Myrtle Beach

So for Spring Break, I took the boys down to Myrtle Beach for 2 nights on Monday and Tuesday. We picked that spot as none of us had been there before and it is a tourist Mecca that everyone in the South has been to at least once.

Pretty easy drive down gets us to Bay View Resort on the Boardwalk mid afternoon. We walk along the Boardwalk and stop 8th Ave Tiki Bar for a late lunch. It was the first place we came across, had outside seating, and good food, so a good find. Afterwards we walked up to Pier 14 and braved the winds and walked out on the pier. Weather is not great and after getting checked into the hotel, we head out to Broadway On The Beach to find dinner. Good, clean, family fun area, Broadway On The Beach gave us a million choices to eat. After getting news of an hour's wait at the Hard Rock Cafe, we ended up at Melt for a filling dinner. We spent the evening looking around here and then heading back to the hotel.

L & B, Pier 14, Myrtle Beach, SC

B, Bay View Resort, Myrtle Beach, SC

Late start the next day, as the boys take advantage of sleeping in a dark room (they have skylights at home). We are close to our beloved Litchfield Beach, so we opt to drive down to Parlor Doughnuts for breakfast. 45 minutes for the world's greatest doughnuts. Of course! Driving there, I'm taken aback by the volume of touristy spots there are here. There are so many pirate-themed mini golf courses, pancake houses, and Calabash seafood buffets, it's hard to imagine how they all survive. On the drive back we cut through Murrell's Inlet and Surfside Beach to have a look. I liked Surfside. It looks like more of a residential area, without the high rise hotels, And not tired. Myrtle looks like weather beaten and old, Surfside looks like a bunch of locals that take of their beach properties. We did stop at Cancun Lagoon on the way back to support a local mini golf course. Good fun playing in and around at Chichitza styled pyramid. No lunch, so back to the hotel, quick change, and onto the beach to enjoy this 77 degree sunshine, via the oversized chess board for a game of B v L. It was nice sitting on the beach as the boys played on the water's edge. The water, however, was painfully freezing. One foot in for me, a splashing fight for the boys, and L took a tumble into the water. Another chess game before heading back into the room. I let the boys pick dinner while I showered, and they picked this awesome Italian restaurant, Vicini's, a few miles away. We were there early, but by 6.15pm, the 12 tables were full. And the food excellent. On the way back we stopped at Mt. Atlanticus, for another round of mini golf. Great fun again, and no none of us won free golf for life at the end. We walked up and down the Grand Strand with ice cream to see Myrtle at night. It reminds me of Surfer's Paradise back at home. Plenty of people just on vacation looking for fun.

B&L, Parlor Doughnuts, Pawleys Island, SC

Dad, B & L, Cancun Lagoon, Myrtle Beach, SC

B & L, Myrtle Beach, SC

Plans for an early beach move were thwarted by some heavy rain. Instead we packed up and made one last stop at Hot Cakes for breakfast. Hearty start to the near 4 hour drive back home.

Nice to break up the week with a couple of days in a new spot. Though I'm not sure I ever need to go back to Myrtle again.

Emerald Isle, NC

In an effort to go somewhere different for Spring Break we took the boys out to Emerald Isle this year to have a look around.  We took the route via Wilmington, and stopped for lunch at Anne Bonny's, and a quick look around town before heading on to our Airbnb.  While the weather is not right, we are right on Emerald Isle Beach.  Good enough for the boys to get their feet wet in the windy weather.

On our first full day we drove up to New Bern to the Tryon Palace, NC's original Governor's home.  A guided tour through this 250 year old site shed light on things not even Amy knew about North Carolina.  The home was restored to its current form in 1945 and the gardens are beautiful to walk through.  A stop at MJ's Raw Bar for lunch took longer than to walk around town.  Though we did spend a bit of time in the Pepsi store - New Bern is the birth place of Pepsi.  Because lunch was so big, dinner was at the casual Fish Hut back on Emerald Isle.

DBA&L, Tryon Palace, New Bern, North Carolina

Day 2 is a cracker!  We head north on the isle to go and check out Fort Macon.  Before we go in we do a 3-mile hike in the marsh land and along the beach right near the fort.  It's a picturesque walk, but it's nice to get into the Fort and cool down and look around. Completed in 1834, Fort Macon was needed to protect the North Carolina inlet and was used by the Confederates in the Civil War before being bombarded and captured by the Union.  The fort only had 43 years of military use, and was completely abandoned by 1903.  In 1924 North Carolina claimed it to be a state park, and though leased by the army during World War II, the park was returned to the state in 1946.

To combat the seriousness of the morning we stopped at Professor Hacker's Mini Golf at Salters Beach on the way home.  The US Open it wasn't, but a fun afternoons golf for all.

We had at Surf's Up Grill tonight, sitting up at the bench looking out over the water.  The perfect spot!  Looking out over the Atlantic right next to the pier, where families strolled and fished.  It was just casual bar food, but a nice end to a fun day.

ML&B, Surf's Up Grill, Emerald Isle, NC

On our last day we drove around to Beaufort, where we jumped on a boat over to Shackleford Banks.  This barrier island has 100's of wild horses, believed to be ancestors of Spanish Mustangs dating back to the 1500's, roaming the island.  The ferry drops you on the beach at the north-western end of the island, about 45 minutes from Beaufort, with a good view of Fort Macon across the sound.  We were told a small pond a half a mile from the drop off might be a place where we'd see some of the wild horses.  We ventured down there, and sure enough we got to see a half dozen horses in the sand dunes.  We respectfully kept our distance (as we were warned) and continued through the dunes to the ocean side of the island.  We walked slowly back along the beach after B stepped on a huge sand spur, all the way around to the headland.  Back near the ferry's pick up spot, we encountered some more of the horses, who seemed quite at ease with so many people around (but then again people were keeping away as requested).  It was a pretty magic experience, topped off by some beautiful weather.  When we got back to Beaufort we went to Mezcalito for a late lunch (or dunch as the boys liked to call it).  This was easily the best meal we've had on the trip, or for a long time for that matter.  A great way to end a quick getaway.  Next time we'll have to head further up the Outer Banks to see what's up there.

LB&D, Shackleford Banks, North Carolina

Sylva, NC to Knoxville, TN

We got up early this morning and had breakfast at the hotel.  It was a little too early to head to Bryson City as we are on a 1pm train ride. So we made a quick 17 mile detour into Cherokee.  We had never been here before and had a quick drive through town.  Nothing was open here either.  Except for the mini golf at Golf n Gifts, so we stopped and had a quick round.

It was a winding 10 miles from there down to Bryson City, where we are here to ride the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad.  We have enough time to scoot around town, grab a snack and look through the railway museum before getting on the 1pm Tuckasegee River Excursion.  We are in the open-air cart for the hour and a half ride to Dillsboro.  The ride is relaxing, as we follow the picturesque Tuckasegee River south east.  The highlight was seeing the props used for the movie The Fugitive (I'll have to get the boys to watch it now).  We arrived in Dillsboro and head up to Haywood Smokehouse for lunch.  This is so good, and so much.  The boys and I can barely walk out of the restaurant.  But we do and take a quick look around town before getting back on the train for the food-coma ride back to Bryson City.

BD&L, Great Smoky Mountain Railway, Bryson City, NC

Over the Tuckasegee River, NC

We head off straight away as we still have 2 hour drive to Knoxville.  We arrive late in the afternoon and the boys are happy to get into the pool again once we've checked in to the Hampton Inn.  A migraine is brewing, so dinner is in the hotel and movies in bed are the order of the night.  Tomorrow we check out some of Knoxville.

Las Vegas, NV

Breakfast this morning was at 10am at the Hard Rock Hotel – but of course, I’m with Dave & Melissa. 

From here we caught a cab down to Mandalay Bay where we went into the new aquarium exhibit – Shark Reef.  This was OK, but nothing compared to Denver.  We jumped on a monorail that went past the Luxor to the Excalibur.  We walked through this and New York New York Casinos to get to the Manhattan Express Rollercoaster, which Melissa and I went on.  This would have to be the scariest roller coaster I have ever been on as I was still shaking half an hour later.  We crossed the road to the MGM where we caught the monorail to Bally’s. 

From here it was a quick cab ride to the Sahara, where we met up with Kendra and Mike at the Nascar Café.  They have another rollercoaster here – which starts and stays at 90 miles per hour.  It goes under the sidewalk, through a loop and around the Sahara front entrance before going straight up (in about 45 seconds) before doing everything backwards to the beginning.  I think I was lucky to hold down anything I’d eaten from the last week.  What a ride!  Had another beer in the café before crossing the road to the Holy Cow Restaurant, where we had dinner – mmmm steak.  We jumped into Kendra’s van and went back to Dave and Melissa’s for a couple of drinks before going up to the mini golf arena, where we played around.  Once finished we played arcade games and got into the baseball batting cage, where I was hitting balls coming at me at 60 miles per hour  (normally they come at 90).  Although afterwards my hands hurt we definitely had a ball (no pun intended).  We didn’t get back home until 3am and I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.