Suffolk

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A Long Overdue Hampton Roads Homecoming

Around 5 this afternoon, I was finally able to take off and do the 45 miles that would take me to the end of this segment of my trip. I never thought I would be so grateful to see an Econolodge; I’m staying at the same hotel I stayed at four years ago. Would you believe that I was given the same room?! Hilarious!

I texted my friend an “OMG, I made it!!!” message, took a shower, and headed over to pick her up. I can’t even describe how wonderful it was to finally make it. The emotions were almost overwhelming.

I’d joked that I had sent a ‘huge’ Amazon order over to her place. It turns out that said order arrived in pieces so there was a ton of boxes waiting for me. We loaded up the car and came back to the hotel. It’d been so long since I’d made up the order that I didn’t remember most of what was in those boxes. It turns out there was a lot of useful stuff, including a new electric blanket with a timer on it. 🙂

My friend had bought tickets for the midnight premiere of The Avengers (thank you!!!) so we headed out for a very late Applebee’s dinner that will double as brunch tomorrow. The movie was awesome and hilarious and totally worth the insanely long day. It’s 3:45AM right now and I can’t remember the last time I was up so late. I’ve planned a well earned sleep in. 🙂

 

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Day Three

Day three made me the most nervous. Since I had reservations in Savannah that night, I had to make it there, an eight hour or so trek. I was also uneasy about the hotel I would be staying at the, the Holiday Inn Midtown on Abercorn. I’d booked the hotel through priceline.com, my first experience doing so, and had gotten a ludicrously good deal for a fairly prime Savannah location–40$ per night, including taxes. So, I really wasn’t expecting much.

The day did have a great start–I left Virginia in a lightweight cotton skirt, bare legs, sandals, and a tee-shirt!

The drive turned out to be very easy and I loved ticking off states I’d never been to before–North Carolina, South Carolina, and, at long last, Georgia! I stopped at the welcome centre there and asked for a map of Savannah so I could find my hotel. Why I didn’t Google Maps myself directions ahead of time, I have no idea. I’d thought of everything but that! The lady at the information counter did have a map, and knew exactly where the Holiday Inn is located, so she gave me super clear directions. I found the hotel without any problems.

When I stepped into my room, I was so relieved–it smelled good, which is rare for a hotel room. I liked where it was located; at the back of the motel on the second level, so I knew it would be quiet. The bathroom caulking needed updating but, otherwise, the room felt nice and clean, a real bargain. I wound up being beyond satisfied with my stay there. priceline.com is great!

Up until I got to the room, I’d been raring to go in my Savannah exploration and thought I would take a bus downtown. But once I got my luggage up to my room, I realised that I was beat, but in desperate need of exercise.

I decided to hike down to the Publix, a grocery store, to get a gallon of spring water. It was a surprising tough walk for its shortness; Savannah was HOT and very sticky. After the winter we’d endured, I relished this heat and humidity and couldn’t help turning my face upwards to drink in as much of the late day sun as possible.

Once I dropped off the water at the motel room, I decided to go up Abercorn a bit to see what restaurants were available in the mall area. There, I found an authentic Mexican cantina, where I over indulged on Corona beer, margaritas, enchiladas, burritos, and nachos. Vacation had truly begun!

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Day Two

Sunday morning started out a tad creepily. As I began to load up the car, a guy pulled up and started to chat me up. I ignored him as best as I could until he began to really speak to me, asking me my name and where I was going. I told him flat out to leave me alone and he finally left. My radar was screaming by this point and I rather regret not mentioning the incident to a police officer parked at the Dunkin’ Donuts down the hill.

I had breakfast at the Dunkin’ Donuts (AWFUL coffee; Americans need Tim Horton’s and/or more Starbucks!!!), then I tanked up. I was on the road much earlier than planned Sunday morning.

My friend values her privacy, so I won’t go into details as to exactly where I was heading in Virginia, but I will say that a good part of the easy drive to her area was on a fairly rural route. I arrived much earlier than planned, at noon. The motel offered free wi-fi, so I decided to play a joke on her and email to announce my arrival instead of calling as planned. It worked; soon as she saw my ‘guess what?’ subject line, she assumed that I wasn’t going to make it. This was a valid assumption. I’d had to bail out of visiting her at least three times before. Last time was Katrina’s fault.

But, I was there! At last! She didn’t waste anytime getting to the motel.

Even though we had been friends a long, long time (five years at least, isn’t it?) we had never actually met in person or spoken to each other! So I was a bit nervous about our first face to face meeting. I didn’t need to be. We had a most splendid afternoon and evening. We gabbed and gabbed and gabbed some more, she introduced me to Cracker Barrel restaurants (which caused an instant addiction to their mac ‘n cheese and hush puppies), and we exchanged presents. The day was exactly what I’d hoped it would be and I’m so pleased that, this time, our plan to meet came to fruition. I know you’re reading this, so let me say that I adore you even more now than I did a week ago, not something I thought could be possible!

I had a very good night at that motel; it was very quiet.