Tuesday 7th Sept
Up for free breakfast and trying to smuggle as much butter and free muffins into our bags as we could for the drive. We set out in search of Myrtle beach in South Carolina, we drove along the back roads and all the towns where really little and had at least 4 church’s each for a town on 50 people and the houses where really country looking with porches and rocking chairs out the front. Along the way we stopped for our traditional macca’s stop and had our mocha frappe and Angus snack wrap. It was a 5 & ½ hour drive and it was good to arrive. We where about 10 mins from the beach by car, staying at the Holiday Inn express which was nice and we got breakfast!
It was really hot when we got in so it was nice to have the aircon on, we had a lill 1/2hour nap, got ready to go out and then went for a drive to the beach, nice as far as beaches go but not the best, it was quite a long beach with lots of high rises and beachy shops, one in particular called the ‘Gay Dolphin’ looked good.
Right across the road from our hotel was a place called ‘Broadway at the Beach’ which was a huge complex built around a big lake with shops, bars and restaurants around it in a big circle. It was fairly busy considering it was low season. Walking around we decided on a seafood & steak place, we started off with some martinis Snickers, Surfs up and Berry (we thought we better have a drink seeing as though it was in fact ‘Super Tuesday’!) The food was absolutely delicious and the drinks were strong. Heading to the bars we wanted some where that played the tennis as Sam Stosur was playing Kim Clijsters. They had it on at a karaoke bar so we ducked in there for a drink…or 2 and watched as she lost .
The karaoke was good there was some really good singers and some really bad ones too, but it was getting a bit country for us so we decided on the next bar would be the next stop. Outside there was so many bars and we didn’t really know which one to choose, then 2 guys came up to us Ken an Asian accountant and Ali middle eastern a doctor who told us that ‘Senor Frogs’ was good and asked if we would like to head there with them, why not? So off we went and it was a mission just to get into the place, there was a bag check first up checking in all the pockets, inside the mint packet, then for the boys it was a pat down and the metal detector wand and for the chicks it was just the wand ‘geez what is this place, the airport?’.
Inside the boys bought us a drink and they told us they were from Toronto and had come down to Myrtle Beach for a golfing holiday, they were nice. While ordering another drink at the bar I got chatting to another group of fellas who where also from Toronto and were down for a golfing week! They were all really nice to and everyone was chatting having a good time. Now it was time for dancing so we skipped across the boardwalk and went into Maui Beach Club with all the guys and had a good boogie. Kel was getting cozy with Carlos, I was dancing with (as Leigh likes to call em, an Alabama Black Snake!) called Jamal from Maryland who was an NFL manager and Leigh was busy spin dancing with Ali & Ken.
Everyone was having a great time and Super Tuesday had come through again (just like in Toronto). All of a sudden it was time to go….but we decided everyone should come back to our place to continue the party, so walking back we some how managed to loose Ken and Ali, pick up 3 pommy’s and a guy called Rob an ice hockey player from Toronto! By the time we actually got back we had Rob, Jamal & Carlos. More drinks and fun it was now 6am Carlos and Jamal left and Rob was asleep, and then we realised that we had to check out at 11am that same morning ohh so we amazingly had it together enough to book another night online and thank god it was the same hotel.
At 10am Rob left for a golf Tee off and we slept, and slept and slept until 5pm! We finally dragged ourselves out of bed, showered and walked back over to the boardwalk for some food, we walking into ‘Johnny Rockets Diner’ which looked like it was something out of the 50’s with all the staff dressed like they did in the old days. As we walked in ever single person turn to us and yelled out ‘Hi guys welcome to Johnny Rockets ‘ with huge smiles and enthusiasm ‘oh what the hell is going on in here’ it really freaked me out and wasn’t the best thing when you still feel drunk.
After breakfast/lunch/dinner we walked around the shops for a bit and then walked back and went for a swim in the pool and put a load of washing on and went to bed. We actually made it to breakfast the next morning Thursday 9th, headed off to Charleston, it was a 2 hour drive and when we got there we parked in the main street and had a stretch, called into this really, really old chemist which was built before the civil war and has been in the same family since it opened and they have preserved it to look like it did when it first opened, the lady who’s family owned it talked to us about the town and gave us a map and showed us where we should go.
We then headed to the city hall which was absolutely beautiful and so old, it was amazing to see the great condition that the buildings where in. We went into the city hall and they had a movie in the lower level that you could watch about the building, it survived the civil war, 5 hurricanes in a row, an earthquake and another hurricane and it’s still standing. Up to the 2nd floor and the inside was beautiful with wooden polished floors and 2 big marble staircases with big banisters, up on the 3rd floor we went into the council chambers which were just as spectacular, all polished wood every where and lovely old paintings, we snuck a look in the Mayors office who happened to be sitting at her desk when we looked in…opps!
We came out and it was so, so hoy 100 at least and the meter was nearly up on the car park so we drove around the town and through the oldest part along the water front which had magnificent houses with 3 levels, mega white columns flanking beautiful big porches with manicured gardens and huge big chandeliers inside the foyers. The houses were just stunning, drove a little more around the town and then headed off to Savannah Georgia. It was another 2 hour drive and hotwire had come up with the Best Westin. It was in a really good location just one block back from the water front where all the bars shops and restaurants were.
Savannah is a really old town too and all the roads where cobble stones and the buildings had a really old feel about them. The river front street is only 1 of 5 places in the states where you can walk around with a bottle of opened alcohol, so there was plenty of people walking round with beers and drinks. For dinner we went to ‘Wet Willys’ an alcoholic slurpie bar, and yes we did have food not just a drink! We went back to the hotel and were in bed by 11pm. Free breaky again and more smuggling of the butter, fruit and muffins. We bought a loaf of bread and some days we have a vegemite sanga as a snack which is great and we always take the vegemite to breakfast.
Friday 10th was our drive to Jacksonville Florida, it was a short drive, 2 and a bit hours. We arrived and were staying at the Wingate by Wyndham, unpacked and hung around the hotel as it was outside of the main bit of town. For dinner we walked to Applebee’s a chain restaurant where we got 1 appetizer and 2 mains for $20 bucks – tasted pretty good and was good for the budget too. At the hotel I skyped home which was great and dad was being a bit of a goose dancing in the back ground while I was talking to mum and Leigh and Kel were in stiches laughing at him!
Saturday 11th it was time to hit Daytona beach and hotwire had come up with the goods of ‘Daytona Beach Resort’ we had a 1 bedroom condo with 2 double beds, fold out sofa, full kitchen, massive bathroom and an ocean view all for $90 a night. On the way we stopped in at a town called St Augustine an old Spanish community with lots of Spanish style buildings. We arrived at about 2.30pm at the resort which was great, it had 4 pools and from the pool deck we walked straight onto the sand of the beach!
Seeing as though we were at the beach we all decided it was time to go to the beautician/waxer so we headed to the mall and went to ‘Lee’s nails & Waxing’ lets just say we all walked a little more gingerly on the way out! On the way back to the resort we stopped at the grocery store to get some supplies and get our winning lottery ticket! Stopped in at the Liquor store and bought a 1.75L bottle of Smirnoff vodka for $20 out of the kitty. While getting ready to hit the town Leigh made up her famous ‘mules’ (which is now my new favourite drink!) in the bucket we won from trivia – see the bucket did come in handy for some thing.
A Mule is; Vodka, dry ginger ale and a squeeze of lime juice and a slice of lime on ice!
By the time we were ready we were lets say….merry! We had bought along a packet of koala’s that we had left over from the 200 that we started with and gave the guy at reception one along with our cab driver who we asked to drop us off at the most happening place in town, which was the ‘Beach Bar’. No sooner had we walked in and Leigh had already thrown a koala to 3 guys sitting at the bar, they threw it back so we threw it again and then they called us over. Sweet this koala thing works a treat. Kevin, Joey and Jeff turned out to be really nice guys and they bought us all a drink and we had a little boogie on the dance floor. They were from Tampa and had played baseball! They then invited us to another club in Seabreeze street called 515.
We jumped into a cab and headed off, when we arrived we jumped straight to the front of the que and got escorted up to the top floor to the VIP section with a bouncer guarding the area with a red velvet rope – these guys mean business! Next thing you know the biggest bottle of Grey Goose berry Vodka hits the table with sprite and cranberry juice as mixers and we didn’t have to pay a cent – this is awesome!!!!
So good times, Leigh loosing her watch and letting everyone know, and dancing the night went so quick and the club was closing, and after free Vodka lets just say everyone was very messy and needed lots of help from the enormous bouncer to navigate the stairs to get to the cab. We all headed back to our hotel, Leigh fell onto the bed and was asleep before her head hit the pillow, and Kel and I weren’t far behind her.
The next morning Sunday 12th was a lazy Sunday, Leigh and I headed down to the pool and laid out in the sun on deck chairs and watched a man and lady get married on the pool deck, we had front row seats lying there in our cozzies! Mind you it was a bit trailer trashy, the couple would have been in their 40’s and before the ceremony the guys in the bridal party, who were wearing beige pants, white cotton short sleeve shirts and all different types of thongs, smoked a pack of cigarettes each in a space of 45mins. Every guest featured a tattoo of some kind and the mother of the bride was wearing an aqua green cotton t-shirt (yes I did just say T-shirt) with an 80’s inspired high skirt with a bright coloured floral pattern on it which she had the T-shirt tucked into along with black chunky thongs and hair that looked like it needed a good brush! In the back ground of the beach inspired wedding was a man in full Scottish regalia including a kilt who was playing the bag pipes. The bride looked really nice and happy and everyone who was at the pool clapped when they kissed.
Kel then came down from her snooze and we went swimming for a bit longer, headed back to the room as it turned really overcast and looked like it was going to rain. We got into our Pj’s and hopped into bed and watch cable TV, for dinner we decided that staying in was the best option so pizza from ‘Pappa Johns’ it was, and then bed.
Cheerio all
Love to everyone xox
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