Myrtle Beach Day 1

A few weeks ago, ok a month, we went down to Myrtle Beach South Carolina for the weekend to meet up with Matt's parents. We arrived on Friday evening, had a delicious dinner and prepared for a busy weekend.

Saturday started with a bike ride. I'd never ridden the bikes where you have to peddle backwards to brake but after a while of my hands searching for brake levers I finally figured it out. It was a nice few mile ride to Huntington State Park and an Atalya house at the beach.

The ride included going across a kind of causeway with lots of wildlife to see. I think this was my first wild gator!

Please don't eat me - s/he was close to the shore

Great Blue Heron (I think)

 The old (this is all relative, it was built in the 30s) was interesting, especially seeing where the animals were kept. The lady of the house was a famous sculptor and did lots of animals. We couldn't stay long as we had to ride back to get the bikes back by a set time.

At Atalya House. we couldn't walk up to the top deck :-(

After the bikes were returned it was off to Georgetown (south of Myrtle Beach) for a boat ride out past a lighthouse to an island. Keeping to the animal theme of the day we saw 3 bald eagles... my first wild bald eagles too! The picture isn't the best but you can tell what they are.

A pair of bald eagles

We got to walk along the beach and look for shells. I was not so good at this task apparently but Matt found lots, including this one that still had a whelk living inside. The guide said it was pretty rare to find one still alive there. But this wasn't even the best find...

A live whelk - a big one too!

He found a huge horse conch shell!! The guide said it was the best shell anyone had ever found there. We also got a few over smaller whelk shells that now reside in a rather large bowl on our dining table. He also found a sea urchin but unfortunately that little one had a nasty accident on the way home and didn't make it. It was pretty though!

Horse conch and sea urchin. See the legs for scale.

Dinner was at a seafood place recommended by the people running the boat between Myrtle Beach and Georgetown. Matt and I shared a steampot for two. I didn't take a picture right away but here was dinner...

Dinner

Oysters, clams, shrimp and crab legs. And no, it wasn't filled out with potatoes and corn... I don't even know how many oysters were there. We didn't quite finish it but it was pretty delicious.

After dinner we headed to the main downtown area of Myrtle Beach. It's basically a strip of hotels, bars and restaurants by the beach. VERY touristy but we joined the crowds and rode the sky wheel. I'm not the biggest fan of heights but it was fine after the first go around. It was dark out so we got to see all the lights but I imagine the views of the coast and ocean are much nicer in the light.

The Sky Wheel

After a long and busy day it was back to the hotel for some sleep.

Biking picture. Safety first!