“Southern Girl” – The View from Lajeune

2024 has been a “Southern girl” travel year for me — and I mean that in the best way. For example, in April, I was chasing waves on Florida’s west coast at Clearwater Beach: Baby Blues

In July, I met up with my niece and twin nephews (all siblings) in San Antonio, Texas for the sole purpose of family bonding and fun in the sun: Sat, surprise me!

And now here we are in August and I have just returned from a 5 day, 4 night mini vacation to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina or “MB” as it is affectionately called (smile).

My friend and I decided to try something new this time – we transferred Avello Airlines from Tweed Airport in New Haven (a first for both of us) and booked our stay not at a hotel resort but at an Airbnb. My friend Sharon’s son, Brandon, has a one-bedroom condo on the beach in MB called Rosey Retreat, which is where we stayed.

It was different staying in an Airbnb condominium compared to a hotel resort because we missed the daily maid service and the convenience of the hotel restaurant and information collection station at the front desk.

But what it lacked in hotel amenities it more than made up for as it had a perfect view from our balcony to the beach, cozy, if quirky, pink interior decor, and beachy touches like beach chairs and a beach umbrella complete with sand anchor.

We spent most of our vacation mornings and afternoons enjoying the surf and sun at the beach (did I mention temperatures averaged 85 degrees Fahrenheit all five days!) and we almost pressured ourselves to pick the right week of the month to travel.

Since we left on the Sunday of the last week of August, most people with kids were in full “back to school” mode, so the beach felt somewhat secluded and a little private.

Our condominium had a kitchen with pots and pans and stuff so we went shopping for food, snacks, and adult drinks at Piggly Wiggly (smile).

And then we had breakfast at Shoney’s – I remember this restaurant from two summers I spent in Fayetteville, North Carolina, with my older sister, Dana. I was 15 at the time and Dana was 23. She was serving in the Air Force and had recently bought a house of her own, and it was my “role” to spend the summer with her. Dana took me to Shoney’s where they were legendary at the time for their huge southern breakfasts. However, on the day my friend and I went, the managers were cooking (never a good sign) as they were short on wait staff so the food and service wasn’t quite what I expected.

Speaking of food, the best meal at MB that week was the Jamaican restaurant we discovered after leaving Piggly Wiggly. It was across the street from Piggly Wiggly and to their left. We both love Jamaican food so we ordered 3 dishes to go – 2 dishes of oxtail with rice, peas and cabbage and 1 dish of jerk chicken with rice, peas and cabbage.

We had a lively conversation with the owner and his wife about the USA’s dominance in track and field at the recent Olympics in Paris which was precipitated by the picture of Usain Bolt on the wall… 😜

As for lunch and dinner restaurants, we browsed online and found at least 3 or 4 decent ones within walking distance. We didn’t rent a car – in all honesty, it’s easy to get around South Myrtle Beach on foot as everything is relatively close. The Uber ride from Myrtle Beach Airport to our condominium took 15 minutes!

The first restaurant we ate at was recommended by a hotel concierge called Will who we met on the street – he said it was popular with tourists so he knew we would like it. Will was not wrong (smiles). Its name was River City Café. I had a delicious veggie burger with cheese and a side salad. Before our meal came, we were served roasted salted peanuts in a cup and then we threw the shells on the wooden floor 😀. It took me back to my days growing up in Groton, Connecticut when we ate at The Ground Round 😀.

For dinner that night (really apps because I was still full from lunch!) we chose the RipTyde Rooftop Bar because it overlooked the beach and had a great indoor/outdoor atmosphere. I had a delicious Frozen Mango Margarita Mocktail that froze my brain every time I took a sip (smile). There was live music and from our seats we could watch hotel guests enjoying a game of Corn Hole on the beach.

The next night we returned to the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk to first visit The Piers where we met a friendly middle-aged couple from Washington State who had just arrived for a NASCAR race. We exchanged our life stories and moved on 😉.

We ate that night at Pier 14 which was known for its seafood and specialty drinks. It was late to eat (9pm) so I ordered something light – Poke Tuna and it hit the spot ☺️

From there we went to The Arcades which took me back in time…

The next evening (after spending all day back at the beach) we had dinner at LandShark Bar and Grill where I had a Caribbean chicken salad before people watching along the boardwalk.

And we couldn’t leave MB before riding the SkyWheel – it was a truly stress-free ride – more controlled than anything else – as we checked out the city lights and carnival rides.

We spent our fifth and final day in our condominium – eating, packing and enjoying the view from our balcony…

For those of you wondering why we didn’t play golf, well, we figured this gives us another reason to come back 😜 ⛳️