A week at the beach!!!

We returned home Thursday evening from our week at the beach... we were supposed to come home on Friday evening, but with the approach of Tropical Storm Hanna, and a voluntary evacuation at the beach, we decided to pack up and head out a day early, to avoid bad traffic and bad weather. So we cut our trip a day short, but we had a great time anyway!

Day 1: Mom and I left Thursday morning to head down, ahead of Dennis and my stepfather. We stopped in Florence for an early lunch, then headed on and arrived early afternoon at the condo. After unpacking the car and taking all our stuff inside, we broke out the rum and sat and had cocktails and relaxed in the condo for the afternoon. Later in the day, we changed and went out for dinner at PF Chang's, one of our favorite places to hit down there. After dinner, we strolled around the Market Common and browsed the shops.

Day 2: We got up and got dressed and headed out for an early lunch at Ruby Tuesday over at the mall, then went to the mall and the outlets, and did some shopping. Late afternoon, we headed over to our favorite Mexican restaurant, Abuelo's, and had an early dinner, then headed back to the condo to relax. That evening, Dennis and Roy got there.

Day 3: Spent some time walking the beach and hanging out by the pool, soaking up some sun. Saturday evening, we went out for seafood at The Fish House, a fairly new seafood restaurant at the beach. Yum! What's a trip to the beach without seafood?

Day 4: More time by the pool and soaking up sun, walking on the beach. Went out for dinner at Texas Roadhouse Grille and had BBQ ribs. Yum!

Day 5: Spent about an hour or so by the pool, then went in and showered and changed and Dennis and I headed out ourselves to go for lunch - we went and had BBQ. Mom and Roy did their own thing today. After lunch, Dennis and I stopped at Barefoot Landing and visited Bon Apetit, the dog bakery. Our beagle, Gracie, had her picture taken there in 2001 and her pic is still on the wall! We filled a bag with gourmet doggie treats to take home to the little ones. Then walked around Barefoot Landing a little, visited the Christmas Mouse, one of my favorite Christmas shops, then headed down to Garden City and just took a nice drive. We drove all the way down Atlantic Avenue, looking at all the beach houses. Then we parked and went out on the Garden City Pier. After strolling the pier, we went back to the outdoor bar that is attached to the pier, listened to the live music and had drinks. Afterward, we headed back to Myrtle Beach to the condo, and then went out for dinner.

Day 6: I got a little too much sun and burned a bit, so I decided to stay out of the sun. So after having lunch at the condo today, we headed out and went to the outlets and walked around a bit. Then we went over to the mall and hit the bookstore and had coffee. Then we met up with my mom and Roy later and had dinner at Chestnut Hill, a wonderful restaurant with a great early bird menu, overlooking the water. Went back to the condo and played our favorite domino game, Mexican Train.

Day 7: Took another nice walk on the beach, and relaxed around the condo. Another game of Mexican train in the afternoon. I tried to do a little crocheting but got tired of that! Several of our friends who are fellow condo owners at the condo were also down for the week and we were all getting together starting at 5:00 for a cocktail party around the pool.. so we mixed up our pitcher of bloody marys and got our appetizrs ready to take down and then joined everyone by the pool. Lots of great food and cocktails - and enjoyed seeing everyone. After the party wound down, we went over to Gary and Betty's condo and joined Gary, Betty and Ellen for a game of Mexican train.. seems lots of our condo friends enjoy the game too!

Day 8: Today should NOT have been our last day here, but after getting up early Thursday morning, and listening to weather reports about Hanna, and hearing about voluntary evacutaions, we decided we better pack up and head out.. so after washing our linens and towels, and putting everything away in the owner's closet and locking things up, we headed out and enjoyed lunch @ Hamburger Joe's, a great local place that is sort of tucked away. Our friends Gary and Betty told us about it and we tried it once before... yummy! After having lunch, we stopped and filled up with gas and headed out of town. Got home around 5:00. Unbelievably, since we got back a day early, we were able to make a dinner meeting that we thought we were going to miss... so we got home at 5, and headed right back out at 6:30! The dogs were glad to be sprung from the kennel though - and happy to see us!

Great time - even if we lost our last day - I have lots of pics we took at the beach, so I will post them soon! Looking forward to going back down for a long weekend in late October!