Bob made a big breakfast of scrambled eggs, brown n serve sausage and fried potatoes with onions. This breakfast got my birthday off to a good start!
We spent a few hours late morning and afternoon with our friends, Marge and Neil H, at their Garden City Beach rental oceanfront condo.
Marge and Neil’s condo is located at One Ocean Place.
We chatted with Marge and Neil for a while on their 10th floor balcony, enjoying each other’s company as well as the view of the beach and ocean at our feet. A short time later we ate lunch, prepared by their grandson Lex. Lex and his parents, Michael and Andrea, were visiting with Marge and Neil for a few days. Lunch was a salad with a sweet and spicy dressing and a rice, spam and seaweed dish as a main entree. The seaweed held together the rice and spam. It was my first experience eating seaweed. Lex did a great job with lunch … really tasty! It was great seeing Lex again. We last saw him several years ago, when he was a young boy. He is 14 years old now. We enjoyed also seeing and chatting with Lex’s parents.
Before leaving, Bob and I went for a walk on the beach with Marge and Neil.
The tall building in the background is One Ocean Place. There were lots of golf carts on the beach that day.
I love these colorful beach cottages.
Neil, Marge, Bob and I on the beach
Spending time with our friends was a great way to celebrate my birthday!
That evening, after dinner (leftovers from the previous night), Bob and I went for a walk in our neighborhood. We walked to Floral Lake, as we did the previous night.
This picturesque entrance near our rental caught my eye.
At Floral Lake we walked across the footbridge. As happened the previous night, turtles began to multiply beneath the footbridge.
There are lots of turtles in Floral Lake!
From Floral Lake we returned to “Nanny & Pops”’ our Airbnb rental.
Bob went for a walk the morning of Thursday, February 10th, leaving the house around 6:30 am. He walked to the beach and back home. Bob saw the sunrise at the beach.
Surfside Beach Sunrise
I saw the sunrise from the front porch of our Airbnb “Seaside Cottage”.
Sunrise, as seen from the front porch of our Airbnb “Seaside Cottage”
We picked up our grocery order at Walmart at 8:00 am. We drove back home and put away the groceries. For breakfast we ate instant oatmeal and fresh fruit. It is a gorgeous sunny morning. I sat on the front porch and enjoyed the sunshine, as well as the heat from the sun, while drinking a cup of tea.
Around 9:15 am we drive to the Surfside Beach library. Bob printed the Erie Insurance auto insurance card from the website. We left the new card at home, and he wanted to be legal.
From the library we drove to the post office, where we mailed Valentines Day cards to our two granddaughters.
We returned home from the post office, where we rested and relaxed until 10:20 am. At that time we drove to our friends Marge and Neil’s condo at One Ocean Place in Garden City Beach.
Marge & Neil on the balcony of their 10th floor condo at One Ocean Place
The view from Marge & Neil’s 10th floor condo at One Ocean Place
You can see the Surfside Beach Pier (under construction) and Myrtle Beach beyond the pier.
The four of us went for a walk on the beach.
Neil, Bob and Marge in front of One Ocean Place
Marge and I We rested before walking back to One Ocean Place.
Marge likes to walk along the water edge.
Seagull, taking flight
Bob, Neil, Marge and I on the beach
Approaching One Ocean Place
After our walk we drove the short distance to River City Cafe in Surfside Beach. All of us rode in Neil and Marge’s car.
River City Cafe is known for their burgers. Burgers is what all four of us ordered for lunch.
The River City Cafe burgers are huge!
After lunch we drove to our Airbnb “Surfside Cottage” to show Marge and Neil where we are staying.
Soon we were back in the car, driving back to One Ocean Place. We parted ways at this time, making plans to possibly get together before the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Here is an interesting tidbit. Back in Pennsylvania it is an approximate 20-minute drive to Marge and Neil’s house from our house. Here in South Carolina we are an 8-minute drive only from each other.
Once we returned to our Airbnb, we were in for rest of the afternoon and evening. We ate dinner at 6:00 pm. Dinner was tuna casserole, green peas, grapes and chocolate pudding.
We returned home from vacation the afternoon of February 17th. This blog post and several that follow provide written and photographic details of our South Carolina vacation.
We were on our way out of Warren at 6:30 am on Tuesday, February 8th. When we left home, snow was falling, possibly mixed with sleet or freezing rain. The temperature was 19 degrees.
We ate breakfast at Station 61 Family Restaurant in Youngsville PA. At 7:20 am, after a hearty breakfast, we were back on the road.
It was still snowing when we hopped onto I-80 in Barkeyville PA. It was still snowing when we hopped onto I-79. Thankfully each road surface was good, clear of snow and ice.
The snow essentially stopped falling near Pittsburgh PA, although there were short bursts of snow flurries and spitting snow for several miles afterward.
We had snow flurries in Morgantown WV, with very little snow on the ground. There was a little bit of snow on the ground, mostly wooded areas, as we drove through the WV mountains.
At 1:00 pm we stopped briefly at Young’s Monument Scenic Overlook. The overlook is on the northbound side of Route 19, a few miles north of Summersville, WV. The overlook is located on Powell Mountain, south of Birch River, with a view of the Powell Creek Valley to the east and further north, the Birch River Valley can be seen.
Young’s Monument Scenic Overlook
Look at that blue sky! It was still chilly here (37 degrees), but was nice to feel the sunshine.
There is an official West Virginia Historical Marker that stands near the entrance to a rest area at the overlook. The marker reads: “Off Young’s Monument Rd. (.3M) is grave site of Henry & Lucinda Young. A Confed. militiaman or sympathizer, he was killed by Union troops nearby on 8 Sept. 1861. Details of Young’s life and death are scant and confused, symbolizing divided loyalties, tragic times and enduring saga of Civil War in WV, when state was pitted against state and brother against brother. New road in 1970 required reburial.”
We stopped at the Northside Drive Car Wash in Summersville, WV. Bob says it was the best self serve car wash he has ever used. The water pressure was strong; the soap suds were plentiful; and he had enough time to do a spotless rinse, spending less money than he does at home.
We arrived at Comfort Suites in Wytheville, VA around 4:00 pm in the afternoon. We will spend the night here and continue our drive to Surfside Beach, SC tomorrow.
We checked into our room. Bob set up the Internet. Then we went out to dinner.
We ate dinner at Cracker Barrel, which was located about 2 miles from the hotel and easy to drive to.
I liked where the hostess seated us — at a table in front of the fireplace.
Bob ordered grilled catfish with hash brown casserole, broccoli and biscuits. I ordered meatloaf with hash brown casserole, fried apples and corn bread muffins. Both meals were delicious. After dinner we returned to our hotel, where we stayed for rest of the evening.
The next day we ate a complimentary hot breakfast at our hotel. Because of COVID precautions implemented by the hotel we were not free to get desired foods ourselves. An attendant got the food we desired. Bob had eggs, bacon and a muffin with coffee and OJ. I got a waffle with diced peaches with tea and OJ.
We departed Comfort Suites Wytheville at 8:15 am, en route Surfside Beach, SC. The temperature was 27 degrees.
I saw a few snow patches near Wytheville.
Approaching the VA/NC state line, we lost a lot of elevation and saw the last of snow patches.
We ate lunch at Magnolia on Main Cafe in Bennettsville, SC. Bob ordered homemade chicken salad on a bed of lettuce served with pita chips, pasta salad and a frozen fruit cup. I ordered turkey, lettuce and tomato in flat bread … like a turkey wrap but toasted … with pasta salad. We shared a slice of pineapple cake. Our meals were delicious.
After lunch, we wandered around the Marlboro County Court House grounds.
Marlboro County Court House
Confederate Civil War Monument
We arrived in Surfside Beach around 2:00 pm, with about 2 hours to kill before we could check in to our Airbnb “Seaside Cottage”. We drove to the nearby Walmart to see the location of their curbside pickup. We have a scheduled pickup between 7:00 and 8:00 am on Thursday morning. We, then, took a ride along the ocean to Garden City Beach. We stopped at the Azalea Ave public access to the beach, where there was free parking. We walked out on the beach, where we saw the Garden City Pier.
Garden City Pier
A few minutes past 4:00 pm we checked in at Airbnb “Seaside Cottage”. Bob carried in the stuff from the car. I organized the kitchen and put away my clothes / toiletries. Around 5:30 pm I made dinner – Campbell’s Chunky New England Clam Chowder, with crackers, and fruit cocktail. Neither of us were very hungry.
We went for a short walk in the neighborhood, after dinner. We walked about 1/3 of a mile. The neighborhood appears well cared for and quiet. In the evening we watched “The Cleaning Lady” on Hulu TV.
The Beauty Around Us 