Day 8 - Pawleys Island

A small, but powerful storm blew up over us at 6:00 am, sending me to my phone to make sure we weren't having tornadoes.  A lightning bolt hit very close to our hotel and temporarily woke most of us.  We all went back to sleep and ended up sleeping in.  I think we finally all needed to catch up on sleep.  After grabbing bagels from a great local shop, we loaded up into Vansen and headed back to Myrtle Beach.  The girls took Sylvia to a ropes course and the boys played a round of miniature golf at Jurassic Golf.  I'm pleased to report that I got a hole-in-one on the first hole and went on to have one of my best games ever!

We all got back together and headed to North Myrtle Beach to visit Wheels of Yesteryear, a car museum made up of mostly muscle cars from the 50s-70s.  Jason and Lena had been wanting to do this one for a while.  After we toured it, we realized we were very close to Conway, SC and could get there on Highway 501.  I just had to take a photo to document that!

We headed back to our hotel in Pawleys Island, taking time to drive down the old highway through Murrells Inlet.  This is an interesting beach area/town as really only a few towns are on the beach.  Most of the others are on the intracoastal.  So instead of beachfront restaurants, the ones in Murrells Inlet are marsh or creek side.  As we headed south, we passed the Hot Fish Club, a restaurant we've been trying to get dinner from the last two days.  We've learned that unlike the rest of the east coast, people here eat early and many restaurants stop taking to-go orders after 4:30 or 5:00 pm.  When we got back to the room, we called Hot Fish Club at 4:00 (when they opened) and got our order in.  We were soon enjoy great local seafood (yes, I still had an amazing steak, but with a crab cake) and very happy to have checked this off our list.

Jason had to take a business call so while he did that, we rested and read a bit.  Soon, we were headed back to Huntington Beach State Park.  A small storm moved away a bit before we arrived and the evening was just wonderful.  It felt almost like we were on a private beach and we got to witness a second beach wedding (one last night too).  We had a great time swimming, using the boogie boards, and jumping through the waves.  There's just something about having the salt of the ocean in your eyes and on your lips.  I decided to grab my Sony camera at the last minute, and I'm so glad I did.  And I only had to dry off the lens once!  

Our last full day in Pawleys Island is tomorrow, with something fun and unique planned for tomorrow night.  After that, we turn towards home.

Day 7 - Pawleys Island, SC

Our first day not being on the road meant we were up and hitting the local beachwear shop for some towels, sand castle making equipment, and other "must-haves."  And we happened to time it perfectly as a heavy morning shower blew through just as we arrived.  We chose Pawleys Island as our beach spot because Huntington Beach State Park is just two miles from our hotel and you have to pay to enter, so we hoped the crowds would be lighter.  We were happy to discover this was true.  As you enter the park, you cross over a saltmarsh filled with alligators, storks, and other birds.  After a short drive, we parked and walked down to the beach, crossing over the dunes where sea turtles often visit to lay eggs.  The park includes three miles of undeveloped beach and coming up over the dunes, spying the Atlantic Ocean was like seeing an old friend.  A wonderful sight for sure!  

After a couple hours, we headed back to our room to shower off, grab a quick lunch, then head up to Myrtle Beach.  Jason and Franklin needed to go back to the Pelicans' baseball stadium to retrieve a baseball jersey they won last night during a silent auction.  We also wanted to get a feel for the town so we drove around during the afternoon just taking it in.  Myrtle Beach is known as being popular with mini-golfers as there are courses everywhere.  We scouted some out to visit later.

A good dinner back at the room and we then returned to the beach for a short evening swim.  We discovered a wedding was taking place so we steered clear of them and enjoyed about an hour of having the place very nearly to ourselves.  More fun tomorrow on the South Carolina coast.