Let's see, what did we do today? Well Amber and I started off at the Krispy Kreme doughnut factory this morning. I didn't beat the old record, but I did manage to devour SIX, yes SIX Krispy Kreme doughnuts. I had two fresh and hot off the conveyor belt and four from the counter (mostly chocolate). I probably could have eaten more, but I didn't want to chance it.
After our first adventure of the day, we headed off to the beach. We didn't have to go far. We pulled into a nearby hotel, parked and headed to the ocean. The day started off really chilly, almost cold, windy and somewhat rainy (more of a heavy mist). But there was blue on he horizon, so Amber and I laid out our towels and stuck it out and it paid off big time! The weather started looking up, the sun came out, and we both jumped in the ocean. I know Amber was really excited because she had never been out that far in the ocean before. I was definitely excited because I hadn't been to the beach all year! Anyway, it turned out to be a lot of fun; we watched a parasail, saw some jumping fish and collected some shells.
After a few hours at the beach, Amber and I came back to the hotel for some lunch and rest. The ocean wiped out all of my energy. I napped for a while and a few hours later we headed back out to find something to do. We ended up at a mini-golf place in Myrtle Beach. It was a lot of fun, but a lot of stairs too. As a result, I have a bunch of blisters on my feet and 'rug burns' on the tops of my feet from my sandy flip flops. All I can say is ouch.
After our mini-golf adventure (which Amber won by two strokes-and yes I still want a recount), we headed to try our hands or feet rather at the state dance, shag. Well, I did warn Amber before hand that it was a hole in the wall place run by some old guy. I looked it up on the Internet first. Well when we got there, we received a history lesson about shag and Ocean Drive. There was a bunch of other oder people there, mostly couples, so we decided to leave. But, at least we tried!
After we found that the shag was a dud, we decided to find another adventure, so we headed back to Myrtle Beach and took a drive around. We finally found a strip or what they call a 'boardwalk.' It was basically a tiny wooden boardwalk, then a long cement sidewalk and a bunch of shops along the way. It wasn't on the beach though. We found an arcade, played a little SkeeBall and hit a couple of shops. We then headed back to the hotel for the night and we've got a big day planned for tomorrow. Since it will be our last full day here, we will probably visit Ripley's Believe It or Not, the beach, definitley eat at the Hard Rock Cafe, and who knows what else. Should make for a very fun day.
Day Two
Posted in beach, Del Sol, hot sauce, Shag
It's day two here in beautiful, not so sunny South Carolina. It's about 80 degrees and overcast, but the rain has held off for the most part. Amber and I were expecting rain the whole day so we visited Barefoot Landing and Broadway at the Beach; both places are full of shops, wildlife and fun. We went into a ton of shops, bought a few gifts and tasted some hot sauce (we'll get back to that in a minute).
At Barefoot Landing, which is much bigger than either of us expected, we ran into Del Sol which is a specialty shop where everything in the store changes color. How it works: take a t-shirt, nail polish, key chain, sunglasses, or anything else they sell and test it on the UV light stations set up around the store. It's so cool! In other words, your shirt or nail polish or whatever is white until you step into the sun. There's some chemical reaction and it gives color to the deisgn on your shirt or other item. It's AWESOME! Anyhow, I got myself a t-shirt and some suprises for a few other people.
We didn't see any alligators today, but we did see a lot of fish (I think Armageddon) and a lot of ducks. I even fed the fish because I felt bad for them. Believe it or not, fish are smart. They gather where the people are because they know the people will feed them. Yes, there are 'feeding stations' located around the boardwalk. You put in a quarter, get a handful of pebbles and throw them into the water. I took a short video that I'll try to post at some point.
Next we headed to Pepper Palace. I told Amber, "Hey why don't we stop here?" Yeah, bad idea. They have a sample bar where you can test all of their sauces, salsas and different types of cheese. As Amber went around to the cheese side, I decided to be brave and test the salsas. I started mild and most of them were pretty good. Then I went with the "XXX Death by Salsa." Again, bad idea. I took a chip and scooped a very small amount of salsa. As soon as I put the salsa in my mouth, I told Amber I had to go get a drink. I went outside, ran to the nearest soda place and told them I needed something to drink-anything! The lady behind the counter asked if I came from the sauce place and I said yup. My eyes were watering, my throat, nose, ears and chest were all burning. I took the lid off and threw the straw aside. I scooped my hand into the cup and ate all the ice. Amber laughed and asked why I didn't wait for her to take a picture.
Back to the hotel. We are finally in our double bed room (we had a King the first night). So we had to move all of our stuff, luckily not that far. Amber and I both caught a glimpse of an ad in the elevator and we might go to free Shag dance lessons tomorrow night. Apparently this is their state dance.
We don't have any plans for tonight, but I'm sure we'll get something to eat and either hit the boardwalk or find something else fun to do like minigolf. It's a little more wet outside right now then it was earlier, but there's still lots to do! Hopefully we'll hit the beach tomorrow. :)
At Barefoot Landing, which is much bigger than either of us expected, we ran into Del Sol which is a specialty shop where everything in the store changes color. How it works: take a t-shirt, nail polish, key chain, sunglasses, or anything else they sell and test it on the UV light stations set up around the store. It's so cool! In other words, your shirt or nail polish or whatever is white until you step into the sun. There's some chemical reaction and it gives color to the deisgn on your shirt or other item. It's AWESOME! Anyhow, I got myself a t-shirt and some suprises for a few other people.
We didn't see any alligators today, but we did see a lot of fish (I think Armageddon) and a lot of ducks. I even fed the fish because I felt bad for them. Believe it or not, fish are smart. They gather where the people are because they know the people will feed them. Yes, there are 'feeding stations' located around the boardwalk. You put in a quarter, get a handful of pebbles and throw them into the water. I took a short video that I'll try to post at some point.
Next we headed to Pepper Palace. I told Amber, "Hey why don't we stop here?" Yeah, bad idea. They have a sample bar where you can test all of their sauces, salsas and different types of cheese. As Amber went around to the cheese side, I decided to be brave and test the salsas. I started mild and most of them were pretty good. Then I went with the "XXX Death by Salsa." Again, bad idea. I took a chip and scooped a very small amount of salsa. As soon as I put the salsa in my mouth, I told Amber I had to go get a drink. I went outside, ran to the nearest soda place and told them I needed something to drink-anything! The lady behind the counter asked if I came from the sauce place and I said yup. My eyes were watering, my throat, nose, ears and chest were all burning. I took the lid off and threw the straw aside. I scooped my hand into the cup and ate all the ice. Amber laughed and asked why I didn't wait for her to take a picture.
Back to the hotel. We are finally in our double bed room (we had a King the first night). So we had to move all of our stuff, luckily not that far. Amber and I both caught a glimpse of an ad in the elevator and we might go to free Shag dance lessons tomorrow night. Apparently this is their state dance.
We don't have any plans for tonight, but I'm sure we'll get something to eat and either hit the boardwalk or find something else fun to do like minigolf. It's a little more wet outside right now then it was earlier, but there's still lots to do! Hopefully we'll hit the beach tomorrow. :)
