Travelling Tales - Part 3

In case you missed them, here are Part One & Part Two

May 6th 2004 - Mike's Famous Harley - due to the fact that Delaware is a sales tax free state, Peter decided to make his major purchases for the bike there.  He pre-ordered some items and arranged to collect. It turned out there was some confusion over his order, to cut a long story short, it all got sorted and fitted but with a bit of a wait.  They did however, give us a voucher for a free breakfast in their cafe.  This dealership has everything, cafe, radio station, museum, limo's, you name it.  Its also a great place to spend money. Did you know the the HD in Harley Davidson stands for $100, that the amount and more you seem to spend everytime you go into a dealership - an believe me we went into a few!!  Whilst browsing we picked up a new larger, much needed backrest for my seat, which Peter fitted before we left the store. 

We were finally back on the road by midday. Keeping to the quieter roads where possible we took the coastal route down through Delaware back into Maryland for our overnight in Ocean City - there were lots of teenagers about it being Spring Break.  We had an early dinner at the Green Turtle, due to the fact that the last episode  of Friends was due to air and we wanted to be a jump ahead of home  yes sad I know.

The weather was warming up nicely the further south we drove, we were also picking up more bikes heading for Myrtle Beach.  Our next stop was the Outer Banks for 3 nights in Kill Devil Hills - we did lots of walking, eating and riding (trailer free).  We also had a few problems with the engine immobiliser, this cuts in when near satellite masts, meaning that you have to push the bike out of range - have you ever pushed a Harley?  No easy feat.

? Storm damage?

 

With the first week over we continued our journey through the Outer Banks for the 1st ferry at Hatteras which would connect us for the 2nd ferry from Ocracoke to Cedar Island - lots more bikes so plenty of people to talk too on the crossings. 

I got chatting to a couple from Washington DC - Marianne & Pim - in a camper on the 1st ferry; who we then met again on the 2nd - as the 2nd crossing took 2hrs 25mins they kindly invited us to their camper for lunch, we spent an enjoyable trip eating and chatting.  I really can't imagine anyone in the UK doing this for strangers.

Back on the road our overnight was at Jacksonville where we tried to sort out the trailer so that we wouldn't have to keep dragging everything out (we did this so many times).  Only 120 miles to Myrtle Beach the next day so we stopped off at a dealership in Wilmington for more bike bits - yes another $100 gone!!  Arrived at Myrtle Beach for Bike Week - we were booked for 2 nights - which was more than enough for me!  I managed to do some much needed laundry - one of those jobs you still need to do unfortunately.  The place was heaving with bikes and so much noise.  Our hotel was right on the main drag which proved a nightmare for sleeping.

Along with doing laundry we also managed to send the 1st email home, to let everyone know how we were doing.  Already had just over 1000 miles travelled, experienced riding without a helmet for the first time, bit scary but so liberating (and stupid). Interesting to see the different types of road kill in the US, you don't come across armadillos in the UK.  The Weather Channel became our first veiwing of the day, an essential tool for bikers.

Our next port of call was Savannah - we had made a whistle stop here in 2002 whilst visiting Rachel when she was doing a semester at Uni in Athens, Georgia, so we were keen to go back and do it justice.  We certainly did that, we walked and walked for 2 days, enjoying the sights and houses in the Historic District, eating places - can recommend the Moon River Brewing Co for dinner and the Liberty Deli (which apparently is now closed) for lunch, and the City Market where we spent an evening enjoying free entertainment.

Here ends part three......