The great Pie Quest and Adventures to Costco…. Avocation Tale
Part 1

So this is the year that Sharon and I pack up the Shuttle Pod )Prius) and head south to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for two weeks with her parents.
This is the vacation we both look forward too all year. We go every year but every other I go for two weeks instead for one week. We also have an annual “Huie” family vacation during August in Ocean City, Maryland. That vacation is OK but it consists of all of Sharon’s sibs and ALL the children. Don’t get me wrong, we usually have a good time but for us, with no kids, after a week of keeping the kids occupied and dealing with all the “alternative” parenting styles we are in need of another vacation. Hence, Myrtle Beach.

The place we stay is called Adele a Tower and is located in South Myrtle Beach, in an area called Muriel Inlet. A few miles from North Myrtle where all the touristy areas are. This is a very quiet, laid back area with high rises and single family homes on stilts. The condo is right on the beach. When the tide is in the Atlantic is right up to the back deck of the ground level, infact during hurricanes the ocean overflows into the indoor pool and covers the parking lot and road out front.
We usually stay in a condo unit on the 15th of the 17 floor building. Every unit has balconies facing the ocean, so you always get to see the sun rise. Wyatt loves it because we leave the sliding door open and he can come and go as he pleases.

Day 1- leave Elkridge at 0930, gas $3.40. Overcast, uneventful 500 miles unless you count all the weird “outlets” stores along Us. 95. Lets discuss a few shall we…?
“The wide Shoe Outlet” an emporium for platypus footed humans, sizes to 20 6W.
“Robby’s Cigarette and Fire works Outlet”, not many “Well formed thoughts” here.
“The Ham Outlet”…. Not enough porcine products available at Piggly Wiggly?
“Russell Stover’s Candy Outlet” advertised as 3 football fields of sweet treats. I picture random southern “Bubbas” with “a touch of the sugar” all passing into diabetic comas as they are driving to Darlington to watch theNASCAR...
And the last two are my favorites…
“JR’s House of Bargains”, we were told by a lot of people we “had” to stop here. We did on our first trip to Myrtle a few years ago. OK, picture a building the size of a medium Best Buy, with the little style of shopping carts. Filthy floor tiles, shelf’s and displays all sticky with nicotine. That’s right, welcome to North Carolina, smoking is still legal everywhere. So in the “House of Bargains” you littler ally can buy anything… as long as you don’t mind stuff imported from Mexico, China, and Taiwan and from the planets of the outer solar system. All those products that get recalled for lead paint, small pieces and complete knock offs of licensed materials. And oh yeah, lets not forget the products from insurance damage sales and seconds and thirds. Not kidding, there were bibles where God was spelled Dog….. Oh and all the clothes smell of smoke.
So, if your are going south on 95 make sure you stop off at exit 97 and stop by”JR’s”.
And last but surely not last….
“Pedro’s South of the Border”, the penultimate tourist stop. Here you can purchase all the useless tourist swag every child demands. Hell, you can get Mickey Mouse ears because you can purchase Disney tickets at SOB. You can get a Native American head dress and “tomahawk”, a hermit crab, Mexican Sombrero. Back scratchers are available in a rainbow of colors, shot glasses and little spoons from all 50 states. And let’s not forget the FIRE WORKS! Of course Pedro’s had food as well…. Try the Coney Island Dog, not bad.
I guess that is one of the great things about America, you can see tons of “great” sights along its highways, which needs Castles, Big Ben and Parliament.

Day 2- Sleep in, get food stuffs for 2 weeks. Hence the first trip to Costco. My father-in-law loves the Costco. SO here it is Sunday, sample day at the Costco….in Myrtle Beach.
We get the eggs, bacon, bread, some chicken, some steaks and a few snacky things. And from the samples…. Lobster dip, spinach artichoke dip and pita chips for dipping, and the biggest bag of “kettle chips” I have ever seen. This on top of a huge container of Ukrops “Buffalo Chicken Cheese dip” that the FIL brought along from home.
Nice, kept I am on a moderately low carb diet….. The snacks I eat are block cheeses, carrots and other proteins like almonds and walnuts.

After returning back to the condo we all just were doing our own things, I was listening to an audio book ( Ann McCaffery’s “the White Dragon”), Shar and her Mom were cross stitching and Wally was surfing the net. All of a sudden Jane, Sharon’s mom said she wanted a Lemon Danish or Lemon Pie. There then ensued a long discussion on where to buy such treats. Out came the local yellow pages. A coffee shop just up the road was discovered. Off went Shar and her mom. A few hours later they returned…. Sans Danish or pie. By this time it was time for dinner. All through the meal they continued to talk about pie.
Day 3- we took a day trip south to Charleston. This would be Halloween. We went first to a place we had seen on Food TV, “Jacks Cosmics Dogs”, very unusual hot dogs but gogs none the less. No Danish or pie at Jacks either. We continued onto the Charleston Market Place. A 5 block by 1 block flea market. Afterwards, we walked around the harbor and looked at the “Antibellum Homes”.
By the time we finished here it was time for dinner. We stopped at another Food TV find. It was “something” Roadhouse (the first name escapes me) very good food. No Danish, pie was sold out, good cake though.