Yes, it is true: the road trip was not quite over yet.  We still had one more leg on our journey to the East Coast: the two-hour drive to Myrtle Beach, SC.

Originally, when we planned our road trip to South Carolina, we had decided to spend a couple of days in Myrtle Beach with Omi and Opa to celebrate Omi's birthday.  As our plans progressed, though, Omi and Opa chose not to go to Myrtle Beach with us, because the summer heat would be too much for Opa.  That said, we left our plans intact but shortened our stay from two nights to one.

Since we weren't going to be able to check in at the Sandcastle in Myrtle Beach until 2:00 p.m. or so, we chose to sleep in that morning then hit the road around 10:00 a.m.  Our journey took us along US 76 to US 501, which connected us to the main drag through town - SR 17.  En route, we continued to play count the license plates and found not only another Arizona plate, but an Alaska plate, too!  John was quite surprised that we should find one on our road trip; oddly, two months later, he found a Hawaii license plate while on a business trip in Fairbanks, AK.

When we arrived in Myrtle Beach, it was still way too early for us to check in, so John suggested that we do something to kill some time.  The answer, of course, was simple: goofy golfing!  Myrtle Beach has hundreds of miniature golf courses, each with a different theme; all we had to do was select the one that was right for us.  That was a difficult choice, but Mary made it easy on us; she selected the one with the pirate theme.  Argh!

Playing miniature golf helped us kill just enough time; by the time we were finished, it was 2:00 p.m., which meant that we could check into our hotel...

...Or so we thought...The line at the Sandcastle was long, and everyone in it seemed agitated.  When it came to be our turn, we learned the reason for the frustration: none of the rooms at the hotel were ready for check-in!  We weren't sure what the reason was, but it was causing everyone - guests and staff - a lot of stress.

In order to kill some more time, we went across the street to the ice cream stand, where we enjoyed a cold treat while we waited.  Unfortunately, that still wasn't enough time; when we returned, our room still wasn't ready.  I explained that we were hot and tired and just wanted to get out of the heat, so the staff allowed us to use the hotel pool while were waiting.  Mary was excited about that; she couldn't wait to get into the pool!

John and Mary and I pulled our swimsuits out of the 4Runner and immediately went into the restroom to change.  We then went out to the pool to swim.  As hot and humid as it was in South Carolina, it felt great to be in the pool; it was also wonderful to be able to drink a couple of cold adult beverages at the poolside bar!  John and I both had a banana/rum drink that was very good; later, another couple handed us beers from their ice chest, just because they wanted to share them.  Love that Southern hospitality!

At long last, around 5:00 p.m., we were finally able to check into our room - just in time to get ready for dinner!  We were in the mood for some BBQ that night, so we went to Damon's Grill for dinner.  This was the same restaurant where we had celebrated Opa's 90th birthday, in April 2004, and we had enjoyed it a lot.

When we arrived at Damon's, we were immediately seated out on the patio, overlooking Myrtle Beach.  Although it certainly isn't one of those white sand beaches on the Caribbean (like Cancun), Myrtle Beach is still one of the prettiest beaches in the world; and even though it was hot and humid outside, it was worth it to have that view while we ate our dinner. 

While driving through town that afternoon, John had pointed out the Pavilions, which was the oldest amusement park on Myrtle Beach.  John had spent a lot of time at the Pavilions when he was a kid and had loved it; yet, despite this being our third trip to Myrtle Beach, we still had not gone there as a family. 

Then, we learned some disappointing news: the Pavilions were closing on September 30, 2006!  That meant that, if we didn't get to go on this trip, we would never get to see it again!

"Well, that settles it!" John insisted.  "We're going to the Pavilions tonight!"

Mary was so excited that she could barely contain herself.  She loves amusement park rides - roller coasters, swings, boats, bumper cars...the scarier, the better!  Take her to Disneyland or Disney World, and she immediately goes for her favorite rides: Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, and Space Mountain!   Indeed, she is her father's child, a thrill-seeker at heart.

John and Mary and I rode almost every ride that we could do...that is, until I got the migraine!  Now, I don't get migraines often - in fact, I get about one every two years - so it was unusual that I should get one now.  Of course, it started just after I got off of the roller coaster, which was a large, wooden structure that jerked its riders around like popcorn.  It jarred me in such a way that I had to sit out most of the rides, for fear that I would upchuck on the other park-goers.  I certainly didn't want to do that!

John and Mary, however, kept riding, giggling like the children that they are.  Suddenly, it was like John was eight years old again, reliving some of his fondest childhood memories.  Despite the migraine, was I so happy that John got to visit the Pavilions one more time before it closed forever.

Towards the end of the evening, as we started to wind down, John and Mary and I went to the penny arcade to play a few games of Skeeball and try our hand at the claw machine.  We didn't stay long, though, because Mary started rubbing her eyes - a good indication that it was time to take her back to the hotel.  She was so tired that she fell asleep during the ten minute drive back to the Sandcastle!

And as we carried our sleepy child to our room, we decided that it was time for us to go to bed, too.  We had been going too fast for too many days; it was time to take it easy... 

Return to South Carolina or Bust.

Return to Naked in the Woods.