Change of scenery.

After this past weeks sleet storm, I finally got the motivation to wrap up this last trip of 2010. Something about a vista of evergreens slumped by frozen water weight makes you think about the Spring which is getting closer than ever. But not so fast, April isn't that close.

This past November we snuck a quick vacation in to finish out the years' festivities. We went to a familiar place, Myrtle Beach SC, but decided to stay a bit closer to the strip than the year before. I spent plenty of my extra doe this past year on hobbies so I was looking for a great off-season deal...and boy did I find it. Hotels.com came through this time around, putting us in a hotel claiming 40 bucks a night. It got decent reviews online so I jumped on it. Showing up at the entrance of the Palmetto Shores after driving 8 hours into the morning was quite interesting. There was no parking lot to speak of (temporary only), and the 'ocean view' was more of a 'side' ocean view, but it fit the bill in every other way; cost, location, cost, etc.

The weather down in SC was sweet. I mean, we got there on the best week of November ever. It was about 70+ degrees all week, but in typical Fall non-daylight savings time fashion, it cooled off quickly at night; a 20-30 degree swing in a matter of minutes. Given days were an extended Summer, we took advantage of the beach as much as possible. Apparently consuming beverages on Myrtle Beach(es) is 'frowned upon', but we were still able to enjoy some afternoon watercooler time with a few old friends of mine (albeit after Casey led a short southern conversation with the beach patrol) that moved back down to NC when work pulled them from Maryland. It was great seeing Renee and Casey down there.

I didn't shoot a ton, on purpose, but here's my set from Myrtle Beach. I think the biggest tease of the whole trip was that New Belgium Brewery beer is sold in SC, but not in MD (or PA for that matter). Accordingly, we bought them out of their stash of 2* Below and Fat Tire, then hit the road. We're now down to about a six pack in real time. It'll be sad to see them go. Delicious, but sad.