The open road. North Carolina. Photo © Nic Blaski June 2015
Summers are made for road trips. My family and I embarked on our annual road trip to South Carolina in early June. The northern Illinois deep freeze had ended and the ice had finally melted off the highways. Gas prices were at an all time low. Our van hadn’t entirely succumbed to the rust spreading along its once sleek exterior. Why not load up and head out?
Funny how six states seem smaller when looking at them on a map.
Observations (by state) along the way:
- Illinois has two road conditions: icy or construction.
- Indiana is a very tall state. Driving from the top to the bottom takes ALL DAY.
- Kentucky bluegrass is green in June (and not native to Kentucky or even North America BTW)
- Tennessee is pretty.
- North Carolina is pretty too. And a fun drive. Hills, turns, tunnels, and falling rock.
- South Carolinians drive fastest in the rain. Not kidding. Sunshine=fast driving; cloudy=faster driving; raining=fastest driving ever. 90 MPH and they can dodge the drops.
Three days later we arrived at our destination.
North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Photo © Karin Blaski June 2015
Thank you SIRI. Sand, surf, and smorgasboard awaited. We partook. A good time was had by all.
Oh and before I forget, while we were in Myrtle Beach we did this with the kids:
“Aargh Ye Matey ‘Tis A Pirate Ship I See.” Pirates Voyage Dinner & Show, Myrtle Beach, SC, photo © Karin Blaski June 2015
Which was “incredible fun for the whole family” and highly recommended. If you have a ten year old daughter, be sure to splurge on the Pirate Makeover (there’s a Mermaid Makeover if she’d rather not get the five o’clock shadow).
Then, on the way back home, we went here:
The Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC; photo © Nic Blaski June 2015
Which was amazing enough for its own blog post for a later date.
So another successful road trip came to a close. Three cheers to the 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan which continues to carry us safely from point A to point B and every point between. The only thing that raised a few eyebrows on our trip was this:
SW stands for Sweltering, Photo © Nic Blaski June 2015
It was worth it though when the view looked like this:
North Carolina mountains, Photo © Nic Blaski June 2015