Sunday, March 9, 2014

You may recall that right after we arrived yesterday, we headed to Publix for supplies, including Keurig coffee pods. Well, Sunday morning, the box of pods was nowhere to be found in the hotel room. It's 5 am, and I'm fumbling around in the dark, trying not to wake Linda, but having no luck. I put on my boots and headed to the trike to see if they were in there. No luck.

The clerk at Publix was very nice, and after bagging our supplies, handed us the bags. She must have missed the box when she bagged it. Well, with the restaurant opening still two hours away, I really didn't have much choice but to do without. The end result? By the time Linda got up, I was starving -- not having caffeine withdrawal, but very hungry. Not what I expected.

There was a change this year. Two years ago, you paid for breakfast, and you had a server that took your order. This year, they've finally set it up as a buffet of sorts, and it's included in the room charge. Not too bad. Linda tried the automatic pancake maker -- press the button, and it makes two pancakes from batter stored in the reservoir. They're not preformed, as they came out in irregular shapes. Link sausages and cheese omelets made from a mix. The former were good, that latter -- no so much. Weird texture. Coffee and juices, cereals, the normal fare. Good enough to get us going.

While we ate, I was struck by the diversity of the people in the room, a cross section of the bike week crowd. Black, white, Asian, Middle-Eastern, young, not-so-young, even children. Well-dressed (in biker's garb), others in torn jeans and sleeveless T's, long-hair, short hair, no hair. And everyone enjoying themselves, talking with others, joking, laughing. Motorcycles being the common thread, it's easy to get along.

Daytona learned years ago that the "1 percenters," those gang-related bikers, would destroy Bike Week, and took the necessary steps to keep them away. They're still welcome, but not in colors, and there are enough police around so that they're not a threat to everyone else. Riding down the road, riders are following the speed limits. None of the shenanigans that hit the papers last year with those crotch-rocket dumbasses in New York that beat up that driver. Everybody having a good time.

So we started at Publix, and explained what we think happened with the coffee to the girl at the Customer Service desk. "No problem," she said, "Just go and get another." Gotta love Publix.

We headed down Atlantic Avenue, past Main Street. It was already starting to get busy there, at 11 in the morning. Temperature around 70° and promising to climb to 75 or better. Sun shining, thin wispy clouds. A beautiful day.

We passed Main, promising to go back later this week, and headed to International Speedway Boulevard, where we crossed the inlet to the mainland, and moved with about a thousand riders up to Daytona Speedway, where many of the vendors were showing off their new products.

The thunder of the bikes was deafening. While I don't want to ride all the time with that kind of noise, it is something else when you get a bunch together and they're roaring at each other. Of course, Linda's bike and mine sound more like George Jetson's space car. Even if I rev it, you can't hear it over the thunder.

Honda's tents were busy. They were showing off their full line of motor sports equipment, from 4-wheelers to dirt bikes, from CRV's (crotch rockets) to Shadows and Furies, to Goldwings. For 2014 they have a new line of bikes, the CTX series. They look to be at the 1300 cc level, and nicely designed.

Lighter than a Goldwing, but very comfortable, with a lot of the electronics that are going into many of the new models. I'm not looking for a new ride, but this would be a fun around town or going to work vehicle. Price starts around 15K.

We wandered around the area, looking through the various tents, picking up a few giveaways, and Linda said she needed a break (arthritis in her knees). We found the food area, and sat at the bar. We had a beer and some better than expected food, her a shrimp platter, me a "pulled-pork cheeseburger" that turned out to be a decent cheeseburger with pulled pork barbecue piled on top. Really good. We talked to several people, commiserating with their crappy winters (you really can't complain about temps in the 30's when they're experiencing wind chills in the minus 30's). 

While we were sitting there, the girl on the right (the blonde), went over to a golf cart delivering more beer, and returned carrying three cases at once. I told her that was impressive -- I would struggle with only two. She bragged that she can carry five at once, a feat she attributes to having to pick up her Street Glide regularly. Really? How often would you have to pick this up? We heard a series of tales, that began with "1-2-3 and down!" referring to the number of beers she has first. Then, onto her assorted injuries, none of which (she claims) were her fault. I told Linda, "I don't wanna ride with THAT GIRL!"

You might notice in the background of the picture, a line of about 30 port-a-potties. While we were there, the "honey wagon" showed up. They pushed one of the middle units out so that the guy could bring in the hose, and vacuum them out.

Ya know? Maybe your job isn't that bad after all!

We continued our walk around the show, then back on the bikes, and headed for Beach Street. Ever since the Bruce Rossmeyer Harley-Davidson dealership closed on Beach Street following his death in 2009, the show on Beach Street has diminished. It's now on the east side of the street only, and mostly has the t-shirt and patch crowd. There are a few motorcycle accessoriy places, Progressive Insurance is there, and there's a food kiosk. There's a large tent with a bar, and a band was tuning up while we took a break.

The band was pretty good, doing classic rock stuff. The most interesting thing about them was the sax player.

Yes, he was playing two horns at once.

All the walking, the sunshine and the warmth had taken its toll. We headed back to the bikes, and returned to the hotel around 4 for a nap. Our faces have turned a lovely shade of red, and we're not the only ones. Most people seem to have forgotten their sun block. After dinner we picked up some SPF 30 for tomorrow.

While we expected that Beach Street wouldn't be the same, it was still sad to see. There were a lot of people and motorcycles, but it just wasn't the same as in past years. Now Main Street, across the water in Daytona Beach, looks busier than ever. I'm looking forward to that.

Daytona Bike Week, March, 2014
Saturday, March 8th.

We got on the road yesterday morning right on schedule, hitting I-95 at 10 o'clock. The temperature had risen to about 52° by then. Traffic looked pretty light as we rolled down the highway. I noticed along the sides of the road the amount of damage the ice storm a few weeks back had caused. In the median there were a lot of downed branches, and off on the right side beyond the shoulder were cut-off trees that had apparently fallen across the road.

As we approached the Santee Lake area (50 miles into the trip), we hit our first slowdown, as we saw our first "Left Lane Closed" sign. For three miles before the lane closed, traffic backed up, and we crawled past a group of workers with chain saws, clearing out the debris from the median. At least it wasn't just us -- I saw the same slowdown in the Northbound lanes as well.

Another back up after we passed I-26, and we crawled along for several miles, never finding out what caused the slowdown in the first place. All in all, it cost us more than an hour, and we hadn't even left South Carolina. Great start, eh?

We took our first hundred-mile break at Walterboro (I enforce a hundred-mile break on longer bike runs -- keeps you from getting too tired), at the same exit as we always seem to take. The BP station we used to hit was now empty -- seems like a lot of stations come and go -- and we stopped at Zaxby's for a quick lunch, before gassing up and heading out again.

Within 10 miles of the Georgia border, we hit another slowdown, where they had begun to put up the signs for road work. As we moved slowly along, we came across a set of vehicle tracks in the median, that looked like a big truck had made them, then traveled back onto the road, evidenced by the mud tracks it left. Amazingly, as soon as we passed them, traffic began moving again. Are you kidding?!? Rubbernecking for tire tracks?

The temperature was rising as we moved on, into the 60's, then all the way to 72°. As we crossed the border into Georgia, I-95 adds a third lane, allowing the traffic to speed up. But, traffic was strange -- crowded, with drivers seeming not to know what a speed limit is. In a 70 mph zone, we alternated between 65 and 85 miles per hour, never being able to stay on cruise for very long. As it turned out, I was the one who needed to take the next break about 220 miles into the trip. Between being too warm and the traffic being what it was, I need to get off and stretch, open the vents on my  jacket to allow air to flow, and change out my gloves for lighter weight ones.

Traffic speeds remained inconsistent as we rolled towards Jacksonville, Linda' nemesis. Don't get me wrong: traveling through Jacksonville is a pain. I-95 actually makes a hard left turn in the middle of town, and it is always bumper-to-bumper at 75 mph. Kind of like Atlanta.

We chose to take the bypass instead, something we hadn't done in 5 years. The signage is much better now, and I wasn't fooled this time by the exit that promised to take us "to I-95." It takes you to the street roads, directly into Jacksonville, about halfway around. The bridge over the St. Johns river rises at about a 15° angle as it climbs towards the sky, then plummets down to a causeway to complete its path across. Back onto I-95, and moving towards Daytona, the traffic continued to fluctuate, never really maintaining a nice, easy flow, the number of cars seeming to increase.

One more slowdown as a vehicle had a flat tire within a construction zone with concrete walls on either side and no shoulder for them to pull off. We had already pushed past the hundred mile break, but we wanted to get out of the Jacksonville area before stopping. We finally exited on US-1, about 30 miles north of Ormond Beach. Linda was down to about an 8th of a tank by then.

It was around 4:30, and we decided to finish up on US-1 instead of going back to the madhouse that is I-95, and what we lost in speed we made up for in comfort. 65 miles per hour with light traffic was just fine. When we reached the I-95 exit we normally take, it was crowded but moving just fine, until we arrived just north of Iron Horse Saloon.

Traffic at Iron Horse is always busy during Bike Week. There's a camp ground just across the street, where many of the bikers stay. Add the souvenir shops to the mix, and there are thousands of vehicles and dozens of police cars all packed into a very small footprint. We stayed in the left lane and I duck-walked the bike for about a half-mile before the road opened up, and we traveled the remaining 3 miles to the Granada Street turn. Over the bridge, turn on Atlantic Ave, and the hotel was a half-mile ahead. We hit the entrance about 5 o'clock, 7 hours after leaving, the longest ride we've taken.

My first words? "Honey, we're home!"

We checked in, emptied the bikes and dumped everything in the room (top floor, ocean view), then jumped on the trike together and headed to the Publix for supplies -- coffee (Keurig pods), water (not using the tap water, thank you), and half-and-half. We found San Sebastian wines on sale, cheaper than what we paid at the winery, and we got a nice wine carry bag free as well!

It was dark by the time we got back to the hotel. We put everything away, then went across the street to the German restaurant. The pierogies and stuffed cabbage, with sauerkraut and sour cream (those Germans are a sour bunch, aren't they?) were delicious, and washing them down with a few Spaten dark beers was a treat.

It was a hard ride today, but nothing too challenging. I'm proud of Linda. She really hasn't ridden a lot since here surgery in May, and I was afraid she would struggle with this. But she handled the ride exceptionally well.

We'll see what today brings. I understand that the Blues Brothers are supposed to be at Iron Horse today. Hope it's not the originals!

Daytona Bike Week March, 2014

Saturday morning, 7 am. Sun is coming up, but the temperature is sitting at 34°. Weather.com says that it will be up to 50° by 10, about when I want to be on the road to Daytona. It'll be a chilly ride at first, but it should warm up quickly as we head south.

We're headed to the 73rd Annual Daytona Beach Bike Week, where 400,000 bike enthusiasts get together to show of their "Iron Horses" and themselves, and generally have a great time. We've been there a few times before, and always enjoy it.

We're riding our motorcycles ("we're not going to trailer week") the entire 400 miles today. It should take about 6 hours with breaks to gas up, water down and empty out, but with our rides, it's not too bad.

Linda has a 2012 Honda Goldwing trike, and I'm still riding my 2010 Goldwing. Between the heated seats, heated grips and cruise control (true cruise, like in a car, not a "throttle lock"), the ride is comfortable enough to still be ready to go when we get there.

This is our first long ride since Linda's surgery in May of last year, when she had 4 disks replaced in her neck. Dr. Kammer, the neurosurgeon has declared her to be 100%, and I know she's as excited as I am to get back on the road.

Temperatures in Daytona Beach look like they'll hover around the 70° mark all week, with Wednesday being the only "Scattered Showers" day.

We keep our plans open for the most part. We'll hit Main Street a few times, Beach Street in Daytona to see the Harley-Davidson tent, maybe over to the racetrack where Honda sets up their displays. We'll ride the loop (may even get some video this year), take a ride to St. Augustine, and hang out. Beyond that, we'll see what comes our way.

I'll be posting our stops on Facebook as we travel, if you'd like to follow along, and I'll update this blog with our adventure as often as I can. Lots of pictures, descriptions and links to follow. Enjoy!

Myrtle Beach, SC -- July 22-25, 2013

A good day Wednesday. We were up and at 'em by 8, and enjoyed the breakfast at the Inn. Melon, strawberries and pineapple, bagels, muffins, and an interesting egg and cheese breakfast casserole that had some other things in it that I couldn't identify (but it was really good). Normal, bad coffee -- but since we bring our single-cup Keurig with us, I'd already had a few good cups.

We had nothing planned, and Linda suggested that we go downtown and walk the boardwalk. On one of the "Welcome to Myrtle Beach" channels there was a comment about parking meter exemptions  for people with handicap plates or placards, veteran's plates and others. A quick look at the City of Myrtle Beach's web site revealed this:

"In South Carolina, any vehicle displaying a valid handicapped, Purple Heart, Disabled American Veterans or Medal of Honor license tag, or a valid and official handicapped hang tag, may park for free at any public-operated parking meter.  If your vehicle displays one of these, then you do not have to pay a municipal parking meter anywhere in South Carolina."

Anywhere in South Carolina? Did anyone else know that? So Linda's handicap placard has another great use!

We arrived downtown and parked on the side street near the Ripley's attraction, about a half-block from the boardwalk. It was a nice stroll, the weather was comfortable (cloudy, 85 degrees), and it was pretty much the same as any boardwalk: restaurants and the ever-interchangeable shops that sell t-shirts, shorts and junk, and look the same as the store next to it. Still, it was a nice walk along the shore.

We walked back to the car. The same small crowd of people that were there when we parked had been added to; a 30-something woman was looking at our meter (that we never put money into -- see above) like she couldn't believe we had skipped the meter. She never even looked at us, but after we got in the car she began pointing at the meter and pretending to see if it was broken. I just laughed as we pulled out. Bitch.

We drove down to the Main Gate entrance to the Market Commons area. The Main Gate refers to the original entrance to Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, which opened in 1940 as a World War II training base and coastal patrol base. It closed in 1993, and has been repurposed for commercial development. The Market Commons area is about 5 square blocks of shops and restaurants, even a theater. Gordon Biersch is here, as well as a Mac Store, even a Victoria's Secret. Much more upscale stuff than the "same old stuff" at the boardwalk.

We didn't stop and shop, just looked around before continuing through to the Highway 17 bypass, right in the middle of the huge construction zone. I know it will be an improvement in the traffic flow when it's done, but it's gonna take a lot more work and a lot more frustrating traffic jams before they're done.

We drove to Broadway at the Beach, and parked at the far end and walked around for a while. The stores are better, more variety, but we just window-shopped. At around eleven-thirty we headed for The Tilted Kilt, a Hooters-style restaurant, for lunch.

Bree was our bartender, a self-proclaimed redneck girl, loud and funny, with a huge Harry Potter homage tattoo on her side that she was happy to show off. The food was good, the beer delicious. We had a good laugh with the staff, and stayed way too long.

After our nap (I did say we stayed too long, didn't I?), we changed and headed to the House of Blues for our Mystery Dinner Theater. We picked up our tickets, and a 7 on the dot we headed upstairs to "the scene of the crime."

"Family-style seating" means that you sit at long tables with the other guests, allowing you to chat and get to know them, which becomes part of the fun. A nice salad, chicken breasts for dinner with spiced mashed potatoes and broccoli for dinner, and a cup cake with whipped cream for dessert reminded me of some wedding receptions we've been to.

Our host begins the warm-up when a young man gets up and goes over to her. She hands him the microphone and he goes into what appears to be a proposal to his girlfriend. Just a she says yes and stands to hug him, a shot rings out from the doorway, and she falls dead to the floor in an exaggerated death scene. A detective shows up and the fun begins. Lots of comedy, and three murders -- the shooting, a stabbing and a poisoning -- round out the fun. The clues are laid out, and you're supposed to determine who the killers are. I had about two-thirds of it figured out, but missed who stabbed "Sal Minelli" (yes, that was his name).

The comedy troupe took their bows, then the three people who gave the worst answers were brought up. Their answers were read to much laughter and applause, and they were presented with their booby-prize: a fake nose and glasses they had to wear back to their tables. They were good sports about it (they had to know how bad their answers were).

Then the three winners were called out, and they won a special "clue bag," just a cloth satchel from the House of Blues. It was fun, and we had a great time. The young couple next to us were singled out for applause -- they had just been married on Saturday.

All in all this was a good three days in Myrtle Beach. The Accord still has half of the original tank of gas, and another 250 miles of range. It did finally show a wrench on the dashboard, and it appears our oil is within 15% of its useful life, so we'll be hitting the Honda dealer for service tomorrow.

On Saturday we'll attend the Grateful Dog II benefit at Southern Hops, to benefit the area Humane Societies. They're planning on working hard to make it bigger than last year. We hope to see our Florence friends there.


 

Myrtle Beach, SC -- July 22-25, 2013

Most of the entries on this blog have to do with our adventures on the motorcycles, but with the summer we've had, it doesn't look like there will be any long rides until the Fall or the Spring.

We had planned to take the bikes to the Outer Banks for a week back in May. But Linda began having pain issues in her arm that were keeping her out of work. The chiropractor helped, but the pain would come back.

I was going to describe our "adventures" in dealing with an overbooked medical profession with incompetent staffing, but let's cut to the chase. Thanks to the amazing work of Dr. Kenneth Kammer, neurosurgeon, Linda had four disks (one of them ruptured -- where the real pain came from) replaced in an 8 hour surgery back on May 20th. She has been home recuperating since then, and our adventures were placed on hold. Other than the Physical Therapy sessions to get her arm and hand strength and dexterity back, she's been out of action. Finally, this week is the first she's allowed out of her cervical collar while in the car, and she goes back to work on the 1st of August. What better time for a "run away from home!"

Looking for something a bit different, we made reservations at the Serendipity Inn, a Bed and Breakfast in Myrtle Beach, on the north side, right off King's Highway.

There are fourteen rooms, all of them designed for 2 people. We managed to get the Southern Comfort Suite, one of only two suites available (although there are listed a few "mini suites"). A separate bedroom with a comfortable king-sized bed, along with a kitchenette and living room area.

The place is run by Phil, and while he's referred to his wife on occasion, we've not seen her yet. The rooms, like the whole place, are worn a bit, but clean. A full refrigerator (minis in the other rooms) is a nice plus.

It's pretty quiet -- haven't seen any kids -- and we've seen license plates from Texas, Ontario (for my Dixie friends, they know where the Brampton plant is), Pennsylvania and more. Parking is tight but workable. A small TV in the living room, and no TV in the bedroom. Good water pressure and your own water heater make for a pretty good shower.

We arrived in Myrtle Beach a bit early for checkin, so we headed out looking for lunch. Someone had told us about Joe's Bar and Grill near Barefoot Landing, so we figured it would be a good place to start -- remember, we try to find different places, staying away from the chain restaurants if we can.

I hadn't put the address in the Navi system, but I kind of knew where it was. We turned on Conway street, and found Hamburger Joe's. OK, not the same name, but things change all the time, right? We went in, and figured out quickly it wasn't the same place. The cheeseburgers were good (fresh ground beef makes the difference), good fries. When we left, as we were getting in the car, I spotted the Joe's Bar and Grill sign down the road. Oh, well. We'll hit that later.

We drove across to Barefoot Landing, a collection of shops and restaurants, and strolled around. We found The Foxworthy Store, but it had more stuff from Duck Dynasty than from Jeff Foxworthy. I guess one redneck is as good as another!

We headed to the Inn around two (check-in at three), and Phil showed us the room, but he wasn't done with it yet, so he gave us the key and we headed out. Down to Ocean Boulevard, then south, through some nice areas, then hotels that not only block your view of the ocean but block your XM satellite signal, and finally to downtown, dominated by t-shirt shops, moped rentals and other stuff. Not the Myrtle Beach of yesterday. We went all the way down to the Main Gate (of the old MB AFB), then headed back north to the room, ready to get in the room and unpack.

When we were heading to Barefoot Landing, we noticed that the House of Blues was having a Murder Mystery Dinner Theater that night. We tried for reservations, but they were booked. We chose Carrabba's Italian Grill instead. They don't take reservations, but we got on the "Next Available" list for 7PM, and in spite of the people waiting outside for a table, we got one in about 4 minutes.

The food was good, but not up to the expectations I had. To be honest, by the time we got back to the hotel, I really couldn't remember what I had, or the flavor. Not disappointing per se, just -- not anything.

Tuesday promised to be fun, and it didn't disappoint. We headed to La Belle Amie, a local winery and vineyard in Little River, north of Myrtle Beach. Actually, the winery itself has been moved inland because of the history of storms in the area, but the grounds are beautiful. Chuck took us for a tour of the vineyards.

They grow muscadine grapes, and the original arbors -- over 100 years old -- are still producing grapes. In front of the arbors they've planted rose bushes. Chuck explained that the roses are susceptible to the same diseases and insects as the hardy vines, and will show damage faster, giving them a heads-up to problems. Kind of like canaries in a mine. They use no pesticides or other chemicals; just fertilizer, sun and rain. With all the rain we've had this summer, the vineyard is full and lush.

We did the wine tasting, enjoying samples of six of their wines (we got to pick the ones we wanted out of about 12 bottles), including a blueberry wine that they carry. Linda liked the fruity Island Mama (white) while I liked the Poor Bastard (red). We each carried a glass out to the beautiful shaded porch and enjoyed the day as we talked about what we liked. Finally we bought a bottle or 8.

During the season on weekends they have various festivals with good music, food and drink, and from the sounds of it huge crowds. We'll have to come back for that, but this time it was all about the quiet and the wine.

Coming back to Myrtle Beach we stopped at Duffy Street Seafood Shack near Tanger Outlet. It was only 1:15, but the place was deserted (Later on, the dinner crowd filled the place). The food was pretty good, just a little weird sitting there in a big empty dining room.

A little shopping, then back to the Inn and some pool time. The water temp was about 90 degrees -- that may seem hot to you hardy northern folk, but it's perfect to drop your body temperature without putting you in shock. We lounged for more than an hour, enjoying the sun and a drink.

We called the House of Blues and got the last two tickets for the Murder Mystery for the following evening (Wednesday), then decided to try out Joe's Bar and Grill for dinner. One word: WOW!

It doesn't look like much on the outside, and the parking lot is small (extra parking across the street). But it's the food that makes this place stand out. Linda chose an 8 ounce South African Lobster Tail while I went for the Lamb Chops. Both of them were excellent -- perfectly cooked, melt in your mouth flavor. She never touched the drawn butter, and I left the mint jelly alone. The food didn't need anything else. The house wines complemented the food, and the evening was wonderful. We shared a dessert (only because the waiter teased us with it even before we were done with our meals), a slice of banana bread with ice cream and a whisky sauce. A perfect finish.

Back to the Inn, a soak in the hot tub, then we crashed, sated and tired.

We haven't decided what we're going to do today, but tonight we have the Murder Mystery Dinner Theater at the House of Blues. That should be an interesting part of our adventure.

One of the things we try to do on our "adventures," whether they be a week long, or just a few days, is to keep trying things that are new and/or different to us. But that doesn't stop us from enjoying some of the familiar places, either.

We started out Friday morning by driving around to the other side of Broadway at the Beach, and visiting Ripley's Aquarium. It may not be as large as, say the SC Aquarium in Charleston, but to me is a more enjoyable place to visit. Some of the exhibits change regularly, and some, like the large central shark tank, remain the same, yet still present a wonderful view of undersea life.

As you ride the moving walkway around the bottom of "shark reef," you get the chance to be very close to the denizens of the deep, and you feel like you can almost touch them. Since you're traveling inside a tube, the fish actually swim overhead as well. A nice place to spend an hour or two.

The rain had stopped sometime in the night, and the sun was shining brightly, with the promise of temperatures in the 60's (I almost feel bad for those of you in the midst of Winter Storm Nemo. Almost).

It was still early, so we decided to go to Jamin Leather. This is where Linda got her chaps (for riding her motorcycle). They're very good at helping size them, and trimmed them to fit while we waited. We like to visit every now and then, but I had forgotten that they were moving from their old location on King's Highway, south of Myrtle Beach, to a new location just off the bypass. When we got to the old site, I pulled up their new address, and entered it into the navi.

I had seen on the news that there was a major road-widening project going on around the bypass, but hadn't had the "pleasure" of experiencing it first-hand. While it's a good thing in the long run, and from what the reporters were saying the local store owners support it, it is currently a mess. We followed the navi across from 17 to the bypass, and headed north, right into the middle of the construction. Concrete barricades and cones outnumbered the vehicles, and there were a lot of cars. When the navi told me to "Take the next left turn," I found that there wasn't a turn to take, and traveled another mile to a u-turn, heading back south again. We could see Jamin Leather on the frontage road, but had to pass it by, with the navi system now wanting me to make another go-around. It was stuck in a loop, and would have had us going in circles. We finally found an exit, and worked our way back.

Linda found a new cowboy (cowgirl?) hat, and a shirt or two, and I discovered that they carry the boot style I like for riding. When I need to get my next pair of boots, I'll go back there instead of ordering them online (I'd rather shop local when I can, and support local business. It's just a good idea.).

When we finally got back on the highway headed north, we decided to head downtown and cruise a bit, looking for some place to eat. As we waited at a red light, we looked down the side street and saw
Dirty Don's Oyster Bar, a small place about a block from the ocean.

Parking in back was tight, but manageable, and we headed inside, opting for the bar instead of out on the front porch (still damp from the rain the night before). Patrick the bartender was friendly, and the food was good. It was fried, but done properly, so it wasn't greasy. Linda had just the shrimp, but I went for the shrimp, clam strips and oysters. The fries were fresh, not frozen, and tasted that way.

Nothing special about the beer, but after Patrick fixed a marguerita for another customer, there was a bit left in the blender. He put it in a glass and gave it to Linda. She liked it (I thought we may be there for a while as she had a couple more, but she behaved herself).

Afterwards, it was back to the hotel, where we changed into bathing suits and headed to the pool. The hot tub (shaped like a fish -- cute!) was 104 degrees and felt wonderful, but we couldn't take the entire 15 minute cycle and tried the "heated" pool. After you've raised your body temp in a hot tub, a heated pool doesn't feel heated anymore, so we headed for the room.

We sampled the beer we got from New South yesterday. One beer, then a nap, getting up in time to head out to dinner.

I had already plugged in Gordon Biersch's address in the navi, and despite it's attempts to send us down the bypass straight back into the construction, I forced it to reconsider as we took the business 17 route to Farrow Road and Market Commons, an area that was built on the land that used to be part of the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base that closed in 1993, and is being redeveloped for civilian uses.

As we arrived at the restaurant, it was apparent that parking on the street would be tough to find, so I turned off, and found a couple just leaving, providing us with a space directly across from the front door. We arrived at the end of happy hour, and indeed the patrons in the bar area looked happy. We were taken to our seats immediately (remember -- that's what I like about Myrtle Beach in February -- I'm sure that during the summer, you would have to wait for seating), and when I requested a table rather than a booth, they were very accomodating.

Doris, our waitress, offered samples of their beer, and Linda chose the Golden Export, a light, fresh beer with a hint of fruit finish. I asked for a sample of their seasonal beer, a porter that was dark and rich with a hoppy nose and a coffee finish. We ordered them, and I asked if I could get a taste of their Schwarzbier, a black beer that, while good, didnt' have the body of the porter.

The food was excellent. Linda selected the medallions of beef with the crab-stuffed shrimp, while I chose Lemon Crusted Yellow Tail Sole. Doris took the order, and returned in a few minutes to inform us that the order for the Sole had not arrived today. I opted for the Barbequed Salmon with red onion, fresh baby spinach leaves and ginger rice.

A few minutes later, she came back to present us with the next problem: Linda' steak (rare) was done, but my salmon wasn't. I assured her that it would be better to bring her meal out first rather than ruin the medallions -- rare steak waits for no one! It didn't take much longer for my plate to arrive, and I got the chance to taste her beef. It was much better than the NY Strip I had from Liberty Steakhouse, and Linda said it was better than the prime rib she had eaten the night before.

I have to say, this is a place that we will want to visit again. The food, the beer, and even the professional way they dealt with the problems made it a very pleasant experience.

We had the option to stay another night, but we've decided to head home today. With Myrtle Beach only seventy miles away, we can "run away from home" any given weekend, and we did well on our "Beer Quest," so we accomplished the goals we set for our adventure.

Broadway @ The Beach, Myrtle Beach, SC

Many years ago, when Myrtle Beach was all but shut down during the winter, Linda and I would head down for my "Birthday Weekend," enjoying the lighter traffic, no waiting in restaurants, and lower prices for everything. Walks on the beach, while a bit chilly, are so much better when it's just the two of you, and the hearty souls from the Great White North that think that 50 degree weather is balmy.

Since we won't be making the trip to Daytona this year (scheduling conflicts), we decided to run away from home, back to our Birthday Weekend At The Beach.

When we mentioned this at our favorite watering hole, Southern Hops, Jimmy Deaton suggested we should take the tour at the New South Brewery in Myrtle Beach. Sounds like a plan!

We come down regularly to go to Joe's Crab Shack, usually as a good excuse to get out on the motorcycles and take a day trip. Drive down, enjoy a steam pot of crab, shrimp, andouille sausage and more, walk around a bit to digest, then back to Florence. About two weeks ago, since Linda's knees weren't complaining, we ended up walking further down the row of shops than we normally did, and found Liberty Steakhouse, a micro brewery, and The Tilted Kilt, apparently a chain of quasi-Irish Pub style restaurants, with the servers in tiny kilts and cleavage forming tops -- who can resist?

So a plan began to form. For the first time, instead of staying on the beach, we booked a room at the Hampton at Broadway At The Beach, and planned to try out both of these establishments, take the New South tour, and whatever other touristy thing struck our fancy.

We were close to taking the Goldwings, but with the rain coming through it didn't make a lot of sense. So we headed out in the Accord.

We got to town around 12:30, so it was a bit early to check in at the hotel. We decided to get lunch at the Tilted Kilt. As we walked in, you could see that an attempt was made to give it a bit of Irish charm, but -- well, it was a nice place. The bartender/waitress was cute, and we sat at the bar (our favorite place). There weren't too many authentic Irish entree's on the menu, but still, the food was pretty good, and plenty of it.

She let us sample a few brews, and Linda settled on a white ale, while I found Killian's Stout, a nice dark, smooth brew with a light hoppy aftertaste. On the other side of the bar, a TV was showing the making of the 2013 Tilted Kilt pinup calendar over and over. Not bad!

Over all, the food was good, the beer was good, the bartendar was attentive and cheerful. We kept an eye on the weather, and the Weather Channel showing the Winter Storm Nemo progress as it made its way north. As we left, we looked for and found a shop where we picked up a couple of umbrellas, knowing we were going to be in for some rain. Indeed, it was lightly drizzeling as we headed back to the car.

The rain was beginning to come down a bit harder as we drove about three blocks around the parking lot to the hotel, and checked in. Nice hotel, good friendly people at the desk, and the promise of fresh-baked cookies at four o'clock (yeah, I know everybody does this now, but I can't resist 'em). Nice room, overlooks Margueritaville, Jimmy Buffet's restaurant. Been there, done that before. Mediocre food, pedestrian beer, nothing to see here.

 

 



We unpacked, changed over to the denim jackets we brought and headed out to New South for the 3:15 tour.

We found the building tucked away, back in an industrial area. Nothing to look at on the outside, really. Metal warehouse-type structure, pile of old appliances in the parking lot. I've learned, though, that this doesn't always carry over to the inside. We parked and headed in, the first to arrive.

We were soon joined by a (slightly) older couple, and found that the husband shared my birthday. He had been on the Anhauser-Busch tour in Williamsburg before, remarking that it was a lot bigger (of course). We were soon joined by about 30-40 people as Roddy, the Operations Manager, prepared us for the tour.

A little side note -- with a staff of three, you have the CEO, the Master Brewer, and the Ops Manager. They do everything!

Roddy had 12 years of biology under his belt, and he gave us an overview of what it takes to brew beer. You could tell that he enjoyed talking about the chemistry behind the process, although his use of the word "emzymes" (for those who don't realize it, the word is "enzymes") was a little strange. But he really showed his stuff, adding funny stories and other asides, answering questions and sampling the beer with us.

After our first sample (Linda's favorite, their Pale Ale), we carried our glasses with us to the floor, where we got close-up views of the tanks and explanations of how the brew, from the grain to mash tun, all the way through to the fermentation and carbonation process, providing samples of their Nut Brown and their new Imperial beer, due out soon. I enjoyed my final sample of their Red as he showed us the canning process. They use a completely hand-powered canning unit, and he says they can run about 28 six-packs an hour. Impressive!

Linda bought a six of the pale ale, a six of the nut brown, and she bought me a growler of the Imperial, along with glasses for our collection. It was a really fun tour, and I have a new respect for what goes into making one of my favorite beverages.

It was raining harder as we left, and we returned to the hotel, to get the beer in the fridge. After a nap, we headed out in the rain, grateful for our new umbrellas, and drove around Celebrity Circle to Liberty Steakhouse.

Not impressed at all with the place. The one word that came to mind was "uninspired." The most exiting thing about the experience was the three different types of croutons in the salad! Not much flavor in the NY Strip, Linda reported that the Prime Rib wasn't the worst she had, but not near the best. I had their "Broadway Brown," and Linda tried their "American Pale" beers. Same thing -- weak presentation, not very good. Disappointed, but then again, we've been spoiled by Southern Hops -- much better beers, and Randy keeps changing up the food, all of which has new and interesting flavors.

We plan on hitting the other micro brewery in town today. I'll let you know how it works out as we continue our "Beer Quest" weekend (at least, that's what it's starting to become)!