It's been a while, so this will be a (sort of) quick catch-up. We continued south from Maryland, with stops at Virginia Beach, VA; Emerald Isle, NC; Wilmington, NC; and Myrtle Beach, SC, where we are currently..
Nothing too exciting or dramatic has happened during the past few weeks, thankfully. Virginia Beach was REALLY lovely -- much nicer than either of us had anticipated. Our quick stop in Emerald Isle revealed a fantastic beach, but the WIND was incredible there. And our Wilmington stop was for a visit with Mat. Great historic town, and we had a good time hanging out with Mat and his new lady friend Sally Jo for the day.
At our next stop, Myrtle Beach, the first five days were really nice, with temps in the mid/upper70s and sunny. Gawh-juss. We enjoyed the phenomenal beach, other than some pesky flies that swarmed us, depending on the wind direction. But a few days after our birthdays, the cold snap hit, and we woke to temperatures in the 40s (or high 30s) and daytime highs of only high 50s, low 60s. Bummer. Doesn't look much better for the week ahead, unfortunately.
We are not really complaining, though, considering how the Northeast got whacked with that Nor'easter and snow before November. SNOW?? In October? What the heck is with the weather?
Photos from our stops:
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| Virginia Beach's Cape Henry lighthouse -- the first lighthouse authorized by the U.S. government, in 1792. When it was built, it was more than 500 yards from shore. Today, it is only 250 yards from the shore. |
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| The new Cape Henry light. |
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| The boardwalk, Virginia Beach. |
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| A beautiful day at Virginia Beach. |
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| Buddy enjoys lunch from a beachfront restaurant. He had souvlaki. |
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| Emerald Isle, North Carolina -- wow, both the wind and the surf were UP. |
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| Emerald Isle, nearly deserted. |
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| In the historic waterfront district of Wilmington, NC -- Mat, Sally Jo, and Beau. |
Myrtle Beach, a Year Later
We loved Myrtle Beach last year. This time around, though, we were going to stay at another RV place, for a comparison. But when we arrived in town, we realized the new place was 20 miles from the center of the action and from where we wanted to be.
Luckily, the place we stayed last year had availability and we were able to book there instead. It's fine, but we have a sneaking suspicion that the other place -- that we canceled -- might be a lot nicer. We are going to check it out later this week.
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| An oddity in Murrell's Inlet, about 20 miles from Myrtle Beach. I am sure it is a very lovely establishment, aren't you? |
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| The spectacular Myrtle Beach. |
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| Brrrr.... |
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| A nice waterfront bar on the Myrtle Beach boardwalk. -- which is a really lovely public space. The boardwalk seems almost new, and the shorefront buildings are all rehabbed and kept up. Very impressive. |
We met up with Mat and Sally Joe again in Myrtle Beach. They decided to
come down for the weekend. Our sightseeing with them included the
Ripley's Aquarium, a small but very impressive attraction.
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| Mat and Beau at Ripley's Aquarium, Myrtle Beach. |
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| A disgusting Moray eel -- another oddity of sorts. |
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| I think this is a sawfish, a type of shark. |
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| We all loved the aquarium's tunnels underneath/through the tanks, where the fish swim all around you and over you. A smaller version of what you find at the Atlantis hotel in the Bahamas. So cool. |
I am sure you are all waiting anxiously for the next summary.
Tanks, Panky
The Friday they were here, we met in historic downtown Wilmington & walked along the beautiful Cape Fear River waterfront. After a nice stroll thru part of downtown, checking out some of the shops that are in what used to be Civil War era cotton storage buildings, we went to Front Street Brewery Pub for the brewery tour, beer sampling & dinner.
ReplyDeleteThe next day was "take your dad to work day"! Dad joined me on the charter boat I work on- it was the 1st time he's been w/ me in MY office! We fished from 20-25 miles offshore & were gone for 12 hours. Fish caught included a LOT of black sea bass (their season closed the weekend before, so we had to release ALL of them), gray snapper, gray triggerfish, several Atlantic sharpnose sharks (2.5-3' long), 10-12 gag grouper & some smaller fish that we used for bait. Dad caught the biggest grouper, but we forgot to take pics so you'll have to trust me! We haven't fished together in a few years, so it was nice to be on the water w/ him again- hope we can do it again sometime.
The next weekend, me & my girlfriend Sally Jo met them in Myrtle Beach. After an enjoyable trip to the Ripley's Aquarium, the 4 of us went to the all-you-can-eat buffet @ Giant Crab- they have a giant metal crab on the roof of the building that weighs 4 tons! After sampling about everything on the buffet between the 4 of us & having surprise birthday cake (thanks to Sally Jo), I think we left weighing about as much as the crab!
The next day was Sun & time for some football! Dad met us @ Wild Wing Cafe to watch the Giants' game (& every other game that was on @ 1:00), then we parted ways.
I'm glad I got to hang out w/ you guys for a couple days & hope to see you in Florida. Me & Sally Jo will be driving down there for the week of Thanksgiving, so maybe we can meet up w/ you on the way down or back. Enjoy your travels & make sure dad starts sending post cards again! Love ya, Mat