Myrtle Beach Message Board

Here we go again. Hitting road in the morning. No rush. Things fell in place and I got today off. Instead of rushing home and packing last minute. I now now have all day to watch Monk and Columbia reruns and pack last minute tonight.
No big deal. Bag is still half packed from Sept trip. Might dump it in dryer to fluff things. Maybe next commercial.
Ruann working half day. Thought she was dressing for work but just saw her carrying a fan to bedroom. She has to sleep with a fan. There's a fan in the bedroom.
"Oh. This one is going with us to the beach."
Ok. I understand that. But...... Garage and truck are the other direction.
"If I don't keep everything in one pile I'll forget it...."
Gonna be another fun trip.........

Your trip reports always make me chuckle.....

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Wag More.... Bark Less !

Looking forward to seeing you. With or without a fan.

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Safe travels. How exciting it is to be that close to leaving.

Ran errands and tied up loose ends on Friday. One loose end was a place to stay Saturday night. Check in is Sunday.. With the bike weeks and colleges there was little to choose from. Rates were sky high. Used to stay a week for what some places are asking for one night.
Days Inn was reasonable but reviews were pretty bad. Went with a Motel 6 all the way out in Lumberton. Stayed with Motel 6 in the past. Very bare bones but for a comfortable bed and hot shower. Can't beat the price.
Didn't pack bag until Saturday morning. Dogs to kennel and on the road 9:30. Later than planned but since not going all the way in there was no rush. Easy trip til Lumberton where things went down hill....
Waaaaaay downhill.
Hillbilly navigation. I looked at map last night to see where motel was at. Missed it by one exit. Most people would have got back on interstate and gone to next exit. But....I'm not like most people...
Figured road would run parallel to interstate to where motel would be. Forgot we were in NC and towns aren't laid out like normal towns. Ended up on other side of interstate. In middle of town. No signs directing us to interstate. Again a stop to pull up map would have worked but then again. My tried and true "keep turning left would get us somewhere close"might work too...
It did. An exit north of where we needed but finally found motel.
The downhill slide got steeper.
Motel nothing like it looked online. Very run down. Guests weren't guests. They were residents. Felt very uneasy about what I'd gotten us into. Unloaded truck bed into cab for safety. Ruann was afraid somebody would get her fan. I was like who the he$& would steal a fan? Looked around and agreed.
The room. Through the years driving truck and working coal fields I've stayed in places most people would never stay in. I have never seen a room this bad. By the time she finished her cigarette we decided to try and cancel. All else failed sleeping in truck was more more desirable.
Clerk cancelled our bill. Half mile up street to Fairfield/Marriott. Twice the rate but ten times the accommodations.
Immediately sent pics and e-mail to Motel 6 web site. Dinner next door at Cracker Barrel.
If I can find my way out of Lumberton tomorrow we should be on the beach by noon.
Way today went. Wouldn't bet on it........

I have reservations at a Fairfield In Lumberton in June.......since it is only 1/2 mile away from the Motel 6 undesirable area, is the Fairfield any safer? I can't decide if Lumberton is out of our way. We are coming from Columbus Ohio to Mt. Airy to look around we couldn't find a hotel either in MB that wasn't an arm and leg so found this Fairfield for just under $100. We have to be at MB airport by 11 AM on Sunday morning.

Enjoy your rest of your trip!!!! If you think bringing the fan along is bad, you would really roll your eyes at some of the "can't leave home without" items I bring!!!

You used to be able to pick a "name" brand hotel and pretty much be safe in knowing that it would be a decent place for a nights sleep. Not anymore though. A lot of Days Inn and Motel 6 are horrible now. No updates in many years for both of them. It's hard to find a decent economical place to spend the night anymore.

Maybe five miles out of route. Unless I'm driving then maybe ten.....
Go north on I95. I'm thinking Exit 20. You should see Fairfield and Cracker Barrel side by side to your left before the exit. Cross the interstate and turn left on to Lackey.
Felt very safe. Wouldn't hesitate staying there again.
We left Fairfield little after nine. Walked on beach. Checked in around 11.

After touch and go evening. Slept like a rock. 7:30am. Unheard of. Between work and dogs. 5:00-5:30 is the norm.
Free breakfast. Above average for motel. Eggs and ham. Waffles. Assorted bagels, toast and baked goods. Cereal and oatmeal with variety of fruits and goodies to mix in.
On the road little after nine. Tons of traffic heading home. Very light going in.
Cherry Grove 10:30. Parked in public access next to Maritime for first walk on beach. Finished by going through lobby to get permission to park in lot and use facilities while we waited for check in.
Discussed news of UVA students trashing beach last week. They said there might be more of same this week with more college kids and high school kids heading this way. Here we were worried about bike weeks....
If anything happens you can count on me for up close details.
Room ready. Moved in by 11:00.
On the beach reading before 12:00. Then it went to crap.
Cloudy and windy. Barely had shirt off and book open when sprinkles started. On and off. Chilly enough to put shirt back on. Soon as shirt was on. Sun would come out. Repeat this couple of times.
Funny thing was few blocks south. Sun was shining....
After an hour headed to pool and umbrella. Wasn't bad up there. Didn't need umbrella. Couple hours of much needed sun and halfway through James Patterson's Hide And Seek before playing it safe and heading in.
5:00 we headed for traditional first meal at Basil's. Stromboli and pizza. Enough pizza for couple lunches.
Groceries at Boulineau's. Little higher prices but for us it's worth it for the beach vibes. We always end up there several times a week so just bought for couple days vs entire week.
Long walk up the beach. Up to Towers. 1 1/2 miles each way.
Read til midnite and finished first book.

glad to see you made it to the beach. Enjoy and keep the updates coming.

Looks like you got out of WV/KY after all that crazy rain. Thanks for sharing! I so needed this. It's 3 months 2 weeks until we go in September. Not rushing summer but wish I was there now lol .. looking forward to the rest of your report!!

Lesson learned. Did part of this and laid phone down to finish later. Guess who's starting over....
Not too much on Monday.
Early walk down beach past Main Street. Games set up on beach for college kids.
Large group of lifeguard recruits jogging up beach, dropping for leg lifts then jogging some more. One very large guy lagging way behind. "A" for effort but doubt he'll see action on beach.
One lifeguard in truck/trailer hauling new lifeguard chairs up beach grabbed couple recruits. Recruits thought they were getting out of rest of run. Last chair in place lifeguard drove off making recruits run after him....
On the beach around 11:00. 3 hours she was pointing out red patches. "You missed a spot here, here, here...."
Called it a day to be safe.
Late lunch and headed to hot tub. Figured I'd alternate between tub and chair/book.
Tub occupied. Room for me but really don't like cutting into other groups conversations. Finally an opening and here came another large group. My age if not a few years older. Two college boys weren't with them but jumped right in.I just sat in chair trying to read but listen to the conversation.
Boys very polite and nice. Wasn't sure if they were flirting with the older ladies or the ladies were flirting with the boys.
We planned on eating in and heading to park to play ball game (I'll describe later)
Storm blew through so we just stayed in and watched the lightning.

Apparently I should have brought lap top vs doing this on phone.

Thanks.....feel much better staying in Lumberton now!!! We thought about stopping at Sea Captains for breakfast before son's flight came in but sounds like FI has a pretty good free breakfast!

I never seem to be able to finish a book at the beach because I love to people watch and "overhear" conversations!!

My wife got an Ohio user name