Yay - had another wonderful Myrtle Beach vacation!! This trip it was my best friend, Jen, and me.
Headed out Saturday the 19th, drove down to Mooresville, NC. I have friends in the area here and it's always great to catch up with them on our trips south! Stayed at the Hampton Inn - nice, clean room...pricey, but it was race weekend and could have been worse!
Sunday:
Breakfast with the NC gang at the Cracker Barrel and hoped back on I-77. Stopped at the SC welcome center to pick up driving instructions - I must have a dozen of those little slips of paper and every dang year we forget to bring one! lol
Checked into the Long Bay Resort at 4:09pm. We stay in a 3-bedroom condo in the Savoy Building - this usually makes everyone laugh because there are only 2 of us. But I hate large towers, and their parking garages - I like to be able to see the ocean from bed and I've got a new car this year, and I love the flat parking here! :D Had made my reservation with the manager Cory, we had a lot of problems last year at check in and with our room. He assured me we'd be on the highest level possible (I wanted to be able to see the ocean over the palm trees!). At check in, we were given room 401, a little disappointing, we've never stayed this low before and had hoped for 5 or 6th floor. Got to the room, and it was awesome! Lots of bright lime green and white, the curtains were nightmareish, but it was really clean and had comfortable furniture/bed/and bedding! We were excited to see an ice maker/water in the fridge door - it had an option for crushed ice, perfect for our margaritas!
And there was a HUGE flat screen tv in the living room...huge! However, we had a couple problems - the cable tv was so fuzzy we could hardly see the picture and the ice maker didn't work. Made a quick call down to the front desk and they sent up 2 maintenance men - one changed the ends on the cable cords and still couldn't get it better, said they'd have to contact the cable company. And one working on the ice machine left to get parts to replace the ice maker and never came back...but the front desk called later that night and said because it was a Maytag fridge, they'd have to call in a Maytag repairman - we were assured both problems would be taken care of the next day. However, neither were resolved by the time we left, even after numerous calls. It wasn't that big of a deal in the overall vacation - but the ice was a pain, there isn't an ice machine in the Savoy Building, so we had to schlep ice from the main tower all week. Irritating when you get back to the room and intend to make a margarita, and have to go gack out for ice!
Ordered Ultimate California Pizza for supper and enjoyed awesome pizza and breadsticks on the balcony! We always order UCP the first night - then we've got leftover pizza for breakfast the next few days! :D
Monday:
Up at 6:14am to watch a glorious sunrise! Went down to gather some shells - pretty disappointed in the shells this year. There isn't many at all to find, and mostly bits and pieces. I can usually fill a gallon ziploc bag each trip and this time I didn't even get 3/4 full. Lots of jellyfish washed up on the shore. Much more than last year!
It was a warm, sunny day - and we'd been afraid of TS Alberto! - so we decided to stay at the resort and enjoy swimming today. Switched back and forth between the pools all morning. Up to the condo, put on tshirts and shorts and headed next door to the River City Cafe for late lunch. mmm love having this next door! We had burgers and fries, really good! Had real slow service, and it wasn't that busy at all. Also didn't have buckets of peanuts on the tables, I had to ask 3 times for nuts and they brought them out in little french fry boxes, really cut back. Gotta have those nuts! :D
Back to the pool and then down to the beach the rest of the afternoon. Didn't feel like getting dressed for dinner, so we had cold pizza and snacks. Enjoyed the rest of the night on the balcony!
Tuesday:
Up early again for the sunrise - promises to be another gorgeous day. Looked like rain later this week - so we thought we'd have another beach day today. Down to the pool. My tip - take 2 swimsuits on vacation, so you don't have to put on a wet one in the morning!
Back to the room about lunch time - decided to head out and find something to eat. Hit up a couple Eagles and Whales for tshirts for the folks back home and a box of the cheap-o taffy to munch on. Didn't want a sit down lunch, so we stopped at the Food Lion for stuff to take back to the room. After a quick lunch, headed back to the beach for the afternoon.
5pm we headed back up to the room to change for the night. Jeppy gives free shag lessons at 7pm on Tuesdays at Fat Harold's and that was the plan for the night. Loved doing this last May and was excited to do it again. We decided to have supper at the grill there - Shawn did up some great bar burgers and cheese sticks. Tina at the bar served up cold, cold beer! Had a great time with some locals there - everyone knew each other but us, but they made us feel welcomed! 7pm the lessons started right on time - the whole dance floor was full! Lots of people my age (35), lots older and a few younger. Great group - its the people that make it fun! Ladies learn on one side, and men on the other...1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5, 6...then everyone hooks up at the end to dance in couples. I didn't have a man to claim on the other side, but a nice older gentleman came up and asked to dance if I didn't have a partner..see, the people make it fun! Had a great time!
Decided to head out after a while and had the munchies, on the lookout for ice cream. Drove by Painter's and it looked closed, so we kept going...found Kirk's about 62nd Ave - which isn't far from our hotel, noted for future reference! Talk about overwhelming - they had so many flavors, I asked for a recommendation and was told the strawberry cheesecake was awesome -- had that in a sugar cone and it IS awesome! Lots of strawberries and cheesecake bites mixed in vanilla. Yummy!
Wednesday:
Up again for sunrise! Looked a little cloudy, so we decided to make this a shopping day. Headed down to MI to have lunch at CreekRatz - yummy! They have the best hushpuppies! Had a basket of those and then we ordered burgers/fries. It was pretty busy - we were out on the back patio, great breeze and sunshine, great view. The Dead Dog looked way busier from where we sat. We had a great waitress, great food and really enjoyed it!
Drove back into MB and it was cloudier so we headed to Barefoot Landing so I could stop at the John Deere store - I get a lot of Christmas and birthday gifts there for my brother and 2 nephews! Walked around a bit and headed out. It was pretty busy with bikers, but not crazy. Probably the most we've seen so far.
Decided to finish up our shopping, so we could enjoy Thurs at the beach - and headed out to Broadway @ the Beach. Shopped a few stores there we like, stopped at Wee R Sweets for taffy - awesome flavors!! And I found adorable chocolate alligators there for my nephews - who told me they were the best gift ever when I got home! lol :D Score one for Aunt, Jennie!
Didn't want to go out for dinner, went back to the room and ordered UCP again - I got a sub sandwich and Jen got lasagna, we both enjoyed dinner. Watched Revenge on tv and then back to the balcony for the night.
Thursday:
Sad...its our last full day. But the sun came up full and bright again!
Suited up and headed down to the pools. There had been some annoying little hard shelled bugs around the balcony and pools this week, but today they were crazy bad - like when it warmed up they swarmed out of the grass and flew everywhere. Nasty! (Found out later they are kudzu bugs) So we packed up and headed out for lunch. mmmm....another favorite today - Burro Loco! Some of the best food of our vacation and awesome margaritas!
After lunch, we decided to walk around a bit and headed out to a new store we'd always wanted to stop at. Usually, on our way out of town, we pass Beach House Furniture and say next time we'll stop there. It's been probably 5 years now...and it was way worth it! O.M.G....beach decor heaven! My whole house back here in Michigan is done in a beach cottage/condo look - I just love it, it's calming with blues, greens, whites, shells, palm trees, sand, candles, lighthouses, etc. I went in expecting to find an item or two...came out with 3 bags! lol I got a gorgeous new lime green/blue quilted bedspread and matching dust ruffle - the quilt is reversable and both sides are so pretty. I got 3 lime green shuttered columns to hold candles, a cute lime/orange/teal little flip flop basket and a few other things. Anyone looking to decorate a beach house/condo or just like beachy decor - needs to stop here! Or patio furniture, they had gorgeous hand painted furniture - bistro tables and chairs, headboards for beds, awesome tiki bars, etc, and all hand painted there.
http://beachhouseinteriors.net/Was broke after that stop - so we headed back to the LBR and spent the rest of the day at the beach and pools. Awww...so relaxing!....bliss! Saw a dozen or so jellyfish wash up with the tide and was surprised - I usually only see them in the morning. We heard people yelling to warn others in the waves to watch out for them, too. Lots more than normal!
Decided to go back to River City Cafe for a late supper - had better service this time, great food - I had a grilled ham and cheese and fries and Jen had a burger and onion rings - and those yummy peanuts! :D
Spent the rest of the night packing up and enjoying the last night of waves whispering me to sleep.
Friday:
The ONLY day this week that we didn't wake up to a sunrise! Kinda makes it easier to have to leave...kinda! Stopped at the Starbucks in the LBR lobby for donuts and headed out. Holy cow - we hadn't been bothered by bikers, coming in at the end of Harley week was quiet, but as Wed, Thurs passed a lot more black bikers came into town and it got a whole lot louder with their annoying crotch rocket bikes, can't you just drive - why must you rev and rev and rev and peal out all the time! lol However, as we drove down Ocean Blvd the last trip out, we saw more cops than I've ever seen in my life! There were 4 fully armed and uniformed SWAT members on each corner for about 10 avenues and tons more cops in cars, bikes and scooters. I'd never seen anything like that -- and being it was all going on at 9am, we were sure glad to be heading out!!
Passed by Sparky's this time - we usually stop, but we'd loaded up on taffy from WRS, so we kept trucking. We DID stop and see our buddy Pedro, though...thats one stop we can't miss! I love the cheesieness of South of the Border! Happy to see this place picking up - it's all repainted and so bright. The stores are well stocked, the past couple years they'd all been empty and it had really gone down hill. New stores opened than last time, too. Great photo opts! :D
Stopped for the night at the Carlisle Inn in Walnut Creek, OH - heart of the Amish country. Totally recommend this hotel if anyone stays in the area - it's just gorgeous! Really good breakfast included, too - homemade cinnamon rolls are even warm! We love shopping in this area - hit up our favorite stores and headed home. Happy to see that "Pure Michigan" sign on the border!
This trip was just the relaxing vacation I needed. It's been crazy busy at work and I had surgery on 5/29 to have my gallbladder removed. Betweek work and dr's appts, I was ready to just sit back and relax. This trip was so much quieter and we did a whole lot less eating out and shopping than normal. We didn't even drive to Callahan's and we usually take a day to drive down to Charleston. It was perfect the weather worked out so well for us and hope to be back in October!
I've posted some photos if anyone is interested in seeing our trip here:
http://myrtlebeachmemories.shutterfly.com/pictures
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Thanks for sharing.
![:smash[1]:](./images/smilies/smash[1].gif "smash[1]")
Good to hear about the self serve machines if needed again!![:ac41[1]:](./images/smilies/ac41[1].gif "funny post")
Now that's being resourceful. Didn't know they had ever had Mojito ones. The peach ones are pretty tasty, too.