Road trip to Orlando for the Disney Triathlon

Chris and I drove (yes, drove) to Orlando to visit his aunt and uncle and to participate in the Disney Triathlon.

We left Maryland on Friday at 5:30am and headed South. First stop - Dunkin Donuts in Quantico for, what else, but donuts and coffee. Next stop, lunch - pork bbq at Smithfield BBQ in Smithfield, NC. I don't love NC pork bbq but Chris does and he said this place was decent. Snack time - Lumberton, NC for boiled peanuts...So gross. These peanuts tasted like cold, salty, mushy plastic, but Chris loved them.

Just south of the NC border was South of the Border in Dillon, SC. It's shlock...it's probably a crazy place in the summer time. I took too many of pictures of the South of the Border billboards (which I will spare you). Here's one billboard and a picture of Chris with Pedro:

So, after a few more pit stops and a stop for candy, we finally arrived in Charleston, SC.

Peach tea at Teavana while exploring downtown Charleston, wine tasting at Ted's, and a stop for cookies (which were our snack on Saturday) at Three Sisters Cookie Cafe. Dinner was at Poogan's Porch. We shared an appetizer of Fried Green Tomatoes. Chris had shrimp and grits for dinner and I had the crab cakes with hoppin johns and green beans. Dessert was bread pudding.
No rest for the weary...We were on the road on Saturday morning by 6:15am and arrived in Orlando around 2pm. We spent Saturday playing with Chris's cousins kids and catching up with Rozan and Tom and the rest of the family.
Sunday morning was the Disney Tri...We finished but it was challenging. The swim (.9 miles) was in Bay Lake, near the Fort Wilderness Campgrounds/Resort. Very calm water but we were required to wear nose clips (deadly amoeba issues) which made swimming difficult. The bike course was 58K on Disney roads (but through none of the parks) and surrounding Orlando roads. And the run was two 3-mile loops on the Fort Wilderness property (very, very boring). It was so hot during the run that the bike medics had to administer IV fluids to several people and I saw a guy pass out.

This will be my one and only Disney tri because there were no Disney characters to be seen on the course or at the transition area or any where. A Disney tri without Disney characters...that's just not right.

Our celebration dinner (for finishing!) was with Rozan and Tom at the Samba Room. It's a cuban fusion restaurant. Delicious food. Sorry, no pictures. We might recreate some of the meal when Rozan visits Virginia in January.

We left Orlando on Monday morning around 7:15. Our food stops were at a Florida Citrus Center for grapefruits, oranges and more boiled peanuts, Savannah, GA for lunch at Lady and Sons...It's the best of Southern cooking...

Ralph's in Roanoke Rapids, NC for more pork bbq...A few hours later, dinner at Buzz & Ned's in Richmond (of the three BBQ places we tried, this one was my favorite).

And 15 hours later, we were back in Maryland. Overall, a great trip...We're already planning our next road trip.

One final picture...This is what happens when I spend too much time in the car and am not the one driving.