It was a lovely, steamy day again with temps. around 33'C and ultra high humidity. There is almost no point in showering some days because you're soaked as soon a you get dressed.
Before leaving New Bern, I took a short ride through this historic coastal town and discovered that a guy named Caleb Bradham created what later became Pepsi-Cola way back in 1898.
Right across the street was an old church with beautiful trees covered in Spanish moss. Beneath the trees was a small outdoor chapel which was dedicates to several community members who were buried there and sponsored the memorial.
Today my plan was to reach Myrtle Beach via Wilmington, North Carolina. As I hit the slab I was starting to see these massive black clouds approaching from the west as a storm front bore down on the coast. Oddly, I was so hot and tired that I was praying for rain to cool me off knowing that by late afternoon I would be dry just from riding through the wind. I had a few sprinkles but not enough to stave off the relentless sun's heat. I haven't worn any more than a t-shirt and jeans for the past week or so as it would be insane to wear anything more. As a consequence I have developed a real "truck driver's tan", from my shirt sleeves down to my hand and from the neck up.
Cruising into Wilmington I noticed signs for the U.S.S. North Carolina, a world war two battleship, which was anchored in the harbour and was available for tours. I had never seen one of these monsters of the sea so I had to stop for a look.
Even before the US entered WWII, the North Carolina was under construction back in 1937. It was the first American battleship to be built in 16 years. Four years later it was completed and commissioned in April 9, 1941. The shear mass of this ship is quite overwhelming. It is 729 ft. long, 108 ft. wide, weighs 44,800 tons, had a max. speed of 28 knots and had 2300 men on board. You can see for yourself the armaments (guns). Those big ones up front and in the rear fire a shell that is 15 inches across and their range is something like five miles. In many cases they would not even be able to see their target because it was so far away. One of the anchors weighs 25,000 lbs. and the massive chain that supports it is 1000 ft. long. During many war time battles only ten men were killed and 67 wounded. Quite an impressive service record.
Just before I was about to leave I saw a crowd of kids all gathered around a big brute of a guy all decked out in commando gear, signing their autographs. It turned out that he was a well known action actor who was onboard shooting a war movie called "Check Point". I recognized him from some action movies I've seen in the past but I don't know his name. After posting to this blog, my good friend, Peggy Barette, informed me that the actors name is Bill Goldberg.
I made it to Myrtle Beach around the cocktail hour and got set up. I had been enjoying a great deal of fresh Atlantic seafood over the past week and tonight all I could think about was a big greasy pizza. Tomorrow I head inland to Fort Mill, SC to spend my weekend with Mickey and Katie, my cousin and his wife.
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