From Work - 11.30

Ok, I must confess. I kind of cheated today. But it was not without its good reason.

We had a meeting with our client, the J. Johnson Gallery, out at the beach today at 3:30 PM. So, I caught a ride with a co-worker to the gallery. I know what you're thinking. You've gone soft on us, Travis! What about your quest?

Well, to you naysayers I say, I carpooled didn't I?



But in all fairness, I still rode the bus. I declined a ride all the way home from the gallery to Atlantic Beach, in favor of taking the bus. I hiked over to 3rd Street and on pretty much every block was a stop for the R4 and R1 buses. I'd seen the R4 drive by several times in the morning, with it's head sign saying "Atlantic Beach," but I knew it didn't go downtown so I never rode it.



I waited less than 10 minutes and here came R4 up the road. So far I haven’t had to wait more than 15 minutes at any one bus stop. Which, I think, is pretty darn efficient. I had to wait a lot longer for a couple buses in Europe. And don’t even get me started on taking the wrong bus to the other end of the Amalfi Coast.

The R4 was deserted and I was the only one on the quick ride back up to Atlantic Boulevard.



The only other city in America I’ve ridden the bus has been another beach town, Ocean City, MD. They had this great bus that ran all day and night up and down A1A and cost a dollar to ride on way. It was affectionately called “The Drunk Bus.” But despite its stigma as such, I can’t imagine how many lives it saved from drunk driving.

Maybe I’ll try and convince my roommates to take the bus out for a drink tomorrow night.