(So far)

Sunday, April 24, 2022

82 miles from Bluffton to Jacksonboro, South Carolina

Our third week began with a warm sendoff from our Warm Showers hosts Gary and Lois. Gary rode with us for the first five miles to make sure we found our way back to the highway and the Adventure Cycling route. We had a long day ahead.

In his retirement Gary creates sculptures out of scrap metal. Many of them live around his house, but he has a problem with living in a gated community because they limit the size and numnber of lawn ornaments. I think the dragon in the garage isn’t allowed outside.

Much of the interesting scenery we found as we were crossing bridges.

As we were riding over a small bridge we saw a fishing pole that appeared to be abandoned. Then a young man came up from under the bridge with a crab basket that had a chicken neck inside for bait. Just the day before we’d learned that the Gullah/Geeche people who lived in the Pin Point community had caught crabs this way. It was fun to see that crabbing hasn’t changed.

As we approached Port Royal we got on the Spanish Moss Trail which we rode for ten miles (getting sidetracked briefly for a detour). Although we didn’t ride into Beaufort, we learned some history along the bike trail.

Following the Spanish Moss Trail we had a short highway stint. Then we found lunch at a local restaurant serving “low country” food. We both had po boys; Rob had his with fried flounder and I had fried shrimp. I enjoyed mine immensely, especially since I paired it with sweet tea.

After lunch we had mostly peaceful riding on back roads. But we still had to endure some highway riding which came with rumble strips, just like in Georgia. And I’ll say it right now, to get it out of the way. The riding in South Carolina sucks. Rumble strips with narrow or nonexistent shoulders. Thankfully we made it to the North Carolina border alive.

Our choice for miles was either 30 miles or 80. There were no camping or lodging options in between Port Royal (at 30 miles) and the Edisto Motel (at 82 miles). We might have stopped in Beaufort, slightly out of the way past Port Royal, to see the Reconstruction Era National Historic Park, but the buildings are closed on Sundays.

We opted for the 82-mile day and arrived at the Edisto Motel around six o’clock. It was a tidy little place, past its prime when it once had a restaurant out front that was a community gathering place. The restaurant building still stands, empty, a sad reminder of what once was.

To bad for us the resturant is no longer. Our only options for dinner were Dollar General or Church’s fried chicken at the Circle K. (That was it for downtown Jacksonboro.) We opted for the fried chicken and cooked up some ramen noodles to go with it. Not a shabby meal overall.

We were pleased that we made good time on this long day, finishing 80 miles in 9 hours and 45 minutes. The miles go by quickly when it’s flat and there’s no wind.