As many of you know winter is now upon us! Upon us to the point of no return, no sunlight, and no real hope of thawing out any time soon. Well not for me! I did as the birds do and migrated south for this winter. January 15 was my last official day working in Worcester, MA. There were no tears except those few of joy as I was observed sprinting away from the nursing facilities!! OK, OK, I actually had managed to make a few friends and connect with a few patients that made it slightly sad-ish to leave. Mainly though I will miss the area of the New England states and the amazing scenery it has to offer!
I packed up all of my things hopeful to have a little extra wiggle room in the truck, think again. I had received a nice top carrier for Sammy and thought if I used it wisely I would be able to leave a part of the back seat up for our journey South. As I filled up the bellhop cart emptying my apartment load by load, I realized that either I had forgotten how to pack concisely or I have accumulated some stuff along the way! None-the-less I left my downtown, noisey, previously hooker corner located apartment to pick up Steph from Logan airport. Steph had graciously and selfishly left her 2 children in NE and agreed to fly up to Massachusetts, tour up into Maine, then drive down to South Carolina while eating great seafood and having a guided tour of the East Coast. Now if that is not selflessness......:)
First stop on the tour de Becky was Cape Ann, MA. A quick glimpse at the ocean along Gloucester's bank and a brief history lesson of the oldest seaport on the Atlantic coast, then off to get Stephy some scallops!! The point of the first 24hrs of the trip was to show Steph some of the fun that I've been having for the past 13wks as well as for me to have one last trip to some of my favorites. After the Peter's platter and 2 cups of clam chowdah, we went to Long Beach for a walk, Granite Pier for a photo opp, then finished up venturing down the foot path to the Atlantic at sunset. The weather couldn't have been more perfect and sharing the experience for me was fantastic. Where else would we go to spend the evening and have dinner but Kennebunk, ME? We followed the winding roads that I had taken a couple of times to Salisbury beach and ended up checking into the Kings Port Inn where I had spent my fabulous New Year adventures. Quick change and headed to the famous Bartley's for baked stuffed lobster and haddock ala dockside. I think that Steph would agree, the food is incomparable to anything found in the Midwest!!
Woke up early Sunday morning to begin the long drive down the east coastline to our second destination on the tour de Becky, Virginia Beach, VA. Well the first few hours of the trip were delightful, trading off sleeping, stopping for fun snacks and listening to the mixed CD that Steph smartly had made prior to coming. It was about NYC that I woke up to Betty going nuts, Steph driving while talking on the phone and the rain had just begun to sputter on the windshield. This is when I very calmly grabbed Betty and looked at Steph and said, "you do realize that we are in the middle of NYC, right?" She politely ended the phone call with, "gotta go we are in the Bronx!" The rain began and the rain and fog continued through New York, Georgia, Delaware and Virginia! After about 8hours of straight rain and dense fog we decided that it would be best to just call it a day. We stopped for quite possibly the worst Mexican meal that either of us had ever had near Cape Charles, VA then made a few phone calls to get a hotel room. Do not tell my mom this part but the hotel room that we ended up in was so gross and a little scary, to the point that Steph and I decided to block the door with a chair prior to turning in for the night!!! The nice old man at the front desk, 8ft from his bedroom, was quick to show us the lobby filled with collections of yellowed glass and then politely took us to our 70's vomit room complete with rust, mold and a permanent roll-a-way bed! Cheers to adventure!
The next morning we awoke, thankfully unscathed, to sunshine. About 5mi down the road we began a 20mi adventure along the causeway and through mile long tunnels to get across the ocean and to Virginia Beach. At one point, looking back, we realized that we had been in a tunnel at the same moment a ginormous ship was going right over us through the waters. We did make good use of our time in Virginia Beach, making two important stops.....Sonic and Starbucks! There really is not a major interstate that goes south along the coast through most of these eastern states. At one point we were stuck behind a truck parade moving a house that at one point needed to stop so they could put back on the siding and windows! We noticed a trend of increasing friendliness amongst the people and collectively less teeth! Contrary to most people's belief, I did do a little bit of research for this trip. It was proven when we arrived at the Clam Digger Inn on Atlantic Beach, NC in 70degree sunny weather sitting on the beach for lunch. I did apologize to Steph for the horrible accommodations! :) For lunch we went with the southern flow and ordered the lunch special of a shrimp burger. One would assume that this would be similar to a crab cake, but you all know what happens when we assume.....you get fried shrimp pieces on a plain bun. Steph said optimistically, "well at least the shrimp are really fresh"! After lunch and a couple beers on the beach we retired for a short nap, waking up to the glow of the sunset along the beach. Then decided to hit the hot tub while being served drinks about 20ft from the water's edge. The night was spent with of course more scallops for Steph, mingling with some local contractors and then breaking back into the hot tub for some well deserved R&R. Rough life I have to share with Stephy. What a trooper she is!!
Tuesday morning was absolutely gorgeous, as was the 5hr drive to my apartment in Sumter, SC. We made it to my apartment about 3pm in 68degree weather, realizing that I had completely escaped the end of winter!! We spent the rest of the evening unpacking and organizing, while conversing with the maintenance guy who spent about 3hours not fixing my heater. Steph so graciously did most of the organizing while I dealt with the electronics, but really I am finding out, she really just wanted to hide funny notes all around my apartment! I have found some and they make me smile each time :) The apartment is great this time, about 840sq ft with washer and dryer and a much more comfortable bed. We made a short night of it trying to organize, eat some Chinese food and research park and fly locations for the Florence, SC airport. Well folks, I will save you some precious time, do not look for a park and fly for the Florence airport because they don't exist. The airport is the smallest ever seen by Steph or I, equipped with plenty of wooden rocking chairs to accommodate all of the 40 daily passengers and the 20 or so staff members! After rocking in our chairs with southern hospitality, Steph and I finally ended the tour de Becky. Steph flew back to NE while I flew back to KC to celebrate my 30th birthday!
What a blessing to have the memories and the means to share with my sister and what a blessing to start yet another adventure in Sumter, SC! Yeee-hawww!
I packed up all of my things hopeful to have a little extra wiggle room in the truck, think again. I had received a nice top carrier for Sammy and thought if I used it wisely I would be able to leave a part of the back seat up for our journey South. As I filled up the bellhop cart emptying my apartment load by load, I realized that either I had forgotten how to pack concisely or I have accumulated some stuff along the way! None-the-less I left my downtown, noisey, previously hooker corner located apartment to pick up Steph from Logan airport. Steph had graciously and selfishly left her 2 children in NE and agreed to fly up to Massachusetts, tour up into Maine, then drive down to South Carolina while eating great seafood and having a guided tour of the East Coast. Now if that is not selflessness......:)
First stop on the tour de Becky was Cape Ann, MA. A quick glimpse at the ocean along Gloucester's bank and a brief history lesson of the oldest seaport on the Atlantic coast, then off to get Stephy some scallops!! The point of the first 24hrs of the trip was to show Steph some of the fun that I've been having for the past 13wks as well as for me to have one last trip to some of my favorites. After the Peter's platter and 2 cups of clam chowdah, we went to Long Beach for a walk, Granite Pier for a photo opp, then finished up venturing down the foot path to the Atlantic at sunset. The weather couldn't have been more perfect and sharing the experience for me was fantastic. Where else would we go to spend the evening and have dinner but Kennebunk, ME? We followed the winding roads that I had taken a couple of times to Salisbury beach and ended up checking into the Kings Port Inn where I had spent my fabulous New Year adventures. Quick change and headed to the famous Bartley's for baked stuffed lobster and haddock ala dockside. I think that Steph would agree, the food is incomparable to anything found in the Midwest!!
Woke up early Sunday morning to begin the long drive down the east coastline to our second destination on the tour de Becky, Virginia Beach, VA. Well the first few hours of the trip were delightful, trading off sleeping, stopping for fun snacks and listening to the mixed CD that Steph smartly had made prior to coming. It was about NYC that I woke up to Betty going nuts, Steph driving while talking on the phone and the rain had just begun to sputter on the windshield. This is when I very calmly grabbed Betty and looked at Steph and said, "you do realize that we are in the middle of NYC, right?" She politely ended the phone call with, "gotta go we are in the Bronx!" The rain began and the rain and fog continued through New York, Georgia, Delaware and Virginia! After about 8hours of straight rain and dense fog we decided that it would be best to just call it a day. We stopped for quite possibly the worst Mexican meal that either of us had ever had near Cape Charles, VA then made a few phone calls to get a hotel room. Do not tell my mom this part but the hotel room that we ended up in was so gross and a little scary, to the point that Steph and I decided to block the door with a chair prior to turning in for the night!!! The nice old man at the front desk, 8ft from his bedroom, was quick to show us the lobby filled with collections of yellowed glass and then politely took us to our 70's vomit room complete with rust, mold and a permanent roll-a-way bed! Cheers to adventure!
The next morning we awoke, thankfully unscathed, to sunshine. About 5mi down the road we began a 20mi adventure along the causeway and through mile long tunnels to get across the ocean and to Virginia Beach. At one point, looking back, we realized that we had been in a tunnel at the same moment a ginormous ship was going right over us through the waters. We did make good use of our time in Virginia Beach, making two important stops.....Sonic and Starbucks! There really is not a major interstate that goes south along the coast through most of these eastern states. At one point we were stuck behind a truck parade moving a house that at one point needed to stop so they could put back on the siding and windows! We noticed a trend of increasing friendliness amongst the people and collectively less teeth! Contrary to most people's belief, I did do a little bit of research for this trip. It was proven when we arrived at the Clam Digger Inn on Atlantic Beach, NC in 70degree sunny weather sitting on the beach for lunch. I did apologize to Steph for the horrible accommodations! :) For lunch we went with the southern flow and ordered the lunch special of a shrimp burger. One would assume that this would be similar to a crab cake, but you all know what happens when we assume.....you get fried shrimp pieces on a plain bun. Steph said optimistically, "well at least the shrimp are really fresh"! After lunch and a couple beers on the beach we retired for a short nap, waking up to the glow of the sunset along the beach. Then decided to hit the hot tub while being served drinks about 20ft from the water's edge. The night was spent with of course more scallops for Steph, mingling with some local contractors and then breaking back into the hot tub for some well deserved R&R. Rough life I have to share with Stephy. What a trooper she is!!
Tuesday morning was absolutely gorgeous, as was the 5hr drive to my apartment in Sumter, SC. We made it to my apartment about 3pm in 68degree weather, realizing that I had completely escaped the end of winter!! We spent the rest of the evening unpacking and organizing, while conversing with the maintenance guy who spent about 3hours not fixing my heater. Steph so graciously did most of the organizing while I dealt with the electronics, but really I am finding out, she really just wanted to hide funny notes all around my apartment! I have found some and they make me smile each time :) The apartment is great this time, about 840sq ft with washer and dryer and a much more comfortable bed. We made a short night of it trying to organize, eat some Chinese food and research park and fly locations for the Florence, SC airport. Well folks, I will save you some precious time, do not look for a park and fly for the Florence airport because they don't exist. The airport is the smallest ever seen by Steph or I, equipped with plenty of wooden rocking chairs to accommodate all of the 40 daily passengers and the 20 or so staff members! After rocking in our chairs with southern hospitality, Steph and I finally ended the tour de Becky. Steph flew back to NE while I flew back to KC to celebrate my 30th birthday!
What a blessing to have the memories and the means to share with my sister and what a blessing to start yet another adventure in Sumter, SC! Yeee-hawww!
