Wilmington, North Carolina to North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 55.4 miles (89.2 km)

I left Wilmington at 8:00 am with no wind to a tailwind all morning. This was the first tailwind since Sandy Hook, New Jersey and it felt good to pedal with higher gears and more speed.

There's a lot of truth to the message, "A soft answer turneth away wrath." I thought about the George Zimmerman verdict of "Not Guilty" that was all over the news and on the minds of so many Americans. Just after stopping at this church sign I pulled into a gas station and bought some Gatorade at the variety store. The owner of the store had the television behind the counter turned to CNN and all of the customers were looking at the Zimmerman - Not Guilty news. A white guy in his 40's was walking out of the store and spoke to his wife and the earshot of everyone and said in his thick southern accent, "I can't believe he's gettin' off fer what he done." One of the other customers was a black man standing in front of me. He was in his late 50s and dressed in his Sunday best. I noticed his expression of gratitude and respect for the white guy's comment.

The tragedy of a 17 year old being approached and killed by a gun because he 'looked' suspicious is difficult for most people. Would Trayvon Martin still be alive if either he or George Zimmerman responded with a "soft answer?" I can't help but think that the answer is yes. I can't imagine the pain that Trayvon's family is enduring, first through his death and now due to the absence of justice. I believe that now the real tragedy would be if Trayvon's death and Zimmerman's acquittal leads to more violence. Hopefully people can open a dialogue toward healing and prevention through "soft answer" dialogues.

As soon as I crossed the SC state line the shoulder along Hwy 17 disappeared. I then had the memory that the same thing happened in 1986. I stopped at the South Carolina information center and the lady said that South Carolina is not a very bike friendly place. 

The sign at St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church had a catchy phrase that plays on the do-it-yourself house renovation and decoration craze. Church for me though is not the answer for "home improvement." The generation of kids that grew up with televisions as time wasting pacifiers is now having children with telephones and computers as time wasting pacifiers. I don't think that taking the family to church on Sundays is enough to overcome the societal trend of digital pacification. I think that kids simply need parents who are willing to communicate with, teach, discipline and love them. 

Because of the traffic, and my fatigue I decided to stop in North Myrtle Beach and get a fresh start early tomorrow and beat some of the traffic in the morning.