Myrtle Beach

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina:  Another day with no photos! Sorry, but we were shopping. Seriously, today we really didn't do very much. We spent the morning on the beach, walking and running. It was cloudy and really warm. Early afternoon we decided to hit the outlet malls in Myrtle Beach - there are several. On the way to the malls, we took a drive, north along the shore, to see the sights - hotel after hotel, with restaurants, tacky t-shirt shops, beach shops and gigantic roller coasters in-between. Once at the mall, Snickers was not so happy being left outside of the shops... well, he was fine when a couple ("We used to have a beagle.") would pet him, or a little boy was playing with him, but this is the "off-season" and people are few and far between. So mostly he barked when left outside the Tommy Bahama Outlet (schwing!), so he was deposited back to the Honda, where he slept while we shopped. In the rain. It rained all afternoon.

I found the perfect tote bag at the Coach outlet. It had all the correct inside pockets for my cell phone and Palm Pilot. It had a zip compartment for my wallet and a large zip side-pocket for all my other "stuff". The center compartment was spacious enough for both my digital cameras. It was the PERFECT tote bag, until I noticed something strange in the side compartment - something I recognized from the deep memories of my brain as a diaper-changing pad. Yup - I had chosen a diaper bag as my perfect tote. Life is strange. You get to a point in your life when you just don't care. Not to mention is was half-off. Your camera could be so lucky to be hauled around in a Coach diaper bag!  The outlet mall was just huge. All the top stores. I phoned Lisa to tell her we were shopping and she kept calling with her requests between classes.

We took a walk on the beach in the late afternoon and then started looking through the guide books for a place to have dinner. I looked on-line for Myrtle Beach restaurants. Nothing recommended. Everything in the guide books were chains - deep-fried chains. Hard Rock Cafe. House of Blues. Planet Hollywood. Etc. (Snicks stayed home.) We ended up at a local Italian place that had a big sign reading "Golfers Welcome" outside. They only offered Carlo Rossi wines. Another bad restaurant meal.

If you are looking for a miniature golf outing, could I suggest Myrtle Beach? I read they have over 80 miniature golf courses. Not your everyday mini-golf either. These people are serious. A theme is a must. If you don't have an exploding volcano, a giant crocodile, a few Tiki torches or a swinging gorilla, you don't know Jack. There is nothing miniature about miniature golf in Myrtle Beach - they are HUGE. Of course, you have your gigantic waterfall and palm trees. A few life-sized elephants blowing water from their trunks is good. Lighting. Lots and lots of lighting. Before noon, the second round is free. Did not see a windmill all day.

Myrtle Beach also has beach shops - a shop selling bathing suits, beach umbrellas, towels, sunglasses, flip-flops, etc. They are on every block and are also HUGE. The main stores are WINGS, BARGAIN and EAGLE. We can't understand how they can have so many shops on one street!  (We assume you can't even walk on the beach in July because of the crowds.) Myrtle Beach also has a lot of the "Vegas" type shows - "Legends", the impersonator show, "Spirit of the Dance", that noisy Irish show, The Dixie Stampede - a Dolly Parton-produced dinner/music/rodeo show and also a jousting dinner (eat your chicken and throw the bones thing). Besides the beach, 5 million hotels, mini-golf, amusement parks galore, chain restaurants galore, shows galore, outlet malls galore and 125 golf courses... you could probably find something to do for a few days. Our guide book says more people visit Myrtle Beach year than visit Hawaii.

RV Park: Ocean Lakes in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina