct from the hair salon where they must have disposed of countless cans of mousse and hairspray. Also, all their rockstar clothes looked brand new, right down to their funny shiny shoes. It just felt so...contrived. Oh, and don't even get me going on the James Iha wannabe guitarist hanging out in the shadows stage left...
Finally, when Pete Yorn came out, he was so high energy (a drastic difference to when I saw him at Criminal Records last summer)! He probably had one of the best electric bassists alive -- this guy was all over that thing, and he was rolling cigarettes between songs, and then smoking them while he played and harmonized on vocals. Dude did everything with a smoke dangling from the corner of his lips -- that's talent. The rest of the band was really tight too and I was amazed at how well they pulled off four guitars on some songs. Pete played a lot of songs from musicforthemorningafter and Day I Forgot, and very few from Nightcrawler, which made me happy because I've had the hardest time getting into Nightcrawler since I purchased it back in December.
Also, at some point during the show, by strange coincidence, I met 4 people from Atlanta who had driven up for the show. They were standing behind me and I overheard someone mention Smith's Olde Bar, and so I turned around and struck up a conversation. I considered taking a ride home with them...just kidding!
The show went just past midnight, so by the time I got home, I was so tired and had such a headache that I went right to bed and slept until 8 am, having already decided to hang out in Myrtle Beach another day. I got up and ran to the beach, tore off my running shoes and ran the sand barefoot again, then readorned the shoes and ran back. After that, I spent most of the day chatting with Colin, Pat, and later, Tom, while Pat fixed me various delicious items for consumption like a berry smoothie, toast with peanut butter, roasted squash, beans, and brown rice. mmmmm mmmm! The day was taken up by more delightful conversations in philosophy as well as some talk about gender, women, and health and diet -- some of my favorite topics! It seemed like we were constantly handing each other books to peruse or writing down titles to look up. I love it! Later in the afternoon, I walked back to the beach where I sat watching the waves, and composing this blog on pen and paper to later be transferred to the computer.
I have had such a great time in Myrtle Beach, and I feel so blessed to have met this amazing family, not only for their generosity and hospitality, but also for the great conversations and exchange of knowledge. These are the kinds of people who I would love to have as friends!
Tomorrow, Tom has to go to Wilmington early, so I think he is going to drop me back on my route. Then I will ride about 110 miles that day, followed by three 75-80 mile days.
Savannah or bust!
Regardless, I am glad that I decided to continue to ride on rather than driving from Wilmington. I arrived in Myrtle Beach (about 12 miles off my route) around two in the afternoon. I went to Pat and Tom's house, but nobody was home, so the housekeeper let me in and showed me to my room. Shortly thereafter, their son-in-law, Colin, arrived home with one of his daughters, Audrey. Colin drew me a map to the beach, which is less than one mile from the house (eight tenths of a mile, to be exact). I then walked to the beach and went for a barefoot jog in the sand, and then I stood around in the warm waters of the Atlantic for a while. By the time I walked back, stretched, and showered, Pat had arrived home. I later got to meet the rest of the family as well: Pat and Tom's daughter and Colin's wife, Kristi and their two other children, Maggie and Sadie.
Pat cooked an amazing dinner of spaghetti with marinara, homemade pesto with basil fresh from the garden, portabellas, and a carrot shitake salad. It was so delicious, and believe me, I ate my fill! After dinner, Pat disappeared, and returned with a basket of fresh picked figs from the tree out back. My absolute favorite fruit! I was wide-eyed and overjoyed, for certain! During dinner, I learned that Colin is earning his MFA in Creative Non-fiction, and he's also really into philosophy, so we had plenty to talk about. We also got to talking about music, and as they live practically across the street from the House of Blues, I happened to notice that Pete Yorn was playing that night as I rode into town. They encouraged me to go, so again, wide-eyed and overjoyed, I jumped into Pat's convertible and she dropped me off at the show. For only $24, I got one crappy band, one decent band, and one amazing band...not a bad deal.
It was hardly a crowded house, so I got an awesome spot, general admission standing, right up front center stage. The first band, 16 Frames really bit the big one. If it weren't for the gorgeous bright-eyed bassist with curly blonde flowing locks, I would've have fallen asleep standing up out of sheer boredom. The band just wasn't tight, and they did nothing musically innovative. To make matters worse, the lead singer thought he was the coolest person in the world even though his voice was not impressive at all. Apparently they have a myspace page (who doesn't these days?), so you can check out their crappiness for yourself if you'd like.
The next band, Ben Jalen was interesting. They definitely had their shit together, and Ben had a lot of talent -- rocking the electric viola, keys, and guitars, and he had a pretty versatile voice. He was the only one in the band who looked like a normal person though. All the other guys looked like they had just walked on stage direct from the hair salon where they must have disposed of countless cans of mousse and hairspray. Also, all their rockstar clothes looked brand new, right down to their funny shiny shoes. It just felt so...contrived. Oh, and don't even get me going on the James Iha wannabe guitarist hanging out in the shadows stage left...
Finally, when Pete Yorn came out, he was so high energy (a drastic difference to when I saw him at Criminal Records last summer)! He probably had one of the best electric bassists alive -- this guy was all over that thing, and he was rolling cigarettes between songs, and then smoking them while he played and harmonized on vocals. Dude did everything with a smoke dangling from the corner of his lips -- that's talent. The rest of the band was really tight too and I was amazed at how well they pulled off four guitars on some songs. Pete played a lot of songs from musicforthemorningafter and Day I Forgot, and very few from Nightcrawler, which made me happy because I've had the hardest time getting into Nightcrawler since I purchased it back in December.
Also, at some point during the show, by strange coincidence, I met 4 people from Atlanta who had driven up for the show. They were standing behind me and I overheard someone mention Smith's Olde Bar, and so I turned around and struck up a conversation. I considered taking a ride home with them...just kidding!
The show went just past midnight, so by the time I got home, I was so tired and had such a headache that I went right to bed and slept until 8 am, having already decided to hang out in Myrtle Beach another day. I got up and ran to the beach, tore off my running shoes and ran the sand barefoot again, then readorned the shoes and ran back. After that, I spent most of the day chatting with Colin, Pat, and later, Tom, while Pat fixed me various delicious items for consumption like a berry smoothie, toast with peanut butter, roasted squash, beans, and brown rice. mmmmm mmmm! The day was taken up by more delightful conversations in philosophy as well as some talk about gender, women, and health and diet -- some of my favorite topics! It seemed like we were constantly handing each other books to peruse or writing down titles to look up. I love it! Later in the afternoon, I walked back to the beach where I sat watching the waves, and composing this blog on pen and paper to later be transferred to the computer.
I have had such a great time in Myrtle Beach, and I feel so blessed to have met this amazing family, not only for their generosity and hospitality, but also for the great conversations and exchange of knowledge. These are the kinds of people who I would love to have as friends!
Tomorrow, Tom has to go to Wilmington early, so I think he is going to drop me back on my route. Then I will ride about 110 miles that day, followed by three 75-80 mile days.
Savannah or bust!
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