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Road Trip of StarDate 0307.13
Jul. 14th, 2003 12:22 amIt all started with an idea of heading to the Beach on a sunny day...
The Crew:
Pilot Farrell J. McGovern
Shotgun Cynthia Moreno
Navigator John Frakes
The Plan:
Head out early on Saturday morning to the Beach, the one on the
Atlantic Coast of North Carolina...specifically, Wilmington. We even looked
up the DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) locations in Wilmington! We just wanted
some Ocean Water, a Beach and a little DDR for the addicts before we headed
home...
The Trip:
Early...that is a relative term...we eventually left my place at
around 1:30....still lots of time to get to the beach before sundown. We
were going to go down Highway 74, which starts out in Charlotte as
Independance Ave. Nice scenic highway...but if you are travelling, don't use
this road. First the max speed limit is 55, and there are lots of little
towns where it drops to 35. We stopped along the way for soda, then at one
place, stopped to look at a thrift shop, where Cynthia bought a tea pot, and
I saw an ancient IBM Model 25. Nice Design, too bad IBM didn't continue to
make it.
We stopped in Rockingham to have some food. We were three hours into
the drive, and still very far from the coast. So we first drove through town
to see what food stops they had, and on the return trip to the Dairy Queen,
we noticed a music instrument store...so we went in, saw some really good
prices on Fender Basses, and left. Further down the road, we saw a record
shop...this place was *weird*. First of all, it was run by two older white men
with a strong respenblance to a pair in Pulp Fiction, and then the store was
mainly devoted to rap, hip-hop and R&B. And not just any rap, but real
hardcore stuff. But they knew who Kate Bush was...We went to this Italian
place where they claimed to serve New York Style Pizza is like, having lived
in NYC...and if you like thin crust with very little sause and greasy
cheese eat NYC style pizza...we tried to the Sicilian...which is almost
totally unlike real Sicilian pizza. I had pepperonie and cheese, on my half,
John and Cynthia had chicken, garlic and something else. Unfortunatly, it
didn't agree with Cynthia, and she ended up going out to the van and laying
down, and drinking some pink stuff.
So, we convened after the meal to decide if we would go on...and it
was decided that we would. So off to the beach we went, again! And again,
don't use 74 as a way to get anywhere fast..they even had a speed trap set
up with half a dozen cop cars hidden...avoid this place like the plague!
Along the way, we passedby Pembroke, John said that Joss (?) worked
at the Blockbuster in Pembroke...so we stopped, and made some calls...and
some more calls...and some more...we couldn't find the guy, either at home,
or at work, but one of the Blockbuster's wasn't answering their phone, so
that was a possiblity....it turned out that we had just about gotten to I95,
and the uncommunicative blockbuster was just a few exits up the highway. So
off we went! And, of course, he wasn't there either. But Cythia did manage
to get a copy of Das Boot there for a good price.
At this point, we decided to re-evaluate our goals...it was nearly 8
pm, we were still an hour from the beach, and there was no way we would get
there with the sun still out. So, we decided to head to Columbia, since we
would be traveling at fast highway speeds (usualy 70 mph), and visit people
in Columbia, and head home to Charlotte. I have spent many hours (days?!) on
I95, starting up by the Canadian border, but never had I been this far south
on it...it was like seeing a side of a old friend that you had never seen
before. Comfortable, but a little strange...so it was just going to be a
relaxing final leg of a day-long road trip. We didn't count on South of the
Border laying in wait for us just at the North/South Carolina border. If
any of the pix turn out, I will post them there..but let's just say that
only Las Vegas has more Neon, and no place has as much of it in a
neo-mexican motif! What a tourist trap!
We were caught....
After finding out the most important thing, if there were any DDR
games there, we went to explore things. The first store we went into was the
Leather Store. I got a black western style wide-brimed hat (like clint
eastwood wears in his various western movies) to replace the one that I lost when
my last van was stolen, John got a biker leather cap, and Cynthia got a huge car mug
with an eqally huge stir stick. We had visited the Adult store, but it was pretty
threadbare.
Noticing that my rear tire looked a little down, I checked it, and
found it was about 5 pounds down, air pressure wise, so we went off in
search of a gas station with an air pump...and found another sex shop that
was not associated with the South of the Border, nicer shop, more videos and
toys. But we were too tired to browse much...left, turned around left the
store, and then South of the Border. In many ways, it reminded me of the
scene in Apocolypse Now where they drive through that night-time firefight,
and it all looks just on the border of surrealism...but you have to duck and
stop at times to avoide being hit, or hitting things...Back on to I95 South, after a quick pitstop for air.
Needless to say, after all that shopping, we were hungry again. So
off we go into the wilderness of another offramp, and we hunted down a
Wendy's and debated which fast food place was more nutriscous. Back on that
old friend I95...and immediately we see these temporary signs that say "Left
Lane for Columbia, Right Lane for I-20", which was confusing, since I-20
*goes* to Columbia! I eventualy zen navigate to the right lane, which turns
out to be the correct one. Along with this, we are trying to contact the
person in Columbia we are going to visit, and who at this time of night, his
name escapes me! ARRGGHH!
We get onto I-20, and finally we hear back from the person we are
obsensively going to visit...and we decided to meet at a Wendy's. We stand
around and chat for about half an hour, then I suggest that we should get
going since I am getting tired...and we make our parting, and an illegal
left hand turn to get onto I-77 to Charlotte.
(the conclusion I will write up tonight...Good night people!)
The Crew:
Pilot Farrell J. McGovern
Shotgun Cynthia Moreno
Navigator John Frakes
The Plan:
Head out early on Saturday morning to the Beach, the one on the
Atlantic Coast of North Carolina...specifically, Wilmington. We even looked
up the DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) locations in Wilmington! We just wanted
some Ocean Water, a Beach and a little DDR for the addicts before we headed
home...
The Trip:
Early...that is a relative term...we eventually left my place at
around 1:30....still lots of time to get to the beach before sundown. We
were going to go down Highway 74, which starts out in Charlotte as
Independance Ave. Nice scenic highway...but if you are travelling, don't use
this road. First the max speed limit is 55, and there are lots of little
towns where it drops to 35. We stopped along the way for soda, then at one
place, stopped to look at a thrift shop, where Cynthia bought a tea pot, and
I saw an ancient IBM Model 25. Nice Design, too bad IBM didn't continue to
make it.
We stopped in Rockingham to have some food. We were three hours into
the drive, and still very far from the coast. So we first drove through town
to see what food stops they had, and on the return trip to the Dairy Queen,
we noticed a music instrument store...so we went in, saw some really good
prices on Fender Basses, and left. Further down the road, we saw a record
shop...this place was *weird*. First of all, it was run by two older white men
with a strong respenblance to a pair in Pulp Fiction, and then the store was
mainly devoted to rap, hip-hop and R&B. And not just any rap, but real
hardcore stuff. But they knew who Kate Bush was...We went to this Italian
place where they claimed to serve New York Style Pizza is like, having lived
in NYC...and if you like thin crust with very little sause and greasy
cheese eat NYC style pizza...we tried to the Sicilian...which is almost
totally unlike real Sicilian pizza. I had pepperonie and cheese, on my half,
John and Cynthia had chicken, garlic and something else. Unfortunatly, it
didn't agree with Cynthia, and she ended up going out to the van and laying
down, and drinking some pink stuff.
So, we convened after the meal to decide if we would go on...and it
was decided that we would. So off to the beach we went, again! And again,
don't use 74 as a way to get anywhere fast..they even had a speed trap set
up with half a dozen cop cars hidden...avoid this place like the plague!
Along the way, we passedby Pembroke, John said that Joss (?) worked
at the Blockbuster in Pembroke...so we stopped, and made some calls...and
some more calls...and some more...we couldn't find the guy, either at home,
or at work, but one of the Blockbuster's wasn't answering their phone, so
that was a possiblity....it turned out that we had just about gotten to I95,
and the uncommunicative blockbuster was just a few exits up the highway. So
off we went! And, of course, he wasn't there either. But Cythia did manage
to get a copy of Das Boot there for a good price.
At this point, we decided to re-evaluate our goals...it was nearly 8
pm, we were still an hour from the beach, and there was no way we would get
there with the sun still out. So, we decided to head to Columbia, since we
would be traveling at fast highway speeds (usualy 70 mph), and visit people
in Columbia, and head home to Charlotte. I have spent many hours (days?!) on
I95, starting up by the Canadian border, but never had I been this far south
on it...it was like seeing a side of a old friend that you had never seen
before. Comfortable, but a little strange...so it was just going to be a
relaxing final leg of a day-long road trip. We didn't count on South of the
Border laying in wait for us just at the North/South Carolina border. If
any of the pix turn out, I will post them there..but let's just say that
only Las Vegas has more Neon, and no place has as much of it in a
neo-mexican motif! What a tourist trap!
We were caught....
After finding out the most important thing, if there were any DDR
games there, we went to explore things. The first store we went into was the
Leather Store. I got a black western style wide-brimed hat (like clint
eastwood wears in his various western movies) to replace the one that I lost when
my last van was stolen, John got a biker leather cap, and Cynthia got a huge car mug
with an eqally huge stir stick. We had visited the Adult store, but it was pretty
threadbare.
Noticing that my rear tire looked a little down, I checked it, and
found it was about 5 pounds down, air pressure wise, so we went off in
search of a gas station with an air pump...and found another sex shop that
was not associated with the South of the Border, nicer shop, more videos and
toys. But we were too tired to browse much...left, turned around left the
store, and then South of the Border. In many ways, it reminded me of the
scene in Apocolypse Now where they drive through that night-time firefight,
and it all looks just on the border of surrealism...but you have to duck and
stop at times to avoide being hit, or hitting things...Back on to I95 South, after a quick pitstop for air.
Needless to say, after all that shopping, we were hungry again. So
off we go into the wilderness of another offramp, and we hunted down a
Wendy's and debated which fast food place was more nutriscous. Back on that
old friend I95...and immediately we see these temporary signs that say "Left
Lane for Columbia, Right Lane for I-20", which was confusing, since I-20
*goes* to Columbia! I eventualy zen navigate to the right lane, which turns
out to be the correct one. Along with this, we are trying to contact the
person in Columbia we are going to visit, and who at this time of night, his
name escapes me! ARRGGHH!
We get onto I-20, and finally we hear back from the person we are
obsensively going to visit...and we decided to meet at a Wendy's. We stand
around and chat for about half an hour, then I suggest that we should get
going since I am getting tired...and we make our parting, and an illegal
left hand turn to get onto I-77 to Charlotte.
(the conclusion I will write up tonight...Good night people!)
