Wednesday 10th March 2010 - Into North Carolina

          After nearly a year in the US, I finally asked, at breakfast this morning, for "tomato juice", as opposed to "tomatto juice" (I'm sure you're aware that Americans pronounce it correctly, or "regular", as they would say, aren't you).

         Afterwards, Dulcie has no choice but to lead me onto US-17, but she managed to disguise it heavily at the beginning.  She did display a bit of recidivism at Myrtle Beach, and had me on the bypass before I could gather myself.  Momentary lack of concentration can cause serious problems on the road.  But this didn't bother me too much: what I saw on the outskirts suggested that this was where Blackpool got most of its worst ideas form.

 

          Today is Wilmington, and I'm not even going to pretend I want to look at old buildings.  The promentory that Wilmington is on is Cape Fear.  The name may have come from early explorers being trapped in the shoals created by the tidal turbulence, or it may be a corruption of Cape Fair.  Whatever the reason, Wilmington is another big port.  It is the home of the battleship USS North Carolina.

 

          Later that night, I repaired to the Front Street Brewery, a bar with a brewery in it, inside a glass room.  And eight different brews on offer, varying in strength from 4.8 to 9.1.  But I can't tell you what they were like.  I wouldn't have been able to tell you about the 9.1 anyway: that's much too strong for beer.