Finally Visited Myrtle Beach

Although we have been here for almost a month, Paul had not yet seen Myrtle Beach. I had been there several years ago in April for 10 days with my sister and brother-in-law.

Since it was a nice day we thought we would check out more of the area. We drove along the main street of Myrtle Beach on our way to Apache Pier. Paul was not impressed with Myrtle Beach as it was mostly high rises, tourist shops and attraction parks. The area of Garden City and Surfside Beach where we are staying is more residential with mostly low rise complexes and beach houses which makes the area more tranquil and homey. We both agreed that we like where we are staying much better.

We stopped at a public beach parking area and took a walk on Myrtle Beach.

We then drove on to Apache Pier, the east coast's longest pier. There were several fishermen trying to catch a little supper but not having much luck. There were great views of Myrtle Beach and its high rises from the far end of the pier. There are 60 miles of beach.

Of course I had to take time to check out the treasures on the beach. There were so many shells. It was amazing.

We then moved on from the Pier to Broadway at the Beach which is a new shopping area opened in the Myrtle Beach area. As this time of year is not the tourist season here, it was rather quiet there and some of the shops and attractions were not open. We enjoyed a walk around and popped into a few little shops. We both loved this piece of stain glass but the price tag was a little high. Maybe it will be there next year.

We had another great day together and headed home to start our packing up for our move to a new condo on 1 March.

Sunset at Garden City Beach

This is the sunset last night over Garden City Beach Marsh that we experienced on our way home from dinner at the Gulfstream Cafe.

Beresford Snow This Week

This was a picture of our front and side yard before we left Beresford in January.

This is our yard now after a winter storm this week that dumped more than 55 cms of snow on Beresford. Where are our cedars?

Charlie is trying to find the path to the front door.

I think he found it. Bless him.

The side of our yard along the driveway.

I don't think all this snow will be melted before we return home in April, but a girl can dream, can't she........

Historic Seaport of Georgetown, SC

The temperature on Wednesday reached 12 C so we thought it a nice day to do some exploring.

We started our day by checking out the Spring House Restaurant for breakfast which was nice but unfortunately no ocean view.

We stopped at the Visitor's Centre at Murrells Inlet to get some information and a map for the Georgetown area. It is about a 30/40 minute drive from Murrells Inlet and we arrived there around noon. Established in 1732, Georgetown is South Carolina's third oldest city. The oak-lined avenues of this "little Charleston" city boast group tour treasures. The riverfront has lots of history and is alive with activity in tourist season. We strolled along the main street, Front Street, which reminded us of Rainbow Row in Charleston with all the nice colored businesses and shops.

We followed a historic district map which gave us information on a number of historic properties in the area. We found the history, the southern style houses and the huge trees quite interesting. We could easily see why Georgetown was referred to as "little Charleston". It was nice to see the flowers blooming in the many nice gardens.

This large white plantation house reminded me of the US Ambassador's house in Ottawa.

After strolling around the residential area, we took a walk along the harbourwalk. Overlooking the Sampit River Harbor, the boardwalk is lined with restaurants, galleries, antique shops and specialty stores. People were enjoying a meal or a drink on some of the patios on the boardwalk as it was nice and sunny. As February is not peak tourist season, the atmosphere in Georgetown was tranquil and we enjoyed our time there.

On our drive back to Garden City Beach, we stopped to browse in Ace Hardware and saw these awesome hand-painted bar stools. With a price tag of $109.00 each, they are still in the shop and we are the proud owners of photos only.

Retirement Motto

Spring in Garden City Beach

My blog counter is showing that I have at least 125 days before I can even think about gardening in Beresford but here in Garden City Beach and Surfside Beach the garden centres are open for business. I am so envious. And it is even more difficult to resist buying any plants as we are not allowed to bring them across the border into Canada.

As Paul and I were walking off the beach last night, we saw these daffodils by the side of the walk at the resort next to us. It was so nice to see a sign of spring. Since Beresford had 55+ cms of snow on Tuesday, I know my tulips are no where near popping their heads up yet.

We Are Now Two

Since we arrived here in Garden City Beach, we have been taking turns cooking dinners at each others condo to lessen the work for us. We then treated ourselves to a meal out in a local restaurant for the third day.

Friday night (20 Feb) was the last evening that we cooked together. It was our turn to cook but this time we decided to do the cooking at Ro and Neil's condo as they were more lucky than us and had pots in their unit big enough to cook a meal for more than 2 people. It's a long story but we have been trying to get more cooking utensils from the management company since we arrived but with no luck so we are moving to another rental on 1 March.

I cooked a shrimp stir fry and we had a toast to future trips to South Carolina.

As Saturday (21 Feb) was our last day together before my sister and brother-in-law started their journey home to Brockville, we decided to take a walk on the beach here in Garden City and to revisit the boardwalk on the marsh at the Crazy Sister Marina at Murrells Inlet. It was a nice afternoon.

We decided to treat ourselves to dinner out so we went to a place in Murrells Inlet called Drunken Jacks. We sat at a window table that looked out onto the marsh where we could see the boats and watch the seagulls and pelicans.

One of the great foods that we love here are hushpuppies. They are a southern American food consisting of small cornmeal breads that are deep fried or baked in the spherical, oblong or ring shape. Most of the local restaurant will serve a basket or two of them with your meal along with honey butter. Yes, we know that they are not at all healthy but once you try one, you are hooked. Ask Paul.....

We had a great three weeks together at Garden City and talked of spending a month together here again next year.

Walk at Pawleys Island

Yesterday we decided to take a walk on the beach at Pawley's Island. The temperature was 67F but the winds were high so we got sandblasted a few times while on the beach, but it was well worth it.

Neil took this photo of an eagle flying overhead with an object it its beak. When the eagle dropped the object on the beach near us, we discovered it was a rudder from a small surf board.

Even though the water was a little cool, there was a surfer in the water.



There were lots of shells on the beach but unfortunately no great finds today.

Pawleys Island has a lot of great beach houses and sand dunes.

I spent a lot of time getting the sand out of my sandals.

Birthday Celebrations

17 February was Paul's birthday so he chose how he would like to spend the day - which was a trip to the Huntington Beach State Park.

After a lazy morning and a cooked breakfast with his favourite coffee, we met up with Roseanne and Neil and set off for the park which was only a 15 minute drive from our condo. Perhaps the best known "studiers" of wildlife at Huntington Beach State Park are the birders who for years have been coming to see some of the more than 300 species that have been recorded there, giving the park a reputation as a top spot on the East Coast. In addition to three miles of beach, much of the park is salt marshes, one of the world’s most productive eco-systems.

Our first stop in the park was to see the alligator in the park's freshwater lake.

Some of the birds we saw were the snowy egret, cardinals, plovers, sandpipers and chickadees. Paul also found a squirrel having a snack in the tree.

Our most interesting find was at the the park’s Environmental Education Center. Here we were all fascinated by the little seahorse. It was very interesting to see how it moved with the use of fins near its head and on its back.

Huntington Park also had great boardwalks on the marsh and hiking trails.

Of course being the Carolina's, there was also an awesome beach. We spent some time taking a leisurely stroll, hoping to find some treasures. We watched the sandpipers and plovers on the shore and saw pelicans flying overhead.

After a couple of hours of enjoying the park, we headed back to Surfside Beach to Nibils Restaurant at Surfside Pier so we could toast the birthday guy with cool ones in hand. We also enjoyed a nice dinner of steak and seafood.

The evening was complete with a chocolate boston creme cake.