Road Trip

My road trip continues and I’m currently holed up in a motel in Myrtle Beach, working in the room, wishing I was working on my tan instead while checking out the girls on the beach. If ya gotta work while on the road however, it’s hard to beat the view out my window.

I’m on the eighth floor, the top floor, of the Days Inn. With no chance for anyone except maybe Spiderman to slip in I’d gotten in the habit of leaving the patio door wide open, all the better to enjoy the sound of the surf and the occasional Harley-Davidson as I fall asleep. Tuesday morning, however, someone did slip in. It was just barely first light when I heard a soft sound, a nearly musical sound with a regular rhythm. At first I thought it might the couple next door doing their early morning Yoga exercises, but the rhythm was too regular and consistent for that. As the volume grew, I could make out a cooing sound, and decided it was the pigeons on the roof or maybe the patio. So I closed the patio door and went back to bed. If anything, it got louder after I closed the door. Still half asleep, I thought, WTF? The answer came when I heard the flutter of wings, and looked up to see a pigeon sitting on the desk, and another on top of the big cabinet that houses the TV, fridge and microwave. Apparently they slipped in sometime the day before, and thought the narrow space between the top of the big cabinet and the ceiling made a fine spot to spend the night.

I told them they either had to leave or help pay the rent. Unable to reach a settlement I ushered them back out the door and closed it tight. This is what I get for coming in late Monday night and falling into bed.

It’s hard to complain about the view out the patio door. The only trouble is the fact that I sometimes have to orient the little desk away from the beach, just so I get something done.

The rest of the week was spent photographing Artie and friends as they pinstriped Gold Wings, Victory motorcycles, flat panels and the occasional helmet.

My grand plan for the weekend included a short mini trip to either Charleston or Savanna, sandwiched in between the end of work Saturday and the flight to my next stop on Tuesday morning. Saturday’s pinstriping ran late though, and then there was the huge dinner at Nico’s, Artie’s favorite Italian restaurant. After dinner I only had energy for a couple of more cool ones and the short drive to my motel room. Needless to say exploring Savanna will have to wait for my next trip to visit Artie’s.

The tank on a brand new 8-Ball from Victory. East Coast Artie is from the less-is-more school of pinstriping.

And I have to hope that next trip won’t be too far down the road, because there’s more than Artie and Linda’s hospitality to draw me back to the area.

At Brookgreen Gardens they have Live Oak Allee, which runs for a quarter mile though big open savannas, and courtyards ringed by stone and bronze sculptures.

South of Myrtle and a little south of Murrells Inlet is a hidden treasure: Brookgreen Gardens (brookgreen.org). Artie took us all there on Sunday, and I spent the afternoon just wandering through an incredible collection of gardens, huge Live Oak trees and incredible sculpture. Though I saw a great deal, I also missed the zoo, the butterfly building, the low country exhibit, the lake, the boat ride… all cause for a return trip and a reason for anyone who passes through next year for Bike Week to detour south of the city and south of the bars for an experience of a totally different - but somehow no less exciting – kind.

A pair of lions guard one of the walkways. How it is that you can feel the lion’s eyes boring right in to you I don’t know.