Fall Break: 2011

Fall break. For many it means an extra couple days home, relaxing, and spending more time with family and friends who live an hour or so away from campus...

Not this cat. I'm leaving today at noon to embark on my 5 1/2 hour journey back home to "the 843" (843 is the area code for coastal South Carolina from Hilton Head to Myrtle Beach, inland to Florence).

Yes, you read that correctly. 5 1/2 hours. In other words, I'm letting my iPod charge to full capacity, and plan on driving straight through to Augusta (where I plan on getting gas at the cheapest gas-station in the area...at $2.98/gal), then from there I'm going to be driving all the way to my dad's shop, so I'll get to have dinner with me padre, and some sales reps (the perk of the pet business: company representatives with very padded expense accounts = free dinner at nice restaurants).

But most of all - I want to do one thing, and one thing only. Go to the beach - Folly, if I get to pick, and smell the salt air. Get "beach hair" (what happens when salt air and sand mix with hair). And most of all - remember why I love my home: big white porches, and floppy straw hats. Seersucker jackets, and linen pants.


Annnd......fast-forward a week (well, five days). I'm back in East Point, and at the daily grind - as usual. I achieved most of my goals I set for break. I worked with my dad at the family business, and even got to see some Point friends who decided to come to Charleston. I got cheap gas - $3.02/gal, not quite the $2.98 I wanted, but it was good enough.

Fallen tree branch at Folly Beach (yes, I took that picture)

Best of all, though, I remembered why I love my home region so much. Smells of the salt-marsh filled the air, and people smiling wherever you went. Even saw a wedding photo shoot downtown, and the entire street was filled with honking cars and yelling people congratulating the new bride and groom...yes, I honked my horn. I got to go to the beach, and feel the sand between my toes, and even ate some local shrimp (about 100.583748 times better than the ones you buy at Kroger in the seafood section).

So, no elaborate cruises, or expensive trips for me this year - just quality time with the family, and remembering my roots...and that's all I could have wanted.