Family Matters: July 2008

We just returned from an extended weekend to Myrtle Beach, SC. It was a very nice time with good (sunny & warm) weather the whole time except for a few thunderstorms on

the afternoon of the second to last day. We stayed at the Sea Mist which is a complex of about 5 or 6 hotels all under one banner. It was an okay place. The one we stayed in was backed right up to the beach, so it was less than a minute walk to the surf. The first day Peter saw a number of kids with boogie boards so of course he wanted one as well. As with every beach resort area there was no lack of places to pick up beach gadgets. So it was no time at all that Peter was surfing (well okay not really).

The place also had a small workout our area. Being that even tho I like the beach, I'm the type to burn to a

crisp in less than a 20 minutes w/o sunscreen, I made use of that place, while Deb and Peter hit the waves every day.The complex also had a number of pools, but they seemed oddly way over chlorinated. Maybe Deb and I are too suspicious, so we went to the pool only once.

But there was more than enough to do. Another place we were alerted to was Broadway on the Beach. This place was phenomenal! This is a complete entertainment center filled with places to eat, hundreds of shops, and other

features like an IMAX theater, a 16 screen regular movie theater, A Ripley's Aquarium, a medieval mini golf course, and a place called Magic Quest. But thinking Magic Quest was for older kids, we didn't take a look at the place.

But we did go to the aquarium and Peter was in sting ray heaven. Who knows why, but he's fascinated by them. They were part of the sculpture out front as well as numerous tanks of them inside including a "touch pool." We spent quite a while there! ;-) There was also a special exhibits on pirates. So we have a pic of Deb and Peter getting kidnapped by pirates!

A few of the restaurants were really big names including The Hard

Rock Cafe, Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville, Planet Hollywood, Joe's Crab Shack and Senior Frogs.There was so many restaurants that we didn't get to them all. Planet Hollywood was one of them that we didn't get to.

The Hard Rock was cool with an Egyptian pyramid scheme. It was really crowded so we (okay I) didn't really get to look at all the rock memorabilia. But there was a few cool things I managed to see. Oh yeah, the food was great too! ;-)

Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville was set up, well, as in his songs - a Caribbean hideaway; with a number of boats on the floor, and a sea plane and a hurricane on the ceiling. The hurricane was the major prop that "stormed" up every 45 minutes or creating a hurricane party atmosphere in the restaurant. At the peak of the storm a huge bottle of tequila comes out of the storm to fill up a blender for making margaritas! PAR-TAY!!! ;-).

The biggest surprise for me was stumbling across the KISS Coffeehouse! Yep, the Gods of Thunder are now also in the coffee business. It's a regular coffee place with the Kiss theme, including some of the costumes the guys wore for different tours and a few of the other Kiss merchandise on display all the while while listening to Kiss song

s on the PA and watching prolly every video ever made on two big flat panel screens. While coffee and cake is not just good enuff there was also a section of the store where you could buy souvenirs Needless to say as I'm a big Kiss fan from the 70's, I stopped by nearly every day we were there for my "Rockuccino."

As quickly as it started the vacation was over and we headed for the airport. Only to count down to time til our trip to the IPMS/USA Nats in Virginia Beach. ;-)