March 30 Friday Day 33 Charleston to Jacksonville NC

We are at a Quality Inn.

The state tree of South Carolina is the palmetto, same as Florida but, there is called a cabbage palm?

We left our motel and went down one block to Rick Hendrick’s Chevrolet. He had a dozen C-6 Vette’s on the lot, we went in and a sales guy ran up. He asked if we were looking for anything, I ask how would we put a trailer hitch on a new Corvette? He grinned and said we’ll figure it out. I said we were NASCAR fans and had been to Daytona a couple days ago and when we pulled in to our motel we saw this dealership. He said hang on I’ll get you a Hendrick plate and license frame, how could I refuse. At that time Shirleen had no idea that Hendrick’s was the owner of the 24 car, Jeff Gordon, now she really liked it. We did a little touring of Charleston, we went down many streets but, gave up on trying to find some of what we had done the day before. Nice town could spend more time but, that would be next time.

We traveled along the coastal roads to see how things are other than on the hustling freeways. For lunch we ate at Damon’s Grill in Myrtle Beach for starters we had two cabernet’s and a ½ loaf of onion rings, Shirleen ordered southern Pulled Pork BBQ and I a Beef Brisket sandwich with horseradish, both with coleslaw and fries.

Away we headed north on 17 and went to Wilmington NC but, the only rooms we found in four motels was smoking rooms. We went to the local county horticultural societies planting area. This was a location that showed how to plant and where to plant the garden flowers and greenery. Down the line from there was the Airlie Gardens. A most beautiful setting. We walked around the tulips that were in full bloom, all kinds but planted in single color masses. We then saw the signature piece a garden designed by a lady whom tended the garden for many years. Minnie Evans put together a concrete and bottle chapel. The walls were punctured by glass bottles, Crown Royal, many beer and wine bottles along with some gallon jugs. One can’t say enough about the beauty of this piece of work. we strolled down to the dock to look out upon the waterway and looked back toward shore and saw the osprey nesting pair. From there we looked at the live oak tree that is thought to be 400 years old.

Away we headed north on 17 and went to Wilmington NC but, the only rooms we found in four motels was smoking rooms. Only 50 miles away was Jacksonville, we found a place at the Quality Inn, lacking on quality. We went to the Outback for dinner. Shirleen had a bowl of onion soup and I two Guinness beers and a hamburger, fried onions, mushrooms and Swiss cheese, I left the bun and fries off my menu. jerr