| The Family's Report
after the trip |
Hello it's Marla and we
are pretty fresh back from Myrtle Beach. What a trip!!! As with
most it had it's great moments and a few stinkers always sneak in
don't they? Looks like the biggest question in everyone's mind is
did they manage to do everything on the schedule??? Not quite, but
I will tell you we gave it one heck of a shot!
Here's a day by day summary of our trip...
6/29/2007- Lost over 5
hrs in MB because the darn plane was trapped in Newark the night
before because of bad weather (a stinker moment). Got in
around 6 PM instead of 12:45 PM as planned. Eh- one can't
control Mother Nature. Grabbed the rental car (Chevy Impala)
and headed to Grande Shores to check in. Note when booking thru
Expedia.com, rental car taxes are not included, so I stuck the hubby
with that $139 & change bill (yes, I'm bad I know :-0). No
problems with check in and both the desk crew and concierge were
friendly, helpful and just plain nice. Extremely nice welcome
pack with coupons, maps etc. given to us. For those trying to create
a budget our, our cost for the resort (7 nights oceanfront) and full
size rental car (minus taxes) was $1912. |
Our airfare was $1262 for 4, all fees included, but I'm sure your
airfare will differ and
ours was a little higher then usual because of the holiday.
2nd floor ocean view
Checked out the room and were delighted to discover that not only
could we see the ocean and beach as promised, but also the
oceanfront pool and lazy river. Our room was on the second floor.
Hunger beckoned so I called Carolina Roadhouse and arranged for call
ahead |
seating for a half hour
later. No problem using it, we walked past quite a line! Food
was excellent. Started with creamed spinach nachos and since
the MB message board I also visit suggested it, an appetizer
sized portion of hush puppies (you must ask though because
they are not on the menu and they cost $.95 for around
10) and of course a pina colada for me, virgins for the girls and an
N/A beer for hubby the driver. I had the tenderloin medallions- just
completely yummy! No room for dessert.
Left for the Wal-Mart so we could grab drinks and snacks for the
room as well as chairs/umbrella. Grabbed 2 lounge type ones $9.96
each, one low sand chair also $9.96 and the umbrella at $14.86.
Major savings over rental costs even if we did have to leave them
behind.
Headed back to the hotel and FINALLY got to feel sand between my
toes and water splashing my ankles during an evening stroll. Walked
around for a long while, then went back inside to locate the rooftop
pool/lazy river/hot tubs, indoor pool/kids pool/hot tub and the
fitness center. Then we had to grab some sleep.
(See Day 2 below) |
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Grande Shores lazy river & beach
path |
What tigers? |
One Grande Shores Resort pool |
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Day Two
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6/30/2007-This day actually stuck pretty close to
schedule. Got up, got ready and headed down to the Shoreline Cafe at
our resort for an all you can eat buffet breakfast. Price was I
believe $6.50 per person. It had all the usual things available to
chow down on...eggs- 2 types, bacon, sausage, ham, french toast
sticks, pancakes, fruit, yogurt, cereal, danish/muffins etc. Have to
say the food was really good and the coffee excellent.
Let's head for the beach!
Then it was time to change and head down to set up camp on the
beach. We enjoyed 2 1/2-3 hrs of sun and swim in the ocean time
before deciding it might be a good idea to get out of the sun for a
while and head to Barefoot Landing.
Dick's Last Resort
Our first stop there was Dick's Last Resort for lunch. I won't
spoil your visit here if you decide to go, but I will tell you it is
very helpful to have a playful attitude if you do. :-) I had
the ribs. They were tasty and the crab balls were delicious!
Next we did some serious shopping much to the dismay |
of hubby who would rather walk over hot
coals than do too much of that. We especially liked the General
Store and Del Sol which has some very unique t-shirts (see pictures
below). We then caught the Ghosts and Legends Ghost Show and picked
up our tickets for the Ghost Walk at 8 PM later that evening.
Our Ghost Guide
We continued to wander in and out of various shops until we reached
TIGERS Preservation Station. Had a family picture taken here
with what I guess you'd call it a teenaged Tiger on our laps for
$40.
Janine made a furry friend
They then brought out the babies to pose cheek to cheek with you.
Our girls had a second photo taken with a young wolf as well, also
$40. The girls loved holding the little ones. Afterwards we headed to The Crab
House for dinner. While the food
was great (I had BBQ crab) and we used a coupon for a
free crab dip, this |
The Crab House at Barefoot Landing
was the most expensive meal of our stay coming
in at over $160 so be aware of that!
Jen has a sleepy friend too
We then roamed around some more until it was time for our Ghost
Walk. This was surprisingly a lot of fun and featured our costumed
guide telling us a series of ghostly tales. Even a bit of rain
couldn't ruin it. We had a good group that made it even better.
Afterwards we went to Maggie Moo's for some ice cream to finish the
day before heading back to the resort and bed. Truthfully I
didn't care for my ice cream, but the rest of the family did. I'd
have liked chunks of brownies in mine instead of pulverized crumbs
If you are keeping track at this point we have only not done one
activity, the lunch at El Cero Grande...
(See Day 3 below) |
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Del Sol Tee before sunlight |
Welcome to Maggie Moo's |
Del Sol Tee after sunlight |
Day Three
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7/1/2007- Today was a day where we found ourselves doing
a little more then even I had planned! After getting ready to
venture forth into the world (thank you Food Lion for having eye
opening coffee and filters), ok maybe not the world but MB anyway,
we headed off to Shoney's on N Kings Hwy for a buffet breakfast to
give us energy. Think of the usual suspects of a breakfast buffet,
add sausage biscuits with gravy, grits and a salad bar and you have
a good idea of the food available. What is nice about this Shoney's
is if you wish to sleep in, the buffet is offered until 2 PM. The
food was plenty good too.
Now having eaten too much bacon again (I deprive myself at home so I
can eat it on vacation and vacation calories don't count anyway do
they :-)?) we headed over to North Ocean Blvd. This was the only place
during our stay we had to pay to park and it was $10 good until I
believe it was 3:30 PM.
Not the Ripley experience!
Our first stop was what we thought was the Ripley's Motion Master 4D
Moving Theatre. Well, we saw a 4-D Adventure sign anyway and the
clerk did take the Ripley's coupon, but alas it was not the real
deal. Our movie was about escaping from a haunted house and
think claymation figures instead of actual film type footage and you
are getting the general idea. It wasn't totally awful and we
did laugh a bit, but thinking it was a Ripley's I was still
disappointed. Lo and behold as we exit and walk down the
street, we spot the real thing!!! "Aw man, no coupon now
because the other lady took it", and "Hey, there is the Ripley's
Haunted Adventure too" were probably the words that I said or at
least thought (probably said because I'm sure you can tell by now
shyness isn't a problem for me and I like to talk). LOL! |
Ripley's Haunted Adventure
Since the Haunted Adventure was nearest we stopped and did it on the
way to the 4D even though it was scheduled for another day. It
would have been kind of silly to drive back and pay to park again
now wouldn't it? This really was a lot of fun and we had a really
good initial guide who explained what we needed to do which was
basically get out on our own or they'd "probably" come get us at
closing about 12 hours later "if" they noticed we hadn't made it
out. This place was extremely dark in most places so although the
lights you can purchase for $2 from them and are the only lights
allowed tend to attract some ghoulies, I suggest if you have kids or
even teens you buy at least a couple for a family of 4. I won't
spill any more details, but I will tell you my 16 1/2 yr old got
genuinely scared even though Ripley's allows kids as young as age 6
with a parent in.
Ripley's 4D Moving Theatre
Next we got to the real Ripley's 4D. This was a blast and had
2 movies. The first had us riding a runaway log truck and the
second was motion madness which started with us riding a roller
coaster. Only other things I will say about this attraction
are now that was what I expected from Ripley's, it was a |
lot of fun and I didn't
know it snowed in Myrtle Beach in July. :-) Find out
that last one for yourselves...
No one was hungry for lunch today so here we lost our second planned
activity The Filling Station, but gained an extra 4D Adventure. We
headed back to the resort and made good use of the beach, oceanfront
lazy river and pool. The Kahlua Coladas from the pool bar are
great!
Medieval Times - joust having fun!
Feeling nicely pink we headed to change and leave for the Medieval
Times Show and Dinner. Getting here was the only tricky trip we
took, but we did get there in plenty of time. If you have never
been the show features different colored knights and you are given a
Burger King type crown to wear to show support for your knight based
on where you will be sitting. The knights compete in different
skill contests to become the king's headman and maybe even
to marry the princess if she accepts while a story is told. The
food is ALL eaten with your fingers (after all they didn't have
silverware in Medieval times did they?), but they do provide a hot,
wet towel at the end and you'll need it. You will be eating 1/2 a
chicken, BBQ rib, a half a seasoned potato, vegetable soup which you
drink from a cup, garlic bread and a dessert which I'll let be a
surprise. The food was good and no one from the family complained.
Afterwards the knights and other players come out and you can meet
them and have your crown signed if you wish or take a picture with
them. My daughter's loved that!!!
Finally we headed back to the resort and opted to finish the day
sitting in a rooftop hot tub before turning in. The view from up
there is incredible.
(See Day 4 below) |
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On the Atlantic Ocean |
Grande Shores Resort |
Private Ocean Front Balconies |
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Day Four |
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7/2/2007-Today is the day we found ourselves having to
scramble our planned activities up quite a bit. Why??? Because
while we had seen a few brief showers on the other days, today was
just incredibly windy and from the weather we knew it was only a
matter of time before the skies opened up in the afternoon for a
good drenching. Also with that kinda wind going on this woman is
smart enough not to get on a boat.
We headed off to Akel's Family Restaurant for breakfast and planned
to hold a family pow-wow back in the room after to decide what to do
(mom needs coffee first if you want a fairly intelligent
conversation). Let me tell you this place is wonderful! It feels
like a family run airy dinner and the food is absolutely delicious.
The prices aren't bad either! I had the Akel's belgian waffle
special that came with 2 eggs any style and choice of bacon or
sausage, $5.45. Hubby opted for Akel's breakfast special which came
with 2 buttermilk pancakes, 2 eggs any style and a side of sausage,
$3.95. Oldest daughter Janine grabbed the Eggs Benedict ($6.25) and
youngest Jenn who isn't much of a breakfast eater had an order of
hash browns ($1.50) and a biscuit with country ham ($3.75). I ended
up trading her a couple pieces of my bacon for her ham as it was too
salty for her and she ate them as a side and spread jelly on the
biscuit.
We then tossed around some ideas back at the hotel trying to decide
what to do that afternoon that was indoors. Decided to add El Cerro
Grande back in for lunch then to head to Ripley's Aquarium and
Broadway for a while. Since we still had some sun peeking out
we headed to the beach/beachfront pool-lazy river for a few hours
first.
El Cerro Grande- That's Mexican!
El Cerro Grande was another place that delighted and did not at all
disappoint. We were seated quickly for a slightly |
later lunch. Looking
around you couldn't help but pick up a festive mood with the
Mexican themed decor. Feeling a little playful I opted for a
margarita and am very glad I wasn't feeling wicked and decided on
the monster margarita instead! That baby is 48 oz! I wouldn't have
walked out of the place without a swagger in my step (hiccup) :-).
I had the 1/2 chimichanga made with shredded beef and choose the
refried beans with cheese over the Mexican rice. Melt in your mouth
good! Hub had a taco salad with chicken, Janine the chicken fajita
nachos and Jen a chicken and cheese quesadilla. All were very good
and nice sized portions. I seem to remember the bill coming in
around $28 plus tip.
Ripley's Aquarium
We then continued down the road to Ripley's Aquarium at Broadway at
the Beach. I flashed (our AAA card sillies) and saved a buck or 2
on each admission. The aquarium was nice and I always enjoy the
many brightly colored fish. Fun too was the revolving walk through
the glass tunnel which runs even over ahead. Got to see many kinds
of sharks. We all liked being able to touch the rays too.
Sharks up close & personal
Leaving the aquarium we found the nasty rain had stopped and was
just down to a couple of sprinkles; so we wandered around Broadway a
bit really just looking for now until we ended up at Dragon's Lair
Adventure Golf. We had to play even though the dragon wasn't
operating because of the wind- the urge was irresistible. Hubby
took the round by 1 stroke (although he did keep score...mmm). |
Original Benjamins Restaurant
We left Broadway and headed to dinner at Original Benjamins. We
used a gift certificate I'd ordered from restaurant.com before
leaving home and printed it out from my computer. I had a promotion
code so the certificate cost me $4 and gave us $25 off the meal.
Just remember to present it when you first enter. The buffet was
$26.95 per person and included way too many items to even try to
name them all. Every single one I tasted was VERY good though. For
fun we tried to count the available items and I believe I hit 138
and that did NOT include the dessert tables. Just incredible and if
I'd eaten much more I might still be sitting there unable to move.
The Carolina Opry
Tonight we also had the Good Vibrations Show at the Carolina Opry.
If you get a chance I'd highly recommend you see this show! It
featured music from the 60's, 70's and 80's and was just a totally
fun experience. All members of the family enjoyed it no matter
their age. We liked it so much I have a copy of the show cd paid
for and being mailed to me when it is released about 2 or so weeks
from now. (More Good Vibrations photos are below).
To end a long day, we strolled on the beach just enjoying the sound
of the waves and then headed back up to catch some sleep and dream a
few sweet dreams...
(Day 5 continued below) |
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Good Vibrations - Good Music! |
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Good Vibrations - Good Comedy |
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Day Five
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7/3/2007- This day had to be moved around some as we'd canceled
the Sea Screamer the day before, opted to do the Aquarium out of
order and had already done the
Haunted Adventure while we were in that area.
We began by going back to Akel's as the food was so yummy the day
before and there was plenty more on the menu we wanted to try. The
food was just as good today, but our server wasn't nearly as good.
I could see our food up waiting to come out while she had about a 5
minute conversation with another table. We sensed she was new and
cut her a little slack figuring she was just trying to pad her tips
a little. I opted for 2 pancakes with 1 egg scrambled and bacon-
$4.75. Hubby the belgian waffle special with 2 over medium eggs and
sausage- $5.45. Janine also had the belgian waffle special with
peach slices on top, bacon and 2 sunny side up eggs- special $5.45,
topping- $1.25. Jen had the pancakes with a side of bacon- pancakes
$3.75, bacon $1.75. Add 3 coffees $3 and 3 large juices $5.25 as
well as one small one $1.25.
 All aboard the Sea Screamer
Being nicely full, we took the drive out to Little
River to catch the 10 AM trip on the Sea Screamer. It was a
very good thing we had decided not to go the day before as the 2
afternoon trips were canceled because of the winds/weather. We
used a $2 off per person coupon we found in the Sunny Day Guide
making the admission $18 per person. This was a fantastic
time, but PLEASE believe them when they say you are going to get wet
at times and dress accordingly! The Sea Screamer is a 2 hour
boat trip that you begin as a gentle cruise in the inner coastal
waterway while listening to the Captain tell you about some things
you are seeing and sharing a few stories. |
You then enter the Atlantic Ocean where you
stop to do some dolphin watching. We saw several leaping and
playing as we paused and watched spellbound.
You next travel just a little further before turning around and
becoming a speedboat! This is where they prove the truth of
you will get wet! It was fast, exciting and just plain fun! Being out in Little River anyway, we decided this was a good time to
do Tribal Island Tiki Adventure Golf (yes, alas Captain Hook's fell
by the wayside.
Golfing at Tiki Bay
This was quite a challenging course with a
number of especially tricky water traps. Take it from one who
learned
the hard way, if one of your balls ends up in the water and you decide to
be a hero and cross over to go get it; DON'T try to cross back over.
Go back up and around to your hole. It is inevitable the rock
you select to step on to get back
WILL tip dropping you on your you .know what in that lovely
blue water that does NOT look nearly as good on white socks (good thing I had jean shorts on). <grins>
It WILL injure your ahem pride..
River City Cafe for burgers
We stopped on the way back to the resort at River City Cafe at
Barefoot Landing for lunch. We all opted for some version of their
burger platters and |
used another coupon making them $5.49 each.
They were good enough, but I wouldn't go so far as to say they were
the best burger I have ever eaten.
Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede
We then headed back for a couple hours of beach/swim/play time at
the resort before changing up to go to Dixie Stampede. I swear
I must have "incredibly nice person" or "SUCKER" invisibly tattooed
on my forehead because guess who got picked to participate in the
show? I do believe it is a very good thing they just ask if
they can "borrow" you as a couple for a few minutes toward the end
of the show because if you knew what you were getting into, you
might just say NO! LOL. Our part? Well, let's just say there is a
stick horse out there somewhere that my hub and I got to ride in a
race. <grins> The food
was good, but my girls were a little disappointed. They had opted
to go veggie and while they had plenty of carrots, broccoli and
cauliflower with ranch dip as well as a couple orange slices, they
did not get the potato and corn on the cob like they thought they
would. They also got a cheese biscuit, creamy vegetable soup and
dessert. Our meals had the corn, potato, soup, biscuit and dessert
as well as a whole rotisserie chicken and a BBQ'd strip of pork
loin. Quite tasty and of course eaten with your fingers while you
clapped, stomped and cheered for the North or the South depending on
where you sat. Another fun time.
We ended the night back at the resort doing a little swimming, a
soak in the hot tub and a walk on the beach just to enjoy the breeze
and look at the full moon and stars...
(Day 6 continued below) |
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Beach view from the Sea Screamer |
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Day Six |
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7/4/2007-
Day 6 began with us opting to head to Hot
Stacks for breakfast instead of the IHOP simply because it was
closer and we were hungry.
 Hot Stacks Pancake House
This turned out to be one of my favorite breakfasts despite the fact
our waitress was clearly new and was busting her fanny working a few
too many tables for a rookie. We began with a minor mess when lefty
Jen and righty Neenie sat on the wrong sides of their bench causing
a glass of OJ to bite the dust. After securing a few extra
napkins they somewhat cheerfully wiped up the spill and changed
seats so it couldn't become a repeat event. Smiled when the
waitress caught on at the last second that they had switched mostly
because it never occurred to them that changing
seats could goof her up. I had a ham and
cheddar cheese omelet with pancakes that was incredible and filling.
Really tasty coffee too.
Afterwards we decided to head back to the resort and get plenty of
use out of all the water amenities and beach. No one was
hungry even for a late lunch so we caught some extra sun and surf.
I told hubby he might want to redo his |
sunscreen, but well you can predict
how that worked huh? Let's just say if smurfs were red (not blue)
he'd have fit right in after sundown!
Dinner was supposed to be at Crabby Mike's, a meal I was very much
looking forward to. Somehow instead, we found ourselves absolutely
mesmerized and enticed by that sneaky crab Tommy over at the Giant
Crab.
Giant Crab Seafood Buffet
The car was suddenly in the parking lot and we found ourselves
inside sitting at a table, handing over a coupon while I had a tall
and very, very good mudslide in my hand in a blink. I have to
say I'd read some mixed reviews about this place-more good then bad,
but we had absolutely no complaints about any of the food we tried.
My hubby wants a
branch to open here at home so he can eat there regularly and the
girls said to let you know the virgin drinks were |
yummy!
We decided on the spur of the moment to head back to Barefoot
Landing for the July 4th fireworks show.
 Barefoot Landing Fireworks
I have to admit that while the show
was not the longest I'd ever seen, they did use some shapes and
colors like hot pink and orange that I'd never seen before. We also
just happened to pick a great place to view them from the porch of
Ron Jon while gently swaying in a rocker...ahhh. And of course the
girls just "happened" to get caught on the far side of the boardwalk
with a young man from PA that we had met earlier in the week at
Medieval Times when they closed them for the show. In truth I
really wasn't too worried. While they aren't total angels, they are
usually pretty well behaved and have earned my trust (it also didn't
hurt that I was told to feel free to let them roam a little bit just
not downtown after dark.)
We ended the evening with a just slightly beyond hours dip in the
pool to cool off as it was somewhat humid, but you won't rat me out
will you? ;-)(See Day 7 below) |
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Giant Crab's Tommy is pretty hard to miss! |
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Day Seven (Our Last Full Day) |
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7/5/2007-
Looks like we needed some extra zzz's today because the
family slept in about an hour and a half more then we had planned.
Not totally surprised because we did spend a looong time out in the
air and sun yesterday.
Easiest thing to do was to drop going downstairs to the Shoreline
Cafe for the buffet breakfast off the list and just take our time
getting ready to head to Broadway at the Beach. Not hard to just
grab an early lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe.
Hard Rock Cafe Myrtle Beach
I was pretty excited because this was the first real chance we were
going to have to explore BATB and do a little shopping (with 3
females on this trip, are you at all surprised this was a highly
anticipated thing? <winks>) I took some shoots as we walked around
that I'll include so you can take a peek too!
I was especially looking forward to this because I had purchased
$300 worth of Broadway at the Beach gift cards before we left home
good at almost every shop,
restaurant and activity at BATB. Yeehah, extra $$$ to spend for
dinner at Joe's Crab Shack, BBQ'd crab legs here I come, and so I
could actually spoil myself a
little for once!!! BAD IDEA. Do NOT do this!!! The first place we
tried to use these was at Magnolia Square. The clerk, and then the
store manager, did everything except stand on their heads to put
these through and they kept getting declined. They suggested we go
over to Guest Services to check why NONE of the cards would work.
Well, GS swiped the first of our cards to check to make sure it had
a balance and their system crashed! It was at least a half hour
before they got someone to talk them through unfreezing it. We were
assured all our cards had the correct balances and the merchants must
not be entering them correctly and to have them call if we had any
further problems. Should be problem solved huh? More on this later
in the report.
Now all of us were pretty hungry having skipped breakfast and then
frittered away an unpleasant 40 minutes at Guest Services; so we
headed back over to the Hard Rock Cafe. The cafe is shaped
like a pyramid which is a pretty wild idea because who expects to
see one of these growing out of the ground in MB? But it
works! We had a fantastic waiter named Andrew who was visiting
from Ireland. He was not only a real charmer working a little
magic on the girls, but also a wizard with the help of an equally
Irish bartender at keeping the
drinks coming!
Heck by the end of lunch after a few "Waboritas" he'd slipped me his
address in both MB and Ireland- the first to "please send him some
pictures of
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A Hard Rock Waborita
Niagara Falls" and the second
"just in case the family ever makes it to Ireland so we can visit."
As always the bacon cheeseburgers were very good. And just so you
know, this Hard Rock takes a family picture which you can purchase
at some point during your meal. We did. Andrew received a nice
tip as we headed upstairs to the merchandise shop. We all love Hard
Rock shirts, but I love their pins even more as I've started
collecting these in my travels. I did not attempt to use our Gift
Cards here as I'd built up enough Hard Rock "All Access points" to
cover my fun! ;-)
Now feeling much more pleasant-hey 2 Waboritas, some good food and a
couple (ok, a few) Hard Rock pins could make anyone feel better!!!
LOL!
The Palace Theatre at Myrtle Beach
We had to hurry just a little bit because we had tickets to
pick up for the 2 PM Le Grande Cirque matinee show at the Palace
Theater. Grabbing them at the Will Call window was a breeze and we
headed to where we were directed to take our seats which were Row B
center aisle seats 1-4. Almost close enough to touch the stage!
The show was extremely family friendly and was a nice way to sit a
spell and relax for just over 2 hours with around a 20 minute
intermission. The girls really enjoyed getting their picture taken
with one of the animal trainers and a performing standard poodle.
Don't plan on taking ANY pictures of your own once you pass the
lobby. These folks make it very clear that everything you are about
to see and ALL the actors/performers from the show are copyrighted.
They did have 4 acrobats come out at the end and you could get an
autograph from and snap a quick pic with and on the way in they take
a picture of you with a dancer you can buy. I was disappointed that
I could get neither a Le Grande Cirque pin nor a Palace Theater one.
We walked around BATB after the show and here is where I snapped a
few shots. You can see the Kiss Coffeehouse, Tripps, Celebrity
Square, Sailor Frogs and Dragon's Lair mini golf.
Now we wandered into what will turn out to be MY favorite shop at |
Broadway, but unfortunately the photo did not turn out...the Body
and Bath Cafe! If you stop by please tell Patty I said Hello! Now
although I loved this place and its incredible selection of bath
bombs, bath salts, Shea Brulee body butters-oh so very good
on sunburned skin (my white tea and ginger custom made blend is a
little slice of heaven while still on earth!) and more, this is
also the place where those pesky Gift Cards came back to haunt us
again! After trying to put them through 3 different times Patty
called only to be told they were declined. She grabbed a land line
for us and said call them. I was assured AGAIN that we had a full
balance and was told to have the clerk simply try it again. You
guessed it declined. Now Patty on our behalf is getting a lil hot
(I'm already there). She writes down her name, the store name, the
store phone number and sends us back to Guest Services to demand a
refund and if they have questions to have them call her. She is
also holding the items we'd like to buy.
Now here is why I say please do NOT buy these! Guest Services again
tries to place the blame on the merchants (are they all
incompetent? I don't think so) and refuses to take responsibility
for what are most likely defective cards. We waste another hour
here. Worst of all is there is NO way to get a refund while you are
at Broadway as they use a third party to issue these cards which I
did not know and your only recourse is to mail them back in by
certified mail (costing you more money) and they will then in their
own sweet time refund your balance which is less a quarter for any
phone call you made trying to check the balance or make them work!
There go my dreams of being able to spoil myself a little without
running up some credit debt that I was trying to avoid. I was given
one concession. I was told Joe's Crab Shack knew a back door method
to accept these "tricky" gift cards (do I get a whiff that problems
have happened before?), but will only take enough to cover your
meal. Good thing I planned to eat there tonight, but I'm still out
$200 until I get home...grrr.
Joe's Crab Shack Unique Interior
Went to Joe's where all us girls had those BBQ'd crab legs after
all, but all the garbage of the day has added up and it spoiled the
meal just a bit. Hubby had some kind of fish. Thank you to them
for whatever they did to get the cards to go through. I just really
hope they get their money.
We went back to the Body and Bath Cafe picked up our stuff they
held, went back over to Magnolia Square to get what we wanted early
that morning and walked around just a short while more where I was
able to snap a sunset at BATB before heading back to the hotel so
we'd have time for a last stroll on the beach, a last swim and some
time to begin packing up before bed. The morning was going to come
early having to be up by around 5 AM.
(See Day 8 Wrap-Up Below) |
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Kiss Coffee House |
Tripps Steak House |
Celebrity Square |
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Sunset on Broadway at the Beach, Myrtle Beach, SC |
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Day 8: The Final Countdown |
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7/6/2007- Well I was right and 5
AM came plenty early! Today felt especially sad because we needed to
be at the airport by 6:45 AM to turn in the rental car before
boarding our 8 AM flight home; so it didn't feel like a real day
here at all. I remember making time just to sit out on the balcony
so I could listen to the waves crash against the shore for a while
longer. I think I'm going to miss that more then anything else
:'-(.
Just had a few last minute things to throw in the suitcases so it
didn't take long to finish getting ready to leave. It felt more
than a little eerie to be standing in the lobby alone before the sun
had even risen to check out. I snuck out to snap just a couple more
pictures before helping the girls set our umbrella, lounge and sand
chairs out with a large "free to good home" sign and a request for
them to be passed on if they weren't needed after the new owners
stay.
Off we headed to Burger King figuring it was about the only place we
would have time to grab a quick breakfast. We got there at 5:58 AM
and had to actually wait a couple of minutes until the manager
opened the store up. Breakfast was exactly what you'd expect from
any BK anywhere. I had a bacon croissant and am happy to report the
bacon was crisp and the coffee hot!
 A hazy farewell to Myrtle Beach
While in the lot I snapped a last picture of the hazy morning sun starting
a new day for the Family Kingdom amuse- ment park and we were off to the
airport. Service was a tad slow when trying to turn the rental
car in, but we made it in plenty of time to check in and |
board our flight home which left on timeand got us home around 15
minutes early.
At home with Beauty
Within 1 hour of
getting back home we were at the adding this addition named
Beauty to our family. She is not quite 6 months old now and shares
my Birthday so that may help explain why it took me so gosh darn
long to get this totally finished LOL!
Wrap Up...
Just to tie things up nice and neatly, the original question was how
many of the things we'd planned to do would we actually be able to
fit in? I had one nay sayer very dear to me predict that at best
we'd get 50% done. HA, I laugh in his face...ok I'm not that mean
I'll just laugh with him :-p. I had Jack and Bonnie pulling for us
to fit in as many as possible without killing ourselves. Ahh,
support. How did we do?
Well, I think we fared very well! The only things we didn't get to
do that were listed in the itinerary were: 2 games of mini golf: one
each at Ocean's Adventure and Captain Hook's,
Breakfast at the IHOP, Lunches at The Filling Station, Cheeseburger
in Paradise and Johnny Rockets; Dinner at Crabby Mike's.
We also were able to actually add: Dinner at The Giant Crab, an
extra breakfast at Akel's and an extra 4D Adventure.
So now you can judge for yourself how well we did. |
 Frank's favorite - Dr Rootbeer
Just one last plug or my Hubby will not be too happy (and we
wouldn't want that now would we?) I forgot to mention that when we
went to Barefoot Landing his
favorite stop of the day was at Dr. Rootbeer's Hall of Foam. He
loved being able to taste and then bring a 6 pack home brewed root
beer back to the hotel . The
girls and I didn't mind the fountain drinks with Neenie having a
Lime Rickey, Jen a Sweet Tea Slushie and me a Lemon something Slushie. Nice place to get in out of
a brief shower and Dr. Rootbeer completely knows Root Beer!
Now it's back to reality for me, but I will go to Myrtle Beach again
someday! I still visit there in my dreams...
Editor's Note: We truly thank Marla and
her family for taking the time to send us such a detailed journal
report. It's not only a fun read but gives our visitors a great look
at all the fun things to do in Myrtle Beach.
-Bonnie & Jack |
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