South Carolina

On the 3d day of my vacation, I arose early in Vandemere, North Carolina, to capture the sunrise, then headed out to drive to Charleston, South Carolina, to visit a friend from high school who had recently moved there.  Enroute, I stopped in at a seaport town for lunch at the Trolley Stop in search of the perfect hot dog in North Carolina; a quest that was stymied in January because the restaurant was closed that day when I was in that town with my host of the prior two nights, Jimmy, who was looking around for a house to buy.

Entering South Carolina I drove by Myrtle Beach and could see its carnival atmosphere from the roadway, a ferris wheel loomed on one side and King Kong swung from a building on the other side.  Reaching Charleston, I met my high school friend Lew, and we toured some nearby beaches that were prominent in the Revolutionary War and the Civil War.

Then we had dinner at the Poe Tavern on the main street of the beachfront community.  Poe was a soldier stationed in Charleston when he was in the service so the community has an affinity for this Baltimore native.

Getting up early the next morning, I ran 3 miles in the coolness of the predawn hour and then headed out for Atlanta by driving over the very unique-looking Cooper Rive Bridge.  I had to make a baseball game that evening at the Braves' new stadium in the far northwestern suburbs of Atlanta, SunTrust Park, one of two existing major league venues at which I have never seen a baseball game (new Yankee Stadium in the other park).