We just returned from a long weekend in Myrtle Beach. Now upfront let me warn you that we didn’t do any of the traditional tourist things really, and normally try to go out of our way to do such things. Though ok, I admit we did go into a WINGS just to see what kind of ummm stuff they carried. For us, it was a weekend of Blues and the Beach.
We stayed at Forest Dunes. It could stand some updating, but a good value for the price. We stayed here for a long weekend, 4 days, and 3 nights.
Loved the location, and being able to walk right across the street to a nice stretch of beach. We had a 1 bedroom condo, with a 6th floor side ocean view. Which with the angle of the building, we really had a full ocean view when we sat out on our patio or on the living room sofa.
The accommodations were adequately furnished and sufficient kitchen supplies. Course we didn’t use much more than the fridge, some glasses, and the coffee pot. 1 full bathroom, though that sink wasn’t working, and a half bath. Kind of a goofy configuration since the baths had an adjoining door and the ummm “thrones” faced each other. Gave us a good laugh … ya had to be there I guess. I was surprised there was carpeting in the living room and bedroom just because of the sand factor.
The bed was HARD AS A ROCK. Worse than our place in Mexico, which until this trip, I thought had to be the worst bed on the face of the earth. After two nights of awful sleep I took myself on over to the Wal-Mart and bought a memory foam mattress topper. After that, the bed was still hard, but at least we couldn’t feel springs poking us in the ribs, back, shoulders, etc.
Sound proofing had a bit to be desired. We could hear our next door neighbors every move … including a crying baby at all hours of the night. The older kids seemed to like pounding on the double door in the bedroom (an adjoiner that was locked)… but after knocking back on it the first morning, I think we sufficiently scared them enough to make em not do it again the rest of our stay. : ) We didn’t use the pools here, but from our balcony could say they looked VERY murky. The hot tub was the clearest, the main pool being the worst and the little lazy river being in the middle.
The parking structure must be tight for SUVs and Mini Vans, but my little Mini had little trouble turning around within the structure. The elevators s*cked. Every day of our stay at least one was broken. Felt bad for the people on the higher floors. It was faster for us to take the parking deck elevator up and use the cutover on the 4th floor then up two flights of stairs.
First Day, it’s all about the Beach. Although we brought towels and blankets, we decided to go ahead n rent two chairs and an umbrella just incase. A sound decision. I’m a west coast gal, so to me the beach was just different. The waves are small, the water is warm, though it’s the same color as what I’m used to. Kinda greenish, blueish, brownish. I was happy to see there are not seaweed issues here. A very enjoyable little stretch of beach we had.
Gotta cut it short though, so we can get ready for our concert.
House of Blues, this was the whole reason for a trip.
HOB doesn’t take reservations, though you can make them on line for parties of 4 or more. They do have call-ahead seating. We stopped here for an early dinner so we could take advantage of “Pass the Line” for the BB King concert. Our server Ingrid was absolutely fabulous. Kept our drinks full, timed our food fine, and had some great suggestions. Our starter, Pan Seared Voodoo Shrimp was the highlight of the meal. Since this was a late lunch/early dinner for us we didn’t order big entrees. BubbaQ had a Blues Burger which was nearly a charcoal briquette and dry as can be. I had the pulled pork sandwich which had maybe a dab of the TN BBQ sauce … so it was quite dry and had a few big wads of fat in it. FWIW, I should have known better than to get BBQ at a place that wasn’t known for their BBQ. Shame on me!
The ice tea tasted like it was made from instant Nestea … isn’t this against southern laws??
The sweet potato fries were good though. Ingrid gave us a round of our drinks in go cups so we had something cool to sip while waiting for the doors to open for the concert. We were disappointed in the food, felt we should have stuck with the appetizers or their highlighted signature items, but in the end, were glad we ate there because we were among the first few people in the door and had no problems securing a coveted stool from which to watch B.B.
HOB Convert Venue: Definitely take advantage of the pass the line, but show up early. I think we wandered over to the line at about 6pm putting us within the first 20 people. What ever you do, don’t confuse the Pass the Line Line with the Bash the Barrier lines. G’ahead and ask directions!!
BB KING ROCKED! The man brought me to tears! I’ve never heard a more beautiful guitar than Lucille. I’m really speechless except to say if you think you even remotely like blues, BB King in concert is a must. Digital recordings just don’t do him justice.
Since dinner pretty much s*cked and we didn’t eat it, and the HOT sign was flashing at Krispy Kreme … well, there ya go. KK gets a thumbs up.
Next Day:
It’s all about the beach (again) today. We made our way to our reserved chairs and enjoyed the ocean under the cover of our umbrella. Let me just say a few words about that. We are not usually umbrella users, do not have fair skin and grew up at the beach. There we were like the “old folks” we used to make fun of. But I gotta tell ya, for this early in the tanning season (don’t tell me how bad it is for my skin, I already know), the sun was mighty strong. Even with our strong-for-us sunscreen (SPF6 %26amp; 15 for body and face respectively) we still got a bit cooked. I can not tell you how many people I saw that were absolutely fried (gotta love polarized lenses). So, use your sunscreen. Be careful out there!
The water was warm, though cool on the toes at first. Tide was a bit stronger today, but not so much that you couldn’t enjoy it.
Next Up A little shopping:
We took a quick trip to Broadway at the Beach, cause I had to have a hard Rock pin. We’ve long since quit eating at Hard Rock Cafes, but I do collect the pins. Then a quick stop at the mall to stop in at Belk. We figured a beach city store would have better selections of summer clothes and shorts than our inland ones. Talked BubbaQ into some plaid shorts for the golf course. Man, he’s a pushover on vacations.
Next Up, a REAL dinner:
Jackalope Steak House, Barefoot Landing
THIS PLACE ROCKS! A perfect blend of upscale and casual. We stopped here for dinner quite late and very unintentionally. BubbaQ wanted crab legs, but not from one of those places with neon signs and a giant plastic crab out front. When we decided to turn around and check some places we had just passed, my gas gauge dropped to “better fill me up now” and there was a major accident causing horrible traffic backups.
We checked out the crab house at barefoot landing, but after viewing their menu BubbaQ pronounced that they seemed pricey and “seems like it’d be food for show”. Meaning you got a teaspoon of something on a plate the size of Jupiter, but it looked darn pretty on the plate. By now it’s nearly 9pm, I’m cranky, BubbaQ is cranky and we pull into Jackalope Steak House. Out front were their specials for the night, and seeing a surf n turf we decided to go in. Course if BubbaQ didn’t walk through that door, well, he’d of had me to deal with.
No wait to eat here, since we were way after traditional dinner hour. We started off with Margarita Scallops, which OMG were they wonderful. Subtle taste of tequila and lime, strong rosemary and jerk spice presence, mellowed out with a coconut and mango sauce. Nice n crusty yet cooked perfectly. (Nothing worse than a chewy scallop).
Next up She-Crab soup. First time I’ve had this and I must say it was absolutely heavenly. Now I thought my serving would just be a little cup, but no … it was a big ol heaping bowl of the most creamy sweet soup I’ve ever had…. Loaded with sweet crab meat. Loved it. Unfortunately I was pretty much full after the soup, but I pressed on.
BubbaQ had a 16oz NY Angus Strip steak with wild rice and veggies, I had a 5oz Angus fillet with vegetables. We added a friend lobster tail to go along with our hunks o cow. Our waitress again was wonderful, an hmmm, don’t know if it was the manager or the owner, but let’s just say everyone was right friendly here. This is a place we’ll definitely revisit should we make another trip to MB. The Jackalopes were really cute too.
And sadly that brings us to our last day. We had intended to spend the morning on the beach, except the beach didn’t exist. Round about early evening on Saturday the tide came right on up to the dunes. Then the rain started. So it was time to leave and go sit in traffic. Around Florence we split off from the main traffic and decided to put our faith in our Navigation Lady.
A quick note about the Navigation Lady: For some reason the streets and highways of MB confused her. So If you’re using SatNav, follow the pictures and kinda ignore the voice.
Blues n the Beach, our MB Stay
Well did you enjoy your vacation? What area of MB did you stay in? The beach last year used to be flat. I just got back though %26amp; this year the beach was like flat at the top then all the sudden it sloped way down really steep i had never seen it like this before but it was still nice. did you go to the Coastal Grand Mall?or The Pavilion? walk around town? They%26#39;re building a Hard Rock Theme Park down here supposed to be completed by 2008 %26amp; a new interstate. BTW have you ever been to Daytona Beach? I went this year 1st timer I got down there and left the next morning to come back 2 MB. I HATED daytona The downtown the hotels food shops attractions. lots of homeless %26amp; looked like druggies. I was REALLY disapointed.
Blues n the Beach, our MB Stay
we pretty much enjoy every trip we take, no matter where we are going. This wasn%26#39;t a weekend to run all over town for us, simply a quick trip to the shore to recharge our batteries before our next longer vacation.
Since I%26#39;m not really familiar with MB itself, and didn%26#39;t use a map for this trip, I can only guess that our condo at the Forest Dunes Resort was in the Ocean Forest area, not too far from 52nd street.
The beach was flat, and didn%26#39;t have any type of drop off like you experienced on your trip. We could actually walk very far out. With the rougher seas last night and this morning, it was just that high tide came right up to the dunes.
I went to both Coastal Grand and Briarcliff mall, but not really to shop around. We went to go to a specific dept. store.
Neither the Pvaillion or Barefoot LAnding held much interrest to us so again there, we didn%26#39;t really walk around, so much as go to one particular destination and move on. As I mentioned we really just came into town to see a concert and relax on the beach.
Next trip will be for Golf, once BubbaQ%26#39;s ankel is healed and he has more mobility, then we%26#39;ll explore the town more.
Blank1.....I noticed the slope of the sand myself my last visit, seemed kind of odd, like climbing a mountain trying to get out of the surf, I attributed it to me coming down right after a tropical storm, but maybe I was mistaken. I remember trying to climb up the beach on one particular day of my vacation and was having a hard time of it, and a wave taking me out! A big un! Dropped my shorts, everyone got to see my lilly white behind, oh well, I figure we are all strangers anyway, they just knew me a little better that day I guess!!!!
BSQ,
Great report! I%26#39;m so glad you did the ';pass the Line'; at the HOB....and glad that you were able to secure great seats for the concert! I think with the increased crowds in the summer months, the food there really suffers....its night and day difference if you eat there during the off season....
As for the slope on the beach....we had a pretty good N%26#39;oreaster go thru this area pobably 2 months or so ago...sucked alot of sand away from the beach and made this huge ledge, just in certain areas of the beach....it tends to even itself out as the season goes along.....
:)
Blank1 lies about Daytona Beach, The only reason he is saying it is bad is because He thought it would be like his favourite beach, (Myrtle Beach) and it was not so right when he saw Daytona Beach Wasn%26#39;t Like Myrtle He left pretty much right away, he didn%26#39;t even stay 24 hours, He just ';judged a book by it%26#39;s cover';
Pibb,
I think your hotel stay may have been the biggest downside. You should try planning a vacation at a better hotel. Lot%26#39;s of nicer hotels with activities near by. Most place I go to, I try sticking to the appetizers as well. Never been to House of Blues but I bet the other locations in TN, or other places would probably have been better for the food portion of it.
I went to Myrtle Beach last year and noticed that I had to walk up a hill and then down the hill to get to the actually water. It was weird. As I walked up the hill (I am only 5%26#39;5) I couldn%26#39;t even see the water. Do they push the sand back on the beach or what is that about.
';I went to Myrtle Beach last year and noticed that I had to walk up a hill and then down the hill to get to the actually water. It was weird. As I walked up the hill (I am only 5%26#39;5) I couldn%26#39;t even see the water. Do they push the sand back on the beach or what is that about.';
The levels of the sand change depending on the various storms that we have here....no, they do not push the sand up the beach, we try to leave it as natural as possible. But, Mother Nature can do her bit with the beach, and with the n%26#39;oreaster that shot thru here about 2 months ago...it really created some good ledges along the beach, but give it another month or two and it will be different again!
:)
actually MrsMaryland, our hotel was not so bad as to affect the quality of our vacation. Yes the bed was hard, but that was easily remedied. Yes the elevators broke down a lot, but we fortunately had a reasonable alternative route. Yes the pools were murky, but for us, we knew before we even arrived that we had no intention of being at the pool since we were going to be mere feet from the ocean.
I still think it was a good value for what we paid. The location was very much in its favor. Was it upscale? No. Was it in the thick of everything tourist? No. Was it a bit older, Yes ... Did we mind? not one bit. I could have easily paid two to three times more and stayed at one of the more known hotel chains (and I did consider it), in the end It would not have added that much more value to my trip. We weren%26#39;t looking for activities to keep us busy. It may be odd to some, but we really had no intention of doing any of the touristy stuff.
And MBC, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! For giving me the skinny on HOB and the seating.
Everyone if you saw Mr. Pibb%26#39;s post he is just mad becasue I went to Daytona Beach %26amp; I didn%26#39;t like it. He%26#39;s jealous of the wonderful Myrtle Beach that%26#39;s all. :)
Yeah the sand has changed alot from what you talked about this time you walked out flat on the beach then went down a steep slope then went flat again untill you met the water. Then where I stayed was kind of weirder becasue one section the water was way out and you walked flat a long ways before you hit the water. then there was a section right beside where the water came way in almost up to the dunes. lol that was different from what I%26#39;ve ever saw.
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