Myrtle Beach 2010

Choosing a vacation spot for our family is always a challenge. Four of us like the beach but Steve, who claims to have double, triple, or even quadruple the amount of voting stock as the rest of us, doesn't enjoy being in the sun that much. You will NEVER see him tanning on the beach. Of course, since he had a bout with melanoma last year, one can't blame him too much for being a wet blanket on the beach. At any rate, somehow the rest of us won out this year, and we left for Myrtle Beach on Saturday, July 17 after Ben finished his shift at Lake Tobias.

We arrived on Sunday around 4:00 AM and had some difficulty
finding our unit. We were SO glad to be there at last. We dumped

our stuff and headed for the beach which was just across the street--clearly visible from our windows and balcony. It was still dark when we said hello to the ocean, but no matter! It was great to stay so close to the beach. Ben, of course, made the most of this by hanging out on the balcony at times and calling to passersby on the street, "Hey, which way is the beach?" They had some interesting responses such as "Huh?" "I have no idea." "I think it's over there." (pointing in the complete opposite direction!)

One thing I liked best about our vaca was that we ate out every day and I never had to cook anything more complicated than boxed macaroni and cheese! On Sunday we ate at Phillips Seafood which was a posh dining experience. We ordered a lobster tail for the fellas to try. They did enjoy it, but they decided that $10 sure was a lot to spend on such a small amount of food!

We also enjoyed Ella's and the interesting hush puppies they gave us as appetizers. Great seafood there! One dinner spot we would just as soon forget is the Last Resort. We had heard that the waiters there treated you poorly as part of the experience, and being a sarcastic lot ourselves, that seemed like a fun prospect. There was always a looooong line of folks waiting to get in, and lots of kids in the mix, so we figured we'd try it. It was ok at first--that's our waiter there on the left. He saw that I had a coupon for a free dessert and told me to put it away. When we ordered water all around, he called us cheap! He threw our placemats and napkins at us. That was all well and good. Then we saw that people were wearing these weird paper hats on which their waiters were writing messages. Greg's and Ben's messages weren't too bad. The food was great, but the atmosphere--not so much. We were made painfully aware that not everyone has the same taste when it comes to joking around! Definitely not one of our better choices of a fun way to spend an evening. :(

Of all the great seafood and specialty restaurants, the kids all liked the Wing Express best, of all places! It was a take-out place that supposedly specialized in American, Chinese, and Thai food. I wondered how a place like that could have anything good--but everyone loved what they ordered, especially the wings. They liked the food there so much that we had to order from there again another night! It was nice to be able to eat in the comfort of the condo unit and watch TV over dinner. :)

Perhaps the extreme heat wave had something to do with it, but the water was always a lovely shade of warm! We were in the waves every day but one. Thankfully, no one got crispy this time around, although both Jimmy and I got a bit pink early in the week. Nothing a little aloe gel couldn't control!

We enjoyed a couple of games of mini-golf throughout the week, and of course we had a lovely scorekeeper! I just liked the ambience of the golf courses. You could play at the pirate cove and golf through caves and blue waterfalls, or you could play among large zoo animals. You know how it is...there's a golf establishment on every corner! Playing at night is nice, not only because there is no scorching sun, but you also have

lovely lighting and of course, the palms and other southern flora that I love so much! It matters little who wins the game--although you'd have

a hard time convincing Ben of that!

One evening we went to Planet Hollywood, but didn't want to wait an hour to eat. So we took a look inside, saw the Terminator's outfit and other cool movie props, and then skipped out and spent the evening at Broadway at the Beach which is kind of like a boardwalk away from the beach. Lots of interesting and unique shops there. I think all the kids picked up some $5 sunglasses, with Bri's being the cutest since they were colored like watermelons! We fed the fish, enjoyed $6 milkshakes (they were yummy, but $6??), and viewed Toy Story 3 in 3-D on an Imax screen. Ben especially liked the candy store which had a little bit of everything sugary.

On the way home we navigated through temperatures of 110 degrees at 5:30 PM. Before that we toured the USS North Carolina which was docked in...North Carolina. :) Steve especially enjoyed that side trip. I think it was his favorite part of the week. He's been talking about teak decks, torpedoes, and gun turrets ever since!

Yes, all in all it was a great week. We slept late every day, walked the beach at night, drank sodas like there was no tomorrow, and just generally loved a life of ease! We are thankful to have had the opportunity for a little getaway. It was the highlight of our summer. :)