Day 105 - A Lazy Day at the Beach

The sun was hot before 9:00 am.  A leisurely breakfast on board started our day and we were glad that we had a day to relax before travelling north again on the Little River.  The Atlantic beach was about a mile away and we stopped in a few more stores in Barefoot Landing before walking down 48^th Street to a public walkway leading to the beach.  The tall buildings looked familiar as we had passed them the day before on our way here.  All of the high-rises were private condominiums with pools and patios facing the beach.

Unlike Florida, there was no walkway along the beach; nor were there restaurants or shopping.  The sand was light brown and fairly hard, not as hard as Daytona Beach sand, but not soft either.  The weather was perfect;  sunny, temps in the low 80’s and a water temperature in the mid 70’s.  The City of North Myrtle Beach provided chairs and umbrellas for rent and we settled down in a pair for the next few hours.  First Captain Randy waded into the water, then I followed, turning my body into the waves as they rolled in.

We hit a couple more shops on the way back, including a magic shop, where the 2 salesmen demonstrated tricks for us.  It made us think of our friend Gus and his cousin, who both like to entertain people with magic tricks.  I sat in the shade on the back of the boat, watching the river traffic.  The DNR (Department of Natural Resources) was performing safety checks during much of the late afternoon.

Another contrast to Florida ports that we noted here was the lack of live music.  Although there are a dozen or so restaurants in Barefoot Landing, we only found 1 that featured live music, Fire Island Tropical Bar and Grill.  Fire Island has an outdoor porch and we were seated there to listen to the No Name Band and have dinner.  We arrived at about 7:45 pm and were surprised and disappointed when the band stopped playing just after 8:00 pm.  Two of the musicians played a couple additional songs, one being a gentle version of the Beatles Blackbird.  Evidently the band had started playing at 4:00 pm for Happy Hour and ended early.   So back to the boat for Game 4 of the Blackhawks/LA Kings series, hoping the Hawks would get their mojo back.  It didn't happen.  Booo.......