A dear friend has a time share in Myrtle Beach. She waited a bit too long to redeem her week and they ended up using her Hilton points to put her up for four nights in the Hampton Inn, which was the very largest Hampton I have ever been in. It was an easy 5.5 hour drive from Williamsburg, VA and I was happy to have made it with only one stop each direction. Minor victory over the recent hip surgery.
Day one, I was able to pick her up at the airport after checking into the hotel. Beautiful temps in the 80's, no rain and some fluffy white clouds, coupled with some mild surf. We found a German restaurant for dinner that night and plowed through an amazing Jaegerschnitzel, a sausage appetizer and home made spaetzle. There were enough sausages to eat for breakfast the next morning. https://www.cafeoldvienna.com/ We snuggled up in our separate beds and watched "The Holiday." Fun girl times!
Day two we scheduled amazing Thai massages for each of us, and had an hour of bliss, followed by lunch and some shopping at the outlet mall and Carolina Pottery. We have one in Williamsburg as well, and they have devolved into home goods stores with Made in China on nearly every item. That was a disappointment, but nothing like the disappointment of toodling south of Myrtle Beach and stopping at a Flea Market that had absolutely nothing made in the US. A made in the Carolinas shop would be a welcome addition.
Dinner was in our room, delivered authentic "soul food" from Big Mike's and tasty! Watched another Rom Com on the telly. https://bigmikessoulfood.net/
Day three we did the beach for an hour! Hauling those camp chairs (because we both have bad hips and can't get up from a beach chair) was the hardest part. But we played in the surf and collected shells. A very nice woman was showing us her fossilized shark's teeth, which she collects. The joke is that when her jar at home is full, she will move from Myrtle Beach, so her kids keep emptying it by the handful! At the end of our hour, she gifted Renee a whole tooth and explained that when first lost, they are white, but once fossilized, they turn black. A lovely memento. Then we spent another hour in the shaded pool of the Hampton Inn. Very relaxing and so glad to be able to swim laps again.
We then went and saw the new Downton Abbey movie, quite nice but the volume was low and Top Gun: Maverick was booming next door. I'll be re-watching that one. Dinner was south of Myrtle at a lovely place called The Claw House in Murrell's Inlet. https://www.theclawhouse.com/. We watched another rom com in the room, "Fool's Gold."
Day four we went north to deliver Renee to her nephew's house and stopped to have Pancakes. We had counted over 40 Pancake houses in the one hour drive south and north of Myrtle Beach. Unbelievable, and I thought Williamsburg, VA had a lot of them. The restaurant owner shared her twins birth story as a means to explain why they had a blood drive going on outside. Moving, and still sorry I can't give blood anymore. Breakfast was mediocre, though. Our one clunker meal during the stay.
My favorite part was time on the beach, in the water, and relaxing time with my friend. I miss my Denver peeps.
