Day 7

And on the 7th day...I rested...while Nick, Mess and Rizzo went for a run.

After they got back and I finally got myself out of bed we cleaned up Jesse's apartment and packed up once again. Because the prospect of driving for as long as we could before finding a wonderfully cheap motel was not the most alluring option, we continued our search for a place to stay. My mom had read that we were still looking for a place to crash and recommended contacting my third cousin(?) Tommy who lives in Charleston, SC. I gave him a call telling him our situation and was happy to hear that he was excited to have us.

With a concrete destination in mind we headed out. The four of us said our goodbyes to our new friend Debbie, who worked the guard house of the apartment complex, and began our trip back north. Everyone passed out within minutes which makes a lot of sense when you think about how tiring watching Community and playing Bananagrams can be. Around the time the three passengers awoke we began to see signs for "The Orange Shop." Pretty persistent with their billboards, the fresh-fruit store left us with no choice but to pull over and check it out (although this tactic didn't work on us for South of the Border). We tried some different free jam samples on Triscuits  and purchased two bottles of fresh squeezed orange juice: one for ourselves and one as thanks to Tommy and his wife Brenda for giving us a place to stay on such short notice.

Once we got back onto the highway we decided that it was necessary we try some southern BBQ before we made our way back north. We found a place called "Shorty's" that had great reviews and was only an hour and a half away. Described as being located between a Wendy's and a BP, Shorty's seemed to be the same barbecue restaurant that we choose fast food over less than a week before. Upon arriving we we saw that the eatery in front of us was called Molson's. We were hungry and so we were unfazed by the name change. We ordered a half rack of ribs, two pulled pork sandwiches, 10 wings, and a 1/2 chicken sandwich (which was actually half a chicken!). We washed the meal down with the orange juice we picked up from The Orange Shop and some warm Arnold Palmer that had been sitting in the car. We cleaned the barbecue sauce off our hands in the Wendy's we had come to know and love since our last visit in Kingsland, GA and then once again got back on the road.

At this point we experienced our first rain of the trip. The sun shower lasted only a few seconds and was immediately erased by one swipe of the windshield wipers. Sadly, the have probably been more bugs that have hit our window than rain drops. We passed some of the time listening to intellectual lectures because, well, we are college students after all. Mess had a file of Richard Feynman describe curved spaces in two dimensions which went straight over my head, although the others may have understood it (or at least said they did). We also listened to some TED talks which were more my speed.

Around 7:30 Rizzo got pretty deliriously giggly although we are unsure of the cause.

Tommy told us about about a "delectable Scottish Cuisine that we probably didn't have in New York" so we took his word for it and treated ourselves to McDonalds. Tommy is a jokester for those of you who don't know. After raiding the Dollar Menu for dinner, we made our way to our place to stay for the night where I met a family member for the first time. The first thing I noticed was how much Tommy looked like my grandpa. After only minutes of conversation I knew they had to be relatives from his recitation of poetry and epics with ease. Tommy and his wife Brenda were awesome hosts, giving us beds and offering us plenty of ice cream. After his third cup of vanilla Blue Bell Tommy said "Who wants more ice cream? I do!" We were lucky enough to partake in his ice cream night Sundays. While in Charleston we played with the new puppy Brenda got an hour prior to our arrival as well as her beautiful birds (a golden macaw and three others, all of whom were able to whistle or talk). After hanging out and discussing our favorite movies, music, and literature with Tommy we decided it was time for bed since we had to get up for our early departure back to Philadelphia. It was a surprisingly eventful day that I am very happy worked out the way it did.

Sincerely,
S.L. Finkelstein, Esq.


Special thanks to Tommy and Brenda for opening up their home to us on such short notice! You guys are truly awesome and we can't tell you how much we appreciate your hospitality. I'm also so glad I got to meet people so close to my grandpa!