Myrtle Beach With the Petricig's

We sure have been busy ever since Ric and Vic arrived. Our first adventure was to the Flea Market. Then we went to a wine tasting with Ric and Vic and our other friends that live down here, Jerry and Verna. We were very proud of Vic, she did not ask for sugar at the wine tasting (like she did last year)! We had a great time, tasting the wine and I think we all found some treasures in the gift shop. After the wine tasting we all went to dinner at a Mongolian restaurant where you pick out your food and bring it to the cook who cooks it on this huge grill. The meal was really delicious. In addition to visiting our favorite restaurants, Vic has been cooking up a storm ever since they arrived. We have definitely been eating good. Last Friday, Ric and Vic and Jim and I went to see Kelly Pickler at the House of Blues. It was raining when we got there and we ended up having to stand outside in the long line in the rain waiting to get in. We had on rain gear so it really wasn't that bad, and it turns out the wait was worth it. Kelly put on a great show. It was a small crowd of 1,000 vs the 500,000 people crowd when we saw her earlier this year in Sturgis, SD. Not only was the crowd smaller, most of the people from Kelly's hometown came out to see her from Albermarle, NC so she was in her element and was really personal with the crowd. We truly enjoyed the concert. Last year, we found our favorite place for all you can eat shrimp, so on Saturday we ventured out to the Key West Crazy restaurant (pic 1) in Little River for dinner. However, when we got there, we found out all you can eat was on Friday and here it was Saturday, but Ric talked to the waitress and told her how we discovered them last year and that we traveled 500 miles for a repeat of all you can eat shrimp. She went and asked the owner if he'd give us the same deal and sure enough he did, in fact he came out to our table to serve us our second serving. We had a wonderful evening eating out on the deck overlooking the water. Later that night we took a walk out on the pier back at the campground. As your can see from the pic above it was a full moon. Also that evening, people were catching fish by the hundreds. It was unbelievable! They were catching mostly spots which we were told were good eating. You might know, when I'm not fishing the fish are biting like crazy! Tuesday was our 19th anniversary. That morning, the four of us went to the golf range to hit some balls. Jim and I are not very good at golfing but we are trying to learn. Ric and Vic have never been to a driving range, so we thought we would be good guys and give them the few pointers that we know. Well Jim and I were struggling to even hit the ball and although Jim did get a few good hits, I never could get the ball up in the air although I did hit some long grounders. Well Vic gets up there and hits the ball up in the air and at least a 100 yards every time! We couldn't believe it. Later that evening we all went to dinner for Mexican food and then we went to Fat Harold's for Shag Lessons. Jim and I agreed, this was the first time since we started taking lessons that we caught on so easily. The instructor was great and made the dance so easy to understand. Now I'm only talking about the basic steps. The local shaggers do these really fancy steps and we are no where near that level of shag dancing but we did have fun. Wednesday, we all went out on a casino cruise ship. The ship left at 10:45am and we returned about 4:15pm, so it was a pretty long day. The cruise was free and they gave us a free buffet lunch. It was a beautiful day as you can see from the pics above for this cruise. And we also really enjoyed the gambling. I actually played black jack at a $10 table. I had a $100 bill and thought oh well, what the heck. I have never played that much before so I was a little nervous about it. I lost my first 2 $10 bets and was starting to wish I hadn't done it but then my luck changed and I started winning. I kept counting my chips and when I realized I had over $100 in front of me, I was getting so excited. I think I started to make the pit bosses nervous because every time I would win, I would discreetly count my chips but I noticed they were all watching me like a hawk - but anyways when I counted out $200 in chips I cashed in. I was so excited about doubling my money. I hated to quit but I didn't want to gamble it all away. I noticed when I walked away from the table the pit bosses moved on to other tables. I don't know that they thought I was going to do! Anyway, our Canasta Tournament with Ric and Vic is not going well for Jim and I. We have been playing about 2 games per evening and Ric and Vic are killing us. We are on game 42 of the 50 we have planned as a goal, and Ric and Vic are about 3,000 points ahead of us. Our last game that we played tonight however, was our best game yet. We actually scored 3,000 points ahead of Ric and Vic but they were 6,000 ahead before we started and now they have a 3,000 point lead. It was so funny, we were all getting so excited and hollering at each other that Vic had to jump up and shut the windows in the motorhome so we wouldn't disturb the neighbors or worse yet, they wouldn't call the cops thinking someone was fighting! After we shut the windows, we heard the lady next door to us sneeze, and Vic and I just cracked up laughing so hard because we realized that they had to have heard us since our windows were open and the neighbors windows were closed and we could still hear them. I can't image what they were thinking we were all doing!!!! Anyways this game is definitely becoming a nail biter. We have 8 more games to play and the winner buys the other 2 a cruise. Wish us luck because so far Jim and I are losing!!!! Until next time........

Myrtle Beach, SC 2008

We've been in Myrtle Beach almost 2 weeks now. The weather here has been great. We stay at the Apache Campground. The first pic above is our motorhome. We are 3 RV's back from the ocean and we have a gorgeous view. It's wonderful to wake up every morning and look out at the ocean. The second pic is the pier. This is why we stay at Apache because of the great fishing pier. It's a lot of fun watching the people catching the fish. I keep hoping I'll be one of the people, but so far no such luck. They have a band on Saturday nights that plays under the covered canopy on the pier. On Thursday evenings they have a fish fry with all the fish you can eat which is a big hit at the campground. Our friends, Barbara and Wayne Simmons were here staying at their condo so we got to spend a few days with them before their week was up. We all went on a motorcycle ride to Surfside Beach and ate at one of our favorite restaurants, the Dead Dog (3rd pic). They have the best she crab soup there. It's about a 50 mile round trip ride on the motorcycle and we had a beautiful day for riding. Myrtle Beach bike week started after Barbara and Wayne left. Jim and I took a ride out to Dead Dog again for some of that great soup and apparently so did a lot of other bikers (4th pic). The city of Myrtle Beach is trying to do away with Bike week so there weren't as many bikers this year. We met a doctor biker at lunch one day and he told us he lives here and loves bike week. He thinks the city is trying to do away with bike week so Myrtle Beach shop owners who have been there for years with sell out and they can build condos. The ban on bike week didn't affect North Myrtle Beach or Garden City or Surfside so there was still plenty to do. However, on our way out to Surfside, Jim and I rode through the city of Myrtle Beach and there were no bikers anywhere. We were told later, the bikers were purposely staying out of Myrtle Beach city and eating elsewhere to show the city how they feel about the ban. It was almost like a ghost town. Our doctor friend said that the shop owner and restaurants were mad at the city council members because the ban is really hurting them. It was quite an interesting week to say the least. The last pic is of Jim getting ready to take a short motorcycle ride. We have a group of friends here that we've known for the 20 years that we have been coming to Myrtle Beach. We're all part of a group known as the "Washer Group". They play washers on the beach everyday. It's sort of like horseshoes only use large washers. Most of the washer group has already left or is preparing to leave by this weekend. We will have one couple, Shirley and Duke, who are staying the month of Oct. Most of the washer group winter in Florida so we will be seeing them again this winter when we go to Florida. Most of our days are spent walking the beach and the pier, and reading at the beach. Life if very tough right now! We have other friends coming in this week for their 2 week vacation (Ric and Vic) and we are looking forward to their visit. We've been playing Canasta with them for a couple of years now. We have an on-going tournament that after 50 games, the couple with the highest score buys all 4 of us a cruise. So far Jim and I are losing so we hope this next two weeks we can get ahead. Jim and I have been practicing a lot lately so we'll see. Well the sun is beckoning me, so I've got to go. Until next time..........