- October 2nd, 2006, 2:01 pm
#18939
So, on Thursday Morning, I woke up and got my things together. I packed the nite before, so I got dressed after my shower, made the bed, and then my dad, who was at home from work due to illness, asked me to get him some chicken noodle soup at the store before I left, so I ran down and did that, dropping it off on my way back. This was the only ‘summer’ trip (that just happened to be happening in the fall) that I would be taking this year, and I wasn’t really looking forward to it for obvious reasons that, if you don’t already know, I’ll get in to on Saturday’s report.
Once I was back in the Xterra and ready to go, I put my freshly updated iPod on (which had some music from Pilgrimage 3 as well as Janet Jackson’s just released that week album, 20 Y.O.). I had about 7 hours of music for a 7 hour drive. I was leaving with an almost full tank of gas, and I was in a decent mood. The weather was rather dreary, but I knew that reports were for sun in Myrtle Beach thru the weekend. I was finally off on one of the most important coaster trips I’d ever taken.
About 90 minutes in to the ride, I stopped in Wythville, VA since gas was only $2.08 to fill up the little bit of fuel I’d already burned off. I also got some pizza and a bottled water. I wouldn’t stop again until North Carolina for directions, then South Carolina for gas. Just outside of the area, on US 501, something in the other lane caught my eye. The Wacky Worm station and train from the Grand Prix was on the back of a truck being transported somewhere. I had seen pictures of the track packed up. I guess someone bought it, which is a good thing. I had left around 10 A.M., so I figured on getting in to Myrtle Beach around 5 P.M., and surely enough, at about 5:30 I was pulling in to the parking lot of the Sea Crest, the hotel where I had reservations. I had spent the last 3 hours looking forward to arriving and relaxing in the room for a bit. That, however, would not be the case once I arrived.
Once I got to the lobby, it seemed everyone in there was having some type of problem with the staff. Sea Crest is a very nice ocean front property where we have stayed for at least 10 years. My parents would be arriving there the day I was leaving, and my mother had made my reservations as well since we were going at almost the same time. So I gave her the money for the room after they took it off of her card. Apparently, that was a mistake.
Even though I’ve done it before at other hotels, when I arrived at the Sea Crest (and after waiting 45 minutes to get waited on), the Desk Manager, a rather snobbish woman with an English Accent informed me that I could not have the room without the card. I explained that my mother already charged and paid for the room, and all I should have to do is check in, as, again, we’d done this before. “But sir, Hotel policy says I need the card to make a photo copy of itâ€. Uh, why do they need a photo copy of my mother’s card any way?
Now, had I only held the room on her card, it would have been different, but she went ahead and charged it and paid for it on her card, which had already been deducted (not simply held on the card). And since it had already went thru, even though the reservation was in my name (did I mention that when we made reservations, you can charge it on someone else’s card and put it under a different name, much like anything else you purchase online or over the phone?), I could not check in.
I asked if I could keep the reservation and pay cash, but the prices almost doubled AND they wanted a $100 deposit. I asked if my mother could call and fax a copy of her card, and that was not an option. I had budgeted enough of my previous paycheck out to be able to get down to Myrtle for the first evening, as I was getting paid on Friday anyways, and I get my check direct deposited. I had to scrimp and save anywho and be very frugal as I had also had to go a couple hours away for training which the state will eventually reimburse me for, as well as a trip to NC the weekend before I left that I also couldn’t get out of, so I was on limited funds for the first day.
I left after a lengthy time spent at the front desk without a room. This meant that I would likely have to go to a much cheaper (read-trashy) motel. So I called my mother, who was furious. She called the hotel and the woman was rude to her on the phone from the start. I went to a couple of different motels, but they all wanted ridiculous amounts for deposit since I was a walk up, and was usually about ten to twenty dollars more than I had available that evening. I spent four hours running around Myrtle Beach looking for a place for the nite, and honestly, the outlook wasn’t so good, so I had to do something I’d never done before in my life.
I called my mother and asked her if she could wire me the money that I had given her for the room. I didn’t feel so bad because it was my money. I asked if she could go online and do it over Western Union, since I was at a K-Mart, but it was storming in WV, so DSL was out on the mountain. She said she’d check with Wal-Mart and then go to the local Western Union if Wal-Mart couldn’t wire the money. As I waited for her to call me back, I parked at K-Mart where Western Union was, and almost got attacked by a homeless man who wanted money.
Eventually, my Mother called and she had indeed sent me money thru Wal-Mart via Moneygram. I went and picked it up, a little bit happier after 3 miserable hours. I almost went back to my original hotel, but instead I stopped at a Comfort Inn & Suites that sits right by the beach as well, and was across the street from Family Kingdom. The room was $20 more, but that included a private balcony, even if I didn’t have quite as many pool options, and the bathroom was rather tiny. Oh well, it was clean, the people were nice, and I had a room.
So I went to the room to shower, freshen up, and rest just a bit. It was still rather early, so I changed in to shorts and a shirt and headed out to circle town and ride up towards the 17 bypass. I wanted to see the fairly new Coastal Grand Mall, as I passed on going last year. Very nice what they did with the area. Obviously, it had gotten dark by this point, so I drove down near Surfside and back, eventually settling in down town for the evening for a few hours, a couple drinks, and conversation with locals and non-locals. I arrived back at the room fairly late, sat on the balcony for a minute or two, and then went to bed, a decent ending to a sucky evening.
Anywho, as I was riding down to Myrtle, near Mt. Airy, NC, I was thinking about something else entirely, and I thought to myself how such an accident as I was imagining would be a fantastic looking catastrophe. I really liked the way that sounded, and since I was going to my favorite place(s) in the whole wide world, which is fantastic, part of the trip was definitely catastrophic. And thus, you have the name.
Once I was back in the Xterra and ready to go, I put my freshly updated iPod on (which had some music from Pilgrimage 3 as well as Janet Jackson’s just released that week album, 20 Y.O.). I had about 7 hours of music for a 7 hour drive. I was leaving with an almost full tank of gas, and I was in a decent mood. The weather was rather dreary, but I knew that reports were for sun in Myrtle Beach thru the weekend. I was finally off on one of the most important coaster trips I’d ever taken.
About 90 minutes in to the ride, I stopped in Wythville, VA since gas was only $2.08 to fill up the little bit of fuel I’d already burned off. I also got some pizza and a bottled water. I wouldn’t stop again until North Carolina for directions, then South Carolina for gas. Just outside of the area, on US 501, something in the other lane caught my eye. The Wacky Worm station and train from the Grand Prix was on the back of a truck being transported somewhere. I had seen pictures of the track packed up. I guess someone bought it, which is a good thing. I had left around 10 A.M., so I figured on getting in to Myrtle Beach around 5 P.M., and surely enough, at about 5:30 I was pulling in to the parking lot of the Sea Crest, the hotel where I had reservations. I had spent the last 3 hours looking forward to arriving and relaxing in the room for a bit. That, however, would not be the case once I arrived.
Once I got to the lobby, it seemed everyone in there was having some type of problem with the staff. Sea Crest is a very nice ocean front property where we have stayed for at least 10 years. My parents would be arriving there the day I was leaving, and my mother had made my reservations as well since we were going at almost the same time. So I gave her the money for the room after they took it off of her card. Apparently, that was a mistake.
Even though I’ve done it before at other hotels, when I arrived at the Sea Crest (and after waiting 45 minutes to get waited on), the Desk Manager, a rather snobbish woman with an English Accent informed me that I could not have the room without the card. I explained that my mother already charged and paid for the room, and all I should have to do is check in, as, again, we’d done this before. “But sir, Hotel policy says I need the card to make a photo copy of itâ€. Uh, why do they need a photo copy of my mother’s card any way?
Now, had I only held the room on her card, it would have been different, but she went ahead and charged it and paid for it on her card, which had already been deducted (not simply held on the card). And since it had already went thru, even though the reservation was in my name (did I mention that when we made reservations, you can charge it on someone else’s card and put it under a different name, much like anything else you purchase online or over the phone?), I could not check in.
I asked if I could keep the reservation and pay cash, but the prices almost doubled AND they wanted a $100 deposit. I asked if my mother could call and fax a copy of her card, and that was not an option. I had budgeted enough of my previous paycheck out to be able to get down to Myrtle for the first evening, as I was getting paid on Friday anyways, and I get my check direct deposited. I had to scrimp and save anywho and be very frugal as I had also had to go a couple hours away for training which the state will eventually reimburse me for, as well as a trip to NC the weekend before I left that I also couldn’t get out of, so I was on limited funds for the first day.
I left after a lengthy time spent at the front desk without a room. This meant that I would likely have to go to a much cheaper (read-trashy) motel. So I called my mother, who was furious. She called the hotel and the woman was rude to her on the phone from the start. I went to a couple of different motels, but they all wanted ridiculous amounts for deposit since I was a walk up, and was usually about ten to twenty dollars more than I had available that evening. I spent four hours running around Myrtle Beach looking for a place for the nite, and honestly, the outlook wasn’t so good, so I had to do something I’d never done before in my life.
I called my mother and asked her if she could wire me the money that I had given her for the room. I didn’t feel so bad because it was my money. I asked if she could go online and do it over Western Union, since I was at a K-Mart, but it was storming in WV, so DSL was out on the mountain. She said she’d check with Wal-Mart and then go to the local Western Union if Wal-Mart couldn’t wire the money. As I waited for her to call me back, I parked at K-Mart where Western Union was, and almost got attacked by a homeless man who wanted money.
Eventually, my Mother called and she had indeed sent me money thru Wal-Mart via Moneygram. I went and picked it up, a little bit happier after 3 miserable hours. I almost went back to my original hotel, but instead I stopped at a Comfort Inn & Suites that sits right by the beach as well, and was across the street from Family Kingdom. The room was $20 more, but that included a private balcony, even if I didn’t have quite as many pool options, and the bathroom was rather tiny. Oh well, it was clean, the people were nice, and I had a room.
So I went to the room to shower, freshen up, and rest just a bit. It was still rather early, so I changed in to shorts and a shirt and headed out to circle town and ride up towards the 17 bypass. I wanted to see the fairly new Coastal Grand Mall, as I passed on going last year. Very nice what they did with the area. Obviously, it had gotten dark by this point, so I drove down near Surfside and back, eventually settling in down town for the evening for a few hours, a couple drinks, and conversation with locals and non-locals. I arrived back at the room fairly late, sat on the balcony for a minute or two, and then went to bed, a decent ending to a sucky evening.
Anywho, as I was riding down to Myrtle, near Mt. Airy, NC, I was thinking about something else entirely, and I thought to myself how such an accident as I was imagining would be a fantastic looking catastrophe. I really liked the way that sounded, and since I was going to my favorite place(s) in the whole wide world, which is fantastic, part of the trip was definitely catastrophic. And thus, you have the name.
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403 Coasters and counting...
403 Coasters and counting...
