Unintentional Vacation
Part 6
Wednesday, October 9 was the last day of our trip. Elyse and I had a long drive ahead of us, and we would be sleeping in our own beds at the end of the day.
The day started out as it usually did. I got up, I headed down to the lobby, and I had the hotel breakfast. As much as I appreciated the hotel breakfast because it was included with the room, by the fifth consecutive day of having it, I was definitely tired of it. Sure, the sausage and egg varieties varied from day to day, but it was largely the same thing over and over again, i.e. a Hilton breakfast is still a Hilton breakfast. But I did enjoy visiting with the people who had evacuated from Florida, and seeing them as they walked their various dogs. I also brought a plate up for Elyse.
One unexpected thing happened to me when I was getting ready for the morning: I discovered that my razor was dead. When we packed up and cleared out of the hotel on Monday, my razor had accidentally gotten bumped, and had inadvertently been left running for several hours that day. I turned it off as soon as I noticed it, but otherwise thought nothing of it, especially since I was still able to have a normal shave on Tuesday. But then on Wednesday morning, it was dead. Go figure. So I went unshaven on the last day, because my charger was at home (I made sure to fully charge the razor before the trip specifically so I wouldn’t have to bring the charger), plus it was a travel day, i.e. whatever. And since we were going home, the razor would be reunited with its charger very soon.
We left the hotel just before 11:30, and headed over to General Diesel in order to see how things were going over there, plus, depending on whether or not the bus would be able to make the trip home, collect whatever items that we needed to bring home with us and/or didn’t want to leave in South Carolina until next time.
When we got to General Diesel, we were pleased with what we saw: the bus was on the lift, a few wheels were off of it, and things were getting worked on.
The bus is on the lift, jack stands are set, and the wheels are off. Repairs are underway.
A brand new brake chamber, about to be installed.
Elyse takes a look at the engine compartment while everything is in the shop.
Talking with everyone there, it would be the case that the bus would not be ready in time for the return trip. I expected that would be the result, so this wasn’t a disappointment or anything. But at the same time, that just meant the possibility of another trip to Charleston in the future. However, we ultimately had the bus shipped to Maryland via a flatbed truck. But that still doesn’t mean that we don’t want to go back to Charleston again, because let’s admit: there’s just something about Charleston that keeps calling us back.
After we said goodbye to everyone at General Diesel, we started making our way north. The first stop was a Dunkin Donuts location just up the road, in order for Elyse to get some coffee.
Elyse smiles for a photo with three tiny fake plants at the Dunkin’. I don’t quite understand why Elyse wanted to be photographed with these, but I obliged all the same.
From here, we hit the road like we meant it. It was close to 1 PM, and we had eight hours of driving to complete, and I was determined to pace it properly, i.e. I did not want to drag this out so late that I would have to take a nap somewhere along the way like happened with the April trip.
One thing that I find interesting about traveling ahead of an election is that you see a lot of local issues out on full display. This is a perfect example, with this clearly homemade sign endorsing Carlton Walker for the 15th District for the South Carolina House of Representatives, with the message “No Moore men in little girls’ sports” beneath it. I was able to do some research later to determine that Walker ultimately lost the race, but I don’t understand the issue being discussed on the lower sign. I assume that if I were local, it would make more sense. My best guess is that it has something to do with transgender issues, and assuming that I am correct about that, I suspect that I would disagree with the sentiments being expressed here.
Once we got on the highway, we were moving like we meant it. This time, our route home was direct, i.e. no side trips though Myrtle Beach. We just went straight up I-26 to I-95 and right on home that way. The plan was to not stop again until we got to Buc-ee’s up in Florence, but about 40 minutes shy of there, nature called for Elyse, and so we stopped at a TA location in Manning. The facility was pretty generic, but it gave Elyse a chance to hit the restroom.
On the way out, we ended up having a conversation with the guy who had been parked next to us. We noticed his car when we went in because it had a whole lot of Trump stuff on it, but we just reminded ourselves that we were in a rather red area. Turns out that the guy was from Florida, and he was evacuating ahead of the storm, much like the people who we saw at the hotel with us on our final night there. However, unlike the people at the hotel, who made Charleston their final destination to wait out the storm, this guy had family up in Fairfax County. Therefore, he was traveling all the way to the DC area, where he would spend a few days before returning home to Florida.
Continuing from the truck stop, we were making good time. As we traveled, we noticed many convoys of trucks from various electric utility companies that were heading southbound towards Florida in order to help with the post-storm recovery. Those guys are the real heroes, helping to restore power in order for life to resume.
When we got close to Florence, we found out that there was a Harley-Davidson dealership there – coincidentally, at the same exit as Buc-ee’s, but on the opposite side. So we stopped over there first, where Elyse got a poker chip to add to the collection.
I spotted these stickers on a rack at the Harley dealership in Florence, and I couldn’t help but shake my head upon seeing them. They got the word right in one spot, but then they also screwed it up elsewhere. So close, yet so far.
We then went to over to Buc-ee’s. I gassed up the car, and then I tried to charge the electric side of the car, with the intention of letting it charge while we were shopping. Unfortunately, the charger didn’t fit the rental car’s port, so that was the end of that.
Photographing those famously clean restrooms again at Buc-ee’s. This time, I remembered to make sure that the seat was down before I started photographing.
This time around, we got various food items, and I tried their cheesesteak burrito for the first time (it was quite good). We also got a bunch of Buc-ee’s branded items, including some clothes and a Buc-ee’s doormat.
Our new Buc-ee’s doormat the next day in front of the house, with the Buc-ee’s beaver character and the line, “Hope you brought Beaver Nuggets,” beneath it.
We also had a first with this visit to Buc-ee’s, getting out for under $200. However, I don’t know how much I’m willing to consider that as self-restraint, considering that I also went to Buc-ee’s on the outbound journey and surpassed the $200 mark at that time. So this was either our biggest Buc-ee’s haul ever if you consider it to be a single combined adventure, since it was both legs of the same trip to Charleston, or it’s our smallest single Buc-ee’s haul yet. Take your pick, I suppose.
After I finished at Buc-ee’s, I put the drone up in the air, and did a lap around the place.
The traffic circle in front of Buc-ee’s.
Then I went a little bit closer in.
Then I did some top-down shots of the building, focusing on the large Buc-ee’s logo painted on the roof. I have to admit, the Buc-ee’s logo in large size on the roof is quite clever, because it shows up really well on satellite images, so that you can immediately recognize a Buc-ee’s on services like Google Maps.
Coming in for a landing. My rental car is that white vehicle to the right with the panoramic moon roof.
And then we hit the road again, and did not stop again until we reached Rocky Mount, North Carolina. There, we went to Target.
Selfie at the Target in Rocky Mount.
A giant Halloween-themed inflatable archway.
It was also not lost on me that this Target was right around the corner from Golden East Crossing, which I had wanted to fly on the way down. As it was dark again, that drone flight clearly wasn’t going to happen. Ah, well.
We also discovered that the former Kmart building in Rocky Mount, which I photographed back in 2021, was about to become a Rural King. Too bad that they weren’t open yet.
Before we left Rocky Mount, we also dipped into a Sheetz in order to top up the car and freshen my beverage. We also checked out the electric charging station, only to find out once again that it was incompatible with our charging port. I resigned myself to the fact that charging the electric side of the car wasn’t going to happen, but fortunately, it was just a curiosity for us, and not a crucial need.
Once we got back on the road, we continued all the way to Richmond. There, I wanted to plow straight through the city, and then make a stop at the Sheetz that’s off of the Atlee exit for a quick dinner. Elyse wanted to hit up a bar in Richmond, and identified the Penny Lane Pub as that bar. I didn’t want to do that, but you know, keep the peace, but make sure to expedite things. Then when we got over to the bar, right across the street from the intended location was the Moxy, where we stayed on our overnight trip to Richmond in 2023. Elyse immediately decided to go to the Moxy instead, where they also had a bar. I readily agreed to this, figuring that the Moxy presented a much higher chance of a quick in and out compared to a real bar. Elyse got a mixed drink, while I got water.
The Moxy attempts to be humorous with some of its signage, and this sign in the bathroom is one example.
Message on the straw dispenser at the Moxy stating that they are cashless. This was a new development since our stay there. That doesn’t bother me, since I try to pay with a credit card whenever possible, and only pay with cash if I absolutely have to.
We were at the Moxy for about 30 minutes, then we hit the road again. Our next stop was the planned one, at the Sheetz off of the Atlee exit, for dinner. That was our last stop until we got to Gaithersburg, where we stopped to fill up the rental car at a Liberty station that is usually the cheapest gas around. I entertained myself while the car was fueling by photographing a discarded cigarette pack.
A crumpled pack of Camel Crush Menthol cigarettes on the ground at the Liberty station in Gaithersburg.
And then it was just another ten minutes to the house, and we were home. I parked the rental next to the HR-V, we brought everything in, and that was that. Then the next morning, we went down to Enterprise and returned the rental car.
So all in all, that was a fun little trip. Even though the bus didn’t make it home like we had planned, we had a wonderful time in Charleston, and considering the way that things ended up working out, I count the whole experience as our big vacation for 2024, even if it was unintentional. I’m satisfied with that, and I’m sure that we’ll be back in Charleston again one of these days.