Friday, September 15, 2006

Back Roads

We're here, and made really good time. Traffic was surprisingly light for a Friday. Even I-40, which is often a bumper-to-bumper nightmare, was a breeze. Still, I love it when we get off 40 and into rural North Carolina. Field after field of tobacco, cotton, and peanuts is pretty boring, but there's so much else to see. Like ... the ramshackle house on the edge of a swamp, with four gravestones in the yard. You start wondering about who lives there, how they live, and yada-yada-yada. The same holds true of the sad looking abandoned houses along the way. What happened to the people who lived there? Why does no one live in the house any more? Did something terrible happen there? Every mile tells a story. And it's all material for the memory banks of a storyteller, you know.

While traffic everywhere else was sparse, it's awful here in Wilmington -- the kind that induces spurts of cursing. Especially when we got lost looking for the hotel and couldn't get into the correct lane to try again due to the bumper-to-bumper crawling along at a snail's pace. Once we got turned around, we found it easily, though. It's nice, has all the comforts of home. The pool is right outside our room. It's too bad I didn't bring a swimsuit; it's way warmer than I thought it would be. Once of the best perks here is the free WiFi access. I don't use it much at home, but here it's a life saver.

Of course, once we were too far from home to go back, I remembered the stuff I'd forgotten to pack. This necessitated a shopping trip. Truth be told, I'd have done that anyway. I adore the boutiques in downtown Wilmington's Cotton Exchange. Suffice it to say I found some really cute stuff. I almost bought a vintage dress to wear to the wedding tomorrow, but reason prevailed and I decided to go with the one I brought. It was gorgeous, though. And who knows, I can always run back down there in the morning.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you not on vaca? Why are you blogging? Addict! Take a break.
=P

At least you are on word vaca.

How would you say "Zyjijiaj"

Z-eye-jeye-jeye-age?

Serena said...

I am, but I can't. Hi, my name is (whatever) and I'm addicted to blogging. Is there a program for this? Is there a Lemmings Underground that could help?

That's the way I'd say that Z-word. LOL.

Rex Zeitgeist said...

Some times vacations take us to the strangest places.....

Serena said...

Camera, yes, Lesia. Alas, no pix of those houses seen while speeding down the road.

The dresses -- incredible confections. The one I fell in love with wasn't actually vintage but a reproduction -- 1912. It was pale, pale pink, gauzy, fluttery, tiered, and beaded a little. Alas, I'd already spent a bundle and my conscience made me pass on it. If you ever go to Wilmington, make it a point to go to Elizabeth's (boutique) in the Cotton Exchange. She has the most gorgeous, unique things you've ever seen.