My Trip report for Aug 18-25th

Hello everyone! We are back from our week in Myrtle Beach with our friends and what a week it was.

Our trip down was great using route from Saxonburg, PA coming down I-79 to Rt 19 to I-77 to Rt 421 E to 52 S to 64 E to 73/74/220 S

to Laurinburg, NC overnight. (8 hours drive time)

The Hampton Inn in Laurinburg was very nice but the pool had so many chemicals in it that one of our friends said his skin was tingling. At that point I told the kids to get out of the pool.

We decided to leave around 7:45AM the next morning and took 74 to 501 to I-95 back to 501 to 544. No problems and got to Garden City at 10AM. We had a few hours to kill so I took everyone on a tour of the area including Broadway at the Beach, The Strip, and the pier at the Conch Cafe for lunch. It was a little pricey but very good. Interesting that both the Conch Cafe and Bummz at The Beach were very similar in price.

We then went to Bi-Lo and had the store to ourselves and got everything we needed for the week. $280 spent for groceries for a three families. The only thing we needed more of was bottled water.

We got our keys for the beach house and picked up some fresh fruit and headed to the beach!

FOR THE GOOD TIMES!

Booked through Garden City Realty and located at 715 S Waccamaw Drive in Garden City Beach.

This was a wonderful house and the beach was literally right at the bottom of the deck steps. The kids were so excited and went right into the water.

Dinner was Ultimate California Pizza. The pizza was great but even with $10 worth of discounts it was expensive.

We spent every morning in the ocean and would retreat to the house during the midday sun. The weather was incredible with the only rain coming on Wednesday (overnight) and Thursday night during the dinner hour.

All of our dinners were amazing! Sunday we went to The Mayor%26#39;s House in Pawleys Island. WOW, it was incredible! One of the best meals I%26#39;ve ever had and the She Crab soup that tasted so good it could have been dessert. We had reservations and used our $25 restaurant certificates and were allowed to sit together. I mentioned that I had read about the restaurant and how it had wonderful reviews and then he quality had dropped off when the owners sold a few years back. Now with the old owners back at the helm it was once again amazing. I mentioned that I participated on Trip Advisor and that I was very impressed. The waitress actually went and told the owner and he came out to meet me and thank me for my kind words. It was a really nice experience. I strongly recommend this wonderful restaurant.

Monday we enjoyed the beach and decided to stay at the beach house and eat sandwiches for dinner.

Tuesday after spending the morning on the beach and in the water we went to Inlet Adventure Minitaure golf. We had BOGO coupons plus we got 36 holes for the price of 18. Unfortunately it was too hot to play 36 so we ended after 18. Our quartet sang a song inside the ticket area and we were given a hand full of discount coupons for tickets or upgrades for the Carolina Opry or Good Vibrations shows.

Dinner was at the Venetian Italian Grill in Garden City. We had reservations and a wonderful meal with great service. Add the fact that we could all use our $25 certificates it was another winner!

Later that night we met the local Barbershop Harmony Singers at their get together at Fat Jack%26#39;s Wings %26amp; Things in Surfside and sang for them. Awesome wings and the guys really seemed to enjoy our quartet, enough so that they might have us back to sing on their show in January. If you ever happen to go there be sure to look for our picture on the wall! ';InCahootz!';

Wednesday was another wonderful day at the beach and we had our date night. Our date started with a Sunset Cruise with the Great American Riverboat Company located at the Wacatee Zoo. It was a very nice trip up and down the ICW (Inter Coastal Waterway. We saw American Bald Eagles, Osprey and various other birds along with a beautiful sunset and all of the was accompanied by live entertainment and some history of the area. We had a late dinner at Nico%26#39;s Of New York in Garden City. This is a tiny little restaurant that packs a big punch when it comes to great food and great service. Another $25 certificate and enough food to have leftovers for lunch the next day! AWESOME!

Thursday brought ANOTHER great day at the beach! Original Benjamins offered another great dinner. All three families ate together and we all got to use our certificates. PLUS our one friend paid for everyone%26#39;s dinner! Even better.

It started to rain during dinner and even though it was raining my family decided to go to Alligator Adventure as planned. We got a little wet but still enjoyed seeing all of the amazing animals. During the week our friends enjoyed The Pirate Adventure Cruise in Georgetown, LeGrande Cirque, Carolina Opry and Magicquest and all were very happy with their experiences.

We got ice cream at Burky%26#39;s Grill on the way home and even got some to take back to the beach house for what had become the favorite drink of the week called Pirate Milkshakes. Ice cream, milk and Captain Morgan.

Our final day greeted us with sunny skies once again and I was able to take some great pictures of the sunrise. We made the most of our last day on the beach and then started to pack the vans with the tents, boogie boards, chairs and sand toys.

Dinner was at LaPlaya in Pawleys Island. It was seemingly impossible to beat or at least meet the quality of the meals we had experienced during the week but LaPlaya was up to the challenge.

My only drawback was the $22 for a pitcher of Sangria. It tasted great but kind of pricey. Other than that the food was authentic and amazing and the service was friendly and responsive.

Our whole experience during this vacation was great. It was the first time we had ever done a vacation like this with two other families that weren%26#39;t our own family. The kids got along and so did the adults. Everyone had their own private bedrooms and bathrooms and a great space to socialize and a huge table for board games at night or gathering around to sing. We even had two of our friends from North Carolina drop in for a visit one afternoon. It was sad to see it come to an end and we can%26#39;t wait to do it again.

Probably the highlight for me about the week was when my best friends wife (while we were all out in the ocean floating with the waves) said I owe you an appology. I said why? She explained that whenever I had organized each day with things to do and places to eat she was worried about being too ridged and not having any wiggle room. Now with one of the best vacations of our lives coming to an end I wanted to thank you. Without your organization we wouldn%26#39;t have known about most of the places or had the kind of experience we%26#39;ve had, thank you.

I love to plan and organize and it made me feel really great to have someone enjoy the efforts of my work.

If you would like to see pictures of our vacation check out my web page at http://www.myspace.com/brooksenterprises

Thank you all for all of your help as I planned our vacations to this wonderful place called Myrtle Beach. It probably won%26#39;t be for a couple years but we%26#39;ll be back!

Sincerely,

Ron

My Trip report for Aug 18-25th

Wow! Awesome report. Glad you had so much fun. We had lots of rain back up this way early last week. You picked a great week to go.

My Trip report for Aug 18-25th

That%26#39;s what I heard. When I called my parents at home in PA my mom told me it was 61 degrees and raining. It actually rained the whole time we were gone. We also found out we had a small tornado hit very close to our house. Luckily the only problem I had was tall grass when we got back home.

Ron

A small tornado also hit just 12 miles south of where I live. It is the same town where my wife teaches school at. They were not yet in school but even if they were it hit a mile or so away from her building.

Wonderful report! Glad you had a great time. We have gone with friends for the past 10 years and it is always so much fun to ';share'; Myrtle Beach with them. We make plans but a lot of times we end up just sitting on the beach and or balcony sipping drinks and playing cards or Password or another game. I love hearing everyones reports. Thanks for sharing.....off to check out your myspace pics.

Ron,

What a great report! Thank you so much for sharing! Sounds like you had a wonderful week!

Agree with you on the Mayors House.Thoroughbreds and Villa Mare were also very good.