Sunday, June 17, 2018

HRPT 2018- Drivin' it Home: June 16- Concord [Charlotte], NC to Orlando, FL (550 miles)

As far as return trips from Power Tours go, Charlotte to Orlando is a pretty easy one.  We slept in  a bit and joined our group for a final breakfast before everyone departed for home.  It always amazes me that there are 3,000 cars on the Tour, but on the way in and out, we only see a few cars.  This year was no different.  From Concord to Orlando, we saw maybe 5 other Power Tour cars. It's all interstate driving and not much to take pictures of along the way.

We went through three different slow downs and there was no road construction, accident, disabled vehicle or other justification for them.  As best I can tell, South Carolinians seem to enjoy slowing down and creating traffic jams for fun.  

Forget gas mileage, the Acadian gets about 2 hours driving per tank of gas.  This, coincidentally, is about how long one can go drinking Gatorade and water before needing a restroom break.

My dad still hadn't really gotten his barbecue fix, so Tara found Sweatman's BBQ in Holly Hill, SC.  It was only about 15 minutes out of the way and open only Friday and Saturday, so we figured it was now or never.  The place is an old farmhouse in the middle of a cornfield.  They started in 1959 and have been continuously doing barbecue since 1977.  They specialize in whole hog smoking and use a mustard based sauce.   Food was served buffet style and was pretty good.  We noticed that "smoke" is not as prominent a feature of Carolina barbecue as it is with Texas or Kansas styles.

Always face away from the corn in case so that you can run from the Children of the Corn if needed.

Yes, this is a restaurant

Don't look, but I think the pig is checking us out

It was hot out, so we ran the A/C most of the way home.  We went through some heavy rain as well.  When Tara pulled up the radar app on her phone, it seemed the only rain was over those few spots of highway, at least until we hit Florida where the rain was everywhere.

We pulled into my driveway around 7:15 p.m.   In 10 days we drove a total of a little more than 2,900 miles with detours and around town driving.  As usual, we have a small punch list of minor items to address with the Acadian and both it and the Corvette need a good detailing.   Overall, it was another successful long haul with no major incidents.  

Only 355 more days until we leave for the 2019 Tour.  They won't announce cities for quite a while, but we expect it will start in Charlotte.

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