Farmers Market, grill, new shul - Yr 1, Day 164

Myrtle Beach, SC

Yesterday (Friday), we wanted to venture out to a farmers market where we could stock up on locally grown fruits & veggies.  Looking online, there seemed to be several in the area.  One website listed a lot of things they had: deli, cheeses, honey, jams/preserves, wine, fruits & veggies, etc.  This is where we went:

My impression was that it would be like the farmers market in Raleigh where there are a lot of different vendors in different stalls.  I think the first clue that my impression was wrong was that we didn't see any signs or billboards advertising it, and the GPS sent us to a road that was no longer than about a block long (there was another road by the same name a few miles away).  This place was nearly in the middle of nowhere and was really just one small supermarket with a variety of different items, set apart in different rooms.  They did have a lot of homemade sauces and jams (didn't buy any).  I'm not sure if their veggies were local or not, but they were very high priced and not very good quality.  We bought 2 tomatoes, 1 cucumber and 1 head of garlic, only because we needed those and didn't want to deal with a large supermarket.  We'll try a different place next week.

Back in Garner, we bought a small, portable charcoal grill.  The weather was really nice so we decided to break it out to grill some tuna steaks.  They came out AWESOME!  The only time I've ever tasted such great tuna was when Fred made them.  Ok, Fred - you now have competition!  We also grilled some mushrooms.  I guess I like the smoky flavor.

Yesterday we were also greeted with sea gulls instead of geese.  This was when we were grilling.  I guess they thought they might get some grub!

Shortly after we finished grilling, a couple was walking their dog so we started up a chat with them (Diane and Jim).  They are from Vermont with grown children and grandchildren in CT.  They are retired and spend from December to April at this campground every year.  They keep it in storage here, pay someone to bring it to the campground and set it up, and use their car to get back and forth.

Today was Shabbat and we went to services at the Chabad of Myrtle Beach.  Mitch and I are not in alignment as to whether we like the place or not - Mitch does, I did not.  The services were led by an elderly rabbi who pretty much mumbled the entire service with maybe 1 or 2 melodies thrown in.  It was all in Hebrew, and no sermon was given.  I did not find it inspiring at all.  Most of the congregation were Israeli and so not only were very clickish, but spoke in Hebrew in front of us.  I did not feel very welcome, except during lunch when the person sitting across from us made conversation.  Mitch, on the other hand, did feel some warmth and welcoming.  Maybe it was different in the men's section.  There is plenty of space to park our rig there if we didn't want to drive on Shabbat, but I'm hoping to convince Mitch that it isn't worth packing up and setting up again the next day, especially after all he went through to set up the sewer line.  For next week, I may explore whether there are other shuls in the area.

We got back from services, took our usual nap, and then went out for a very nice walk.  I didn't want to walk on the sand today (I'm still a little bit scared) so we just walked up and down a bunch of paths, admiring all the other high end rigs.