Memorial Day was spent driving from Charleston to Raleigh, NC (so Renee could cross both Carolinas off her state list) for our flight back to O'Hare. We drove north up the coast of South Carolina along Highway 17 and then got on I-40 in Wilmington NC. We were only a little ways into our drive when we saw a nice Escalade pulled over on a side street with about 4 police cars and the officers standing with their guns pointed at the occupants. Such excitement for 9 AM! The rest of South Carolina was pretty boring compared to that. I was hoping to see the ocean on our drive, but we were mostly surrounded by trees. We did drive through Myrtle Beach, which was not that exciting. Lots of traffic and lots of mini-golf courses. The water was again too far away to really see. We crossed the NC border and stopped for lunch at a Wendys. The real excitement happened shortly after we were back on the road. A motorcycle when flying by the car and was closely followed by a police car. Well, not far behind were several more police cars. Other drivers did not seem to care that sirens were blaring and lights were flashing as they weren't quick to get into the right lane. The motorcycle just went straight down the middle of the two lanes. So Renee and I were speculating about what the guy had done and if we would see him stopped. She commented that at least he was wearing a helmet! Farther along, the traffic came to a crawl. I spotted an ambulance coming down the ramp, followed by a firetruck and police car. Everyone pulled over for the ambulance and promptly moved back into line, apparently not noticing the fire truck. Finally, the vehicles got through and we could see them stopped. I was hoping to not see a squished motorcycle rider in the middle of the street. Eventually, we pulled by and saw the motorcycle in the ditch and the guy on a stretcher. Renee says his face was uncovered so maybe he wasn't dead. There was a Jeep pulled over that we assume must have hit him or he hit her. We counted and there were 11 police cars at the scene! Guess the guy wasn't being pulled over for a simple speeding ticket! The rest of the ride was uneventful. We circled around Wilmington and were able to see the Battleship North Carolina that is docked there and some views of the harbor. Once on I-40, it was trees and more trees. We could not see Raleigh from the interstate.
The Raleigh-Durham airport is really nice. The Hertz bus lady was super friendly, there were no lines to check in or go through security. We got to experience the full body scanner, which I thought was really simple and no big deal. The airport was clean, quiet and spacious. Now it may not be that way all the time, but at 4:00 on Memorial Day it was. Our plane left on-time and even arrived early to O'Hare. We were able to check our bags at the gate for free due to the flight being full and they were already coming around the belt by the time we got down to baggage claim.
I would like to mention that Sunday night we at a place called Hubee Ds and it was delicious. We each got the junior chicken tender basket. For $5.50 you got 2 chicken tenders, a bunch of fries, coleslaw and cornbread. The tenders were just delicious and the cornbread was so sweet and moist. They had lots of dipping sauces to choose from and free boiled peanuts to sample. Renee and I sampled and we did not like. For dessert, we got the fried banana pudding and that was just heaven. 3 pieces of fried banana, creamy pudding and chocolate drizzle. A great way to end our last night.
Charleston in late May is hot, humid and still charming. A little too hot and humid for us, but that's ok. Next time, I would like to experience it in cooler weather when walking around the various historical spots isn't unbearable. The people are friendly, the city accessible and the scenery beautiful. A must visit city!
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