NYC -2- ATL

Today we awoke to more beautiful and bright skies. We rolled out to the coast and through North Myrtle Beach. We were curious about a small section of town that the trail and all but a few surface streets seemed to connect, so we explored it for a few minutes. The area seemed so different than the surrounding town. Upon exiting, we happened upon a North Myrtle Beach Police officer who explained that we had been in a small separate town called Atlantic Beach.

A little further down the trail, something caught my eye by a golf course and I had to stop… I wasn’t sure what kind of animal I was seeing. At first I thought it was a skunk, or maybe a baby anteater? Honestly it looked like a squirrel crossed with a raccoon! We decided it was just an unusual squirrel, but take a look at the clip in the Relive video below and let me know what this thing is. We saw several of them around the edge of the course, but we also saw normal looking squirrels too.

A few more miles down the road and lunch time was already fast approaching. I spied a fresh produce stand on the corner and pulled in. We met the couple who runs the stand and told them of our journey while they fed us fresh slices of cantaloupe and watermelon. They have been married and working together daily for 38 years! When we asked for their secret, the Mrs. told us they have a house with two wings and they only meet in the middle for the kitchen and dining room. “Bend over” she said as she handed us each a fresh peach, implying they were so juicy we would stain our shirts.

We pressed them for the best lunch spot heading south and they told us of Little Pigs Bar-B-Q on our route in just a few miles. We each got brisket sandwiches and a few more conversations with other diners ensued. The meal was really good and I recommend the BBQ if you’re in the North Myrtle Beach area.

After lunch, we followed the East Coast Greenway as it wound around through Myrtle Beach. There were a ton of off-the-road bike paths all through the area and they were a real pleasure to ride.

We rode past a busy small airport, and where the trail passed was a giant sign for $20 Helicopter Rides. Dad pulled in and we took a short break and watched people load into a waiting copter for a tour as another one next to it took off. As soon as it did, a returning helicopter landed in its place and the one we watched load began to take off. It was like clockwork! I turned to Dad and said “Well, should we ride?” I was shocked when he immediately answered “Sure,” and began to pull forward!

I pedaled towards the parking lot only to see in my rearview that he was turning around in the driveway and heading south on the trail again. As I caught up, I explained that I had meant “should we take a helicopter ride?” We laughed and agreed I should have asked “Should we fly?”

We rode on through Surfside Beach and Murrells Inlet where we saw marshy views of the intercostal waterway. The trees here are beautiful. There are palmettos and beachy pine forests. There are huge oaks complete with Spanish moss. It was almost 7pm as we rolled over the last bridge and into Georgetown. We checked into our reserved room and walked about a half mile through a beautiful neighborhood to get downtown and find dinner.

Tomorrow we have another long day to get to Charleston. I’m really excited to visit a great friend there and stay in his new house. We’re planning to hang around all Monday as another full rest day, which I think will be just about perfect timing.