Author Archives: JerryLukins

Today started off mostly sunny which was a nice change from the drizzle or rain we have had had since we got here. You could actually see the horizon clearly for the first time. It is still cool, 45 at 8:00 am and windy.

Our view of the ocean from the balcony

Nikki and I took a short walk on the beach this morning.  The cold wind is the only reason it was shortened.  Nikki took the camera and took some wonderful pictures in the morning sun.

Surf in the morning

View looking south towards Myrtle Beach

Seagull checking out what washed up on the beach

Evidently 50 degrees is warm enough to do some sun bathing according to Stephanie and Ryan as they heading out to find a place that has sunshine, but no wind.  They didn’t last very long and both of them said they were very cold.  Meanwhile, Nikki and I took a walk and found out that one of the other towers at our resort has the pool located in a spot that protects it from the wind.  Maybe the girls will try the Tower 4 pool later in the week if it’s still windy.  We also found a place that rents beach bikes.  We might have to try that out later in the week.

We then headed out to Barefoot Landing in North Myrtle Beach.  Barefoot Landing is loaded with entertainment and shopping.  We window shopped and went into several of the over 100 stores.  We all got to meet a puppy, but Nikki is the only one who got puppy breath kisses.  We also saw some turtles on the 27 acre lake that is the heart of Barefoot Landing.  Afterwards, we stopped to get a bite to eat before heading back to the condo.

Stephanie and Nikki get some puppy love

Turtles at Barefoot Landing

Later in the evening, the kids hit the hot tub again and Nikki and I took a sunset stroll on the beach.  During our walk we saved a little crab that was being drug out of the surf by a sea gull.  We walked up to get a closer look and the sea gull dropped the crab, so we took some pictures of our new friend and then carefully placed her back into the surf as it was heading out.  Hopefully she wasn’t washed back up on shore again.

Little crab we saved from the sea gulls.

Our grateful little friend

The kids went down to the workout center and all hopped on ellipticals and treadmills for 45 minutes as requested by their Track and Field coaches.  They came back took showers and at 11:00 they wanted to start to watch the movie we rented from Redbox called The Watch.  Nikki and I went to bed and they were relatively quiet the rest of the night with some occasional laughing being heard from the condo’s living room.

This morning is was raining, so we planned on exploring a bit from the car and catching a matinee. We found some places the kids and adults could agree on coming back to visit when they were open.

We saw the movie “Identity Thief” with Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy at a theater not far from where we were staying. It was an enjoyable way to stay dry indoors while the storm passed.

We then took an hour walk on the beach, but the breeze coming off the ocean was still pretty cool, so we didn’t go any farther than the cold children wanted. We enjoyed beach combing and the kids tried warming up in one of the outdoor hot tubs to remove the blueish tint from their skin.  The wind picked up even more and they decided to come back to the room and use the jucuzzi in the master bathroom to complete the thawing process.

Stephanie, Ryan and Jonny on the beach

We ended up renting a movie from Redbox when we went to pick up some more supplies at Kroger up the road.  We let the kids pick the movie and they picked “Abraham Lincoln Vampire Slayer”.  I personally didn’t have high hopes for the movie, but it ended up being much better than I expected with an actual plot instead of your typical gore flick.  It was well worth the $1.30 rental for 100 minutes of entertainment.

The trip down to North Myrtle Beach was for the most part uneventful. AAA Trip Tix took us on some back roads starting about 100 miles out from North Myrtle Beach. We only got “lost” once and that was because there was a turn were supposed to make and evidentally there were two Palmeto Roads within about 5 miles of each other. Luckily we didn’t have to back track and didn’t really loose any time as we kept heading in the right direction after we realized “our road shouldn’t end here!” We quickly found the real Palmeto Road and didn’t miss a beat.

We found our Resort, Wyndham Ocean Boulevard, were able to stock the cupboards with some breakfast food and snacks after we went to the grocery store and hit the Lucky Pizza shop for some pizza near the Krogers grocery store.  Our condo has a view of the ocean and several outdoor pools, hot tubs, lazy rivers, indoor pools and game room.

The kids hit the hot tubs and sauna at the resort before we all called it a night shortly after 11:00pm.  After 10 hours in the car they really needed to burn off some energy.