Saturday, November 7-12, 2009
Day 62-67


We arrived at the Lakewood Campground in Myrtle Beach in the afternoon. It is the largest campground that we have ever seen. It has an indoor and outdoor pool, hot tub, tennis and basketball courts, a cafe and pizzeria that delivers to your site, and many more amenities. We found a site right across from the dunes and beach. I loved being able to hear the surf from our site. We unhooked the truck and set up camp, thrilled that we were going to be staying in one spot for a week. Bob did not even ask, he knew that I wanted to go to the beach for a walk.

 It is becoming our routine and one that I love. After working up an appetite, we came back and grilled up some tender fillets and made a scallop/shrimp fettuccine with our remaining seafood. Sunday was a sleep in day followed by enjoying the sunshine and relaxing. Chef Bob served a delicious breakfast outside before we went to the beach. We walked in the surf to the Pier and back, a 5.5 mile walk.

There were more people around today: fishing, soaking up the sun, and riding horses.

 After a late lunch, I went to the beach to read and enjoy the last 2 hours of daylight while Bob washed the truck. I did not even feel guilty! Of course, we had to return to the beach for a night time stroll and we had it all to ourselves. Monday was another relaxing, warm day in the 70’s. We went for a bike ride exploring the area and worked out. We met our neighbors, who recommended a good restaurant called the Gulf Stream Café for an early seafood dinner. It overlooked a huge marsh and the Murrells Inlet. As we enjoyed a flounder and blackened Atlantic salmon dinner, we watched the boats returning from fishing as the sun set. It was a perfect way to end a wonderful day. On Tuesday, we were expecting rain so we went for our walk on the beach early. Half way into our walk, the rain came so we turned and felt it on our backs, but it was a warm rain and we did not mind. It was a good day to catch up on paperwork and read. Hurricane Ida was not finished with us. It rained all night and all of the next day. Bob wanted to go to the Bass Pro Shop to browse. It was a huge store with everything that you can imagine, including a fish tank with the largest salt water fish that I have ever seen, outside of an aquarium. We noticed that there was a movie theater next door and we decided to take in an early movie, Law Abiding Citizen. Since the evening news predicted more rain and wind, thanks to Ida, we decided to get out of “Dodge” early. On Thursday, we woke to rain and headed inland. It did not take long to find the sunshine. An Alaskan friend, Scott Deans, recommended that we stop at Rogers Barbeque in Florence,North Carolina where he grew up.

 It was an $8 buffet and it was fantastic. Scott’s tip to put the red gravy on the pulled pork like the locals do, was on the money. After getting over-satiated, we were on our way to Memphis, stopping for the night after we got by Atlanta.