Yesterday I left the coast of North Carolina. The sun beat me to the punch on getting up but I took a little walk on the beach with sleep still in my eyes. The high humidity is just too much for a very long walk.
I looked online for beaches with sea glass and was directed to a place about an hour south. I packed my belongings, had a cup of coffee and some fruit in my room then hit the road with plans to get to Raleigh by late afternoon. I had in my mind to also go to a beach an hour north of where I was to see the sea turtle rescue place. Since we are the proud owners of a tortoise, the sea turtles are close enough in their design to make us also love them.
Along the way I pulled over to find breakfast and was directed to the Purple Onion in Shallotte…. yes, Shallotte, not Charlotte! I just missed the breakfast hour by a few minutes and had to order lunch instead, which was a really good chicken salad on croissant with home made potato chips that would make Lays go out of business. I googled “antiques near me” and lo and behold right next door was Miss Minnie’s Antiques. After my brunch I went in to see what Miss Minnie had in her treasures. Immediately I was greeted by an elderly woman named Hazel. She was a cute grandma and a little sassy I could tell. She told me all about the store and then said I should look around at the 15 spaces then come ask her which was hers so I could spend my money in there!
There were, indeed, a lot of treasures and when I made my way to the final stop I asked Hazel which space was hers. She proceeded to show me her pillows. She takes old linens and hand decorates them with little pinwheels of fabric which are absolutely the cutest. She said the pillowcases were from the 1930’s and she had made them over with her designs. So lovely! She then asked if I knew how to get them home since I would be flying. I told her I assume I would have to sleep on it on the plane! She had a better plan, saying I should go to Dollar General and get some vacuum sealing bags, put the pillows inside and use the vacuum in my hotel room to make it “flat as a flitter” and it would fit right in my suitcase. This cracked me up and it was tempting to buy them just for that very experience, but this style would not fit anywhere in my decor and that was sad. Now that a day has passed I kind of wish I would have done it anyway. It would have made Hazel very happy.
I made it all the way to Ocean Isle, NC. What a disappointment. 91 degrees and not a sliver of sea glass to be found. The internet is full of lies and deceit. I walked on the beach all of 15 minutes before quickly returning to my car and heading on the next leg of my adventure, not really sure what I wanted to do. I intended to head toward the sea turtle rescue but was quickly distracted by another antique store which took me about 45 minutes to inventory. I figured if I was going to make it to the antique mall in Raleigh I better head north. Got another distraction tracking down the town of Leland. Since that’s my favorite husband’s name I thought it would be cool, plus when I went on the horse and carriage ride the day prior the driver said Leland is where the rescue draft horses live.
Well, that really throws my map app for a loop when I keep stopping and starting. Sometimes he stops speaking to me all together and I have to change to another app to give him time to cool down. My map app is a guy with an Australian accent, which I chose because the lady gets too snippy. I think I managed to even make my Aussie a little gruff 🙁
All I wanted to do was take a photo of the Welcome to Leland sign. It, however, while really big and lovely, was not easily accessible. I would have had to park in a precarious position and walk through grass, which I have found in North Carolina not to be a good idea. My legs have been bitten by who knows what on both visits, so I decided that I would drive THROUGH Leland and see if I could find the sign at the other end of town. I did manage to find Leland Park which had an easily accessible and altogether lovely sign. Ignoring the frantic cries of map app man to make a u-turn, I continued onward until I found a place to pull over and decide what would be next.
That’s when Cracker Barrel started singing in my head. It was far past lunch and I mapped the nearest Cracker Barrel, my favorite southern comfort food. The nearest one would have definitely made Aussie happy because it would have required a definite u-turn and some back tracking. I decided moving forward was a good idea, and the landscape was quite rural. I never did find a pasture, however. Starting to think the story of the draft horses may be a bit of a myth, kind of like the legend of the sea glass!
I mapped the Cracker Barrel to be about an hour drive. Well, it would have been if I allowed Aussie to direct me onto the nearest freeway. But, I have an aversion to freeway driving when I’m learning about a place I’ve never been. He grumbled as I bypassed the 70 mile an hour easy access on-ramp and headed north on a rural road, causing him to “recalculate” the “roooot” as he calls it. Two hours it says, taking the back roads. Yes! My tummy is rumbling and visions of breakfast foods dance through my brain and help me cover the many, many miles of repetitive brick Baptist churches. I am not kidding here, nor exaggerating when I say that every single mile for many miles there were maybe five houses, tobacco field, trees buzzing with cicada and who knows what jungle noises… then a red brick Baptist church…. repeating over and over the same scene.
I could, at that point, hear Aussie saying, “Told you so, mate. You should have made that u-turn darling.” I scoffed at Aussie and continued on with bleary eyes and mouth watering for eggs over-easy on hashbrowns with a biscuit… things I never eat… and a side of really delicious crispy bacon. More tobacco fields, school buses dropping off little children at their little houses out in the middle of no where, which was a nice distraction imagining their ordinary days which I find fascinating. Followed by more tobacco fields, a brick Baptist church, buzzing wetlands, and, oh, look! A cotton field! Yay!
I finally made it to the Cracker Barrel, which officially required a u-turn! It’s actually part of the route, not just a snearing suggestion from Aussie! Cracked me up. I was so glad to get to pee and get a menu, though I knew exactly what I wanted. Well, what I really really wanted was their chicken and dumplings. Holy moly I love those. But I figured I’d go into a food coma and I still had a couple hours to go if I was going to follow my heart and not the voices in my app. I got my iced tea (unsweetened, which is always fun to ask for in the South) and promptly scoured the menu, started to order that elusive breakfast when I suddenly decided Sunday Fried Chicken was more appropriate. With Mashed Potatoes. Steamed Carrots. Biscuits or cornbread? How about both?
Now I’m really worried about a food coma. I sincerely am such a healthy eater, but when they put that southern food in front of me on a plate the size of North Carolina, how can I resist? I have wasted more food in this state than I have in all my recent years. The portions are so huge! Seriously, Cracker Barrel should just cut that meal in half and even if they left it the same price it would be a great deal. I already had left overs in my trunk from the night before… burnt ends and hush puppies. Now I had another very full tummy and enough left overs for two more meals.
Satisfied, I checked in with Aussie and found there was no way to make it to Raleigh in time for the antique mall so I set the route to my hotel. I can just see him roll his eyes, stick out his chin, say, “I told you so” in that little accent of his. Well, too bad, Aussie, this is my adventure and I like things to be a little spontaneous. We are definitely not getting along and I switch to the snippy lady for awhile.
Two hours later I checked in to my hotel with all those left overs, which I promptly threw into the nearest garbage can. I settled into my room and stayed up way too late reading and working on schedules for work. Off to a full day of training….
Until my next great adventure!
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Great writings! Thanks