Like the past few years, where we would spend vacation seems to be decided almost at the spur of the moment. Up until a month ago the choices where Massachusetts, Tennessee or Williamsburg in Virginia. Then it was Hilton Head in South Carolina. Finally, we ended up in Myrtle Beach. Why Myrtle Beach? Well, other than not having ever been to Myrtle Beach, the fact it was closer than Hilton Head played a role. Maybe we’ll end up in Hilton Head eventually in the next few years.
July 9, 2012
The trip started on a rather dreary note. We were supposed to be on the road by 4am but that turned out to be wakeup call for most of the party. More the norm than an exception to be honest. The plan also called for putting our stuff in the car the night before, a that also did not happen. Weather-wise, it wasn’t very good either. We know the weather wasn’t going to cooperate. I wish weather forecasting was already good enough to allow us to plan a month ahead but it is not. So the day starts with very strong rain at 4:00 in the morning and it was still raining by the time we left at 6:00 am. The weather did improve during the course of the day and we were soon seeing temperatures above 90. As far as the rest of the week is concerned, the forecast for Myrtle beach is for on and off rain the whole week. We expected the trip to last at least 8 hours. Depending on your source, it was either 8 hours (Google maps) or 8.5 hours (Tomtom GPS). Of course we would not be able to handle any detours using Google maps so, 8.5 hours it was, 10 hours including the inevitable stops for a variety of reasons, including a picnic at a North Carolina rest area. It is good that
the economic situation has not closed down these rest areas. These are clean and conveniently located.
Hampton Inn
This is the third year that we have not been able to get a timeshare reservation for Myrtle Beach. The reasons have ranched from not enough time, no space available to renovation being performed at the Westgate resort. A friend of my wife got a very good deal using Expedia in finding their vacation package so we thought we would give that a try. We initially decided on a place on the beach that was reasonably priced but the reviews caused me to pause. One stated that “It was not a place for single women to be staying in”, and I thought of the kids. We finally settled on the Hampton Inn near the business district. Had very good reviews (4.8 out of 5.0 as of this writing) and it was not as expensive as I had thought. Having just decided on Myrtle Beach and vacation time fast approaching, I decided to book the place. Note to self, in the future, shop around a little more. Check the hotel website, you may find cheaper rates, better discounts and deals.
The hotel is located in the business district, which may explain the apparent lack of party goers, which was fine for us. I was hoping that it would be on, or very near the beach. At about two and a half blocks away from the beach, it was far enough to wear you out if you are not used to walking that distance, and too near for the hotel to be offering shuttles.
One thing I did not like during the check-in process, which was fast and easy, was the fact that the lady at the front desk never smiled although she was friendly. We did check-in late in the afternoon so she may just be tired, so I will give her that.
Room and Amenities
So far so good. The humidity in the room was a little high, nothing that the air conditioner can’t take care of, and there wasn’t an area you could claim as a kitchenette.
One thing the bathroom has that I have not observed very often, an exhaust fan! The room does not have a safe but there was an iron and board. Laundry, anyone?
There is an indoor pool for those who prefer, a Jacuzzi, sauna and a small gym. Continental breakfast was free from 6:00 am to 10:00 am and was the standard fare of cereals, scrambles egg, yogurt, waffles, bread, etc. No bacon or fried eggs! You are on your own for lunch and dinner. There are plenty of restaurants to choose from, with a TGIF just next door.
July 10, 2012
First day on the Beach
Got up early expecting rain, and thankfully there was none in sight.So the plan was to
quickly eat breakfast, go to the beach and be back before the rain started. We left at
9:00am, 2 hours later than anticipated. The walk wasn’t bad, a mere 2.5 blocks down 75th street.Watch out for cars when crossing 75th and King Ave as there is not stoplight, crossing light or a cross walk.
The beach itself wasn’t bad. There isn’t anything to cause you to pause, unlike Sarasota beach. The sand wasn’t overly fine,and there was a lot of shells. Gives me the impression that the beach was rebuilt a number of times due to succeeding hurricanes. The waves were nice and strong, almost made me want to attempt surf boarding. There were plenty of beach umbrellas for rent and a place to wash-off the sand after your time in the beach. Soon, around 11:00 am, the clouds were starting to gather and it was time to go. We got back to the hotel just in time as the severe weather conditions had arrived. We were going to be stuck indoors for a while! The forecast for the week makes it pretty clear that we will not be able to try anything that couldn’t be canceled quickly enough due to severe weather. No sailing, para sailing or boating. Maybe not even mini-golf!
And it rained, and it rained for a good three hours. By the time the rain had ended, it was 7:00pm and it was time for dinner, which we took at TGIF located at 7515 N Kings Highway. We dropped by just in time as the evening crowd had just started to grow. After a delicious meal we took the opportunity to visit CVS, Rite-Aid and Food Lion at the end to buy much needed supplies like wine, bottle opener, lotion and gum.
July 11, 2012
Deciding how to spend the day was a lot easier yesterday. Everybody just had to go to the beach. Today, different opinions have started to come out. After a short negotiation we decided on the following sequence. Mini golf (before the rains come), visit Westgate then on to the boardwalk. For mini-golf we would go a visit “The Jungle Safari). Depending on the availability of time, we would also drop by one of the outlet stores. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the Safari, nobody actually wanted to go. So much for negotiating!
Westgate
We visited Westgate to find out the location and to see for ourselves how it actually look. Better than we expected but not as close to the boardwalk as we expected. Parking wasn’t easy to locate so we used the metered parking at $0.25/10 mins and we took 3 hours. It does seem to be a vary popular Westgate destination, typically you would need to reserve an exchange about a year in advance as “the owners usually do show up”, at least according to the front desk.
The Boardwalk
Wasn’t what I expected.Most of those we had visited had stores along the boardwalk on one side, the beach on the other. In this case, it seemed like miles winding,scenic walk next to the beach, and the back of hotels. Most of the stores could be found on Ocean blvd. Parking was still expensive, we paid $10/day but, as we were to find out later, parking along King blvd can be cheaper and more reasonable, $5/6 hours of stay.
We did have the opportunity to visit Riply’s Mirror Maze, and were entertained by the actor out front at Ripley’s Haunted House of Horror.
2nd Pier
We walked a lot to make it from the Westgate to 2nd ave. which was the actual beginning of the boardwalk. We were able to walk 5 blocks before we had to return lest we run the parking meter out. We had lunch at the 2ND AVE PIER fishing and restaurant.Yes, that is really what the place is called. It was comfortable, offered adequate free parking, fishing, open pier view and good food. It also had a very nice view of the beach.For the most part, the waiters were friendly and so were the patrons we interacted with. The price was also very reasonable and I found their Carolina burger to be especially good.
Tanger Outlet Mall
The Tanger Outlet Mall is pretty much the same to the one we had visited earlier in Florida. Similar layout and stores. Only thing that would make you pause is the higher sales tax they had in South Carolina when compared to Maryland. There isn’t really too much to choose from if you get hungry. There is a small foodcourt that had only three open stores.
July 12, 2012
As the week progresses the habit of a little wine before sleeping late and waking early is beginning to take it’s toll. We get to the beach at around 10:20 am, much later than we would like.The weather though, is cooperating better than feared. Other than the 10th, most rain have occurred very early in the morning, or late at night. Today is a beautiful beach weather and my kids enjoyed the boogie board, even making the occasional 40ft surf. By the time we were ready for lunch it was 3:00pm and we were looking for a place to have both lunch and dinner. The New China Hibachi restaurant was not particularly impressive in what it had to offer, mostly what you would expect at any Chinese fast food restaurant, but at $6.95 lunch buffet we were not going to complain. After a quick rest, we went to visit The Market Common, a well recommended mall with shops, dining and cinema.
The Market Common
Located at 1120 Farrow Oarkway, The Market Common was not what I had expected. I envisioned a huge enclosed mall based on the brochures we got, but it was actually more of a mixed use facility with stand alone stores, residential area and cinema. A nice place to go for leisurely stroll or if you would like to attend free concerts or cooking shows. My kids did get to view an actual marriage proposal that was held in the Barnes and Noble store.
July 13, 2012
Our vacation ended much to soon. Why is it that you always feel that the vacation time you take is just never enough? Myrtle beach is interesting enough that we will schedule another time to visit, perhaps a little wiser in planning destinations to make the most out a week. For today we planned to take it easy, basically shop for souvenirs and spend a few hours on the beach, and do some mini-golf. There are a lot of choices for mini-golf, so we simply drove down 17th business and stopped at the most interesting one we could find, at least as interesting as a roadside view would present. In this case, “Captain Hook”. It takes about an hour to go through the entire course and was certainly much more interesting that the courses we tried in Ocean City, Maryland.
After a golf game (Wonder if you could make a career out of playing mini-golf), we went on the beach. As with each day this week, we were expecting thunderstorms in the afternoon. It had not started yet but the weather was causing (in my opinion) pretty good waves for boogie boarding. My kids took full advantage of this, as did most beach goers. By 2pm, we were tiered and ready to get on with the business of preparing for the long trip tomorrow.
Till the next vacation, maybe a cruise to the Bahamas?