OK, I'm back from the great Down South excusion, and while I'd thought about doing a Cooch-style travelogue complete with pictures and a mind-numbingly detailed personal exposition on each and every day, all you're getting is text. But still day by day.

Friday, September 20 Who'd have thought that you could fly through Logan and Hartsfield and have the biggest travel problem be a sun-induced pass of the 93 South ramp off of Leverett Circle? Got to see the Monsignor O'Brien Highway, at least.

Flights to Myrtle Beach were surprisingly trauma free but very crowded. Apparently, the economic downturn and terrorism fears aren't keeping people from flying Delta. Several flights, beyond our own, were over-sold. At any rate, the biggest surprise of the trip down was the relative comfort and nice ride provided by the Aerospatiale 72-210. Roomier than the Canadian or Brazilian regional jets, although slower and with more engine noise (but less than expected).

Once in we drove over to our hotel, the Holiday Inn Sun Spree. A little dumpy, but very close to the water and free thanks to a referral that I'll discuss at greater length in a bit. Once in we walked the beach a little, collected some shells, etc.

Dinner saw us drive up US 17, the main highway that connects coastal South Carolina. In many places it splits into Business and Bypass routes, so you can either cruise the towns or travel at more highway-like speeds. Going up Business 17 gave me my first comparison of the trip: Myrtle Beach is a lot like Daytona Beach. US highway running paralell to beach with lots of touristy crap, hotels/resorts, etc. Had dinner at the Carolina Roadhouse, which sounds like it should be honky-tonk but is actually pretty nice.

Returned to the hotel to await Sarah's sister and her fiance, as they were coming down for the weekend from Richmond. This turned into quite the night in, as they didn't show until sometime between 2 and 3 am (being asleep I missed the exact time). Apparently, the place where you'd leave 95 to take 501 into Myrtle Beach isn't as well marked as one would like.

Kind of a quiet day, perhaps not surprising for a travel day.

Saturday, September 21 You'll remember that our stay in Surfside Beach was free based on a referral. That referral came via Sarah's parents, who can access such things via their timeshare company. What this meant for us, though, was that in return for 2 free nights we had to go to a presentation at Ellington at Wachesaw East. The presentation was listed as going 90 minutes, but you'll see that's not exactly the way things work.

Got there a little early, filled out forms, and were eventually paired up with Kay, a very nice young woman who is really into the timeshare thing. Her sales pitch started with her showing us some of the area, which was actually kind of nice as we went back to one place later in the week. However, she used most of the 90 minutes giving us a little tour and talking. She talked a lot. Often about things she'd already talked about, which I suppose is part of the sales thing.

Upon return we started the real sales bit. Saw the units, which were actually kind of nice. Saw some of the other amenities, which were OK. They're in the middle of building, so we saw a plan for the completed development. Then we returned to the big room that the sales people all use and started talking money.

There is, apparently, a kind of progression to this. You first get the prices without any sort of deal, show to you "as required by law." Don't know if it's required by law or not, but in any event it's a good set up for the deep discount you get for buying today.

Timeshares are sold by color-coded week, with red weeks being those in highest demand. Yellow and green follow, but you don't get prices for those right off because the whole point is to sell the red (and costliest) weeks. At some point a manager comes over and works out some sort of deal, either a lower price or some sort of monkeying around with fees or some added benefits. A point of contention here was the "platinum card" that provided a bunch of amenities mostly of use if we lived in the area.

The more humorous part of this is the manager having to go back to the office to check a computer or some such nonsense to find deals. During that time, the sales person shows you great pictures of tropical vacations, mysterious information about how desirable timeshares in that area are, and (most importantly) how you need to buy now, as there's never a good time to buy, so why wait?

With no intention to buy, we went with the "getting married, can't afford it" route, and got a lot of different pitches. Refinance out over more years to lower the monthly. Work the down payment into the financing to make the initial nut easier to pay out. Show the green week amounts and their cost. Taking no for an answer is not an option! Finally, we were able to get it through to them that we weren't buying. All in all we spent most of the afternoon on this. To my mind, I'll pay for the hotel next time.

The entire process enamored us so much that, upon learning that Sarah's folks had checked into the timeshare they got for the week that we immediately checked out of the hotel. OK, we actually checked out so we could start spending time with everyone, but there was a cathartic aspect to it, too.

In this case I do wish I'd planned a Cooch-type recap, as there were some mockable moments. Two that stick out:

1. Kay labeling us as "European" because we like vacation and Sarah's mom is English.
2. The woman who started to yell at her salesperson because they were going over the 90 minute mark.

Sunday, September 22 Not much from this day. Almost got sucked into another presentation to get freebies. Passed. Sarah's dad and uncle got two free rounds of golf for their trouble.

More later.