Greetings from Isle of Palms, the third destination of the week-long road trip. A few notes……

I’ve paid $4-gallon for gas just once, outside Jacksonville when I was worried we wouldn’t make it back from a tubing trip down the Ichetucknee River. I put in just enough to get home before finding a station that had $3.99 regular. Gas is considerably cheaper in South Carolina, so I’ll top off before heading back to N.C…..

Jacksonville’s newspaper, the FloridaTimes-Union, is, big surprise, pushing mass transit, though they didn’t ignore individual mobility in this Sunday front-pager on hitchhiking. Check out the hilarious lede:

Town & Country waitress Naomi Engle was pouring coffee behind the diner’s counter, talking with a co-worker at the Baldwin truck stop.

The 43-year-old had gentle eyes that seemed wide as blue saucers. But they were wise to the ways of the crossroads, reflecting the look of a Samaritan who’s wasted goodwill on a false apostle.

Where two interstate roads converge, so do hitchhikers. Some are desperate to outrun trouble or bad luck. Others are looking for honest work. Some are trying to scam the unsuspecting. Others relish the freedom to roam.

All agree that bumming rides is risky. But some believe they have to put themselves out there. Together they are a breed whose highway habit raises suspicions among many motorists who think:

What if I pick up an ax murderer?

Former Bennett College president Johnetta Cole was featured in a brief on the editorial page, receiving an award for her work in education. The Times-Union has the same layout as many papers these days — large photos on the front page of each section, with short jumps surrounded by ads and lots of obituaries……

We passed by the Jimmy Carter National Historic site on I-75 between Atlanta and the Florida state line. I begged to stop so we could see it, but I was outvoted….

Written above the bathroom door in South Carolina gas station:

Bush is a world-class liar genius asshole bastard.

What can I say, I’m at least impressed that so many people participated, considering the forum. I also have to wonder if the guy who wrote ‘genius’ was being sarcastic…..