GAR 2012 Day 7 to Wilmington

The Ocracoke Harbor Inn provided a restful, if not luxurious night’s rest. We went kick stands up at 8 a.m. and headed for breakfast before starting today’s adventure.

The day’s ride was only about 180 miles but was divided into two parts. The first part was one mile and the second part was 179 miles. Between the two parts was a 2 1/2 hour ferry ride across Pamlico Sound between Ocracoke Island and Cedar Island. The landing at the latter was our ticket to the mainland. The ferry ride may have been the best part of today’s adventure.

For some, the ferry’s comfortable passenger chairs plus the drone of the boat’s engine plus the gentle motion of a calm sea equalled nap time. For others it meant a sea breeze in their face, warm sun on their skin and a chance to day dream without worrying about driving into a ditch or dodging an errant varmint.

The majority of today’s ride showed us some seaboard countryside but also multitude of small towns with run down strip malls featuring second-hand stores, tattoo shops, and other assorted struggling oddly-named businesses. It also featured towns with traffic lights clearly timed to break up our group and leave the stranded riders baking on hot asphalt. Late lunch at a Dairy Queen thanks to Queen Ruth was a perfect stop. When you’re riding in the heat nothing is better than a blizzard.

The hotel pool in Wilmington offered a well-earned reprieve from the heat and a chance to soak off some of the day’s accumulation of road grime.

Tomorrow we’ll start the day on a ship of another kind: the U.S.S. North Carolina. After that we’ll head back to Walterboro to rejoin John and Sue for one more night of their delightful hospitality.

“I can’t wait to get on the road again.”