The New Highway

To say that life is at a slower pace here in South Carolina, is really an understatement.  I've joked with some southerners that it may take me ten years to get down to this pace, but I am working on it.  How does the pace make a difference here? Simply, things get done much, much slower.

We have a great highway close by to our house that runs from North Myrtle Beach through Myrtle Beach.  Route 31 is a great ride since there is never traffic; it's almost as if only half the people know it exists.  I usually drive home on this highway instead of taking the main road, Rt. 17, which goes through the same area with lights all the down through Charleston, South Carolina.

The extension of Route 31 would go through Murrells Inlet(just past Myrtle Beach) and down to Pawley's Island near Georgetown?  We're not even sure where the road ends up, but definitely south. It was scheduled to open in 2017, before we got here, it's been delayed a bit.

We recently heard it was going to be November, this year!  It would definitely save us a few more minutes coming up home from the north, since it would cut off a stretch of another road with lights that we would no longer need to drive on.  Then, we heard it was going to be this weekend!

Driving home last night, the closed highway with all the cones, was not on my mind.  It's automatic: the road turns into one lane and then all the traffic exits onto Highway 544 towards Surfside and then there's a couple traffic lights and I get on 707 for the final stretch home.

I'm on Route 31 and I see the exit for 544 and I watch it as I go pass it and the road continues.  Suddenly, the light bulb goes on and I realize that I'm on the new highway.  And, there's my new exit! I get off the ramp and now everything looks familiar and I've saved 5-10 minutes on my journey home.

It's going to take awhile to get used to, not getting off on the highway I've always gotten off of.  I also have to make sure I don't miss my turn.  Just letting you know-there's a new road in the south, finally. It's about time.