I Have This "Thing" For Old, Rundown Hotels, Motels & Buildings

It all began in the Summer of 2010. 

At the end of each Tourist Season; I usually take a drive around town to see what's going on.

As soon as the Vacationers head out of town...the bulldozers and orange cones head in...and I get curious.

Old buildings are torn down to make way for new Restaurants and hotels.

Band-Aids are applied to some roadways.

Boardwalks are erected.

Attractions are constructed and quite a number of businesses close or move to areas just outside of the City.

While driving around town a few years ago; I began to take notice of just how many very old and very vacant motels and hotels are taking up space...sort of littering the landscape.

I became fascinated with these buildings. 

I found myself daydreaming about what they might have been like in their heyday. 

I wondered what brought about their closing down.

And I also pondered the reason they just sit there.

Doing nothing.

Serving no one.

This morning I drove past the Astro Motel in Surfside Beach just past the Ocean Lakes Campground...heading South on Business 17.

I haven't had a chance to look into it yet, but I wonder what's going on in that little complex over there.

There's the Astro Motel which sits adjacent to the Ocean Lakes Campground property:

There's the New Construction of what seems to be a Hotel or Motel next to that...

...and yet...it looks like an abandoned project.

There is this nasty looking excuse for a building next to the New Construction.

Behind this mess is this:

And then there's a building with a sign out front which reads:  Tropicana.

My best blind guess is that it might've been a Club...back in the day.


I called the Surfside Beach Town Hall this morning and asked if I could find out what this building used to be, but the lady who answered was reluctant to say anything and sent me along to the County.


If anyone knows what the Tropicana used to be...please leave a Comment or email me?  
Thanks.

Big Apple Bagels, Surfside Beach

While driving home the other day; I got a call from one of my daughters.

She related how she had stopped in at the Big Apple Bagels in Surfside Beach.

She went on to tell me that she purchased two muffins...

1. Chocolate Cheesecake

and the other:

2.  Boston Creme (cream)

I told her to go ahead and taste each so I could have a reliable review of the Muffins.
She wouldn't do it.  It was imperative to her that I get a chance to see what the muffins looked like...in person.
Pictures would not suffice.


I came, I saw, I tasted.


I took pictures.


And now, I write:


Both muffins were dense and extremely moist.
I found that the Chocolate Cheesecake held up best the next day...both were wrapped tightly in plastic wrap.


The taste of each was authentic and the Boston Creme was filled with creme {custard} and the Chocolate Cheesecake had that cheesecake "bite" without being too intense.


The Big Apple Bagel Factory menu lists these as Gourmet Jumbo Muffins and they will set you back $1.99.
If you're like me, then you'd never be able to eat one of these at one time.  I had to cut each of mine in thirds and I shared them with my daughters.  
They are dense...seriously.
But to put my comments in perspective...I rarely eat sweets and so I can't handle more than a bite or two.


I'm anxious to go back and try their bagels early in the morning...when they first open.  
My daughter caught them just before closing...when there were few, if any, bagel offerings.


Big Apple Bagels
120 Highway 17 South
843-238-5311
(in the Piggly Wiggly plaza)


Check out their menu before you go in.

Thanks to Twitter I'm Now Addicted to Bella's Kettle Corn

Damn YOU Twitter!

If it weren't for YOU I'd probably never know about Bella's Kettle Corn.

If it weren't for YOU I'd probably keep on living my life without the knowledge of how scrumptious Kettle Corn is because I'd never tasted it heretofore.

If it weren't for YOU I'd still be living my feeble Kettle Corn-less life.

A yummy bag of Bellas Kettle Corn...Cheddar Flavor...sitting on the  passenger seat of my car.  What a Great little driving companion! 

Seriously...I've made some great new local Myrtle Beach friends...thanks to Twitter and the nice, young lady at Bella's Kettle is one of them.

She keeps going on and on and on about Kettle Corn...and I figured it was high time I tried some.

I popped into (of course the pun is intended...what do you think?) Ocean's Edge Salon and Spa on Surfside Dr. in Surfside Beach...as I was told that was where I could buy a bag of Bella's Kettle Corn.

To be honest; I'd never ever taken notice of Ocean's Edge Salon prior to just a few days ago and I travel Surfside Dr. several times a week.  I love supporting local businesses...especially those in my own neighborhood and so I'm hoping to score a great hair experience with Ryan very soon.

I have to do something.

I can't keep hiding how desperately I need a cut by fashioning my hair in a sloppy upsweep.

How did we get on haircuts? from kettle corn?

Damn YOU Twitter!

If it weren't for YOU I'd be able to stay focused on one subject.

But I can't...not with all of those Twitter feeds endlessly scrolling past my eyes...ever beckoning.

Where was I? 

Oh yeah...Bella's Kettle Corn.

I chose the Traditional and Cheddar flavors to buy and sample.

I paid $2 per bag.

I lit into the Cheddar first...and I was amazed at the great balance of flavoring, sweet, salty...and what tasted like butter as well...though I've looked over the Bella's Concessions website and saw no mention of butter.

Since I'm an equal opportunity enjoyer...I opened up the lonely bag of Traditional corn and sampled.

It was addictive.

I just kept mindlessly reaching in.

Before I knew it...those two bags of kettle corn became my dinner.

And before I knew it...those two bags of corn became my late night snack.

And...before I knew it...those two bags became my breakfast in the morning.

And, before I knew it...those two bags of Bella's Kettle Corn were demolished.

My daughter asked me where the kettle corn was so she could try some.

I then perpetrated a lie on my oldest offspring and fibbed that I went ahead and ate all the corn because once you open the bag on food like that...you kind of have to eat it immediately as the quality deteriorates lightning fast.

I promised to buy her a bag of her very own.

That seemed to put her off the scent of my false utterings.

So...there's only one thing to do:

YOU have to find some way to get a hold of your very own bag of Bella's Kettle Corn.

If you don't live in the Myrtle Beach area, then I suggest calling or writing by visiting their website.

You'll notice when perusing the website that Bella's Concessions are willing and seemingly able to lug all of their kettle corn apparatus to any sort of Event you can conjure up...


...fundraisers
...buffets
...reunions
...work conference
...birthday bash
...wedding reception
...showers
...sporting events
...you name it


I've not personally seen Bella's Kettle Corn in action and so I can't say whether or not they do a good job...but it is something a little different which appeals to all age groups.

From what I understand, there will be a storefront opening within the next few months in.....drum roll please.....Surfside Beach!!!

Over the lips...past the tongue...look out tummy...here it comes!

Thank YOU Twitter!

To My Fellow Myrtle Beach Inhabitants: Keep That Spark of the Tourist in You!

Surfside Beach sunrise 1-20-12

Whenever I'm out of the house early in the morning, and there's a beautiful sunrise on tap; I can usually be found chasing it down for a  glimpse of it over the water.

Not only is "the View" the main attraction of living in Myrtle Beach, but I like to constantly remind myself of that fact by taking quick little trips up to the beach whenever I can sneak it into my schedule.

There was a time when I lived out in Washington State just South of Seattle in the city of Puyallup (and don't try to pronounce it using conventional phonetics)

The over 14,000 foot high Mt. Rainier dominates the landscape and constantly reminds residents of its presence.

I don't think that a day went by during my 7 years there that I didn't gasp every time I saw it.

Living in Myrtle Beach does not afford me that same sort of in-your-face reminder that I live a mile from the Ocean.

I have to go to IT.

I have to make the effort. 

I have to do all the work because an Ocean doesn't dominate the landscape unless you live within view.

When I first moved here almost four years ago; I took every single opportunity I could to drive up to the Beach...sometimes to walk, sometimes to just sit and sun myself, sometimes to get away from it all to gain perspective and sometimes I'd park and sit in my car on a cold Winters day sipping my coffee...listening and looking.

It's like I wanted and needed that reminder that there really is more to this area than meets the eye.

The Ocean, after all, is what Myrtle Beach has going for it.

I know that's stating the obvious, but there are times when the people who live here need a shot in the arm of that kind of obvious-ness.

I have family who have lived here several decades now. 

Within the few months of living here; I'd gone to the beach more times than they had in the last ten years.

Older people, like my parents, tend to only bother with sand and surf when entertaining out-of-town guests. 

Somewhere along the way the joy which they once had living "at the Beach" was misplaced or lost altogether.

There are a number of factors which contribute to the crankiness of a portion of the older citizens in Myrtle Beach:

...tourists...

...bikers...

...waiting at a traffic light behind more than three cars...

...lines at the grocery store...

...other people at the beach...

...sand in the car...

...other people in local restaurants...

...annoyance at the arrival of transplanted Northerners (a group to which they too belong)...

(see a pattern developing?)

My parents could not understand why I wanted to go and walk at the beach...and so they called me a Beach Bum.

I would go to the Ocean for sometimes only 15 or 30 minutes at a time, but somehow in their minds; I was taking on the characteristics of Moon Doggie or the Big Kahuna from the Gidget movies...pitching a hut on the beach and living off handouts from friends.

This attitude just fortified my desire to never let a week go by where I haven't visited that big expansive body of water and stretch of sand just a mile up the road from my house.

Except for a few weeks here and there when I've been sick; I've remained loyal to that pledge which I made to myself back in 2008.
I don't ever want to become a cranky "local".

So, this morning, as I was driving home around 7 a.m.; I noticed that the sky was almost completely obscured by clouds, except for a strip of blue sky over the ocean, where the sunrise was putting on a brilliant show.

I drove as quickly as I could (never speeding of course) to the beach in Surfside.

I popped a wheelie it into the parking lot in my haste to get to the sun before the clouds did...only to find myself racing against three other cars whose owners seemed to have the same idea. 

I'm not sure if the others were locals or not, but it didn't matter because for that moment...all four of us were behaving as tourists from Kansas who'd never seen the Ocean in their life...never mind the sun rising over the water in such majestic beauty.

sunrise 1-20-12

So...I dedicate these pictures to my fellow Myrtle Beach-ians...

...may you always keep that spark of the tourist in you.

Remember what tourists go through to get here to soak up the view which sometimes we take for granted...and then...stop taking it for granted!

The End.

and Good Night!

ZUMBA @ the Fun Warehouse in Surfside Beach

There's no better time of year to join the Zumba Party People over at the Fun Warehouse in Surfside Beach than right now.

This is personal for me, as this is where I sweat off 600 or more calories 2x each week. 

Yup; I said 600...or more!!!

Pam Patterson is the Instructor and she's got many years of experience in the Fitness business under her belt.

Pam's Zumba classes are one of the least expensive (if not the cheapest) on the Grand Strand...Five Bucks! ($5)
Who among us isn't willing to fork over a measly five dollars for the upkeep and maintenance of our health?

The class takes place at one end of the Roller Skating Rink at the Fun Warehouse.

While mom is working her core and glutes; the kiddies can skate in the same rink and she can keep her eye on them while they pretend they don't know her.

Monday - Thursday there is a Pizza/Soda Buffet from 5:30-8:00

and get this:  when you pay for any of the Fun Warehouse activities (does not include Zumba)...the price of the Buffet gets reduced from $5 to $3. 

I'm sorry, but I just think that's a crazy great deal !

I've included a flyer here which you can print out as a reminder that classes are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:45-6:45...come a few minutes early to sign in.

Believe it or not [if I were you; I'd only partially believe it]...I wasn't concerned with skill in this video, as I wanted to protect my innocent classmates from being recognized.  
No matter how nice my videos are, they take on a very sub-standard appearance once uploaded to YouTube:

I tweet about Zumba often, but have never actually shown you a bit of what it's like "inside".  


Keep track of my Tweets on Tuesdays and Thursdays as I'll frequently announce when I will reach way down deep inside my purse...plumbing the depths...past all the sticky melted loose gum and corroded pennies...into my wallet...and I'll put up the $5 to pay for the class for anyone who'd like to come for the first time.

Local Dog Parks in Myrtle Beach

Please bear with me as I expound a bit on why I don't own a pet and why I haven't owned a pet for a very long time.

Here's the tale as to why I don't have a pet...

Ever since I was a young girl, our family had dogs around the house and do you know what those dogs did?  they pooped {yeah, can you believe it?}and I had to clean it up and then, to show their gratitude and loyalty and appreciation...they ran away...all the time!

I'm sure it was the very strict Italian Catholic atmosphere in our home that set them packing and I'm not sure I can blame them in the least, but it still hurt nonetheless.  

When one raises dogs from a newborn pup...it tends to be quite heart wrenching when they take a hike without so much as a goodbye.

When I turned 16; several friends got together and bought me two parakeets. I didn't know anything about indoor birds and had never, ever, ever expressed a desire to own one...never mind a desire to own two.  This attitude was fortified when I watched as my mom, while sunbathing in the backyard, was strafed in an aerial attack by several pigeons.
Um......yuck! 

The birds I received as a gift scared the bejesus out of me because whenever I let them out of their cage they fluttered frantically against the ceiling in an attempt to escape.

I was totally un-sold on owning parakeets when I came home from school one day to find that one of the birds had cannibalized the other.
Um......yuck!

When I was 21; a lady I worked with was looking for a home for her son's hamsters.
I didn't know anything about hamsters and had never, ever, ever expressed a desire to own one...never mind two...
...but...
...being moved with compassion; I took them back to my apartment. 
Back to my apartment which I rarely visited as I worked in NYC during the day and commuted home to work in Jersey at night. 
I was totally un-sold on owning hampsters when I arrived home from work one evening to find that the mommy hamster had made a snack of her two offspring.
Um......yuck!


Let's see, what else?
Oh yes...I took a stray cat into that same rarely-occupied apartment.
I felt sorry for the little homeless soul.
I didn't know anything about cats.  I never owned one previously and never, ever, ever in my life expressed a desire to own one.
I was totally un-sold on owning a cat when I arrived home from work to repeatedly find the little "darling" hanging by its claws...spread eagle...from my lace curtains. 
I finally had to make other housing arrangements for the little princess.


 A last and final incident I'll share:


While in the Air force I was stationed in the Philippines and living in a housing subdivision off base. One day I had a male friend surprise me with a present..
A "watchdog"
Sort of.
It was a watch dog wannabe.
It...was a puppy.
A cute and cuddly Golden Retriever and I named him Barney.
Barney was a pain in my you-know-what.
It wasn't his fault.
He couldn't help it that I was at work all the time. 
He also couldn't help it that an influx of Communist insurgents wanting Americans out of their country sometimes kept me from getting off base and home to feed him and let him out at night.


The decision to give Barney to someone who could take better care of him came one morning after I showered.
I looked at the towel I had just dried myself with and noticed a very bloated insect.
Upon closer examination; I realized it was a tick.
A tick filled with blood.
Upon even closer examination; I realized there were ticks all over my little apartment.  
They were an advancing army.
They were all over Barney.
They were all over my living room floor.
They were marching up the living room walls and entering my front door from my car port en masse.
I'd never seen anything like it and haven't ever since.


I found out from a neighbor that the ticks were a problem for dogs and especially those brought over from the U.S. 
Little Barney was rushed to the Vet on base to be dipped in a solution which would prevent the tick attacks...for a short time anyway.
I didn't think it was very humane to expose the little fella to such a situation and so I gave him to someone who had the time and resources to provide him with the type of home he'd need while waiting to grow up and be the Watch Dog he was originally meant to be.


Based on these several pet ordeals...I hope you can understand the context when I say that sometimes I feel like it's sort of cruel to own animals as it prohibits their freedom to move around as they ought. To keep them penned up seems to go against their nature.
That's just my humble opinion.


I do know fully well the joy pets can bring to humans and as someone who has worked with elderly Alzheimer's patients; I also know how comforting they can be to those who have lost all their kith and kin to the grave...
...but it still doesn't change my mind.


I've already raised my children and having to be home at a certain time everyday to feed and walk a pet...it's not very appealing. 
 Not being able to behave with a measure of spontaneity in my life...well, I am just not a person interested in being tethered that way. 
uncaged.
...the poor hamster spent its days running on a wheel...getting nowhere and yet ever trying to run from its cramped quarters.


...the birds spent their time out of the cage trying to fly through the ceiling looking for an escape hatch out into the expanse of freedom they knew lay beyond the sheet rock.


...the cat spent its time trying to pry open my windows and spring out were it not for those blasted lace curtains ensnaring its claws everytime it made the attempt.


...the dogs...well...each and every one of them spent their time trying to escape as well.  
And come to think of it...
...every goldfish I ever placed in a bowl...
...and every little seahorse I purchased by sending in a self-addressed stamped envelope...
...and every ant in every ant farm...
they all met with the same demise...
...Death...
...and very likely due to boredom from being trapped and lonely.
Melodramatic...I know, but I had to make you aware of my stance on pets as I segue into the whole point of this post which is:


Local Dog Parks


I admit my ignorance.
I had no idea there was such a thing as a Dog Park.
In fact, when the Renovation of the Surfside Beach Library was complete and I drove around the perimeter to view the changes; I was stumped as to why there was a big grassy area enclosed by a chain link fence next to the parking lot.
I found out today that it's a Bark Park.


While reading about the Bark Park in Surfside Beach; I then had to find out just how many of these parks there might be in the Myrtle Beach area.
I found that there is a Barc Park in the Market Common area.
And further; I found that quite a number of folks have taken the time to write Reviews of their Barc Park experiences.
I was reading these to my daughter tonight while she was drifting off to sleep.
You know how sometimes you just get tickled by something and you're not really sure why?
Well that dynamic was at work as I read off each Review.
They just kept getting funnier and funnier. 


One person wrote that they drive 48 miles each way to bring a pet dog to the Market Common Barc Park so that they can romp around and play with those of his own species.
(not the owner, the dog)


Why didn't we have these issues in the 60s and 70s when I was growing up?
Maybe its just a sign of the times, but I'm not sure what to make of it.


Anyway, I said all that to point out that there are places to take your  dogs where they can find other dogs to hump and lick and sniff and brawl and take a poop with.
And while I'm at it...I'd like to also commend those Hotels which offer Dog Parks as a part of their Amenity packages. 
Very, very smart.


1.  Surfside Beach Bark Park


(Check out the list of rules and regulations. Makes me wonder if it's worth it just to enter a fenced in rectangle patch of grass)


2.  The Barc Park @ Market Common

(The Reviews here are a great form of entertainment while you drink your morning coffee)




3.  List of Dog Parks/Hotels with Dog Parks in Myrtle Beach Area


If you're aware of places which I've not included here, please drop me a line and let me know!!