Thanksgiving

I decided to travel on Thanksgiving for several reasons. I had a 6 hour drive from the Outer Banks, NC to Myrtle beach. I read that traffic would be very minimal on Thanksgiving day. The KOA on the Outer Banks was having a Thanksgiving turkey meal in the restaurant, but sit alone for a turkey meal didn’t sound appealing. It was forecast to rain the next day, and I wanted to avoid driving in the rain.

I was reluctant to leave the campground because it was one of the best sites for tent camping I’ve had on this trip. The actual tent area was built with a raised platform. The base was made of sand, and on top of the sand was chopped tire pieces. It was easy to drive a stake in and the rubber top kept the sand out of the tent. There was a picnic table with a wooden floor and a roof. On the sides near the table was water and electricity, each on a pole. Shrubbery is placed between tent sites for privacy. There’s also an area with large stones for dumping dishwater. Each site also had a charcoal grill and a fire ring with benches. On top of this, the site was 300-400 feet from the beach.

The waterways between the Inner and Outer Banks are filled with thousands of birds. Access to the area is restricted and I wasn’t able to get close enough for good photographs.

At the narrower parts of the island, the sand seems to drift heavily causing large dunes and drifting across the highway. There were crews constantly moving sand, to keep the highway open. I guess the sand also gets deposited in the waterways, because I saw boats dredging at night every time I passed. I remember a guide saying that the northern part of the island had once been open to the sea, but since the 1500’s, the sand has completely closed it off.

Dead Birds

On many of the bridges over waterways I saw birds sitting on the railing. For some reason, there were many dead birds on the bridges. On one bridge there must have been 15 birds in the middle and side of the bridge. Oddly, birds would swoop down towards cars. I saw birds walking closely to white line on the side of the road. I also noticed that some birds would be knocked off the railing when another bird landed. There are articles that explain the wind drives them into cars when they takeoff from the rails.

Not only did all this slow me down, but I also had to wait 20 minutes for a draw bridge to let a sailboat through with a large mast.

The route took me through mostly flat coastal areas. I stopped four times for gas, food and restrooms. I noticed that the further South I’ve gone, the cheaper the price of gas.

Myrtle Beach

I arrived at the KOA in Myrtle Beach around 3:30 pm. The six hour trip had taken over seven hours. Given it was a holiday, there was only one person working. I called the number on the guardhouse window that said “Call When You Arrive.” That number didn’t work. Two trailers arrived behind me, and both people were irritated that they had to wait for their site assignment. A man at the playground saw the upset and yelled over that “he just took someone to a site.” The host arrived and couldn’t find my reservation but accepted the email I had received. He looked pretty stressed, and I told him I could find my way to the site.

It was hard to not compare this site with the one I had just come from. This site was much more expensive, presumably because it was in Myrtle Beach, but it was very basic and the restrooms smelled. I wasn’t impressed.

It was turkey day, so I made spaghetti with turkey sausages. I was exhausted and went to sleep by 9:00 pm.

On the way out of the Outer Banks, I found myself stopping to take photographs.