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Causing Trouble in Wilmington
The next day, we thanked and waved good-bye to Sara and her family and soon left towards Wilmington. The drive between Roanoke Rapids and Wilmington is a very long and boring drive, are only break was when we stopped at the Waffle House for lunch. Eventually, we arrived in Wilmington, where we quickly went to Independence Mall to rest-up and plan our strategy.
Are plan was to raid Animego, a Japanese Animation Company based in Wilmington. After getting some directions from some guy we met in Babbages, we quickly drove-off in search for Animego. It took us around thirty minutes to find the place, the building didn't have a sign or anything (maybe they didn't want to be found?). Nonetheless, we walked around to the backside of the building where we ran into people from Animego. We got the grand tour of Animego Headquarters and meet the main guy in charge. We also got free anime cells to keep and even bought limited edition posters at half-price. With our mission accomplished, we got back into Black Thunder (my '98 Chevy Blazer) and began our next journey to Surfside Beach.
The Grand Strand
The Grand Strand is a long unbroken beach on the South Carolina Coast (from the North Carolina border to Georgetown). Because of my Dad's connections, I was able to secure a beachfront, three bedroom condo in Surfside Beach (just south from Myrtle Beach). We got to the condo around 7pm, so that night we drove into Myrtle Beach and had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.
It was cold the next day, so being on the beach was out of the question. So instead, I gave Joe and Jim the big tour of Myrtle Beach. I showed them where I use to live (on 76 Ave. North), where my Dad once worked at (the Dunes Club), and where I once went to school (Myrtle Beach Primary & Elementary Schools). They probably didn't enjoy it as much as I did, but I was driving so who cares. We also spent our time at the area malls, didn't do much shopping but we did scare a few people. That night, we had dinner at the Pizza Hut in Surfside Beach; during that time, Jim was working his magic on the Tara Cards and read our futures.
Charleston
On Friday, March 12, since there wasn't really that much to do in Myrtle Beach at the time, we all decided to head on down to the port-city of Charleston for a little adventure. Along the way, Joe and Jim were amazed to see people on the side of the road weaving baskets. I explained that that was a way some people made there living and is very common in these parts. During the drive down to Charleston, I told them even more useless knowledge that I knew about the area, including legends and stories.
While in Charleston, we toured the downtown area. We looked around in the City Market, had lunch at Applebee's visited landmarks like the U.S. Customs House, and then rested at Waterfront Park, which had a nice view of Fort Sumter. When we finally decided to leave downtown Charleston, that was when the headache of actually getting out of Charleston began. We more or less got another tour of the rest of Charleston while we were trying to get on I-26. Eventually, we got onto the Interstate, and after a stop at the Mall and then Best Buy in North Charleston, we headed back to Surfside Beach.
After we got back from Charleston, we decided to grab some dinner (and catch a b-ball game) at Hooters. It was the first for Jim and I, and I must say that the service was excellent. After our time there and our day in Charleston, I must say it was a good day.
Cruisin' the Boulevard
On Saturday, it was somewhat windy and cold outside, so swimming in the ocean was out. We again (like Thursday) drove around the area, checking out places we missed the first time around and trying to find something to do. Driving down Ocean Boulevard though was probably not the smartest thing I have done. Even though our Springbreak was ending, some people were just getting there. And around the Pavilion area, there were scores of Springbreakers cruisin' and having a good time. It only bugged me a bit because it took me thirty minutes to get through that small one mile area of traffic. We eventually got back to the condo in Surfside Beach and took it easy for the rest of the afternoon.
To kill some time, I decided to give the seagulls some goldfish we have bought from the Waccamaw Mall. Pretty soon, we got an entire flock fo seagulls going for the mad dash in getting those goldfish. We got bitched at by some guy in a neighboring condo, so we went down to the beach (with our coats on) and continued to feed the seagulls the goldfish crackers (yea, I know they aren't healthy for the birds, but it was fun). After our little fun, I suggested that we go clubin'; however, that didn't sit well with Jim who felt like he would betray is girlfriend, and neither with Joe who just wanted to relax. So instead, we went to the Boardwalk and had dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. The food was alright, Joe didn't really like it though because he dislikes seafood; but don't worry about him, he got the chicken sandwich there.
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