I knew the weather today was going to suck so I wasn’t really excited to get on my bike this morning. It was 45ish degrees with light rain and some wind the whole ride. Thankfully it was only a 50 miler today and the weather here in bizarro South Carolina will be sunny and 70 degrees tomorrow. I rode at a leisurely 11mph pace all day, a little slower than normal, because of my lack of motivation and my plentiful amount of daytime to get the miles in.

I was glad to get out of Myrtle Beach which felt like Atlantic City without the gambling to me (and I hate Atlantic City!). I decided not to take the bike unfriendly US17 all the way to Georgetown and instead took the ECG route which is less direct but uses side roads. I ended up on a bike path which led me by a marsh and a nice bike trail which was a welcomed change.

I got a flat tire at one point and two different people stopped to help me. I didn’t need the help but it was once again nice to have strangers offer to help. One of them even offered me coffee out of his thermos, which I politely declined. Of course, there was a white lab barking at me the entire time I was fixing my flat from behind a fence. It wouldn’t be right if that wasn’t happening so I just basked in the barking and kept on with my business.

Anyway I eventually made it to Georgetown after crossing the Pee Dee River and checked into the Quality Inn. I headed over to the only open local coffee shop (almost the entire town shuts down on Sundays) and had an espresso, coffee, and piece of Kentucky bourbon pecan pie (so good).

The store owner told me that there was a big fire here on September 25 right across the street so half the bars and restaurants are gone now. Here are the ruins.

I did manage to find an open restaurant though and ate two meals including a salmon dish and this amazing chili and grilled cheese.

I opted to go back to my hotel instead of spending more money on delicious food and drink and am just going to watch football the rest of the evening. Tomorrow I have 85 miles to Charleston so I need to rest up. I will be spending a rest day there on Tuesday also.