Oh the final day. We had no idea what was in store for us. Ugh, I am actually sick to my stomach writing this post as I think back on this day.
We got up early and finished packing our bags. Then we dropped them off at bell services and tried to figure out what to do for our final morning. Our train wasn't scheduled to leave until about 4pm and the car service was picking us up around 2pm, so we had some time to kill. We seriously couldn't decide what to do, so we finally decided that whatever the next bus was, that's where we were going. A bus headed to HS pulled up, so we hopped on it. On our way there I checked FPs and nothing was available that we would want at that time, so once we got off the bus we decided to walk over to YC for breakfast. It was a beautiful morning and a great temperature, so why not! I made a reservation on the way Captain's Grille here we come!
We were seated right away and given menus, but we knew we wanted the buffet. The drink menu was intriguing, but there is no way I am paying $10 for a mimosa. I can get them for $3 at brunch spots at home. Can't do it.
All I remember looking back on this is that I didn't like it as much as I did in March. Not as many selections I think. It's all a blur now. But here is Rob's first plate.
And my very similar plate.
And here is another plate. I think it was my second plate, but I am not even sure looking back on it.
So, this is why this trip and this meal has a dark cloud over it. We are sitting there eating, trying to figure out where to go from here and just for the heck of it I check the status of our train. And I see this.
I don't like the look of this. There was this type of advisory on the website when it was cancelled on Saturday, so what is this all about.
We are the Silver Star train. I think I very dramatically dropped my fork on my plate at this point and almost threw up. I couldn't believe it. I could barely even get the words out to Rob. I said, "I think our train is cancelled again." He went pale too. So, I called and sure enough it was cancelled until Wednesday, getting us home Thursday, getting us to work Friday. No way. I can't pay for two more days and miss two more days of work. Can't do it. We quickly get our check and rush out of there. The people next to us heard our conversation and sweetly empathized and wished us good luck. We walked all the way back to HS and took a bus back to OKW and started making phone calls.
I booked a rental car from the big Alamo center by MK and arranged to have a shuttle pick us up from OKW. I honestly just wanted to take a taxi there and get on the move, but we sat there and waited while I made other phone calls. I cancelled our town car service who were incredibly rude and unwilling to not charge us for the entire service despite the fact that a natural disaster is causing us to cancel. I won't go into it, but they were awful and I disputed it on my credit card and got my money back, but I was enraged with them especially after the horrible service when they picked us up from the train station on the way in and the stress of everything else going on I was not happy to pay $75 for nothing when we already have money flowing from our wallets thanks to this train situation. And I was also pretty unhappy with Amtrak for not making us aware of the situation like they did the first time. I was signed up for all kinds of travel alerts, but we got nothing. That drive is hard enough when you're prepared, but to make that drive totally unprepared was so much more difficult. Had we known the day before that we would have to drive it would have been totally different.
We got to Alamo and shelled out another $250 to rent a car back to Jersey and by 2:00pm we were on the road. What I did not expect this trip was to have to drive back to Jersey. We were honestly numb.
We stopped somewhere around Jacksonville and got enough Chick-Fil-A to not have to stop for food again for the day and continued on home. We kept seeing trucks for the power company on the road all day. Tons of them. There were so many people without power along the 95 corridor.
We were actually making amazing time and we were hoping to make it back home by 3am. Then we got another whammy.
We were in our Disney bubble and had no clue how bad things were in the Carolinas from the hurricane. A few miles before we got into North Carolina we see a sign on the side of the road saying 95 N closed in NC. Ummmm, say what now? We stopped at a gas station to fill up and thank God we did. It was a crazy madhouse because apparently it was the only place around with power and gas, but thanks to Rob's clever skills we got in and out of there and back on the road. We got a few miles into NC, but 95 wasn't closed, so I was hoping that maybe things were good now and the sign was outdated. Then I realized that we never saw South of the Border. If you have ever driven past that at night you know there is no way to miss it. They had no power either. Crazy.
Then all of a sudden around exit 14, 95 was closed and we were routed off the road and onto some road where we had no idea where we were. I hate being lost. It terrifies me. Like, truly terrifies me to my core. I won't drive anywhere I don't know without studying Google Maps ahead of time and have detailed directions. It was dark out and you can tell all the other cars around us are panicking too. There are tons of people pulled over on the side of the road. I tried to get Rob to turn around and go back into SC and find a hotel, but he wanted to keep on, so we did.
So, I was not expecting to be in a car, so I had no car charger for our phones, which we had been on all day. We had about half the battery life left on our phones which we now had to use to navigate. We do not do well navigating together under normal circumstances let alone whatever nightmare this was. Folks, I cannot tell you how scared I was. Some of you may handle these situations well, but I do not. I was shaking, like shaking, shaking so badly at this point. We would go down a road our maps app would tell us and the road would be flooded, so we would turn around and reroute. Then it would happen again and again and again. We ended up going so far west in NC before we could go north and we had no clue where we were and I had no clue if our phones would last long enough to get us back to 95. So many people were in the same situation as well. It was good to have a lot of other cars around us at times. This went on for hours and hours. Our phones BARELY made it to get us back to a point we knew. That alone had me in a blind panic the entire time. When we got back on 95 about 5 or 6 hours later (I lost all track of time and what had happened) we stopped for gas and to use the restroom and I realized I had sweat through my shirt and shorts. I had never been so thankful to see 95 in my whole life. And poor Rob was driving this whole time in a panic himself trying to calm his hysterical wife. I sat in that gas station bathroom and wept. Well, we knew where we were, which I was thankful for, but we lost hours and now it was incredibly late and we would be getting home in daylight. Again, I tried to get Rob to stop at a hotel, but he wanted to keep going. I was so tired that I drove for 45 minutes and almost drove us off the rode and had to stop at a rest area where we napped for about an hour.
Rob took over driving again and somehow we made it home after the sun came up. We didn't even speak a word, we just sent texts to our parents saying we were home safe and got into bed and slept until late afternoon.
AND STILL I CAN'T GET ROB ON A PLANE TO FLORIDA!!!!!
What a mess. I don't know how well I was able to convey it, but that drive through NC was literally a nightmare. I have never been so nervous in my whole life. It left a bad taste in our mouths and really put a cloud over the whole trip. I know it shouldn't, but it did. It was bad enough that Amtrak didn't tell us about the train and we found out on our own the morning of and then had to spend more money and actually drive up he east coast unexpectedly, but then to have a closed major highway in the middle of the night when we're already exhausted was the icing on the cake. I felt so bad for the people in NC too. To see the flooding first hand was so scary.
Well, I know that was a real bummer of an ending to my DR. Sorry guys! But I'll make it up to you. To wipe away the bad memories of this trip we booked another trip for January. We decided to live it up and go for two weeks and do it all! So, we just got back a couple of weeks ago and our trip was AMAZING!!! No travel troubles just lots of good food. And the first ever Festival of the Arts which was so fun! So, I'll be back shortly to start my next DR. See you soon! And thank you all for reading. You guys are the best!!!!
Jeri's pictures are great showing the screen porch bar area - if you are looking at the front entrance go to your left and through the screen porch entrance, there's a walk up bar area. You can also order dessert to go from the bartenders there... that shine cake is definitely worth taking one with you!
I would say that you should put Homecoming at the top of your list for the next trip. The cocktails are the best I have ever had. Anywhere. They are so unique. 
O I could feel your stress just reading that! I am so sorry for what yall went through! I am glad your last trip was so wonderful....I know your instagram pics always make me jealous! haha looked like lots of great time!
