I woke up at 6:30 and ate my continental breakfast which consisted yet again of sausage and egg biscuits with bacon on the side. When I left the weather was perfect and I headed down route 17 for about 20 miles on the shoulder. I then used back roads for a while but kept getting thrown back onto 17 which was hit or miss depending on the part of the highway I was on. Sometimes there was no shoulder or the shoulder was entirely rumble strips which you can’t ride a bike on. Anyway, there wasn’t much to photograph but I enjoyed these horses.

I ended up going through the town of Shalotte which was having its annual Christmas parade which went for like 10 blocks. I wasn’t really in the mood for hanging out and watching but a took a few pics.

Eventually I got through the parade (I was part of it for a bit) and continued on my way. I knew it was going to rain in the afternoon so I was trying to hustle to Myrtle Beach. Just before I crossed into South Carolina it started to rain on me. It wasn’t that big if a deal other than the wind. I threw on my waterproof jacket and pants and kept going. Here is my bike on the South Carolina border.

By the way I saw zero “South of the Border” billboards on my route. Anyway, eventually I got to Myrtle which is very bike unfriendly. It’s very hard to get into Myrtle Beach and also once you are in you keep getting routed back to US17 which has no shoulder here. I’m not tempted to go out really or go to the beach because the weather is so shitty. Going to hang out in my room for a bit and them get some Italian food for dinner and call it a night early.

Total for the day was 65.16 miles at a little under 12mph. It was flat but into the wind. Tomorrow I head to Georgetown, SC then onto Charleston.

I tried to sleep in but woke up at 7:30am anyway. I decided to rent a car from Enterprise for the day since I wanted to make it to the USS North Carolina, Fort Fisher, and the serpentarium today as well as a show at the Brown Coat Pub and Theater tonight. Public transit here sucks so the 30 bucks to rent a car is worth it.

I started out at the USS North Carolina which was amazing. The ship went through WW2 protecting aircraft carriers (as well as other missions) and survived many battles. I’d have never made it in the Navy though because I’d hit my head all the time on the low ceilings.

Here is me firing a turret.

This is where I would have worked — the coding room. That machine is an Electric Cipher Machine (ECM) and was used to send and receive encrypted messages.

After the ship I drove down to Fort Fisher but it got really foggy all of a sudden. There was a guy taking his bike out onto the wall in the fog which was crazy to me. That’s him way out there.

There is a ferry that takes you across the water to Southport that I would have crossed on with my bike had I stayed in a hotel in downtown Wilmington. Sadly, I couldn’t bike that far yesterday so I’m skipping it. I still ended up seeing it though which was pretty cool. This is me on the wall looking back towards land.

I also made it to the aquarium at Fort Fisher which was surprisingly awesome. I didn’t know it even existed and it looked pretty nondescript but it was a really well managed museum. Here’s two guppies hugging each other (or banging? Can’t tell)

Here’s some fish swimming upstream.

Finally I made it to the serpentarium downtown and holy crap that place was fun. So many terrifying snakes and reptiles were there staring at me like I was a tasty snack. The saltwater crocodile was probably the scariest to me because it was accompanied with a story about how a group of them essentially devoured 80 Japanese soldiers who were retreating from battle. Look up the Ramree crocodile massacre if you want to read about it. Here’s one of them.

Also enjoyed some of the other reptiles namely the black mamba and the iguana.

I drove back to the hotel and am doing laundry. Heading back into town to grab dinner and watch a show at the Brown Coat Pub and Theater, returning the car, taking a taxi back, then getting some rest. Heading about 65 miles to Myrtle Beach tomorrow in what looks to be shitty weather.

I spent the night last night at an AirBNB in Fayetteville and devoured 3/4 of a large pizza for dinner. I saved the last 1/4 for breakfast and called it a night after hanging out with the AirBNB host and her two Salukis for a bit. Here’s a picture of Emir on the couch with me.

I woke up at 6:30am, packed my stuff up and ate my pizza breakfast and set out on my way to Wilmington. Since today was going to be a really long ride, I wasn’t taking my time to stop for photos very often and was more just trying to get to my destination. The weather also got a bit warmer today and I was wearing just shorts and a shirt today. This is the first time I’ve rode without my windbreaker on.

I took a pit stop in Elizabethtown (about 45 miles in) and ordered two 3 piece chicken strip meals, one I ate there and one for the road. I also refilled my water bottles there. Right around this time was the first time on this journey that my legs were in pain. My knees were absolutely on fire for the second half of this journey and thankfully I was able to make it. Here’s me icing my knees in the hotel upon arrival (ignore the fat woman on TV)

I also ran away from probably 5 dogs today. One time, two of them chased me down a busy highway and the cars had to avoid them. Unreal! These people really don’t love their dogs because they’re literally going to die or get maced unless they get trained better.

Anyway, there were a few things I did stop for to take picture of. One of them was a strangely worded church sign…

I made the decision not to follow this road, although I ended up on it later in somehow.

Finally I thought these trees looked really pretty so I took a picture of them.

I ended up going 95.47 miles today at a 12mph pace and felt every inch of it. I’m thankful tomorrow is a rest day although I may still end up going a few miles to get to another hotel. I’m loving this Holiday Inn Express but $100 a night is a bit steep. I will either stay here, another hotel in Wilmington, or Carolina Beach somewhere. Either way I will be a tourist tomorrow and not going more than 15 miles on my bike.

Tonight I’m walking to a sports bar and watching some Thursday night football then sleeping in.