We Took A Trip - Southport, NC - Beaufort, SC May 19-23, 2025

[carolinarider09]

So, we took a trip last week.  Weather was good, most roads were ok but there was a lot of traffic near the Myrtle Beach, SC area and also in Southport, NC. 

Why this trip? The trip we had planned was to visit the Mammoth Cave National park in Kentucky.  But due to storm damage, that area was not open for our planned travels.  So, as a change, we decide to go for a different trip plan.  The plan, visit Southport, NC and then Beaufort, SC spending two nights at each location. 

I had visited Southport when I was working for SCE&G to do some work at the Brunswick Nuclear Station.  It as a very nice spot, but that was back at the start of the 21st Century. It has changed. 

Beaufort, SC was a place that we visited once before but only for an over night stay.  And Beaufort is very, very close to The Marine Crops Recruit Depot, Paris Island.  So, there was plenty to see in the area. 

Total miles travelled - 660 miles.



Day One:  Home to Southport, NC about 250 miles. 

Here is the route traveled for Day One.



One of the roads we traveled was US-378 from Florence SC to Conway, SC.  This route is one I traveled many times in my youth and then often to the beach when we moved back to SC in 1979. 

Video from the front “Dash Camera”.

https://rumble.com/v6tuu1z-traveling-east-on-us-378-past-hanna-home-of-josh-turner.html

Another part of US 378, its a two lane road and in a seemly rural area nearer to Conway, SC. 

https://rumble.com/v6tuvs3-traveling-east-on-us-378-kingsburg-sc.html

Traveling across the Waccamaw River Memorial Bridge leaving Conway, SC for Myrtle Beach, SC.

Waccamaw River Memorial Bridge is a historic bridge located at Conway in Horry County, South Carolina.[
It was built in 1937 and opened to the public in April 1938, designated as a memorial to Horry County citizens who served in America's wars from the American Revolution through the First World War. Its cost was $370,000. It is 1,270 feet long and carries U.S. Route 501 Business over the Waccamaw River. It is a multi-span continuous steel girder bridge made up of four steel girder main spans, four continuous steel string approach spans, and concrete piers which support the bridge deck. It features 28 cast-iron light standards along the balustrade, and the Gothic-influenced pointed arches cut out of its concrete piers.[3]

https://rumble.com/v6tuxen-the-waccamaw-river-bridge-conway-sc.html

Arrival in Southport was surprising because of the construction work and lots of traffic.  Not as I remember it.  This is a video of the route to our motel for the next two nights.

https://rumble.com/v6tuwml-trip-from-us-17-to-southern-nc-on-the-southport-supply-rd..html


Note:  We have two video camera systems on the bike.  One is a "Dash Cam" system that records all the time at 1080p.   The other is. GoPro camera that is manually controlled.  It records at 4k or 2160p.

[LadyDraco]

 

[Timbo1]

Looks like you had a nice ride.

How are you liking the VSYSTO dash cam now that you've had it a while?  Any Pro's / Cons that come to mind?

[carolinarider09]

How are you liking the VSYSTO dash cam now that you've had it a while?  Any Pro's / Cons that come to mind?

It has been a good addition.  I would have liked to have had 4K but......   1080p is fine.   It was recommended by a gentlemen on the Goldwing forum, SSBCOB.  Since he was Chief of the Boat on a Nuclear Submarine and I meet a couple in my time on Nuclear Submarines, I trusted his evaluation. 

The only real issue is that I cannot connect to it easily with my phone.  I did during setup (obviously) but I tried again a couple of times over the last few months and did not get a response.  But, the time is right and the cameras record and if you change the memory chip, you don't lose anything. 

So, I'd say it does what I needed. 

The cool thing is that, while I have the GoPro and can turn it on with a remote control attached to the handle bars, if I forget to turn it on or cannot turn it on fast enough to catch an "event", I can always count on the VSYSTO to capture the even. 

The first link below is a video of "combined" front and rear camera views during a ride down the BRP in April 2023.

https://rumble.com/v4b4g6r-combined-frontrear-brp-april-2023.html

I was trying to find a second video that shows an event we encountered on one of our trips this year.  As we were leaving the interstate and making a left hand turn, the intersection was blocked (partially) by a truck that had lost a load of what look like piping forward over the cab.  It was blocking the intersection.  We got through as the police were there helping traffic move but I did not have the remote control running on the GoPro so, when we got home, I just looked for the event on the VSYSTO and, based on the time which I knew, it as easy to find. 

So, yes, I'd recommend it.

[Serk]

Thanks for sharing! Glad to hear the trip went well.....

[Jess from VA]

I realize we may have different ideas about humor.  But all the short distance circles in this picture can't be for planned gas stops.  It looks more like how I'd have to plan for pee stops.   

[carolinarider09]

Jess I fully understand. 

Those little circles are, I believe, times when The Spot Tracker thing communicated with the satellites to identify our location.  Now, there are probably more contact points than just those big circles.  I therefore assume (and yes I know) that they are just "Major" points identified for seeing the route. 

I make this assumption since the lines between these points are not generally straight.  But then I have not slept at a Holiday Inn in a few months so.......

And I have not looked up, in recent days, how often the "Spot Tracker" says, "Here I am".  I thought it was something link 10 or 20 minutes.