Hi y'all!
Just back from a great week in Myrtle Beach, SC. I have the trip details and some review stuff for you here.
First off the trip details. We (me, Linda, Amy and Greg) left out of Indy at 1:00 pm last Friday (September 4, 2009). We had a fairly uneventful trip down. Stopped a couple of times for gas and stopped for dinner at the Cracker Barrel in Lake City, TN. I started the drive, Greg took over for a while then he gave way to Linda and I took the last part from Columbia into Myrtle. It did take us about 14.5 hours with the stops. Not awful time, but not great either. We would be in Tower 4 which was across Ocean Boulevard from towers 1-3 and not on the ocean for a couple of night's. No worries as we would move oceanfront on Sunday.
We arrived at 3:40 am at the Wyndham Ocean Boulevard and Linda and Amy ran in, got our keys and room assignment and we parked the car and unloaded. I had no problem going to sleep, but staying asleep would prove to be a task I was not up to.
I was hoping to sleep in on Saturday morning. I had been out until midnight on Thursday night bowling, up at 6 for work on Friday and had popped three 5 Hour Energy's and a couple of Red Bulls so I thought I'd crash hard. Oh fuck no! 7:00 am and I just can't go back to sleep. I laid in bed for a half an hour and finally said to hell with it and got up. I decided to take a look around the property and grab a paper before everyone else got up.
It was a quick walk across the street to the main part of the resort and across the dunes to the beach. The water was cool that morning, but still nice. I checked out where all of the pools were, where the bar was, of course and where it looked like would be the best sun places on the pool decks. The place looked pretty nice.
When I got back to the room I read the paper and waited for Linda to get up. When she did we ran down to the WalMart to check out the beach chairs and kind of get the feel of the town. We were technically in North Myrtle Beach. While we were out Linda spied the Tanger Outlet Mall. She was sleeping the night before when we came by it on our way in. I was hoping to keep it that way, but you know how that goes!! Of course they had a Coach outlet store so we had to stop in! She found a purse she liked but wasn't for sure she wanted to get it, so she decided to wait. We got some beer and headed back to the Wyndham.
First day of vacation so you know I am going to have a few coldies! I did. Unfortunately they don't seem to sell the 16oz'ers down there, so I settled for the 12's. They seemed to work okay!
After swimming and playing in the pool we chillaxed for a while and then went out to explore the area as a unit. Those of you who have been down to the Grand Strand know all about Wings, Eagles and Bargains. We hit them all and got some minor souvenirs. When we got back we tried to get some pizza from the bar at the resort but they wanted to charge us an arm and a leg so we got some Hungry Howie's with cinnamon bread and bread sticks for about half the price! And I don't care what Willie says, it was awesome!
SUNDAY
The skies are cloudy and it doesn't look like it's going to get any better for a while. We grab breakfast at the Waffle House. Amy puts on one of the great eating displays of the week. I had some grits, eggs and toast! I love the Waffle House! When we get back I get yelled at for doing what I am told to do, but I don't let it bother me too much!;) Apparently the deal was that the desk would call us when our room was ready in the other tower and we could just grab our keys at the desk and move our stuff to the oceanfront room. I wasn't sure what was said but I was told to call. Regardless it all worked out and with two heaping luggage carts we made the move from tower 4 to tower 1. It was quite a sight!
The new room was laid out just like the other, but the couch in this one wasn't as comfy. Still, we were oceanfront and it mattered little! Once we were in we decided it was time to do our food shopping for the week. We hit Wally World again and got in some supplies for the week, and of course, another case of beer!
Things didn't get any better weather wise, so we just kind of knocked around the place and had a drink at the bar. Swam a little and used the new boards. Even flew my kite a little. Looking at the forecast it pretty much showed my mood was going to be shit for the next 24 hours. Any longer and I would explode. Stay tuned!
That night we went to the BW-3's to eat. I had a chicken sandwich and what have become my favorite onion rings around anywhere. Fuck they are so damn good! To make matters worse it rained hard while we were there. I mean we were inside, but still...
Some drunk young guys were there watching the Colorado-Colorado State game and they were hooting and hollering, dropping F bombs and just carrying on like they owned the joint. The manager made them ease up on the language, but it was funny that their team lost! We just watched the race from ATL.
Back to the Ocean Boulevard, pretty beat as the lack of sleep is catching up to me. In bed by 11 which would turn out to be the latest I made it the rest of the week!
MONDAY
Happy Labor Day! Thud! Weather, crap. Mood, worse. Oh well, forecast calls for great rest of week.
We get up and decide to walk down to Main Street. Along with the Wing's and Bargain's there are numerous shops and stores selling all kinds of things. Clothes, food, drinks etc. The hot dog joint has a hot dog ketchuping itself. For some reason I didn't get a picture, but vow to later in the week. I did get a huggie with the SC logo on it, the moon over the Palm tree.
We ran out for some rum and mixer and to check out the nearest other Wyndham resort. It was nice, but small and quiet. I like big and rowdy! Amy and Greg were able to find some quality cigarette's for a decent price so they were able to smoke better for the week. Just a side note, they need to stop smoking. It really seems to dictate their lives and they are better than that. JMO.
After that we headed back to the room. Me and Greg went out swimming and when we came back up we pretty much watched the last day of the US Nationals and watched John Force make a complete ass of himself. What a tool! I did manage a little nap with the rainy weather, but not much.
Linda wanted Italian food that night so Greg checked out the reviews of the local establishments. You know how I feel about reviews, but I just played along. We decided on a place that turned out to be in Little River just north of North Myrtle Beach. It sounded good and I was hungry. Unfortunately, or fortuitously as it may be, we went the wrong direction on the main drag and had to turn around. White we were backtracking we saw a billboard for our intended destination and it showed they were closed Mondays. Luckily there was a place called the Villa Tuscana we had just passed and we decided to give it a go. Good call!
The place was kind of small, but the food was real good. I had spaghetti (I like spaghetti) with meat sauce and it reminded me of Arturo's, a place that used to be up at 86th and Keystone, but has since closed. It was one of my favorites and so was this! Linda and Greg had the lasagna and it was excellent as well. Greg crushed his, Linda had leftovers. Amy had the chicken Parmesan and it looked good as well. I had a glass of chianti that was superb. The only downside was that they only gave you one basket of bread and you paid for more. Basterds (sic)!
It was a little pricey, but still, I give it two thumbs up!
Back home I made it about an hour on a full stomach and a glass of wine. By 10 I was out! See you Tuesday!
TUESDAY
Or Black Tuesday as I am calling it. Oh it was real nice at 6:00 am, but the clouds rolled back in. I went swimming, but it wasn't a day to be “out”. My mood was turning more sour by the minute and it was threatening to derail the whole trip. I'm pretty sure I uttered the “let's just go home” line. God bless my wife as she doesn't even seem to listen to my crap some times! I'm sure she does but just knows I'm blowing off steam.
She then suggested we go see a movie. We had talked about seeing Inglorious Basterds before we left so what better time? I called and the movie started at 1:15pm. Of course when we got there it started at 2:00. The drain was getting closer. We walked around the Myrtle Beach Mall for a while and went into the Bass Pro Shop. Glorified Dick's if you ask me, but who's asking? Got some fun pictures of the walk and finally the movie started. God am I spoiled by the Kerasotes. This place had free refills, but their popcorn sucked and they controlled the butter allowance. The movie, however, was fantastic. I love Tarantino movies and this one didn't let me down.
It was a long movie and when we walked out the sun was shining and the clouds had lifted. Amy wanted to hit the Victoria's Secret for some undergarments so we did that and beat feet back to Ocean Boulevard (OB). I changed into my trunks in about 2 seconds, grabbed a towel, the boogie board and headed to the sea!
FINALLY it was nice. I wasn't about to look at tomorrow's forecast. All I know is that the clouds were gone and I was on the beach! Linda, Amy and Greg went for a walk, I plopped down, stuck the iPod on and soaked up the late day sun!
It was damn near dark when we finally went back to the suite. We showered and worked on dinner plans. Me and Linda has seen a place called Hamburger Joes that looked fun so she suggested that.
Joe's was good and cheap, but honestly I could have eaten 2 burgers. They were pretty small, but again, very tasty. Linda had a BBQ sandwich which she said was really good. Amy, who wanted hot dogs that night but was vetoed by mom, got her dog and Greg had a burger. Unfortunately something didn't sit well with Greg and he lost his dinner soon after. I think he puked on a dog, but I'm not sure.
On the way home we saw some drunk chick practically fall out of an Irish pub on Ocean Boulevard and her friend throw her up on his shoulders and try to carry her up some stairs. I kept expecting them to come tumbling back down the stairs, but I guess they made it!
Again it was an early night. Watched a little poker on TV and in bed by 10!
WEDNESDAY
The sun came out in all its glory today! I hit the pool early and grabbed some spots that looked like would retain sun for the longest time. We would eventually move as the sun crept behind the building from our vantage point about 1:00 pm. No biggie. With the sun out I was ready to guzzle some beer! My mood was 180 degrees from what it was.
Swam in the pool and the surf a lot that day. The wave were kind of down as the wind had died down as well. Still nice though.
For dinner we drove down to Myrtle Beach to the mall and ate at the Margaritaville. Thankfully no one threw a pickle at me! On the way down we checked out the other Wyndham resort in the area. It looked nice and probably a place we'd consider for future vacations.
At the Margaritaville I had the conch fritters (I love 'em) and a cold beer. We hung out and took some pictures and got some ice cream, but the beer and the sun pretty much had me beat. A new low as I was in bed by 8:45!
THURSDAY
Another beautiful day coming our way! I'm feeling the effects of yesterday's drinking and as far as that goes it's going to be a fairly light day! We grab seats by the pool and I swim in said pool and make several trips out to the ocean. It's a beautiful day and we are catching lots of rays. Pretty quiet day, but nice!
Amy and Greg had done some footwork up and won Ocean Boulevard and found a place called the OD Bar and Grill just down the street from us. It was also known by the much cooler moniker “Cheeseburger Republic”. That's what they wanted for dinner and they agreed to walk down and get it. I told them I wanted a cheeseburger, but to make sure they were bigger than Joe's from a couple of nights before or to get me 2. Well they were much bigger, but they still got me 2, and fries.
The burgers were very good, the fries, not so much. A little to soggy for my taste. Amy got a Philly and liked it a lot. Linda and Greg both got burgers and were pleased.
We watched some of the Steelers-Titans game, but I was tired and turned in about 9:45.
FRIDAY
9-11. A day of remembrance. I was once again up early and actually was able to get some decent shots of the sunrise. It was strange, but I got some great shots from our balcony, but couldn't get a good shot standing on the beach. Go figure.
Another glorious day! The resort had some really nice chaise's out in front of our building. Not on the pool deck, but just in a nice grassy area. Linda wanted to camp there for a day, but they seemed to have a lot of bugs hanging around, so we kept checking each day and the bugs seemed to be in much fewer numbers but we still passed on the chairs, opting once again for the pool deck. We did actually move to a new location for us that day by the little lazy river.
After setting us up at the pool I went back to the room and we went to the Golden Griddle for some breakfast. I had some pancakes, sausage and some funky hash browns. They had some kind of Cajun flavoring on them and they pretty much sucked. I was less than impressed with the place.
I had a couple of the daily drink specials which was the Rum Punch. It was decent, but you know those kind of drinks don't seem to have much alcohol in them and if you are angling for a good buzz you have to drink enough that you puke because of the sweetness. It's just a theory and one I wasn't willing to test.
For dinner one night I wanted some local fish and since we had just 2 nights left I figured I better jump at the chance.
I called the concierge desk and asked for a suggestion. She told me some place that had Alaskan Crab flown in daily. I said “pass, how about some local fish?” She told me a about a place in Little River called Captain Juel's. So into the shower I went and off to see the Captain we went.
The place was kind of a hole in the wall dive that looked like it probably would live up to the concierge's suggestion. It was right on the river nestled between a couple of gambling boats and by several fishing charted slips.
Inside, the place looked old and quaint, but decent. I ordered a beer and the flounder and fries. I don't know if it was the best meal I had during the week but it was excellent. Linda had some tasty coconut shrimp that I was lucky enough to get to try.
We watched the gambling boats head out for their pocket wringing excursions while we ate and then waked down on the pier as a fishing boat was coming in. We watched as some drunk young guys debarked the charter with a 4 foot shark they had caught. The one who had actually landed the shark was holding it up for pictures and being congratulated by all around. One of the guys told him that it was a Myrtle Beach tradition to kiss the fish he caught so the guy doffed his cap, sat his beer down, knelt down and planted a smooch right on the shark's mouth! It was crazy. I said “Dude, you just made out with that fish!” The whole thing was hilarious!
On our way back to the resort we hit the Eagles for their $5.99 hooded MB sweatshirts. We were able to find one, but the pickings were slim. We also made a run down to the Ron Jon store and got some things and a quick stop at the House of Blues for a shirt.
By now it was getting late (9:00 pm LOL) and I needed to get back so I could get to bed!
SATURDAY
If there has to be a saddest day annually then to me it is the last day of vacation. You know the end is nigh and there ain't nothing you can do about it. Today is that day.
The weather once again was fabulous. In fact, it would prove to be the warmest day of the week. As the sun rose over the beach Linda was adamant that we try just one more time to get the comfy chairs. I took the towels down and to my delight there were no bugs to be seen. I set us up as I had the days before and went back to the suite and we went to breakfast.
We went to Hot Stacks and it was so much better than the Golden Griddle. I had the sausage links, 2 over easy eggs and grits. Very good!!
After that we headed back to the resort and out to the chaises. Being the last day I was determined to stay out as long as I could stand it. I also wanted to fly the kite one more time but the breeze just wasn't going to cooperate this day.
About 4 I finally came back up to the room, decided to go for one more swim and then brought it back in for good. I kind of planned on swimming one last time in the ocean on Sunday, but as it turned out I just decided against it.
That night we all kind of just wanted to get some pizza brought in. They had pizza at the resort but like I said, when we tried to get it the first time it was so expensive we abandoned that idea. I called the concierge and asked for a recommendation on a good local pizza and was told to call a joint up in Little River. Turns out it was good, not dissimilar from mall pizza which is good, so I was happy.
I watched a little of the race and then went in the bedroom to watch some football. Of course I fell asleep soon after. No matter, we had a long day of driving coming back so I was ready to get a good nights sleep.
SUNDAY
The return trip. Bummer! All good things have to come to an end and this was it for us. We loaded up the truck and headed out about 8:30 am. I drove us to the Greenville/Spartanburg area and Greg took us all the way to the northern Kentucky area where I took over and finished the trip.
We stopped at Lake City, TN again for a late lunch after listening to the Colts beat the Jags. Unfortunately soon after we got a call from a friend informing us that another friend of ours had passed away earlier that day. Micheal Brewer was the same age as my wife and much too young to be gone. It was a somber ending to the vacation to say the least.
Around 10:00 we dropped Amy and Greg off and headed home. We got in just past 10:15, unloaded the truck and plopped down to watch a little of the end of the Sunday night game. It had been an excellent week, but it's always nice to be home. You can check out all of our pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mboxm/sets/72157622367288844/
WYNDHAM OCEAN BOULEVARD
After looking over the Wyndham book we decided to try their Ocean Boulevard resort in North Myrtle Beach. The only real issue we had was the parking. Each night we would leave for dinner and would have to park across the street at tower 4. It wasn't a huge problem, it was just inconvenient. With space at a premium I doubt there is a whole lot they could have done to alleviate this problem, but the fact remains, it was somewhat of an issue.
Both of our rooms were nicely decorated and comfortable. I tried to keep the living room and kitchen neat, but I didn't have a whole lot of luck.
The floor plans made me think we had a door to the balcony from our bedroom, but we didn't. No biggie. There were just 7 suites on each floor in our building, with 14 floors. Tower 3 appeared to be the same as ours while tower 2 was probably twice as big. Tower 4 across the street where we spent the first couple of nights seemed larger, but it was hard to say for sure. There is a resort called The Cottages at the west end of the resort. I drove back there one day and they looked really nice. They were, however, quite a ways from the ocean and probably not an option for me.
We've stayed at Wyndham properties the past 3 summers and have very much enjoyed all three. Each had things we like the best of the bunch and each had their drawbacks, however small. This one had great location, was very nice and as usual the staff was accommodating. Our blender broke on Friday and a replacement was brought to us in minutes. The staff made our move from tower 4 to tower 1 a snap and answered any questions we had. I have no doubt we would return to the Ocean Boulevard resort next time we are in Myrtle Beach.
