Dallas, Sarah, Irish and me before leaving the house in Beaufort

It was after 11 when Dallas and I finally woke up.  We had been hoping to leave by noon and catch the last ferry to Ocracoke Island at 5:30pm, but I needed to get somewhere with wifi to wire money to the realtor of the place we’re going to live in Newport.  Noon came and went, and we still hadn’t left Beaufort, so we decided to hang out in the town for a little longer since we were probably going to miss the 5:30 ferry.  We’d still leave Beaufort that day but just camp on Cedar Island overnight and catch the first ferry in the morning.  There really wasn’t anything else in between Beaufort and Cedar Island, so we figured it was better to spend our time in town rather than get to Cedar Island early and have nothing to do for the rest of the day.

Many of the homes in Beaufort have lawns of wildflowers – much nicer than grass lawns, and less maintenance required!

Our first stop after breakfast was the laundromat, and we walked around Beaufort while our clothes washed and dried.  Beaufort is a charming port town, with plenty of ice-cream shops, chocolate, coffee, art, sailboats, and nice homes with large front porches.  One of the houses, the Hammock House, was where the pirate Blackbeard lived.

When we were finally ready to leave Beaufort, we made one last stop to split a sandwich and some ice-cream, since we were hungry again.  While standing outside with our bikes, a family walked by, and the father, Bill, started talking to us about our trip.  He gave Dallas his card before they continued on their way.  Not five minutes later, after we had gone in to fill our water bottles, Bill came inside and handed Dallas some money!  People never cease to amaze me with their generosity – we are very thankful.

We finally hit the road at 5:30pm and were met with strong headwinds.  For 19 miles we struggled to move forward against the wind before stopping at a gas station to refill on water.  We had left rather late, and we were making slow progress.  The sun would be down in an hour, and we didn’t want to get caught in the dark without a place to camp.  We settled on camping 6 or 7 miles later, under a tall electrical tower, in a town called Stacy.  As soon as we stopped we were swarmed by mosquitoes and biting flies.  Both Dallas and I slathered ourselves with this natural insect repellent that we had bought from the organic market in Jacksonville, but we were still being bitten.  We had to make a decision quickly or else we’d be stuck in the dark, so we set up our tent on the flattest and driest patch of ground we could find.  This happened to be over a bunch of broken shells, which were awfully uncomfortable to lie on.

Poor Dallas was really reacting to the mosquito bites.  He already had welts all over his legs from the previous days, and now they were attacking him relentlessly.  He was reluctant to go back outside to cover his bike once we were safe inside the tent, so when it started to pour, I ran out and covered our bikes.  I think Dallas spent a fair amount of time reading about mosquitoes and the diseases they can carry on his iPhone while I tried to fall asleep.  It was not a very restful night.

There was some kind of creature nearby our tent that was making the exact same sound as Dallas’s alarm clock, which sounds like a duck quacking.  This went on pretty much all night, and when Dallas’s alarm clock finally did go off, I was not ready to wake up.  It sounded like it was raining, but then I put my glasses on and realized it was just the buzzing of all the mosquitoes, and the pattering sound came from them bumping around between the tent and the rain fly.  We packed everything up before venturing from the tent.  In the space between our tent and the rain fly, the mosquitoes were having a party.  There were at least 50 of them up there, just waiting for us to come out so they could drink our blood.  As we pedaled away from the area, Dallas was sure that the mosquitoes were following him.  I did see 3 of them sitting on his right shoulder…

View from the bridge to Cedar Island, over the national wildlife reserve

It was another 14 miles to the Cedar Island Ferry, and Dallas and I rode there nonstop, aside from a pause to take a photo from the bridge over the Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge.  We didn’t make the first ferry, which left at 7am, but we purchased tickets for the next one that left at 10am before going into the motel for a free continental breakfast.  We had about an hour to spare before lining up with the motorcycles waiting to get onto the ferry.  We had to wait for the long line of cars, including two enormous RV’s (one of which was pulling another car on a hitch) to board the ferry before we were allowed on.  I cannot believe all of them fit on such a small boat!

Me, Eric and Dallas before leaving Jacksonville

Dallas and I departed from Eric’s house and went straight to a diner, where we ate sandwiches and salad, just a mile away.  After eating, we rode a few more miles to the organic market to buy snacks for the next few days of riding.  It was afternoon when we finally left Jacksonville.

It rained on and off for most of the day, and we kept trying to hide from it under awnings or inside supermarkets or gas stations when possible.  About 20 miles into our ride, we crossed a bridge over to Emerald Isle and were able to ride one block over from the main road, avoiding much of the traffic that had been ruining the enjoyment of cycling since leaving Jacksonville.  We had forgotten about Memorial Day weekend until we got to Jacksonville and realized that traffic was probably going to be insane.

On Emerald Isle, our course took us parallel to a beach for several miles, and we stopped for about an hour to swim and ride the waves.  During this time, the sun came out and stayed bright until we got back on our bikes.  Then we were fighting headwinds for the rest of the ride and the sky was threatening us with showers.

Drying off in the sun after swimming on Emerald Isle

Less than 10 miles from Beaufort, we stopped for dinner at a sushi restaurant – probably not the best time to stop, but we were hungry.  The sun was gone by the time we had finished eating, and we had to ride the rest of the way to Beaufort in the dark.  Fortunately, I had been able to contact Jacqui, a couchsurfer who agreed to host us for the evening, so we didn’t have to worry about finding a place to camp in the dark.  Getting over the bridge from Morehead City to Beaufort was scary, since there was only a narrow shoulder, the rail preventing us from falling off the bridge into the water was low, and the winds were so strong it was impossible to hold a steady course on our bikes.  We got off and walked over most of the bridge.

Jacqui was an incredibly welcoming hostess.  She had warned me over the phone that there would probably not be a couch, but there would be floor space for us, which was more than enough for Dallas and me.  When we arrived, there were a few people sitting on the front porch and more people inside.  The guy outside introduced himself as Preston and told us that he used to do a lot of bicycle touring himself.  He was now in the process of fixing up a sailboat.  The couple inside, Sarah and Irish, had been hitchhiking around the US for the past 2 and 4 years, respectively, and decided to settle down for a while in Beaufort after they met Jacqui and her husband, Crunch.  Everyone at the house was very cool, and I wish I could have spent more time with all of them.  Other people came and went over the course of the night, and Dallas and I did end up getting to sleep on a couch.

On Thursday, Dallas and I progressed immensely compared to the previous two days.  We rose from our camp site around 8 or 9am and left after sharing some Reese’s peanut butter cups and an apple for breakfast.  We were on paved roads for no more than 5 or 6 miles before Garmin directed us to turn onto yet another dirt road.  Dallas questioned whether we should follow these directions or if we should go 7 miles out of the way and stay on paved roads.  He was out of water, so I gave him one of my bottles and figured that we’d be back on paved roads and close to a gas station by the time we ran out of water.

At least there’s no traffic on these roads

An hour later we were still on desolate, unpaved roads, and not a single car had passed us.  The only signs of any human activity for 15 miles or so were the tire tracks in the dried mud and a cigarette carton that had been discarded in the middle of the road.  We stopped to eat some of our food a few miles before finally reaching a paved road.  After a few more miles of riding on pavement, we came to Dale’s convenience store.

We were relieved to find a place where we could fill up our water bottles, and each of us bought 2 cold drinks as well.  Sitting at a table in the air-conditioned store, a local man started talking to Dallas about the route we were taking.  As we were getting ready to leave, he offered to give us a ride as far as he could in the direction he was going while heading back to work.  We gratefully accepted, and he ended up driving us a few miles further than his turn towards work, saving us about 10 miles altogether.

It keeps raining on us!

With 18 miles of riding behind us and an extra 10 miles headway thanks to the ride, reaching Jacksonville that night was beginning to seem realistic.  We still needed some real food, so we rode another 20 or 30 miles to the next town, which was Burgaw.  There was a laundromat conveniently across the street from the Courthouse Cafe, where we set up shop for a few hours.  While waiting for laundry, I got in touch with Eve, a couchsurfer who was out of town for the summer, but graciously gave us her husband’s phone number and said that he could host us.

Sunset in Jacksonville

When we finally left Burgaw, it was after 6pm.  Jacksonville was still 35 miles away, and we had 2 hours before sunset.  Dallas and I flew for 35 miles down route 53 East, keeping a speed of 18-20 miles per hour and only stopping twice before arriving at Eric and Eve’s home just before dark.  Eric greeted us and treated us with great hospitality, offering us food and even cutting a mango for us.  A shower and futon to sleep on was a welcome change from camping in the tent, which has become rather sandy and buggy over the past 2 weeks.

Probably to make up for the long previous day, Dallas and I did not get very far for the next two days.  From where we camped, we rode 8 or 9 miles before eating breakfast at Waffle House (not the best choice).  We didn’t have to go far on route 17 (aka Ocean Highway) before it started giving off a vacation resort vibe.  The road was lined with all sorts of billboards, beachwear shops, fireworks stores and restaurants.

When we reached Garden City, we turned down to the beach, went for a swim and took a nap on the sand.  Well…I swam and then read my book while Dallas napped.  The water was cool and refreshing after riding under the hot sun.  Almost as soon as we left the beach and found a place to eat again, clouds rolled in and it started to rain.  When the sky looked safe again, we continued along the road to Myrtle Beach and set up shop again at a Starbucks.  I’m amazed (in a disgusted way) by how the seashore is so littered with hotels, and each one advertising their various amenities, such as lazy rivers and swimming pools.

Dallas almost got eaten by a shark in Myrtle Beach

It seems to have been bike week at Myrtle Beach, or maybe they are just preparing for bike week, because everyone had signs outside welcoming the bikers.  However, there didn’t seem to be an extraordinary amount of bikers around.  The next day (Wednesday) we saw considerably more people out on motorcycles, most of them not wearing helmets.

We stayed at Starbucks for quite a while, reluctant to get back in the saddle.  I think the long ride to Georgetown had worn us out a bit.  We could not find any couchsurfing hosts to stay with, so we started riding again in search of a suitable place to camp for the night.  The place we chose was off the beaten path and along a narrow trail through a heavily wooded area.  It was pretty creepy wheeling our bikes through the windy trail in the dark, and I was further frightened when I saw a pair of eyes watching us from a few hundred feet in distance.

Copperhead snake

In the morning I left the tent to pee and almost peed on a snake!  It was a copperhead, the snake that people are most likely to be bitten by.  The bites are usually not deadly, but are very painful and require immediate medical attention.  This was a juvenile snake, which means they are more likely to inject venom when they do bite.  I backed away, and we kept an eye on the snake while we packed up the tent.

We found our way out of the wooded area and rode about 6 miles  to Cannoli’s Cafe, where we stayed for over 2 hours, eating breakfast and trying to motivate ourselves to move forward.  Once we got back on our bikes, we rode on a bike lane that paralleled the beach for several miles before rejoining highway 17.  This road brought us finally out of Myrtle Beach and out of South Carolina.

Finally crossing into North Carolina

Shortly after crossing into North Carolina it started raining.  We stopped to share an apple on the side of the road and split a vegan raw bar that we had purchased in Charleston.  A few minutes down the road again, we came to a creamery and had to stop for ice-cream.  It rained again while we sat in rocking chairs on the porch eating our ice-cream.  Everyone around here seems to have big porches with rocking chairs outside.

Eventually, we made it to Shallotte, one of the few towns along our route.  We usually try to stop whenever we go through a town because places to find food can be hard to find in between towns.  We drank coffee and Shallotte and stopped at Walmart to pick up food for the next few meals before heading out of town to find camping.

The sun was going down, so we didn’t get more than 10 or 15 miles out of Shallotte before deciding to turn into a private hunting club’s territory to set up our tent before dark.  The dirt road was completely abandoned, and we turned down another dirt road that dead-ended in the forest.  There, in the middle of the road just before it ended, was the skeleton of a deer.  We set up our tent in the middle of the road several meters before the end, battling mosquitoes as we did so.  The ground was hard but flat, and I felt we weren’t likely to run into any copperheads here.

Me, Missee and Dallas before leaving Charleston

After spending a day walking around Charleston, Dallas and I spent one more night at Charles and Missee’s house before heading out on Monday morning.  Missee made possibly the best grits I had ever tasted, mixed with eggs.

The bridge between Charleston and Mount Pleasant

We didn’t ride very far before stopping for coffee and lunch at the Village Bakery in Mount Pleasant (on the other side of the bridge from Charleston).  The 7-layer bar was probably the best thing I’ve tasted in a long time, and I highly recommend it.  When traveling, we want to go everywhere and try all the food, but we obviously can’t afford to do so, so we have to be choosy.  These are the hardest choices, since we can’t just go back another day and try something else on the menu.  That 7-layer bar was one of the best choices I’ve made on this trip.  I usually end up liking whatever Dallas ordered better than what I ordered, so it’s a good thing Dallas is okay with sharing everything.

When we got back on our bikes, we rode for a long time before coming to anywhere worth stopping.  The only stop we made was to duck out of the rain under the awning of an abandoned convenience store while a storm passed briefly.  When we were almost to Georgetown (only 13 miles to go), we took a turn off the main road at the direction of Google maps.  Google maps bike directions sometimes will take us out of the way to put us on designated bike trails or to take us off busy roads with dangerous traffic.  Unfortunately, it often screws up.

A flower I saw somewhere along the route…

I didn’t notice the chain across the path we turned onto until I had ridden straight into it and had broken the padlock with ease.  Oops.  We should have turned around and gone back then.  Instead, we continued down the overgrown tick and mosquito infested trail that Google maps wanted us to take.  Not halfway down this trail (or at least less than half the distance we were supposed to be on this trail), Dallas expressed how horrible it would be if the path just came to a dead end and we couldn’t get through.  Shortly after Dallas had voiced his fears, the trail narrowed, went down a steepish hill with even taller grass and ended abruptly in the thick woods.  We turned back and rode about a mile towards the road we turned off of before trying out a different trail in the hopes that it might go all the way through so we can continue to follow the purple line on Garmin.  This trail was so sandy that it was impossible to maintain control of our bikes, and once stopped, incredibly difficult to start again without sinking into the sand – not to mention the mosquitoes that would flock to us the moment we stopped moving forward.  Frustrated (and hungry), we rode all the way back to the main highway 17, losing about 6.5 miles and close to an hour of cycling.  We still had 13 miles to go to get to the town.

He’s probably really hungry by now…

Fortunately, there was plenty of daylight left.  Still, not many places were open when we arrived in Georgetown, and we were both starving.  We ate at Limpin Janes, a restaurant right on the dock.  The food was fresh, healthy, not too expensive, and very tasty, and some locals gave us some tips on where we could get a shower that night.

After dinner, we rode a mile or two to a marina, walked our bikes down the dock, and washed ourselves and our clothes in their showers.  It was pitch dark when we emerged from the bathrooms. We still had to find a place to sleep that night, so we hopped on our bikes and continued riding north on highway 17.  We didn’t want to ride too far in the dark on such a busy road with no real shoulder, so we turned into the first place we found.

The camp site was not ideal, but we had ridden 77 miles that day and were ready to pass out.  I didn’t even bring my sleeping bag into the tent.  Whatever the place was, we were pretty sure it was private property and we couldn’t tell how visible our tent and bikes would be in the daylight, so we prepared for an early departure.

Emerging from our camp site in the afternoon

Dallas and I intended to leave our campsite early, but it was almost noon when I woke up.  Dallas is going to have to start being more forceful when trying to wake me up, I guess.  I sleep like a rock.

We packed up and made our way back onto the route to Charleston shortly after noon.  There was absolutely nowhere to stop until about 23 miles in, where we pulled into a gas station to refill our water bottles, use the restroom and eat lunch.  After devouring almost an entire package of Ritz crackers with two small cans of salmon, a bag of peanut m&m’s, an oatmeal raisin cookie and a Snickers ice-cream bar, we got back on our bikes for another 16 miles before stopping for one last snack break at a school.

Tiny frog along one of the trails we rode down

The roads today were diverse.  When we weren’t on the busy main road, we were on back roads that were mostly unpaved and ranged from packed dirt to grass to sand to gravel.  One road involved crossing under a few gates and passing a No Trespassing sign, and then hopping over another gate on the other end.  While the unpaved roads slowed us down a lot, riding on them was superior to riding amongst the fast-moving weekend traffic.

Our warm showers host, Charles, lives on Charlestowne Road in Charleston.  He greeted us outside when we arrived and told us to make ourselves at home.  After showering, we went downstairs and Charles showed us around the city.  We had some tasty Korean food for dinner, and Dallas and I walked from the house to TCBY for frozen yogurt after we returned from our tour.

I didn’t wake up on Friday until after 11.  While Dallas showered, I ran over to the laundry facilities on the opposite side of the apartment complex to retrieve our laundry from the dryer.  After doing so, I jumped in the pool and swam a few laps before jogging back with our laundry.

Blaine kindly offered to drive us a bit outside of Savannah and into South Carolina so we could get away from the city and have a good start.  We gladly accepted.  Since none of us had eaten yet, I asked Blaine if he wanted to join us for breakfast first, and he suggested we eat in Beaufort, the town where Dallas and I figured we’d spend the night.  If Blaine didn’t mind driving us that far, we weren’t going to complain.  Had we not had a job waiting for us in Newport, we would have enjoyed the bike ride from Savannah to Beaufort, but since we were on a timeline we were more than willing to take rides where we could get them.

Blaine, Dallas and me at Nippy’s in Beaufort

Beaufort is a charming town, complete with its own horse and buggy tours, plenty of good restaurants to choose from, and a picturesque waterfront.  We ate at Nippy’s, which has excellent onion rings, fish and chips, fish tacos and shrimp.  After lunch, we walked to the waterfront and had ice-cream.

Blaine said goodbye to Dallas and me in Beaufort.  Before leaving the town ourselves, we got coffee from Common Ground, where we sat on their porch and contacted our next host in Charleston on WarmShowers.  One last stop before leaving town was Piggly Wiggly for some groceries to hold us over until we reached the next town, which may not be for another 70 miles.

Coffee from the porch of Common Ground

We didn’t get to go very far before the sun started setting, so Dallas and I camped out only 16 miles from where we left in Beaufort.  Thanks to Blaine, we were already a bit farther than we had anticipated getting that day, so now we only have a 56-mile ride instead of 72 miles to Charleston.

Dallas and I took a day to explore Savannah and get some time away from our bikes.  Blaine had class in the morning, so we woke up around 10am, only to find that Blaine had received a text message telling all SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) students to stay inside and not to go anywhere until further notice.  Apparently, a crazy guy with a gun was downtown and had locked himself in one of the restaurants with two hostages.  Since his class was cancelled, Blaine joined us for breakfast at a diner near his home before bringing us downtown.

Enjoying ice-cream at Leopold’s: rose petal and honey almond for me, and lavender and orange blossom for Dallas

Once downtown, we walked to the Savannah Bee Company and then Blaine left us to explore on our own.  We walked along the river and then back to Leopold’s for ice-cream, which was delicious.  It began raining after we left Leopold’s, so we walked/ran to a cafe, where we stayed for the next three or four hours while it thundered and poured.

Blaine had told us about a meet-up for Couchsurfers in Savannah that evening, so we met up with him and about 20 other Couchsurfers, mostly hosts in Savannah, at the Moon River Brewing Companyshortly after 7pm.  We stayed there for a few hours interacting with other members of the couchsurfing community.  One of them was from Florida and was planning a bike tour from Savannah in the next few days.  He had another couchsurfer from France who was staying with him in St Petersburg and decided to leave with him when he started driving up the coast.

Savannah couchsurfers at Moon River Brewing Co.

After departing the couchsurfing meeting, Blaine took us to a secret bar where he flashed a special key to get past the doorman.  Mata Hari is a speakeasy style bar that only allows 200 members at any given time.  The only way you can become a member is if someone who is leaving Savannah gives you their key.  It was a pretty cool place, and we stayed to watch a few sets of Britt Scott’s singing.

It was already after midnight when we got back to Blaine’s apartment, but Dallas and I needed to do laundry, so we put a load in the washer and then watched a movie before going back to switch the clothes to the dryer.

Dallas on a dock in a Cypress Forest

We had great ambitions to make it the 75+ miles to Savannah from the park where we had camped in one day.  After finishing our Mexican leftovers for breakfast and packing up the tent, I led Dallas into a few dead ends trying to find our way out of the park to the beginning of the course Garmin had laid out for us.  The park was really lovely though, so it was nice to see some of it before Dallas led us back to the main road.

A shortcut I thought might take us out of George L. Smith State Park

We stopped after 8 or 9 miles at a gas station to drink coffee and water, and then hit the road again for 18 miles.  Statesboro is another college town, so there were cafes and restaurants other than fast food for us to eat at and rest.  We rinsed off our sandy legs and feet before going into the Sugar Magnolia Bakery for lunch.  The girl at the register was actually from Savannah, and recommended some places for us to check out when we got there.  I contacted some more people on couchsurfing over a chicken salad and lemon square.

We left the bakery and moved on to a coffee shop, The Daily Grind.  While there, I heard from Blaine, one of the couchsurfers in Savannah.  He said he was actually planning to go to Statesboro that day to pick something up and would be able to give us a lift back to Savannah.  Both Dallas and I were relieved that we no longer had to bike another 50 miles to get to our destination that day.  We remained at the Daily Grind, drinking coffee and eating cake until Blaine showed up with his car and bike rack.

After bringing our belongings inside and showering at Blaine’s apartment, Blaine brought us on an extensive driving tour of Savannah and the surrounding islands.  He is an excellent tour guide, and I highly recommend him as a couchsurfing host if you ever happen to find yourself in Savannah without an itinerary or a place to stay.  Blaine showed us most of the town, recommending places to check out the next day.  He brought us to Spanky’s, which was rated by locals as having the best chicken fingers.  After supper, we drove out to Tybee Island and walked around a few of the beaches and fishing areas.

The Days Inn offered complimentary coffee, plain bagels, instant oatmeal and bananas.  We were hungry again shortly after our departure from the motel.  I was hoping to stop somewhere in Bartow for more food, but we ended up passing through it without seeing any indication of development or even residential occupancy.

Empty dirt roads in Georgia

We stopped to consult our maps, and it looked like next town on our route was Statesboro.  We didn’t think we could make it there by the end of the day, and both of us had run out of water, so Dallas decided it was best to divert our course south to Swainsboro in search of food and water.  The road we chose to ride down was newly paved (unlike many of the dirt roads that had been slowing us down recently), but provided no shade from the hot sun.  Along the way, we did pass by a small cluster of buildings, including a church where we were able to fill up our water bottles from the faucet outside.

When we arrived in Swainsboro, the only appealing restaurant/cafe was closed for the day, and we were once again left with only fast food options.  We stopped at a grocery store first and bought some juice and watermelon to share.  At the checkout, we asked where we could eat that was not fast food, and the cashier told us of a Mexican restaurant further down the main road.  The restaurant, El Valle, had horrible reviews on google, but was still better than fast food.  The slow service gave us an excuse to rest for quite a while.

A herd of cows run with Dallas

From Swainsboro, Dallas and I headed east about 15 miles to George L. Smith State Park. Just before turning down the road to the park, we stopped at a gas station that was about to close.  The woman reopened the doors so we could buy some ice-cream and candy bars, and another woman who was relaxing in a rocking chair on the porch told us to come back tomorrow.

Butterflies along the route

We arrived at the park after dark, and it was difficult to see much of anything.  We passed by an RV park and other various camping facilities to turn onto several dark and subsequently narrower roads, eventually working our way further from any sign of human existence.  The last road was blocked by a metal gate, and from there we turned onto a dirt path.  The site we chose to camp was damp but padded by pine needles.  It had been our longest day of riding since our practice ride from Mandeville, and we fell asleep quite easily.