We'd had so many unforgettable experiences in our little tent over the past five and a half months - from the surreal isolation of White Sands National Monument to chasing Phil and Grant around our tent in Pinnacles National Park - that we were truly dreading our last night in the great American outdoors.
But we knew this day would come, so we put our foot down and cruised down the Interstate from one Carolina to the other. We headed straight to the KOA and were greeted by all manner of strange and wonderful Halloween decorations dotted around the campsite. We had booked one of the few no-hook-up tent sites and and such, we had a nice secluded location right at the back of the campsite. After pitching the tent, we jumped back in Fin and headed into town to explore.
Driving down the main beach-front road, we saw a town that is very clearly set up for heavy tourism during the high season, but had an eerie feel of desolation here in late October. Hotel after hotel stretched along the seafront, but many looked totally empty and some seemed to be boarded up - undergoing a low-season refurb maybe? Hurricane Florence had passed through a month or so earlier, but we didn't see much evidence of serious damage.
What was welcome, however, was the heat and humidity that we had missed for so long. Dropping Fin off in a parking lot, we headed onto the beach for a relaxing wander on the wet sand, inspecting all sorts of shells as we went.
All this beachcombing was proving to be thirsty work, so we headed for the arcades and signs of life further up the beach. After a quick pit stop at a bar, we hit the arcades. After a few games we had enough tickets to buy a friend for our dashboard doggy, Eats, in the form of a small rubber ducky. Eats had been riding solo up front since July, so he was very grateful to finally get a companion.
Sam had been trying to find a decent crazy golf place for as long as the road trip itself, and it was surely destiny that we had some time to kill in this seaside town. Lo and behold: Mount Atlanticus!!!! This place was suitably over-the-top, with two different courses, multiple levels and water features abound. You'll see from the video that we had a great time and Sam in particular had finally scratched her US Crazy Golf itch!
With golf done, it was time for Sam to succumb to my obsession and after picking up four large bundles of wood, we headed back to the tent to build the final MERTA campfire. After cooking some yummy chicken, courgette and red onion, we threw the rest of the wood on the fire and slumped back into our camp chairs.
Night fell and the flames slowly shrunk until just a few embers crackled away in the fire pit. It's not an overstatement to say it was quite an emotional experience. This was the end of a major chapter in our adventure and with only a week of MERTA left, we headed into our trusty little tent for the last time with a mixture of emotions, ready for our last night's sleep under the stars.
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