Outing to the Boardwalk area - Yr 1, Day 165

Myrtle Beach, SC

We woke up late today: 9:30!  It was incredibly windy and a few times we were actually a little nervous. After making breakfast and doing some laundry, we were finally able to get out of the house and do something fun, which was to drive to the touristy part of Myrtle Beach and check it out.  Spoiler alert: lots of photos in this post!

Just like this campground, I can only imagine what this place must be like in peak season, as there's so much fun stuff to do, especially for kids.  I'm also very glad we came off-season when the place is like a ghost town and we have it almost all to ourselves (although, unfortunately, many things are closed so we only get to look from the outside).  I also did a lot of walking - probably close to 3 miles total.  Very proud and happy that I'm able to do this.  (Note to self: buy a pedometer).

So we drove to the town which was about 8 miles away.  We put the truck into an empty parking lot (still had to pay $8 as we took up 2 spaces).  We walked on the ramp (what I'm calling "pre-boardwalk"), and then onto the area where the stores were, then came back and rode the Skywheel, which is a huge ferris wheel with enclosed, heated (or air conditioned) cable cars!  Here are the photos of the Boardwalk area and pictures taken from the Skywheel:

The "pre-boardwalk" path leading from the end of the parking area to the main part of the boardwalk

A view of the beach from the boardwalk

Me on the boardwalk

Me and Mitch, pic taken by a lovely young couple

A few glimpses of stores along the boardwalk

Absolutely LOVE this gimmick!  We weren't hungry yet so didn't go inside :(

And now, some (ok, a lot of) photos of the Skywheel:

That's our truck down there!

A little closer

Note the shadow of the Skywheel

We finished that escapade in about an hour so decided to visit one more touristy place, what is known as "Broadway at the Beach," which really isn't anywhere near the beach.  It starts off like a quaint little outdoor mall with mom & pop type shops:

We then crossed a bridge (sorry, forgot pictures, but we'll get them when we return) where all the touristy stuff is such as Ripley's Aquarium, Hard Rock Cafe, Margaritaville, and a bunch of other chain restaurants, a cool adventure gaming place called Magiquest and a bunch of other attractions.  By now we were getting hungry so we stopped at Johnny Rocket's Cafe, which is a restaurant with a retro theme to make you feel like you're eating at a diner in the 1950's or 60's.  I had a veggie burger and Mitch had some fries.

We then headed home (6:00pm), caught up on emails and stuff, and enjoyed some of this:

Really, after the first shot (which really hits you!), it starts tasting really delicious (it's very hard apple cider).  In fact, after my 4th shot, I think it's time to end this post :)