Waterborn
Active member
Epic Space Duel Roadtrip: Boston to Myrtle Beach & Back
Part I (since my initial post was too long)
Earlier this month, doctorquest, a fellow NEACF member, posted in our Trading Forums that he was looking to trade his Space Duel Upright for a cocktail version of the game. Having always been a huge fan of the game, I followed the thread with interest even though I had no access to a cocktail version.
A few days later, Wickedbass copied a Craigslist post for a Space Duel cocktail in Myrtle Beach (http://myrtlebeach.craigslist.org/for/3488559993.html). Having a brother who lives in Myrtle Beach, I replied to let doctorquest know that I had someone on the other end who could check out the game first hand, verify if there were any issues not listed in the CL post and hold the game for him while he figured out shipping if necessary.
A few days later, I received some bad news on the family front, my great uncle (RIP Janis) died at the age of 99. The fact that Janis lived to be 99 is amazing in itself. However, the really odd/cool/serendipitous thing was that he was born and died on the same date (Jan 14th, 1914 - 2013). Some members of my family were gathering in NC to for a memorial to Janis. I unfortunately had to work on the day of the memorial (Friday, January 18th). However, I did have Sat - Tues off from work due to the holiday and my schedule later the following week.
Since my own father is 82, I began to think about heading down to South Carolina to see my parents and reconnect with my brother, niece & nephew, who live in Myrtle Beach. Knowing that doctorquest was still thinking about the SD cocktail, I let him know of my plans and offered to pick up the game and bring it back to New England for him. doctorquest contacted the seller, agreed on a price & made arrangements for me to meet up with him to pick up the game on Sunday. Money was sent to me via paypal to pay for the game and I began preparing for the epic 18 hour drive from Woburn, MA (just north of Boston) to Myrtle Beach, SC.
I loaded up my Subi Baja, strapped my GoPro camera to the dash and set out for Myrtle Beach before sunrise.
http://youtu.be/sqMEaQTzUsw
Since it was a Saturday, traffic was pretty light for most of the trip and tried to stay on point, only stopping to gas up and get coffee or snacks along the way.
http://youtu.be/6qZXiFSvLn4
You never know what you will see on the road. As I was driving through CT I came across this trailer, painted with what appeared to be a troll face. There was no other markings on the side of the trailer, so I have no idea what was inside, and I am not sure that I want to know.
Scary Truck
http://youtu.be/k-42Hmn3O7g
If you have ever driven on the New Jersey turnpike, you know that state law there requires gas stations (at least on the turnpike) to have attendants pump your gas for you. You are not allowed to pump your own fuel. This will become VERY important during the second half of my ride south, as you will soon see. After passing through NYC and across the GWB Bridge, I stopped at the first rest stop on the turnpike in NJ to fuel up and grab some coffee. As the gas attendant handed me my receipt and credit card, he tore a small piece of paper from the bottom of the credit receipt. Though this action caught my eye, I checked the total on the receipt ($45) and thought nothing more of it. Back onto the road I went.
At one point, I believe in Delaware, I pulled into a rest stop to grab some caffeine and noticed that they had an "arcade", so I quickly slipped past the Starbucks stand to check out what games they might have. Sad to say, this "arcade" was a pathetic shadow of what I would have seen at any hotel, rest stop or mall back in the 80's when I was a kid. It had a crane machine, a gun game and a driver and that was pretty much it. No classics, no pins, not even a Ms Pac/Galaga Anniversary combo.
Sad Rest Stop "Arcade"
I get into Virginia and through DC and find it's time for another stop to gas & caffeine up. I pull up to the pump and swipe my card - REJECTED. Odd, as I have used this card twice so far since the start of the trip to gas up again. I try to re-swipe the card and get the same result. I called up the auto-account phone number on the card to check the balance (which was fully paid off in advance of this trip) and the electronic voice on the other end of the line says that I have exceeded my balance AND my card has been flagged. The flagging part I have run into before when traveling long distance (the credit card company places a hold on the card to ensure it was not stolen when excessive or odd charges pop up) however, the over limit issue is simply not right. So I call the fraud hotline and get to speak with a real human. The lady on the line informs me that my card was charged $450 at the rest stop in NJ (NOT the $45 as indicated on the credit receipt that was handed to me). I explain to the person on the phone that I am traveling and that I did not put a $450 charge on my card. She tells me that they will freeze the card (lot of good that did me, card was maxed out AND I couldn't use it on this trip), but that I will not be able to rectify the situation until Tuesday due to the fact that it is a holiday weekend & the fraud department won't be back until after MLK Day.
Lucky for me, I had withdrawn some road cash the night before and was able to gas up with that. I figured that I could get more money when I got to Myrtle Beach, resigned myself to not having my credit card for the rest of the trip and headed back onto the road, still having close to 8 hours of driving in front of me.
I arrive in Myrtle Beach around midnight, and proceed to get lost trying to take a new connector road which had been built since my last visit to the area. After placing a few calls to my brother's house and making a few wrong turns, I pull up to his residence, exhausted and ready to get the hell out of my car. My nephew and niece were still up, so I spent the next 45 minutes or so doing the "cool uncle" thing, hanging out with them, playing video games on their Wii. By the time I crashed, it was nearly 1am.
Part I (since my initial post was too long)
Earlier this month, doctorquest, a fellow NEACF member, posted in our Trading Forums that he was looking to trade his Space Duel Upright for a cocktail version of the game. Having always been a huge fan of the game, I followed the thread with interest even though I had no access to a cocktail version.
A few days later, Wickedbass copied a Craigslist post for a Space Duel cocktail in Myrtle Beach (http://myrtlebeach.craigslist.org/for/3488559993.html). Having a brother who lives in Myrtle Beach, I replied to let doctorquest know that I had someone on the other end who could check out the game first hand, verify if there were any issues not listed in the CL post and hold the game for him while he figured out shipping if necessary.
A few days later, I received some bad news on the family front, my great uncle (RIP Janis) died at the age of 99. The fact that Janis lived to be 99 is amazing in itself. However, the really odd/cool/serendipitous thing was that he was born and died on the same date (Jan 14th, 1914 - 2013). Some members of my family were gathering in NC to for a memorial to Janis. I unfortunately had to work on the day of the memorial (Friday, January 18th). However, I did have Sat - Tues off from work due to the holiday and my schedule later the following week.
Since my own father is 82, I began to think about heading down to South Carolina to see my parents and reconnect with my brother, niece & nephew, who live in Myrtle Beach. Knowing that doctorquest was still thinking about the SD cocktail, I let him know of my plans and offered to pick up the game and bring it back to New England for him. doctorquest contacted the seller, agreed on a price & made arrangements for me to meet up with him to pick up the game on Sunday. Money was sent to me via paypal to pay for the game and I began preparing for the epic 18 hour drive from Woburn, MA (just north of Boston) to Myrtle Beach, SC.
I loaded up my Subi Baja, strapped my GoPro camera to the dash and set out for Myrtle Beach before sunrise.
http://youtu.be/sqMEaQTzUsw
Since it was a Saturday, traffic was pretty light for most of the trip and tried to stay on point, only stopping to gas up and get coffee or snacks along the way.
http://youtu.be/6qZXiFSvLn4
You never know what you will see on the road. As I was driving through CT I came across this trailer, painted with what appeared to be a troll face. There was no other markings on the side of the trailer, so I have no idea what was inside, and I am not sure that I want to know.
Scary Truck
http://youtu.be/k-42Hmn3O7g
If you have ever driven on the New Jersey turnpike, you know that state law there requires gas stations (at least on the turnpike) to have attendants pump your gas for you. You are not allowed to pump your own fuel. This will become VERY important during the second half of my ride south, as you will soon see. After passing through NYC and across the GWB Bridge, I stopped at the first rest stop on the turnpike in NJ to fuel up and grab some coffee. As the gas attendant handed me my receipt and credit card, he tore a small piece of paper from the bottom of the credit receipt. Though this action caught my eye, I checked the total on the receipt ($45) and thought nothing more of it. Back onto the road I went.
At one point, I believe in Delaware, I pulled into a rest stop to grab some caffeine and noticed that they had an "arcade", so I quickly slipped past the Starbucks stand to check out what games they might have. Sad to say, this "arcade" was a pathetic shadow of what I would have seen at any hotel, rest stop or mall back in the 80's when I was a kid. It had a crane machine, a gun game and a driver and that was pretty much it. No classics, no pins, not even a Ms Pac/Galaga Anniversary combo.
Sad Rest Stop "Arcade"
I get into Virginia and through DC and find it's time for another stop to gas & caffeine up. I pull up to the pump and swipe my card - REJECTED. Odd, as I have used this card twice so far since the start of the trip to gas up again. I try to re-swipe the card and get the same result. I called up the auto-account phone number on the card to check the balance (which was fully paid off in advance of this trip) and the electronic voice on the other end of the line says that I have exceeded my balance AND my card has been flagged. The flagging part I have run into before when traveling long distance (the credit card company places a hold on the card to ensure it was not stolen when excessive or odd charges pop up) however, the over limit issue is simply not right. So I call the fraud hotline and get to speak with a real human. The lady on the line informs me that my card was charged $450 at the rest stop in NJ (NOT the $45 as indicated on the credit receipt that was handed to me). I explain to the person on the phone that I am traveling and that I did not put a $450 charge on my card. She tells me that they will freeze the card (lot of good that did me, card was maxed out AND I couldn't use it on this trip), but that I will not be able to rectify the situation until Tuesday due to the fact that it is a holiday weekend & the fraud department won't be back until after MLK Day.
Lucky for me, I had withdrawn some road cash the night before and was able to gas up with that. I figured that I could get more money when I got to Myrtle Beach, resigned myself to not having my credit card for the rest of the trip and headed back onto the road, still having close to 8 hours of driving in front of me.
I arrive in Myrtle Beach around midnight, and proceed to get lost trying to take a new connector road which had been built since my last visit to the area. After placing a few calls to my brother's house and making a few wrong turns, I pull up to his residence, exhausted and ready to get the hell out of my car. My nephew and niece were still up, so I spent the next 45 minutes or so doing the "cool uncle" thing, hanging out with them, playing video games on their Wii. By the time I crashed, it was nearly 1am.
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