I was on my way from Jacksonville, NC at a nicely antique-decorated Airbnb home that was eerily quiet, although the owner (I think) was next door. It was a non-contact stay, although by now I wanted more human contact and to meet people along the way. Jacksonville was a skeleton of a city mostly acting as a convenient transition point for visitors to the Marine’s Camp LeJeune nearby.
While Rt 24 or 17 took me out of Jacksonville, I was surprised to find a bike path following the same roads and decided this might be a safer and more enjoyable way to get to Moorehead City.
Maybe it was the fact that my rigged bike looked like a rolling nuclear device or maybe with the new gray scruffy beard that they realized I was too old to be a recruit. In any case, three big Marines were quickly upon me as I easily rolled past the Camp LeJeune gate. No kidding.
I feebly explained that the LeJeune bikeway just kept going into the base. Then I tried to blame it on Google. It looked suspicious. Thank God they did not inspect my bags. They are not a pleasant site right now.
Anyway, I backtracked and began my trek on a big wide smooth highway. Camp LeJeune is enormous and well guarded. Although I can say that at least for 1 day I was either a weird recruit or terror on wheels.
