“Dark and silent late last night, I think I might have heard the highway calling.” -James Taylor

September 23, 2018

“Dark and silent late last night, I think I might have heard the highway calling.”

-James Taylor

 

One year ago at this time, Kathy and I along with all of our pets were evacuated from Hurricane Irma in Winston-Salem, North Carolina where my mother Marta lives. My sister Marika and her husband Brian live nearby and so we got to see them as well during what became a two week stay. I had not seen any of them since and in the meantime, my mother has completed writing her first book and she had asked me to come up and see her to assist with the photographs that she intends to include in the book.

Michele and Marta

 

Since my eldest sister, Michele was going to be in Winston-Salem for a convention this week, it was an opportune time for us all to get together. Kathy was not able to come up, she was already traveling out to Colorado and New Mexico to visit our house and to go visit our friends Dakota and Andy and their infant daughter Sloane. Instead, I opted to drive from Key West to Carolina, bringing our dog Jack so he could be reunited with Marta, who he had the honor to spend the first ten of his twelve years with.

The evening before our departure, we were invited to our friends Nadene and Trevor for an amazing dinner. It was a wonderful gathering of friends and we all had a really amazing evening. The star of the night was, as always their young daughter Meredith, who is about as adorable, smart and funny a child as you can imagine. We love spending time with the Orr family and thank them for yet another fantastic meal and fun time.

Meredith 

I got an early start for the sixteen plus hour drive to Winston-Salem. I was worried that there might be traffic or other flooding issues in the wake of last week’s Hurricane Florence, which devastated the Eastern Carolinas, with massive flooding and damage, including the closure of over 600 roads. Thankfully my route avoided the most devastated areas and the drive was pretty much a cakewalk.

 

Having Jack with me in the car was great, he is a fantastic traveler and I make sure to try and stop at as many interesting areas along the way that give us breaks from the road. The trip up featured stops at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Sanctuary where we got to view manatees from their cool observation deck and hike along the trails through the scrub forest.

We also stopped for a few hours in St. Mary’s, Georgia, a beautiful little coastal town that is the gateway to the Cumberland Island National Seashore. There, we walked around the historic town center, which is packed with beautiful old antebellum houses and buildings as well as the Cumberland Island visitor center and ferry terminal. I wish we would have had time to take the ferry over to the island, which is full of cool Civil War era ruins as well as beautiful wild horses.

 

We arrived in Winston-Salem in the early evening of our second day of driving and the reunion between Jack and Marta was as special as expected. I am not sure who was more excited, but there were literally tears of joy that were so wonderful to see. My presence seemed almost an afterthought, but that’s ok, we all know that Jack is the star attraction and everyone was pretty happy.

 

It was great to be able to see both my sisters and one of my brothers-in-law. The weather was great, sunny and warm and in the first day of my short visit, I took advantage to visit some of my favorite places in town, including the Historic Old Salem, where I stocked up on baked Moravian goods and where we all shared an amazing meal at the old Tavern there, a place where George Washington once stayed and has pretty much been in continuous operation since.

Just like last year when we were here for the grand opening of a new brewery in town (Wisemen Brewing), I just happened to arrive during the first week of the beautiful and brand new Incendiary Brewing Company. Located in the basement of a historic old factory building, it is a great new addition to the ever growing craft beer scene here.