Broadway at the Beach
Tuesday - 22 October 2002: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
- I was shaken from a sound sleep at 2 a.m. by a huge rain storm. Rain
pounding on a fiberglass roof makes quite a racket. Rain was pouring in from the
roof vents (3 of them open) and into the windows on both sides of the coach. I
got out of bed and closed the windows, mopped-up the floor and DT didn't even
wake up. There went our big plans: doggie daycare for Snickers and golfing for
us. In the morning, the entire campground was just a big soggy mess. Our
neighbor had a swimming pool in his awning! Wet sand was everywhere. Small ponds
formed in the streets and birds were having a good time taking baths. We stayed
in. Good day to vacuum and do a little laundry. Late morning, it stopped raining
- it never did clear up - and warmed up a bit. DT went for a run and our Fed-Ex
package (our house-sitter overnights our mail occasionally) arrived, so we were
busy in the afternoon reading our mail, bills, etc. Late afternoon we went down
to the beach, and then left Snickers alone to sleep in the camper, and we went
out to Broadway at the Beach.
On the way into town, we drove past Jurassic Golf, Safari Golf, Pirate Watch
Adventure Golf, Jungle Lagoon Golf and Mt. Alanticus Minotaur Miniature Golf. I
forgot to mention all the billboards for another local attraction: Utan, the
Largest Crocodile in the World. We also passed two Krispy Kreme donut shops.
Broadway at the Beach was fun. Lisa said she saw a program about Broadway at
the Beach on "Wild On Myrtle Beach", where they took a bunch of waitresses from
Hooter's and took them to the discos in Broadway at the Beach. DT was here with
his golfing buddies in March 2002. Broadway at the Beach is a huge complex,
built around a big (man-made) lake. There are two foot bridges crossing the
lake, connecting the shops and restaurants. Included in Broadway at the Beach
are huge theme restaurants, small shops and chains (Victoria Secret, Gap), movie
theatres, an aquarium and Dragons Lair Mini Golf. (DT says to mention that it is
not at the beach, or Broadway.) Our first stop was the Murray Bros. Caddy Shack
Restaurant. (NOTE: This restaurant is now closed. But don't worry - Jimmy has
opened a Margaritaville Cafe!) Talk about making a buck! Seriously, I went into
labor after watching Caddy Shack, and let's face it - Lisa is 21 years
old. The entire restaurant is themed on a 21-year-old movie! Okay, okay, I
agree... it is a classic. We had a plan to visit several restaurants and have a
beer and an appetizer in the bar, so we wouldn't have to wait for a table. This
way, we could see a lot of the complex in one visit. Not a worry - the place was
DEAD. Every restaurant we visited tonight had no more than 5 tables filled. It
was Tuesday and it was COLD... anyway... at the Caddy Shack we enjoyed Chinese
Tacos - minced chicken served in lettuce leaves. One of my favorites from the
Mandarin Restaurant in San Francisco, served up quite nicely, and I have no idea
why, at the bar. Of course, we had a stroll through the gift shop! (EVERY
restaurant has a gift shop!) After our first snack, we walked through a few
shops and found a few gifts. Mostly, we just enjoyed looking through the strange
collection of shops at BATB. We found a shop selling pink flamingos and talking
Eric Cartman dolls. ("I'm not fat, I'm big boned.") Our next stop was Dragons
Lair Mini Golf. $6.50. Each. It was a difficult course. Actually, it must have
been the most difficult course EVER as I beat DT by 4 strokes. He was not happy
about it either, but I think he will get over it. Assuming I ever LET him forget
his devastating defeat. In truth, I was getting lucky ricochets. Plus,
during our round, a volcano did erupt several times, no doubt upsetting DT's
putting stance.
DT fed 25-cents into the fish-food machine and we feed the carp under the
foot bridge. It was just disgusting to see all of them, mouths gaping, with
ducks actually walking over the top of the fish to get the food. Survival of the
fittest. Our second restaurant was the Key West Grille, where we enjoyed Fried
Green Tomatoes. Then, I found a Yankee Candle shop, so we had a 30-minute delay
while I looked at everything in the store. Our third restaurant was the Hard
Rock Cafe. This was the coolest HRC! It is built inside a pyramid and, so, is
absolutely cavernous. You walk down a long staircase into the restaurant - very
dramatic. We had chicken wings at the bar. The place was dead. We talked with
the bartender - an avid golfer. His sister-in-law works for NIKE in Beaverton
(DT did not know her and Kevin Bacon was not in the restaurant.) South Carolina
has some strange liquor laws too. On the bar were hundreds and hundreds of
individual-sized bottles of liquor. Like on an airplane. (We noticed this at
Caddy Shack and Key West Grille too.) I asked the bartender and he said SC
liquor laws require a single drink served - something about taxing. Since you
can't ever be sure exactly how many drinks would be poured out of a bottle of
booze, they regulate it this way.
We headed home - it was cold and we had left Snickers for 3 hours. As soon
as we opened the door, Snickers bolted off into the darkness. So much for the
personality change. He ran across the street, where our neighbors had put their
trash out and decided to inspect their garbage. Snickers was hauled back into
the motorhome, tail between his legs. Bad boy.
Bad Boy Beagle
So, here is a photo of Snickers in his favorite spot - in
his bed under the steering wheel. (Obviously, he only sleeps here when we
are parked!) He knew he was in big trouble, so went right to his bed. And
there he stayed until kids on the beach began a fireworks show! Exploding
fire crackers brought The Naughty Dawg between my feet, shivering and
whining. How in the heck can you stay mad at a spineless beagle? I can't
imagine some people actually use these dogs to hunt. As I type this, Snicks
is still quivering at my feet and I haven't heard a bottle rocket for 20
minutes. We had to put the heater on too - it really is chilly!
We will leave Myrtle Beach in the morning. We came here to golf, but the
weather prevented us from competing in "real" golf. I think this city is
just a bit over the top for me. Which, if you know me at all, is really
saying a lot. I can't believe I have had a phone line for three days and
have only posted one photo - of Snickers!
RV Park:
Ocean
Lakes in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
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