America 2015: Day Twenty-Six (24 August 2015)

It's a French kiss, Italian ice,
Spanish moss in the moonlight
Just another American, just another American,
It’s just another American Saturday night

                                                                                                                   - Brad Paisley

Monday 24 August

After a drive that took us from Tennessee, through the mountainous North Carolina and into the lowlands of South Carolina – and a stop for some bar-b-que near Columbia, South Carolina – we are finally at beautiful Myrtle Beach!

 



The beach is incredibly popular with tourists – in a way, I guess you could compare it to the Gold Coast, but less seedy – and chances are if we were here this time last week, it would be a very different experience. Where it’s fairly quiet and peaceful along the beach this afternoon, a week ago it would have been crammed with tens of thousands of people. But school went back and most families have finished their summer vacations. It’s probably the best time to come, because the weather is still great, but the crowds that characterise this place are long gone.

Our accommodation is in a beach front ‘resort’ which has it’s own lazy river, two outdoor pools, a covered spa – or Jacuzzi, as they’re called here – and easy access to the beach itself, which is no more than thirty meters from the front of the hotel. The amusement parks, mini golf joints and too many eateries to count are close by. The water park a block up the street looks awesome which is open all day, and at 6pm the amusement park across the road cranks up.

The Atlantic Ocean this far south is incredibly warm. It’s like swimming in a bathtub. That fact, combined with the late sunsets here in summer, means you can swim for a giant chunk of the day. After arriving here mid-afternoon, it wasn't until after 6:30pm that I got out of the water, and even then it was under protest from my grumbling stomach. That’s pretty big news for me. I’m normally not one to linger in the water!

 

Ate at Denny’s tonight, a chain American diner that, despite it’s appearances, actually does amazing food – and cheap, too, like seemingly everywhere else in this country. We had an incredibly friendly waitress named Dawn, who continued to ply us with soft drink refills. I’ve found that drinks are majorly watered down here, and I like to try and not have more than two Sprite’s in any one sitting, but wait staff are so conditioned to people wanting multiple refills that they bring you a new one when you’re anywhere close to half empty. It’s crazy, especially considering how cheap drinks are!

We have three full days here in Myrtle Beach, and there’s a really good, easy-going vibe about the place. I’m looking forward to relaxing after a pretty hectic few days.