SB '10: Day Five

SOOOOOOOOO It's day five, my departure day from Charleston. I know I have a big drive (9 Hours...) ahead of me, so I wake up promptly around 9:00 EST and pack up, getting ready to head out. Earlier in the week I had spotted a Dunkin Donuts on Meeting St. If you know any kind of coffee conisseur, then you would have to agree with me when I say that I will go absolutely out of my way to get a cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee with a shot of blueberry flavoring in it. So I packed up my bags and headed down to the parking garage, giddy with excitement about my caffinated plans.

When I step out of the lobby onto the street I noticed something was up. The fountain in Marion Square was overflowing with green water. There were ladies decked out in kelly green windsuits with an overload of green miscellaneous accessories adorning themselves. And the kicker, Ireland flags were flying outside of almost every store lining King Street... It clicked. March 17. St. Patrick's Day.

Now I know St. Pattys Day is huge in Savannah, and so I assumed it was in Charleston as well. But I didn't add much more thought to the celebration past that. So I went on my merry way driving to Dunkin Donuts, which was conveniently located on Meeting St. (the other main street that runs parallel to King). I found a good parking space, snagged it and walked on over to DD. The coffee didn't let me down, it was totally worth the effort of getting there. It's still relatively early at this time, so I decide to take a seat and read my book while enjoying my heavan-ish blueberry coffee.

Around 10:00 I head out of DD and I decide to make one last stop in a store on King before I head out for good. I drive over and find me a good parallel parking space on King and head to the store. While I'm in the store wandering, what do I hear? Bagpipes. A lot of Bagpipes. And cheering. "Oh NO" I think to myself..... it's a PARADE. So I walk outside and I'm correct, there is a St. Patricks Day parade beginning to march down the street where my car is parked. I ask the sales associate if I can leave in my car and she said no, that I might as well stay and enjoy it. So I did! Who cares if my departure time is delayed another hour? Here are some pictures form the parade on King Street:

This is what I saw heading my way at 10:01

Bagpipes and Kilts... Lots of Bagpipes and Kilts

Some float... I think anyone could be in the parade as long as the wore green!

Dunleavy just reminded me of P.S. I Love You, so I had to take a picture

And since I was the only person on Earth who forgot it was St. Pattys Day, that also meant that I forgot to wear green. So some sweet kids on a float did me the favor of throwing me some green beads, which I promptly put on. I didn't want to get those Grinch glares from people anymore!

After my slight delay in departure due to the celebration of the Irish, I finally made it out onto the open road. 9 hours and counting! The drive to I-95 was a slow one, due to the construction and slow speed limits..

45 MPH. Total buzz kill.

I made it to I-95 and on this stretch of road began my travels through various Southern states.

These are the flags you see when leaving South Carolina....

...and entering Georgia! So by 12:00, I've already been in two states!

After that long expanse of road down the coast of Georgia, I finally made it to Florida.

State number three!

I also forgot to mention my two friends I had with me on my journey. Their names are Cruise Control and iPod. Those two people got me through my trip. I put that good ole car on CC, plugged in my iPod to my FM Transmitter and cruised the open road.

The weather was overcast the whole day, so atleast if I had to be in the car for 9 hours, it wasn't pretty outside and I wasn't missing a nice day on the beach! This is what my day looked like for the better part of 9 hours... Jealous??

After driving all the way across the panhandle of Florida, my drive finally began to come to a close when I reached Pensacola! I saw the Gulf. It was like a mirage or a dream, I didn't think that after 334 miles on Interstate 10 I had finally made it to my destination...

It took me 9 hours and 12 minutes, 4 states and 2 rest stops, but I did it. I made it to Gulf Shores! I never thought I would be so exhausted from sitting all day! Once I arrived, Phillips drove in about 30 minutes behind me, and we joined Patti and Abby for a delicious dinner at Cosmos! Phil and I had originally planned to partake in the St. Patty's celebration later that night but we were both worn out from our days of travel, so we called it a night earlier than anticipated! But I will say, though it took me so long and it was such a dreadful, dreary day, it was well worth it when I arrived. It is odd how pulling into the parking lot at Sea Chase kind of feels like coming home. There is such a comforting feeling about knowing my way around down here and knowing what to do and where to go, and also knowing that I don't have to do anything but enjoy being at the beach. I love it here, and if I'm lucky, maybe I'll have the luck of the Irish with me and get some good beach-sitting weather! Keep those fingers crossed :)