Myrtle Beach

Debbie and the girls few to Atlanta to visit with Elinor, and then drove to Myrtle Beach where I met them. Catherine was the photographer while they were in Atlanta- she did a good job. They visited the Coke Museum, and the Altanta Aquarium.

In Myrtle Beach, we stayed in a nice condo in Kingston Plantation right on the water. It was a really nice setting. Tom and Nicole brought Elaina and Sarah over and we spent several days visiting. While we were there we spent some time on the beach, and hit the local tourist places. The kids got to swim, and play in a water park on the property several times. Tom and Nicole took us to Brookgreen Gardens, this is a can’t miss stop in the SC low country.

Brookgreen was one of the largest rice plantations in South Carolina during the height of slavery. It is located on a tidal river which made it very effective for managing the flooding and draining of rice fields - which were built by slaves. We took a boat tour where you could still see the system of levies that were built in the 1850 to manage the fields. After the war, the rice business was not economic, and several huge plantations just went back into the wild. In the 1930s the property was purchased and turned into a sculpture garden by the Huntington’s. They preserved what was left of the original plantation gardens, and it is a now a world renown sculpture garden - with over 1000 pieces of American sculpture.

My flight back to Seattle was cancelled so I got to spend an extra night in Myrtle Beach – the girls were already on their way back to Atlanta, so I was by my self. Since it was a mechanical cancellation US Air put me up in a nice Sheraton right on the water and I got to explore the beach alone. I found a really nice beach bar with live music and that’s where I spent the evening – watching the waves roll in. The girls spent 4 more days in Atlanta, and got in Friday night (after their Thursday flight was cancelled). It was a nice trip, but it was nice returning home to 70 degree weather!