LONDON
By Duncan
I’ve been on a road trip. This time, instead of a “Three Day Road Trip,” I decided on a two-week road trip.
So, I return with lots of stories. Some interesting and some not so interesting. You will, of course, decide which is which. Let me begin by telling you how this two-week extravaganza all started.
I received a text from an old motorcycle buddy (Rodney “Digital” Myers) who texted me and said …
“Why is it that you have lunch with everyone else except me?”
“Rodney, I’ll have lunch with you; where are you?”
“London.”
“London? London where?”
“New London, North Carolina.”
(By the way, folks, I have not been on a Honda Gold Wing motorcycle since 2008.)
Of course, the first thing that entered my mind was, You want me to drive from Indianapolis to North Carolina to have lunch with you? I asked Google how many miles it was to New London, North Carolina. Google says six hundred miles or about ten hours.
Now, anyone in their right mind would say, “Hey, that’s too far to go for lunch.” But before I open my mouth, I need a little more information. I looked at the population of New London. Needless to say, I have never heard of New London, North Carolina. I’ve heard of Charlotte, Asheville with the Biltmore Home, Huntsville, and Chapel Hill. The population of New London is 641 people. No wonder I have never heard of New London.
I went on streets and maps and looked around New London. There are lots of churches and a couple of gas stations. I didn’t see any restaurants except a bait shop. My right eyebrow raised slightly. Hum? Where do we have lunch? The bait shop? So I texted Rodney back and asked,
“Excuse me, Dig, if I come to New London, where do we “do” lunch?”
“We would need to go to Mount Gilead, a few miles away. Oh, Duncan, we live in the Bible Belt down here, and most restaurants are closed on Sundays. Do you know what day you are planning on coming?”
What day am I planning on coming? I haven’t decided if I’m diving ten hours to have lunch in New London yet, or at all. Rodney is already cocked and loaded for me to visit him, but not on a Sunday! Not on a Sunday? Holy cow, my door is wide open to visit my Personal and Very Close Friend. What to do? What to do?
Gosh, I haven’t thought about the Bible Belt in years. It’s only a vague memory of my youth when a few restaurants in Indianapolis were closed on Sunday. Being schooled by God-fearing Baptist parents, it was (SOP) standard operating procedure that they believed restaurants and businesses should close on the Sabbath. You know, God created the world in six days and on the seventh, he rested.
Rodney also threw out another caveat, “There is a hotel down here called the Badin Inn. Established in 1913. I know the owner, and we are close friends. I can get you the room that Maye West slept in when she came to town. Of course, my first reaction was … “Is it the same bed?” I don't know when Maye West slept at the Badin Inn. One can only hope they change the mattress from time to time. Yes, I know, I’m being cynical.
The idea that I could sleep in the same room as “Why don’t you come up and see sometime” and “When I’m good I’m very good, when I’m bad, I’m even better” is hard to resist. So, I decided to put the trip on my bucket list. I can only hope God will forgive me for what I’m thinking. Yes, I know Jimmy Carter said, “If you think it, you have done it”
Things happen in my life without me even thinking about it. In the next couple of months, all of a sudden, I had additional invitations to Jacksonville, Hollywood, North Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Sebring, and Tampa, Florida. All of the invitations are for late January and early February. With Indiana being “Indiana.” I decided to escape Indiana's dull, cold, and overcast skies. I then decided to combine all the invitations and make it an experience. So, I will be traveling to North Carolina and Florida for the next couple of posts/stories.
One of the pleasures for me is being on the road by myself. I can stop wherever and whenever I want. I don’t know about you, but I enjoy a morning Micky-Dee egg muffin and a cup of Joe. I have come to realize that McDonalds doesn’t offer breakfast all day like they used to. If you show up at McDonalds after 10:30, the odds are they are going to tell you, “We are servicing lunch now.” Which can be a bummer if you have your taste buds set for an egg muffin. I stopped in Cambridge, Indiana, at about 9:30 in the morning, a few miles west of Richmond, Indiana, on Highway 70. I wanted to ensure my experience started with an egg muffin before it got too late. It’s the little pleasures of life.
In the early afternoon, I pulled over and took a moment. I ordered a vanilla milkshake at a different McDonalds. I had been on the road for about six hours and decided to take a break from the super slab and think.
I had breakfast with my son Scott the day before I started this trip, and we enjoyed a three-hour conversation at a Bob Evans restaurant in Indy. He was telling me he wanted to move to South Carolina. Much to my surprise, he has already purchased five acres of land and plans to build. He loves the moss in the trees, the climate, and the whole feel of South Carolina. The kids/grandkids are out of the house and on their own, and it’s just the two of them. So, now it’s their turn to do what pleases them.
As I enjoyed my vanilla shake, I remembered when I was sitting on the ninth floor of a resort in Pompano Beach, Florida. I thought to myself back then, “Why can’t I live like this all the time?” And so, it came to pass. I focused on the goal, and the goal became a reality. I enjoyed living in North Fort Myers with my father for five years. And then, my Dad (George) passed in 2018, and I decided to head back to what I consider home. And now my son is doing the same thing. Focus on a goal and expect the best out of life.
Of course, the fun part of any motor trip is getting out of the car, sitting in the dining room, and watching other people. I try to figure out what the person sitting on the other side of the room is all about. What do they do for a living? Do they have a family? How old are they, and why are they wearing the clothes they are wearing? And, of course, everyone had a cell phone in their hands. Even me when I took the picture below.
Yes, I asked the man sitting by himself a question. I wasn’t sure where I had pulled off the road. I walked up to the man and asked if he knew the area. He said that he did. I explained I was on a motor trip and wasn’t sure where I had stopped. He said, “You are close to South Charleston, West Virginia. Where do you want to go?”
I told him I was headed to New London, North Carolina. He looked at me with a puzzled look and I knew that there was no point in trying to explain New London. I thanked him for his information and headed for the “Mean Yellow.”
I made a big mistake. Instead of stopping right before it got dark, I made a reservation in Albemarle, North Carolina. Albemarle is about ten miles south of New London. Since I hit that moose in Montana late at night, I tend not to want to drive in areas I don’t know.
To get to the motel, I must drive in the dark for a couple of hours. The roads in this part of North Carolina are two lanes with many trees on each side. That means a deer can come out of nowhere, and I could find myself with a passenger in my front seat. I really wanted to stop driving at dusk and find a motel, but I had made the damn reservation. “Note to self. Don’t make a reservation; get off the road at dusk. Wherever you are.”
I finally got to the Best Western, Albemarle, North Carolina. There was no one at the front desk. Only a sign that told me to phone the number on the paper. I waited in the lobby for a few minutes, and no one was anywhere to be found. I called the number, and a woman answered and said she would be there in a few minutes. She came down a long hall to the front desk. She said she was in the laundry room washing bed linen. So, I assume management requires the desk staff to do the laundry, too. Interesting. I’m sure it’s hard to find good people in these small towns.
Let’s end this story here. I will explain the morning routine at the Best Western in the next post.
