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!!

Northbound

Sadly we had to say goodbye to Jay and Laura and the family this morning.  Laura joined me on the balcony (6:00 a.m.) and we enjoyed our last sunrise together.  It sure was a beauty!!  I enjoy spending this time with my daughter.  By 6:30 the busy activity of packing up and van and getting all the luggage downstairs was in full swing.

We ended our vacation with a nice breakfast at the Sea Captains House.  They were on the road by around 8:30.  Ralph and I cleaned up the condo and then headed to Huntington Beach.  We forgot to check the tide schedule and found ourselves there at "high" tide meaning that not many birds were present.  Surprisingly there was a fair amount of alligator activity in the ponds which was interesting to see.  The Osprey were also very active.  We counted at least 5 of them flying over the pond.

We then drove to Southport, North Carolina where we are spending the next two days before heading to Williamsburg, Virginia.  We inquired about a nice local restaurant by the ocean to enjoy a relaxing dinner and were advised to go to a place called Provision Company.  It most certainly was a busy place with the wait set at 1 hour when we got there.  It didn't take that long, but it certainly is a favourite amongst the locals.  Everything is done on the honour system here.  When you arrive, you can help yourself to a drink from the coolers (beer, wine, coolers) and when your name is called you have to give them an item of a personal nature (Ralph gave his hat) which they then put on your table making it easier for you to find where you will be sitting.  After giving his hat, Ralph and I went inside where we ordered dinner (again on an honour system), picked up another drink and found our table.  When our meal was finished, we went inside and told the cashier how many drinks we had, what we ordered etc and then she calculated the bill.  Very interesting.  We enjoyed some really nice fresh shrimp, crab cakes along with conch fritters, fries and onion rings.  It's more like pub food but the location is fun and it was an interesting experience.  When we left the wait time for a table was 2 hours (crazy!!).

We took a drive around and familiarized ourselves with the area before returning to the hotel.  It looks like nice place to explore tomorrow.