On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I have a conference call that goes until 6pm. So I usually can't go out and run until it's dark. But today I decided to see if I could take the call from the Park. It turned out to be a great decision.
I was still home when the meeting started. Based on the agenda, my part wasn't until the end. So I walked over to the Park and listened while the other presenters talked. I watched the geese and admired the hazy skyline.
By the time my turn came around, I was on the East side of the reservoir.
It was relatively quiet where I was, until a few helicopters flew overhead. I hadn't planned on that.
The meeting ended just as the sky was starting to glow.
Perfect timing. I ran up the track a little to put the clouds where I wanted them in relation to the El Dorado Towers.
I've never been to the South before (not including Florida), so I was excited. The trip spanned 5 days and covered 4 cities: Myrtle Beach, Charleston, Hilton Head, and Savannah. Here's a recap of my trip in pictures, with a few sentences to string the story together.
Day 1 and 2: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
I arrived in Myrtle Beach and went straight to the store. Day 1 was rainy and cold, so all I did was work and eat. Here's day 2:
The store is in a complex called Broadway at the Beach. It's not quite on the beach, but there is water there. And sea gulls.
Most of my time on these trips is spent in the stores. The second store I visited in Myrtle Beach is in Barefoot Landing. It has a lot of mosquitoes.
All those specks in the sky are mosquitoes.
I don't leave the store until it closes, so it's almost always dark.
Day 3: Still Myrtle Beach
I woke up early (a la 5:30am) to catch the sunrise on the beach.
The moon was still up, but the sun wasn't yet.
Not bad for a point and shoot, huh? (Using the Canon G7X):
I ran through the pier over to hang out with some sea gulls.
The sun peeked out from behind the horizon and rose much faster than I had anticipated.
I ran over to the pier to try to get an artsy shot between the pillars.
I ran back along the beach.
Hey look! My footprints!
I went back to the hotel and slept for a few hours, then spent the entire day in the stores. At night, I drove down to Charleston. Before entering the city, you cross this bridge.
That's all I saw of Charleston because the next morning, I woke up early to drive down to Hilton Head.
Day 4: Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Most of the drive was pretty uneventful. Pretty. And uneventful.
The store is old but the manager and staff are fantastic! They suggested we grab lunch at Chow Daddy's - and now I recommend it too. It was so good!
I had the pulled chicken over mashed potatoes and it was ridiculously good.
Unlike Myrtle Beach, this store closed at 6, just before sunset. So we headed to the beach.
After dinner, I worked from the hotel for a little bit and then headed back out to the beach at midnight. I've never taken pictures of stars before. Here's my first attempt:
Pretty cool, huh?
Can you see the big dipper in this one?
Day 5: Savannah, Georgia
Morning came way too fast, but I got up and drove to Savannah. On the way, we (I was traveling with Janelle at this point, the Regional Sales Director for the area) stopped at a French bakery owned by the Hilton Head manager's father. It was a treat!
We got a warm welcome at the Savannah store too.
Did you know that Savannah has one of the largest St. Patrick's Day celebrations in the world? Right? Well Del Sol has a pirate cut out that they repurpose as a leprechaun for the celebration. Needless to say, it attracts a lot of photos.
I spent the whole day in the store, with the exception of eating shrimp and grits (yum!) for lunch. We shut down around 7pm and passed through this square on the way back to the car.
From here I drove halfway back to Myrtle Beach and then the other half the next morning to catch an early afternoon flight back home to New York.
