Life's a Beach!

November 27 - December 9. 2020

 

I've heard about Myrtle Beach for my entire life, but never had made it there until now.  What a shame! Being December rather than one of the summer months may have contributed to the delight of this place as crowds were non-existent.  We stayed at a full hook-up site at Myrtle Beach State Park, which made our two-week stay comfortable as far as the black and grey water tanks are concerned!

We spent considerable time leaving footprints in the sand along beaches in the area.  We did follow the rule of "leave only footprints" and certainly did our share of picture-taking, but we didn't do as well on the "take only photos" part.  We couldn't resist picking up seashells as well as taking plenty of photos!  On one walk, we found Santa Claus along with a line of children waiting to sit on his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas.  Seeing Santa sitting on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean was a completely new concept of Christmas for me!

Advent has begun and this certainly is the season for preparing for Christmas.  Advent is more about spiritual preparation, but while here I also did a little physical preparation!  For the first time in my life, Amazon played a MAJOR role in my shopping!  South Carolina's COVID numbers are low in comparison to the rest of the nation; however, I really didn't want to go shopping and risk exposure.  The park allowed us to ship packages to their park office, so there ya go!  I clicked and shopped, picked up packages in the office, wrapped and packed boxes to the family all from the comforts of the campsite!  Oh, and all those shells I picked up on the beach ended up sprinkled along with the packages inside of the boxes.  An extra surprise for the grandkids!

In addition to walking along the beach, the opportunity to ride horses along the shoreline presented itself from the parking lot adjacent to the campground.  How can you resist that?  I think I've watched too many movies of horses galloping along the shoreline!  Regardless, we found ourselves riding Jake and Dark Tanyon and having a fantastic time!  Never mind that I could barely walk once we dismounted. Haha!

I saw that there was a dog park just across from the park that we frequently took Frankie to.  This was the most amazing dog park I have ever seen!  In addition to the typical "large dog" and "small dog" area, there was an area that had a pond in the center of it and was even enjoyable for us!  Apparently, the area around here was a former Air Force base.  When the base closed, the city bought the land and developed it into a shopping district, housing, and included a dog park!

The shopping area of the former Air Force base is now called Market Common.  It comprised many restaurants and stores.  We did take-out the night we arrived in addition to going for lunch one afternoon.  We don't eat out often, but it is fun to get a taste of some of the local cuisine!

Helicopter rides were another attraction we couldn't resist.  It was conveniently located just down the road and was an experience neither one of us had ever had.  It lasted only a few minutes, but so much fun!  Dick videotaped the ride, so if you are interested in seeing our view of Myrtle Beach's shoreline from the sky, check it out on YouTube.  The pilot points out the oldest wooden roller coaster in the US (located near the ferris wheel).  You also may notice my death grip on the seat in front of me!  Of course, holding on to the seat will help me if we somehow get into trouble!

Murrells Inlet offered a marshwalk that we thought would be an interesting change from the beaches, so off we went!  Well, it turns out this marshwalk is simply a boardwalk that is really more of what we have seen as riverwalks!  It went alongside restaurants and was a very public experience.  In addition to that, the area was having their annual Christmas Parade, and once we got into town, the only way out was after the parade!  Certainly not what we were expecting, but it was fun to see "normal" things happening!  We watched from a safe distance as the candy was thrown and children filled their buckets as they competed to pick it up!  It was fun to see boats decorated for Christmas being towed in the parade as well as all of the golf carts!

We went ahead and hung the bird feeder on the back window of the camper and, after a number of days, we had tons of visitors to it!  Birds who came a-calling included the Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Sparrow, and Blue Jay.  While out for walks, we saw a Bald Eagle, Osprey, Pelican, Loon, Tern, Pigeon, and Eastern Bluebird!  This is a great area for birding!

From here we are headed to our final stop in South Carolina -- Charleston. Charleston promises a lot of history as well as nature!  We can't wait to see what we learn and experience next!

Up next:  Charleston, SC