Back in the saddle again

Wow where has the time gone? It’s already Friday and we are leaving Nashville and heading to Myrtle Beach. I do apologize about the tardiness of my Blog but I haven’t been feeling well this week. On the day we left I started with a cold which came with a fever, chest congestion and a sinus infection. As a result I’m totally wiped out by the end of the day. I’m starting to feel better but I think I still have a ways to go.

On the day that we arrived we checked into our hotel and then found a place for dinner. We ate at a local restaurant named Hickory Falls. Imagine our shock when ordering a beer and wine to be asked for identification. Hah hah, carded at 60 years old. The server couldn’t have been older than 18. We have since discovered that this is common practice here. Back in our room we made plans for the next day. We decided to visit the Jack Daniels Distillery. The Distillery is in Lynchburg which was about an hour drive from Nashville which surprised us as we expected everything to be local. This place is steeped in History. We found the tour to be very informative and enjoyed the guide (Ben). It was a 90 minute tour which finished with 5 samplers. While Jack Daniels No 7 made my mouth go numb when I tried it, I did find that I really enjoyed their honey flavour whiskey. We purchased a bottle and it has been good medicine for me this week. 

We enjoyed a nice BBQ lunch in the town of Lynchburg. This place was really fun and very eclectic.

Later in the afternoon we had reservations at Ole Red which is a local bar that provides live entertainment. It was fun to sit back and listen to the group playing, they were pretty good. After dinner we strolled up and down Broadway Ave. Every restaurant/bar had a band playing in it trying to get the interest of the crowds. It was pretty loud and noisy as all the windows and doors were opened to the street. 

The next day we decided to do a bit of shopping before enjoying our time at the Grand Ole Opry. This too was away from the main strip of Nashville which surprised us. We checked out the wide variety of western wear and boots. There was all kinds. plain, stitched, glittery, high boots, low boots, multicoloured. You name it, they had it. In the evening we went to the Opry. What a fun night. The shows were all good. Watching Charlie Daniels on the fiddle was incredible. We had a comedian who had us laughing the whole time.

On Thursday we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. That was really interesting to see and experience. We spent a couple of hours there before heading out to play a round of golf at Gaylord Springs Golf Course. We had a tee time set for 3:10. The course was extremely busy and our round was slow. In the end we didn’t finish as the sun set before we could get 18 holes in. That was too bad but we still enjoyed ourselves. It was a beautiful course and very challenging. After golf we enjoyed a quick dinner at “Cheddars” before returning to our hotel to pack. 

We left early this morning for Myrtle Beach. It was a 10 hour drive and we arrived in the early evening.  Our condo is on the 21st floor so we're pretty high up.

I got my dancing boots on

I’m so excited. We’re off and heading to a city that I have always wanted to see. Nashville here we come.  We are taking a slight detour on our way to Myrtle Beach this year. We’ll be staying here till Friday. We have lots of exciting things planned for the week as everyone has been looking forward to this adventure.

It’s our turn to drive this year so we were up early packing the truck. We got off at 5:00 am this morning and should arrive later this afternoon. The more we travel the wiser we get. This year we are taking thermos’s with coffee and a lunch to enjoy at one of the rest stops. We expect the trip to take about 12 hours.  The forecast for the next two weeks is beautiful and hot. I have a Charlie Daniels memoir that I am reading and we’re going to see him at the Opry on Wednesday. It’s going to be awesome.

The day before the hurricane arrives

We've been following the daily news on the status of Hurricane Dorian.  It seems to be following us with Myrtle Beach and SouthPort both under a storm watch particularly with concerns around storm surge.  Charleston is of big concern right now.  Here in Virginia they are preparing for the storm as well although it has been downgraded to a high end Category 2 which could increase to a 3 and they still expect a fair amount of rain.  Tomorrow they are forecasting for rain and thunderstorms.  As a result Ralph and I have decided to leave a day earlier rather than having to deal with extra traffic as there is lots of construction along the way.  We have been truly blessed though with wonderful weather although it's been very hot and humid.  Lots of mosquitoes as well which we found surprising.

Today we played golf at Colonial Heritage Golf Resort.  This course is pretty similar to Hockley Valley but with more hills and many blind holes.  We had fun but think we would have played better if we played it again as we never really knew where we were heading.

As we were driving to our last hole I was saying to Ralph that it was the perfect course for deer as there was so much forested space.  Sure enough, right beside us was a fawn and it's mother was deeper in the woods.  It was just standing there (at least long enough for me to grab my camera and take a picture).

We finished our day with a lovely dinner at the Ocean and Ale Restaurant.  We had mentioned that we would go back and once again we had a fabulous meal.  Ralph enjoyed some Rock Fish and I had Snow Crab.  The food was amazing.  We're back at our "Penthouse" packing.  We hope to be on the road by 8:00 tomorrow morning.  It's been a wonderful vacation.

Let's have another round

I need to correct something. On my last post I said we were in Williamsburg, NC - we're actually in Williamsburg, Virginia.  We're only about 12 hours away from Toronto :-).  Sorry for the confusion.

Today was another day for golfing.  I really wish we could get earlier tee times as it's hard to see and do things when they are booked at noon.  Sadly thats all they could get for us, so we'll have to make due.  Today we golfed at Kings Mill Plantation.  We liked this one better than yesterdays course.  There were plenty of challenging holes and lots of wildlife to be seen.  Once again it was very hot out but it was more cloudy so it didn't feel quite as bad.

As we were driving home from dinner,  we saw a Trader Joes.  We were curious if they still carried the $2.00 wine made by Charles Shaw.  We saw this wine (and bought some) on our very first trip to California.  To our surprise they were still carrying the Charles Shaw wines.  While the price has risen a bit over the years, it's still pretty cheap at $3.29.  Naturally we picked up a bottle to bring home to enjoy on the patio.  I wonder how it will taste.  I guess time will tell.

Southport and Williamsburg

The last couple of days have been spent in Southport, NC and and we're now in Williamsburg, NC.  Sunday was mostly rainy making it a quiet and restful day for us.  We did a little exploring in the late morning and afternoon in between the periods of rain.  Southport is a small area about 1.5 hours north of Myrtle Beach.  Fishing appears to be the big activity with lots of tournaments planned in the upcoming month.  We walked a small Pier and saw someone catch a Stingray.  It fought hard to get off the hook and was successful eventually.  Teresa would have enjoyed watching that.  It was a good size stingray as well.

We left bright and early (5:00) on Monday for Williamsburg.  It was a very overcast morning for the drive and there was a lot of fog.  To get to Williamsburg, we had to take a ferry to cross over a large lake.  That was interesting and enjoyable.

We had our first round of golf booked for 1:00 p.m. at Golden Horseshoe, Green Coursebut since we arrived early they let us tee off at noon.  Boy was it hot.  I was soaked with sweat by the time our round was finished.  It sure takes all of your energy from you.  After checking into our "penthouse" which is actually a top story of a 3 bedroom house we relaxed and cooled down before heading out for dinner.

We found this restaurant called Ocean and Ale and their food was amazing.  Ralph enjoyed freshly caught grouper while I enjoyed a seafood pot pie where the base was made out of She Crab soup. It was filled with all kinds of fish, scallops, shrimp and crab.  This place is definitely a "go back" for seconds kind of restaurant and we plan to go there again.

There is a lot of history here.  When driving through "Old Williamsburg" it looks just like Pioneer Village.  So cool!!