Wednesday, Sept. 18. Day #3 at MB

Not a very exciting day today.

Once again---up a little bit later.  I did shower and dress earlier than I had been, so that was a plus.  But we didn't leave the condo until around noon, after a late breakfast.

First stop was the Tanger Outlets on the west side of town. I like the Reebok store there much better, and I found several items to take home with me.  Gary wanted new socks and found those on sale at Vanity Fair  We also stopped at the Christopher and Banks store as well as Maurice's and I picked up a few items at both of those.  Our final stop was at Nike to look for a pair of high tops for Owen. We found a pair just like the ones he is wearing now, so the saleman checked for a pair a size bigger for him to grow into.

The plan for lunch was River City Cafe in Murrell's Inlet.  We have dined at the location across from Oceans 22, but I still like the atmosphere at the one south of town much better.  Since it was National Cheeseburger Day, I ordered a triple cheeseburger with fries and slaw and a Diet Coke.  Gary didn't play along with honoring the day and ordered a reuben platter which he enjoyed.  The interesting thing about our lunch was not the food, but the three ladies across from us.  One of them was telling the other two that she didn't appreciate being left out of invitations, ignored when plans were made for outings, and no one including her in events.  I was trying not to stare at them , but the other two women sitting across from the lady who was raising her voice in the process of explaining all of this never said a word and kept their eyes lowered.  At first I thought maybe she was re-telling a story that someone had told her, but no one else said anything at all, so I am leaning toward her feelings being hurt and chastising the ladies who were with her about it. Even when she left to go to the restroom they didn't talk about anything; rather they were texting on their phones.  But...our food was good, and I am glad we dined there!

After lunch we drove to the pier and walked along it, taking in the views of the restaurants along that section of the road, including Drunken Jack's.  We like to dine there also, mainly for the hushpuppies, but we had been there in May and skipped River City Cafe so we did the reverse this time.  I enjoyed the sunshine and breeze as we walked the pier.  Gary noticed the higher water marks on the pilings that may have indicated higher water from the storm surges after the hurricane a couple of weeks ago.

I had wanted to stop at Quilting at the Beach, a quilt shop that I have friended on Facebook. It always looked interesting and the name of the store was intriguing also.  Actually it was close to the Harbour Lights where we stayed in May, but we had never driven past it on our journeys in and out of the resort.  When I entered the store, the was no one else visible and I didn't hear anyone either. I wandered around for a good 10 minutes before a lady appeared, but only when someone else entered and the door chimes rang.  I had found a Moda layer cake of flannel in blues and tans that looked fun to work with.  I asked if they had the bolts of matching fabric so I could select some for a border, binding, and the backing.  The lady was shocked that I asked that, had no idea that they even carried the layer cake itself, and was very firm on the answer of No, they did not have bolts of fabric to match.  I did buy the layer cake anyway, and I hope that Rossville Quilts will carry the bolts, and that if they don't they would be willing to help me order what I need or find a substitute that would work.  I was very disappointed that the lady at the quilt shop was not very helpful. 

Finally we drove to North Myrtle Beach by a different route to a Panda Express for carryout for dinner.  Once we returned to the condo for the evening, we weren't going out again.  It was a nice drive to that end of the strip or whatever this might be called. I think we will go in that direction again tomorrow and explore more of northern South Carolina.

Tonight's plans are simple.  Gary will probably watch some tv, and I will complete Day 3 of Week 3 in the OBS.  Making more progress on the current book is on the schedule too.

And at some point I will heat the Orange Chicken and fried rice in the microwave for my dinner. 

For now though....sitting on the balcony, looking at the sparkling blue water of the ocean sounds like a good plan.  Don't you think?