The drive, continued.

We left Jackson at about 8:00am, still heading east on I-40. We were jonesing for another audio book but had a hard time finding any. At one place they had a bunch of cheap ones and we ended up with Stephen King's The Colorado Kid. The characters spoke in heavy New England accents and we had a hard time understanding them sometimes. The story took some serious paying attention to really follow and while it passed the time, it wasn't all that enjoyable.

We drove through Tennessee, passing through Nashville and Knoxville, heading for a little place north of Winston-Salem. At the last minute, Will realized that instead of taking I-40 to Winston and then going north, we should take I-81 north to I-77 south to I-74 east and US-52 south. We had to backtrack a few miles the junction with I-81, but ultimately his smart thinking saved us at least an hour of driving. Nice! We rolled into our destination at about 6:30pm. It was so nice to have a welcoming, cozy house to sleep at instead of a motel. Our dear friend made us the best lasagna ever with salad and bread on the side. And a delicious apple tart for dessert. Good food, good conversation and a good night all around.

(Day 3 - 9/12 hours)

The next morning, after a little breakfast with our friend, we headed to Winston-Salem and Krankies. That place - the Wherehouse - never ceases to amaze me. We hadn't been there in about three years and it's incredible to see how much they have done since then. Krankies has expanded. There's a bakery in the basement. A garden in progress outside. And they have their very own chickens. It is such a wonderful place and it always feels so comfortable to be there. We got to see a lot of the folks that we know, just sitting outside drinking tea and coffee, catching up. A lovely, lovely time. I just wish we had more time to spend there.

We headed out just after 2:00pm. The drive was uneventful and went by quickly, just how I like it to be. We arrived at the beach house in Isle of Palms, the same one as last year, a bit after 6:00. Just in time to join Will's folks and some family friends for dinner. We ate at The Mustard Seed in Mt. Pleasant. A very friendly place with good but not fabulous food. I tried the crab cake special and was a bit disappointed as they were the mushy kind and I prefer the crisper kind. The key lime pie was delicious though.

And that was that. We were finally at the beach.

(Day 4 - 5 hours)