Of weapons and waves

You know you are not in Canada when you see a sign like the one above. On a recent vacation to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina our family made a stop at one of America's national parks. This one is located at the New River Gorge in West Virginia. Having passed this way many times on family trips to Florida and now South Carolina, we decided to stop and take in the grandeur of this natural wonder, agreeing fully with the Mountaineer state slogan of it being "wild and wonderful." I'm glad we did so, because the view was spectacular, especially on a sunny Saturday morning early in March.

The sign above- prohibiting food, drink, pets, and firearms- from the visitor centre was a stark reminder that the U.S.A. operates far differently from Canada in the matter of gun ownership. I won't delve into the debate on gun control that is raging in the United States today, except to say that there are strong opinions on either side of the issue, and this could be seen throughout our stay in America.

Taking the time to travel a country by road is a far different proposition than flying there. While driving has its disadvantages- road and weather hazards, length of time in closed spaces- in many ways I prefer it to flying. The reason is that there is so much more to observe, notice, and learn about a country when you travel by ground. On our trip Buffalo, New York provided the entry point to the U.S.A. Its mini Gotham-like architecture and industrial base soon gave way to green and fertile land along the Erie coast, including a reminder that native Americans were the first peoples of this great continent. Entering the state of Pennsylvania at Erie, the climb up to the Allegheny mountain range was both snow-covered and pastoral. This route through the State of Independence- I think I will always remember it more fondly as the Quaker State- was deceptively long. Another industrial base passed at Pittsburgh, and then the entrance to West Virginia a relatively short while later. This part of the drive occurred late into the evening so that it made perfect sense after a day at school and a long drive to rest for the night.

Thank goodness the following morning was a beautiful one in which the sights of the majestic mountains and the river-formed gorges could be seen in splendor. Driving through the mountain tunnels and peering over the edge of the ridge as you enter Virginia is both awe-inspiring and filled with trepidation. The steady descent through Old Dominion provides a nice contrast once the farms filled with horses come into view and the landscape evens out. The plains are even more evident once inside the state of North Carolina with the rich tradition of tobacco farming as clear as the red sandy soil. Winston-Salem and the cities surrounding it are a reminder of a time when tobacco was king in these parts. It is impossible to miss the evidence of the conditions which allowed this industry to profit- an agricultural economy, a plentiful cash crop, and a cheap and plentiful source of labour.

Sun-baked and flat, the land of South Carolina is very much like its northern neighbor, and driving through places such as Marlboro County, the small towns of the Palmetto state hearken back to a time when things seemed to move slower and life was less complicated. Of course none of this can be ascertained with anything like certainty when you are only passing through a place, but geography and history shape the present regardless of the place.

Even for a teacher of the social sciences this was of course, not the final destination. The Atlantic coast beckoned despite the feeling that the closer one got, the slower time seemed, almost like an ebbing tide. Holiday travel always seems to slow the closer you get to the end, especially when it is a beach you are trying to get to. Nonetheless, it was a great relief to finally arrive at North Myrtle Beach and hear the sounds of the waves breaking along the Grand Strand. The fourteen hour drive was taken over two days- deliberately so. It afforded our family the opportunity to see, experience, and learn more about our closest neighbor than a simple airport shuttle. The drive back was equally rewarding and enlightening.