I had had virtually three full days in a row of traveling and sightseeing in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Charleston, South Carolina – and I was ready to spend my last day of my final major trip of 2009 relaxing in Myrtle Beach on Friday, July 31. The exhaustion I felt at that point actually allowed me to sleep a full eight hours that night before waking up to a bit of bacon and eggs…and two visitors.
Although Ashleigh’s friends Stephen and David had been lingering around for the last few days, I didn’t meet them until I came downstairs that morning to find them curled up on the floor of the living room playing with the kids. They seemed like nice boys so I withheld my sardonic sense of humor and whimsy and spared them.
We slowly got ready and all headed over to the Windy Shores where Bev & Ed and Karen & Joe and their kids were staying. There we swam in the pool and laid out for a couple of hours. The kids went down to the ocean but I just stayed around the pool and relaxed. Adam’s meltdown at around 1pm signalled the time to return to the Links for lunch. Leftover wings and Japanese food really hit the spot.
Mom, Adam, and I wave as Karen and some incredibly tan man provide background entertainment
The gang’s all here: Karen, Andrew, Abby, Denise, Megan, me, Adam, and Aaron enjoying a summer swim
Taking Megan for a water stroll
After lunch, I decided to fully utilize my opportunity for laziness and decided to take a nap. Instead I ended up on Facebook, watching Adam wildly run around my bedroom, demanding that I type “G” for Gecko on the laptop. I still managed to get in another listen to Panic at the Disco’s now-masterpiece Pretty. Odd.
Meanwhile back at the Links…Ashleigh attempts to teach Adam the duckface
Megan and Bob – with his traditional tropical burn
Dinner that night was homemade spaghetti – without the sauce of course. Actually I like to dip the garlic bread in it even if I don’t douse my spaghetti with it. Soon it was time for the after-dinner ping-pong competitions. Briana played David and systematically destroyed him, much to my delight. Then she destroyed me, much to my chagrin. And then beat David one more time. And finally lost to me. At last…redemption.
Denise and Aaron then came over for a game, so I held Megan for them. She was less grumpy then she had been all week (due to the diaper blowout of the previous night), but still a tad fussy. Denise was fussy too after Aaron beat her, but she felt better after she beat me. Aaron and I had the final showdown, during which I beat him the first game, but he won the final two.
Briana thumps David at ping pong
This Megan expression might be mistaken for a smile, but it in fact was not
Head to head with my sister, who was the victor
And with that, our time in Myrtle Beach came to a close. I had a glass of wine, packed up my stuff and hit the sack. The next morning, we loaded up the car, took our traditional photos in front of the pond and fountain outside our door. We hit the road around 9:00am, on Saturday, August 1.
Bob and Mom at the pond
Stephen, Ashleigh, Briana, and David
My family
One of my stipulations (okay, requests) of going on the Myrtle Beach trip was that we head home through Columbia so that I could tour the South Carolina state capitol. I also determined the location of the Woodrow Wilson boyhood home located here, and Bob and Mom agreed to stop off there as well. We arrived in Columbia around 11:30.
This was where I began to hate South Carolina. First of all, the Wilson home was under renovation. Although no sign or anything actually indicated such a thing. In fact, one sign directed us elsewhere to get admission tickets, but that location was closed as well. I settled for pictures outside of it – which can be seen here.
Then…although I had called and talked to someone in the state capitol and was told that there were self-guided walking tours offered on Saturdays, the building was simply locked up. No way in. Putzes. Combine all of this with the bad sushi I had at Miyabi’s and it was enough to banish the entire state from the union.
Columbia was founded in 1786 at which time it replaced Charleston as the state capitol. The present capitol building was begun in 1855, with uninterrupted construction going on until February 17, 1865 – at which time Sherman burned Columbia. Work was resumed in 1867 and the capitol was completed in 1900.
The State House historical marker. Should have said “Closed on Saturdays, Putz” on it.
The South Carolina state capitol in Columbia, my seventh state capitol of the year, twelfth overall.
Statue of George Washington outside the capitol
Monument to South Carolina’s Confederate Dead. This monument was established in 2000 following a controvery regarding the Confederate flag flying over the dome. It was re-located here at that time.
Locked out of a State Capitol…once again
I spent about 20 minutes roaming the exterior of the capitol building and gathering a few photos and then we found an interesting hot dog restaurant called Sandy’s which slightly helped redeem the state. They had a wide variety of dogs and I went for the Reuben hot dog.
One giant hot dog stand
Enjoying the Reuben hot dog with the girls. Briana looks particularly thrilled.
As I get older, I find that I don’t mind day-long drives so much. I spend most of the time in my own iPod world (especially with Panic at the Disco, naturally). It was fun to travel with Ashleigh and Briana and witness their antics. Seems they haven’t grown up so much, recalling the photos from our similar trip three years earlier! I did become a bit furious with Briana when I discovered that she had lost one of my It’s Your Move DVDs however.
Foot. Head.
The Briana
Gummy worm lust
Panic on the iPod
Other than the flapping weather stripping that I had to tolerate for part of the drive and Subway’s for dinner, the trip home was mostly uneventful. I arrived home in the 11pm range, where Heidi – who had been watching the cats – met me to pass off the house key.
It was a great trip that combined day trips for historical location scouting, historical stops on the way down and back, relaxation, quality time with the family, and loads of fun. Summer trips like this don’t get much better.
The concludes the Myrtle Beach 2009 postings. Continue with 2009…
Return to the beginning of the trip here…
I feel sorry for Bob. That tropical burn has really got to hurt.
And the “Foot. Head.” photo ranks up there as one of the Catsafterme classics.
Peter
November 22nd, 2009
Yes. South Carolina should be banished from the Union. They were the first to secede from the same Union in 1860, after all.
Chris
November 23rd, 2009