I woke up next to the beach, smelling the sea and ready to go cruise the strip a little and see how Myrtle Beach bike Week was shaping up. It turns out that bike rally's aren't super van friendly, and I couldn't find a place to park Odin and check out the bikes, so we just drove up and down the main drag for a couple hours, checking out the scene. I decided to hit the road for Carolina Beach and spend some time with my friends Lief and Annie, and Clyde Baby, who was still residing in his momma's belly when they moved away from NYC.
Annie suggested I take the ferry over, and it was awesome. Odin looked very handsome on his first ferry ride! (Well, his first with me...that's all that counts!) Getting off the ferry and driving from the end of the island to the house was so lovely. The ocean on one side, these awesome wind blown trees on the other, and then further down the road, all the brightly painted houses! It's the kind of beach town I can dig. It reminds me of all the Oregon coastal towns...small, with locally owned shops and restaurants, and beaches that were still not crammed with people because it's still the off season. Lief and Annie have the cutest house, with an awesome front porch, and it made me feel at home immediately. I'm sure that had more to do with the company than the house itself, but you know what I mean. I had only intended on staying the night and then trying to blast home, but after 10 minutes of hanging out, I knew I needed to stay the next day too. It was a good decision. There were beers, and moonshine, tons of awesome food, bullshitting, a stick and poke tattoo on the porch and a cute as hell little dude running around to make us laugh. It's so awesome to really spend time with people that you already knew you liked, but never really got the chance to hang with, because you lived in New York and there just isn't enough time. Good people, these three, and all of their friends that I got to meet. Make the time. That's my new goal. So let's hang when I get back, k?
Waking up this morning to the news of Chris Cornell's suicide was heartbreaking. He was such a big influence on me as a teenager and throughout my life. That was the music that made me feel like I wasn't an outsider, and there were other people in the world that felt like me. Not to mention his voice. Good God, that voice. Depression touches us all somehow, and we have to remove the shame from it. I'm thankful I got help when I did, and I figured out how to manage it better as I got older. But it still creeps in once in awhile. Check in with your people. Make sure they're solid.
This was the perfect ending to the relaxing part of the trip. I feel ready, and inspired to get back to the city and figure out my next moves.
