Broadway at the Beach

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina:  I was shaken from a sound sleep at 2 a.m. by a huge rain storm. Rain pounding on a fiberglass roof makes quite a racket. Rain was pouring in from the roof vents (3 of them open) and into the windows on both sides of the coach. I got out of bed and closed the windows, mopped-up the floor and DT didn't even wake up. There went our big plans: doggie daycare for Snickers and golfing for us. In the morning, the entire campground was just a big soggy mess. Our neighbor had a swimming pool in his awning! Wet sand was everywhere. Small ponds formed in the streets and birds were having a good time taking baths. We stayed in. Good day to vacuum and do a little laundry. Late morning, it stopped raining - it never did clear up - and warmed up a bit. DT went for a run and our Fed-Ex package (our house-sitter overnights our mail occasionally) arrived, so we were busy in the afternoon reading our mail, bills, etc. Late afternoon we went down to the beach, and then left Snickers alone to sleep in the camper, and we went out to Broadway at the Beach.

On the way into town, we drove past Jurassic Golf, Safari Golf, Pirate Watch Adventure Golf, Jungle Lagoon Golf and Mt. Alanticus Minotaur Miniature Golf. I forgot to mention all the billboards for another local attraction: Utan, the Largest Crocodile in the World. We also passed two Krispy Kreme donut shops.

Broadway at the Beach was fun. Lisa said she saw a program about Broadway at the Beach on "Wild On Myrtle Beach", where they took a bunch of waitresses from Hooter's and took them to the discos in Broadway at the Beach. DT was here with his golfing buddies in March 2002. Broadway at the Beach is a huge complex, built around a big (man-made) lake. There are two foot bridges crossing the lake, connecting the shops and restaurants. Included in Broadway at the Beach are huge theme restaurants, small shops and chains (Victoria Secret, Gap), movie theatres, an aquarium and Dragons Lair Mini Golf. (DT says to mention that it is not at the beach, or Broadway.) Our first stop was the Murray Bros. Caddy Shack Restaurant. (NOTE: This restaurant is now closed. But don't worry - Jimmy has opened a Margaritaville Cafe!) Talk about making a buck! Seriously, I went into labor after watching Caddy Shack, and let's face it - Lisa is 21 years old. The entire restaurant is themed on a 21-year-old movie! Okay, okay, I agree... it is a classic. We had a plan to visit several restaurants and have a beer and an appetizer in the bar, so we wouldn't have to wait for a table. This way, we could see a lot of the complex in one visit. Not a worry - the place was DEAD. Every restaurant we visited tonight had no more than 5 tables filled. It was Tuesday and it was COLD... anyway... at the Caddy Shack we enjoyed Chinese Tacos - minced chicken served in lettuce leaves. One of my favorites from the Mandarin Restaurant in San Francisco, served up quite nicely, and I have no idea why, at the bar. Of course, we had a stroll through the gift shop! (EVERY restaurant has a gift shop!) After our first snack, we walked through a few shops and found a few gifts. Mostly, we just enjoyed looking through the strange collection of shops at BATB. We found a shop selling pink flamingos and talking Eric Cartman dolls. ("I'm not fat, I'm big boned.") Our next stop was Dragons Lair Mini Golf. $6.50. Each. It was a difficult course. Actually, it must have been the most difficult course EVER as I beat DT by 4 strokes. He was not happy about it either, but I think he will get over it. Assuming I ever LET him forget his devastating defeat. In truth, I was getting lucky ricochets.  Plus, during our round, a volcano did erupt several times, no doubt upsetting DT's putting stance.

DT fed 25-cents into the fish-food machine and we feed the carp under the foot bridge. It was just disgusting to see all of them, mouths gaping, with ducks actually walking over the top of the fish to get the food. Survival of the fittest. Our second restaurant was the Key West Grille, where we enjoyed Fried Green Tomatoes. Then, I found a Yankee Candle shop, so we had a 30-minute delay while I looked at everything in the store. Our third restaurant was the Hard Rock Cafe. This was the coolest HRC! It is built inside a pyramid and, so, is absolutely cavernous. You walk down a long staircase into the restaurant - very dramatic. We had chicken wings at the bar. The place was dead. We talked with the bartender - an avid golfer. His sister-in-law works for NIKE in Beaverton (DT did not know her and Kevin Bacon was not in the restaurant.) South Carolina has some strange liquor laws too. On the bar were hundreds and hundreds of individual-sized bottles of liquor. Like on an airplane. (We noticed this at Caddy Shack and Key West Grille too.) I asked the bartender and he said SC liquor laws require a single drink served - something about taxing. Since you can't ever be sure exactly how many drinks would be poured out of a bottle of booze, they regulate it this way.

We headed home - it was cold and we had left Snickers for 3 hours. As soon as we opened the door, Snickers bolted off into the darkness. So much for the personality change. He ran across the street, where our neighbors had put their trash out and decided to inspect their garbage. Snickers was hauled back into the motorhome, tail between his legs. Bad boy.

Bad Boy Beagle

So, here is a photo of Snickers in his favorite spot - in his bed under the steering wheel. (Obviously, he only sleeps here when we are parked!) He knew he was in big trouble, so went right to his bed. And there he stayed until kids on the beach began a fireworks show! Exploding fire crackers brought The Naughty Dawg between my feet, shivering and whining. How in the heck can you stay mad at a spineless beagle? I can't imagine some people actually use these dogs to hunt. As I type this, Snicks is still quivering at my feet and I haven't heard a bottle rocket for 20 minutes. We had to put the heater on too - it really is chilly!

We will leave Myrtle Beach in the morning. We came here to golf, but the weather prevented us from competing in "real" golf. I think this city is just a bit over the top for me. Which, if you know me at all, is really saying a lot. I can't believe I have had a phone line for three days and have only posted one photo - of Snickers!

RV Park: Ocean Lakes in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina