Myrtle Beach

Harold’s sister Debbie told us she was going to Myrtle Beach, SC for a vacation. She and her son Steve were going with their good friends Mike and Renee and their son Shawn. They all live in the Philadelphia area. The reason for the trip was that Mike and Renee’s daughter Jamie and her husband Rob, who live in California, were going. Rob’s family has vacationed in Myrtle Beach for many years. So Rob’s parent’s (Pete and Gina), Rob and Jamie, and Rob’s brother (David )and his girlfriend (Blanca, and her niece Diana) were all going. OK, now you know all the players. There may be a quiz at the end.
Harold and I flew to Myrtle Beach and were met at the airport by Debbie, Mike and Renee. They had arrived earlier in the day and checked into the hotel. Debbie, Steve, Mike, Renee , Harold and I were sharing a suite. The others were staying at the same resort. Ten of them had driven from Philadelphia with a stop at Busch Gardens. We had been invited to do that also, but decided that was too much driving and too much time away from home.
As soon as we got to Myrtle Beach International airport, we noticed how hot and humid it was. The first few days we were there, Myrtle Beach was having a huge heat wave. The heat index was 118 and there was very little breeze on the beach. We swam in the ocean, which was about 85 degrees! The outdoor pools were so warm it was not fun to swim in them. The indoor pool stayed cooler.
Because it was so hot and no breeze, sitting on the beach, even under an umbrella, was pretty toasty. But we managed.
Myrtle Beach is a very busy family vacation spot. The beach was very crowded. The concession company puts up beach umbrellas and chairs every day. They are as close together as they can possibly be. You have to duck under the edge of the umbrella to get through to the water. Each umbrella along with its 2 chairs rented for $25 per day. On the beach in front of our hotel, there were 50 umbrellas. The hotel didn’t provide any other chairs so the first day we went our and bought a couple chairs and umbrellas.
One night we went to a shopping area called Broadway on the Beach. We would have liked to spend more time exploring the center – maybe next time. There were lots of cool shops, restaurants and bars there. Another night we went to a show called Dixie Stampede. This is a dinner theater type show with singing, dancing and horses. We all enjoyed the show and the dinner.
In the lobby at our hotel there was a timeshare representative. You could get 2 tickets to the Dixie Stampede for $10 for going to a presentation. Since Harold and I have been to presentations before that were very long and high-pressure we weren’t going to go. We warned Jamie and Rob of our experiences but they signed up anyway. Well, imagine our surprise when they returned to the hotel 2 hours after leaving. The 90-minute presentation was really 90 minutes, and low pressure. So Harold and I signed up and so did Debbie. We chose the $75 cash option and went to see the presentation. It was so low key it was almost no key! 90 minutes later we were out the door. I wonder if the level of pressure is proportional to the value of your gift. Pre-packaged sweet rolls and $75 cash in South Carolina equates to lower pressure than a buffet breakfast ad $200 plus cash in Puerto Vallarta. Another difference was that our sales person had 3 couples that she toured and gave pricing information to. After telling her no, we only had 1 other stop. That lady gave us a very brief pitch for vacation clubs and then gave us our money for attending.

Sunday night, Harold and I got together with some friends, Marvin and Sandy. Marvin is also retired from Masterfoods USA. Both of them are originally from South Carolina and have moved back there since retiring. They brought their cute 8 year old grandson Zachary with them. After dinner, we went to take a look at their condo, a nice little studio right on the beach. They plan on remodeling it this year and using it more since they now live closer.
Myrtle Beach was not my favorite vacation spot but it was fun. If it hadn’t been so darn hot the first couple days we could have gotten out and walked around more. The last 2 days had occasional thunderstorms but enough clear weather we still were able to enjoy the beach and walk around the area some. If we go back, we will definitely rent a car and do more exploring.