Day 20

Day #20: Andrews, SC- Myrtle Beach, SC (52.7 miles by bike – our record!, 16 miles in a car)

We were definitely excited to leave the Colonial Inn Motel.  The weather looked threatening but we had to get out of there.  The fact that it was so cloudy actually made it a really nice temperature for biking. 

The first half of the day we were on pretty empty country roads.  We rode through some watermelon farms where roosters were eating the watermelons, and also some tobacco fields.  

Across the street from one tobacco field was a gas station/convenience store, so we stopped there.  We got some ice cream and charged our phones a little.  I asked the woman working in the store what town it was in.  She laughed at me and said, “Well its just this street and that street.  But it’s called Pleasant Hill.” That store had a little notebook specifically for bikers passing through to write in which was pretty cool.  We signed our name and wrote a short note as others have done before us for the last 20 years. 

After listening to the locals talk in their southern drawl for a while, we got back on the road.  While we were riding away we marveled at how a farmer inside the store pronounced the word “tobacco” He pronounced it “ to-back-her”.  We are not sure where the letter “R” is in the word, but since he grows the stuff he can call it whatever he wants.   For a while it was still the middle of nowhere.  We passed churches and trees, and occasionally a car or house. 

Then, we turned onto 701.  The road had no shoulder, the road was broken and badly paved, and there were a lot of trucks on it.  Some trucks were very considerate, moving over so we could have more room.  Other trucks, a lot of times the ones with trees hanging off of them, wouldn’t move over at all.  When that size truck goes right by you at 60 miles an hour, you really feel it. 

At one point, Google Maps took us on a little 3-mile detour, just to get off of the busy road.  We ended up biking through what was basically the field of dreams.  It was beautiful.  We did have to get back on 701 eventually though.

When we finally got close to Conway, our original destination for the night, our maps had us turning onto 501.  We made the turn, but just by looking we could tell that it wouldn’t be possible.  The roads looked even more busy and less safe than the roads we had been on for the whole afternoon. 

So instead, we went into an Econo Lodge motel’s restaurant.  It was clear that we wouldn’t be able to follow our maps onto 501 the next day, and it was also clear that after a night at the Colonial Inn Motel, this not somewhere we wanted to stay. 

We called Enterprise and they picked us up in 2015 Suburban.  

We then drove to a Sheraton in Myrtle Beach.  We went out for dinner which was really good because we hadn’t eaten any real food all day.

After dinner we went to hang out with the Bernstein/Springer family and appreciated their southern hospitality.  

Thanks for coming along for the ride!