Tales of a South Carolina Hotel Wife
So for those that have been left in our proverbial dust, James and I have high tailed it off to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Not as in moved. But just relocated temporarily. James got a call on a Wednesday while I was visiting family in Minnesota about a job in Myrtle Beach and was on a plane the next day. Meanwhile I returned to an empty house and a mess of things to do before I flew out 2 days later to join him.
So I haul 2 fifty pound suitcase and two carry ons (not all mine!) through 3 stops and 12 hours of traveling. I end up in Raliegh, NC because that is just the closest I could get to South Carolina without bleeding out the nose. I hope into my nifty rental and plug in my location on my GPS. I notice my phone is on red- opps- thats what 12 hours of traveling will do. I shrug and have some faith in my iphone.
I start down a freeway south, jamming out to my ipod and hoping to make it before the sunsets. I go from freeway to highway to 2 lane "highway" and then the iphone goes dead- taking with it my gps. I sigh and look around for somewhere that looks like it might have an outlet because like a good girl I have my plugin and my toothbrush easily accessible in my carry on. I stop at a Hardees- nope! not a narry outlet in sight. The sun starts going down and I am in trapped in 1900's backwood North Carolina- complete with pillared houses, white fences and lamp posts. I am on the verge of tears when I pull into the next gas station. The very friendly attendant finds me a plug next to the coffee machine and I translate my next 15 steps off my gps. I thank her profusely and buy a red bull out of guilt.
I follow a mix of her directions and the gps directions until I hit Myrtle Beach. I sigh in relief and call James with very little juice in the slightly recharged battery. Due to unfortunate circumstances and James not knowing the area it takes me 18 uturns and another hour to find him. All well that ends well- and I bought a car charger for the phone the next day.
So I have been living the life of a South Carolina Hotel Wife for the last week. I wake up to take James to his job around 6 o'clock in the morning if we are unlucky, I make him lunch and drop him off at the hanger to then go pick him up 10 to 14 hours later. He is remarkably happy working these hours. I would be very put out. I am lucky enough to high tail it back to our extended stay hotel and take a nap- poor man doesn't get to.
So what's a gal to do when you're in a town you don't know? Well number one is avoiding all the salivating tourists because they will run you down with their car or talk in such annoying tones that you want to claw your eyes out. So tourist traps are a no.
You can go to the beach! Yea! Well the beaches here are just a little different than the Mexican beaches I'm used to. For starters they have these little umbrellas and chairs that look like they're open to the public- no, no, friends- those are for rent so move your backside onto the sand. And then the waves are a little stronger than they appear so if you are wearing- say something that you bought to make your husband happy that has lots of strings- just back away. Or you might end up losing not only your bottoms but half your top in front of a beach full of people. And then you may die of humiliation. Not a true story, I swear. And putting sunscreen on your own back is pretty hard- it leads to splotchy sunburn that will prevent your from returning to the scene of the humiliation for a least a day.
You can go shopping! Yea! Especially when a friend named Jolene comes into town. And then you realize you could quickly spend more money than your dear husband is making at his sweatshop that day. Back away slowly. Resist the urge to go to the outlet stores. Resist!
So that leaves you sitting at a random library computer typing away on your blog... which you had to cajole the attendant into letting you use since "technically" I'm not a tourist but not quite a local either. But I got a 60 day pass- so watch out for more blogging! Woohoo!
Plans for day 6 include the library, eating my packed lunch (go me!), trying to find some sort of botanical gardens that is suppose to be pretty, watching CSI marathons and twiddling fingers while waiting for my husband to get off work. Because really, he's the reason I'm here and if I only get to see him for 2 hours a day than all my whining is worth it. And really, I'm not whining at all because its a pretty good time to be a South Carolina Hotel Wife for a while.
Not as in moved. But just relocated temporarily. James got a call on a Wednesday while I was visiting family in Minnesota about a job in Myrtle Beach and was on a plane the next day. Meanwhile I returned to an empty house and a mess of things to do before I flew out 2 days later to join him.
So I haul 2 fifty pound suitcase and two carry ons (not all mine!) through 3 stops and 12 hours of traveling. I end up in Raliegh, NC because that is just the closest I could get to South Carolina without bleeding out the nose. I hope into my nifty rental and plug in my location on my GPS. I notice my phone is on red- opps- thats what 12 hours of traveling will do. I shrug and have some faith in my iphone.
I start down a freeway south, jamming out to my ipod and hoping to make it before the sunsets. I go from freeway to highway to 2 lane "highway" and then the iphone goes dead- taking with it my gps. I sigh and look around for somewhere that looks like it might have an outlet because like a good girl I have my plugin and my toothbrush easily accessible in my carry on. I stop at a Hardees- nope! not a narry outlet in sight. The sun starts going down and I am in trapped in 1900's backwood North Carolina- complete with pillared houses, white fences and lamp posts. I am on the verge of tears when I pull into the next gas station. The very friendly attendant finds me a plug next to the coffee machine and I translate my next 15 steps off my gps. I thank her profusely and buy a red bull out of guilt.
I follow a mix of her directions and the gps directions until I hit Myrtle Beach. I sigh in relief and call James with very little juice in the slightly recharged battery. Due to unfortunate circumstances and James not knowing the area it takes me 18 uturns and another hour to find him. All well that ends well- and I bought a car charger for the phone the next day.
So I have been living the life of a South Carolina Hotel Wife for the last week. I wake up to take James to his job around 6 o'clock in the morning if we are unlucky, I make him lunch and drop him off at the hanger to then go pick him up 10 to 14 hours later. He is remarkably happy working these hours. I would be very put out. I am lucky enough to high tail it back to our extended stay hotel and take a nap- poor man doesn't get to.
So what's a gal to do when you're in a town you don't know? Well number one is avoiding all the salivating tourists because they will run you down with their car or talk in such annoying tones that you want to claw your eyes out. So tourist traps are a no.
You can go to the beach! Yea! Well the beaches here are just a little different than the Mexican beaches I'm used to. For starters they have these little umbrellas and chairs that look like they're open to the public- no, no, friends- those are for rent so move your backside onto the sand. And then the waves are a little stronger than they appear so if you are wearing- say something that you bought to make your husband happy that has lots of strings- just back away. Or you might end up losing not only your bottoms but half your top in front of a beach full of people. And then you may die of humiliation. Not a true story, I swear. And putting sunscreen on your own back is pretty hard- it leads to splotchy sunburn that will prevent your from returning to the scene of the humiliation for a least a day.
You can go shopping! Yea! Especially when a friend named Jolene comes into town. And then you realize you could quickly spend more money than your dear husband is making at his sweatshop that day. Back away slowly. Resist the urge to go to the outlet stores. Resist!
So that leaves you sitting at a random library computer typing away on your blog... which you had to cajole the attendant into letting you use since "technically" I'm not a tourist but not quite a local either. But I got a 60 day pass- so watch out for more blogging! Woohoo!
Plans for day 6 include the library, eating my packed lunch (go me!), trying to find some sort of botanical gardens that is suppose to be pretty, watching CSI marathons and twiddling fingers while waiting for my husband to get off work. Because really, he's the reason I'm here and if I only get to see him for 2 hours a day than all my whining is worth it. And really, I'm not whining at all because its a pretty good time to be a South Carolina Hotel Wife for a while.
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