On Sunday, which felt like a Saturday, I woke up and hit the gym to work my arms. It was good finally having access to 20 pound dumbbells for overhead tricep extensions, since my apartment complex still hasn't replaced the stolen 20s. Or the stolen 35s. Or the stolen 50s. Of course the air conditioning still wasn't working, so I was done after about 20 minutes. I then headed into the lobby for a breakfast of scrambled eggs, turkey sausage patties, and two mini waffles. And I made sure to bring the dark roast coffee up to mom while se was sleeping.
Our first destination was Mt. Atlanticus minotaur goff (not a typeo), one of the top rated courses on the Grand Strand. They have two 18 hole courses, we just had time for one and we went with the Minotaur course. The course really goes high, there are a lot of stairs to climb, but it has some nice waterfalls. It wasn't the hardest course, I was able to sink four holes-in one, it's more about the decorations than the actual golf itself.
After that, we went down south to Pawley's Island, where I first visited in 1997 with my high school to do mission work. Holy Cross Faith Memorial Episcopal church was building a larger church and we had to help clear the back baseball field. And we did that, though getting the batting cage out of the earth proved to be challenging. Also, there is a free medical clinic on site, and we assisted there too, we actually stayed on site for a full week.
And they have their new building now, well, it was new at the time, but I guess it has been up since 2000 so it's not exactly new now. But it was my first time attending service at Holy Cross inside their new building.
Now I thought it was a biracial congregation, it was actually as white as South Dakota. The service was very liturgical, incredibly ritualistic. It wasn't quite experiencing Roman Catholicism again, but it felt like its first cousin with the Lord's prayer, kneeling, etc. The sermon was over in about 10-12 minutes; I would say 45 minutes of the service was hymns, prayers, and recitations of Scripture. I joined in everything except the prayers of the people, since I couldn't relate to the people in their congregation or the government officials of South Carolina.
Then it was onto lunch at Local, a new restaurant located in the Hammock Island shops. It was kind of a gastropub, except they also serve brunch on the weekends. We started with their Sedona salad, with greens, chunky pico, grilled corn, avocado, carrot, black beans, shredded cheddar, fried tortilla strips, chipotle ranch, and we added pan-seared shrimp. The shrimp stole the show, nicely seasoned, and they tasted so fresh, that authentic Low country taste that you just can't find anywhere else. Great veggies too, I definitely salute the kitchen on this one.
Then we had their Sunday chicken, which was half a fried chicken. I asked for sides of their Peri Peri hot sauce and their ale honey mustard, and they delivered both in small metal ramekins. I could really taste the beer in the mustard. So from what I hear their batter for the chicken has pickle juice and beer in it. I can say this, the chicken was definitely juicy and that skin was quite crispy. If I had one criticism, I would I could have tasted more seasoning. When I eat bone in fried chicken, I want to taste some paprika, some cayenne, some garlic, not just the breading.
They did a great job on the sides. The Yukon gold mashed potatoes were creamy, simply seasoned, and very fluffy. The vinegar cole slaw was a great palate refresher, it was not mayo based, thankfully. I'm thinking there was a little cider vinegar in it.
We had a manager and a chef come out to ask how the food was, which we really did appreciate. It's a staff that cares how they are doing and that matters to me. Great experience.
While mom was shopping for clothes, I got her a bottle of Eureka lemon olive oil because I knew she would appreciate it. The hammock shops don't have a lot of stores that would appeal to me as a guy but I'll always take time to relax in a single cotton hand woven hammock.
Then we went back to the hotel and I got ready to visit the satellite location of the Pro Football Hall of Fame at Broadway At the Beach. I put on my Jets t-shirt and back Jets baseball cap. I'm a die hard Jets fan, but I've never been to Canton to visit the actual Hall. So after paying about 25 bucks, I was able to enter a scaled down version.
They have a couple of interesting exhibits including pioneers of the game, history of race in professional football, sports science, and single season records. They had a few interactive exhibits such as an instant replay booth where I got to watch plays and determine if the call on the field was correct or if it should be overturned. There were also hand prints of quarterbacks on footballs, Warren Moon, Jim Kelly, and Troy Aikman, as well as leg outlines from Jerome Bettis and Gilbert Brown. Suffice to say, my thighs are not quite that large.
But the highlight for me was the Super Bowl theater with player jerseys arranged in a semi circle, and the Lombardi trophy right in the middle of the room. The room would go dark and a film of NFL highlights played. It was easy to get entranced by the experience. They featured Joe Namath's Super Bowl jersey, which has a couple of holes in it now.
I checked the small merch store and they have t-shirts featuring various NFL team legends. They had a Jets version, so I bought four Jets legends shirts, which are exclusive to the Hall of Fame, for my local club that we will give away in raffle prizes. And the manager even gave me ten percent off!
From what I was told, the Hall will remain in its current location until next July and then a decision will be made if they stay or not, it just depends on business. Hopefully, they will stay around for a long time.
I arrived at 3 pm on a Saturday and the line to get in was immense. Thankfully, I was able to score a seat at the bar. I ordered the Who's To Blame margarita on the rocks and with salt. It had Margaritaville Gold Tequila, Margaritaville Triple Sec and the house margarita blend. Well balanced, very refreshing, not too strong.
I really like how they have uniquely shaped tables, for instance there is a giant boat in the middle of the restaurant and they have a 5-person table at the mast of the boat. Super creative. And right near the center of the restaurant, there is a giant margarita bottle that repels from the ceiling at certain times and fills up an oversized blender.
While sipping on my drink, I could see the dark gray storm clouds forming in the distance, so I knew I had to head back to the room. It was about a ten minute walk, but I made it back inside just as the sprinkling was starting. Within five minutes, the sky opened up and a monsoon was under way.
After cleaning up, Mom and I headed for dinner at Umberto's at Barefoot Landing on the north side of Myrtle Beach. We arrived at 5 pm, right when they opened, and at least 30 tables had already been sat. I guess we went to a popular place!
This is a classic old style Italian restaurant, in that they feed you actual food before they even take your order. We started with a bowl of Italian beans with a little macaroni, not too bad. Then a basket of bread with salted butter. It reminded me of moderately crusty bread that I would have eaten on a sandwich at Primanti Brother's. I enjoyed the tomato, cucumber, and onion salad in a zesty Italian dressing with a lot of red wine vinegar and herbs. After that came the bowl of angel hair pasta in their sauce. We were a little disappointed with the taste of the sweeter marinara. It may have been from using carrot, in the mirepoix, or it may have been too much sugar. But it wasn't great sauce, I especially didn't like having that watery excess in the bottom of the bowl.
For entrees, we did an order of chicken eggplant parmesan, I really like having a combination of both and they obliged. I got two eggplant slices and one chicken breast topped with provolone and marinara. Chicken breast was a good size, cooked well, eggplant was fine, still crispy, not that greasy. The other entree was the Chicken Antonio with prosciutto, provolone, mushrooms and a lemon butter sauce. The dish was cooked well, but the overall product turned out dry without the lemon butter sauce.
Sadly we did not order the Bravo Franco, the meat extravaganza I described in a previous post, with a strip steak, two pork chops, and sauteed peppers, onions, and mushrooms. Mom wasn't feeling it and I wasn't about to push her in that direction.
Of course, two tables away, I saw one guy digging into a couple of pork chops that must have been 2 inches thick. I began feeling the regrets.
Is this the best Italian food I've ever had? It's not. But they gave us good service at a fair price and that does go a long way. Would I come back? Perhaps, but I would have to change my order to something more meat-centric.
And we still haven't ordered a single dessert yet.
We were both a little fatigued after all that food as well as splitting a bottle of Pinot Noir. And the rain was picking up, so we headed back to the room. I think we both fell asleep, for a while. But around 8, I woke up. I wanted to head out and drink, but the rain had turned into a complete storm by this point. So I went down to the lobby, began writing the post you are reading, while gazing to the left where the front window of the hotel is to see if the rain was letting up. Close to an hour later, I'm still writing!
Epilogue:
I sat in the lobby for an hour before the rain let up enough where I walked the five minutes to the Carolina Ale House. I had a 22 oz Sweetwater 420 and a 16 oz Wicked Weed Pernicious.
The next morning, we drove out to Wilmington, a town I never need to visit again, and made it back to Cary around 6 pm.
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