Friday, August 29, 2014

Shraton Broadway Plantation Myrtle Beach

We've stayed lots of places in Myrtle Beach through the years. As much as we love being oceanfront, we've found that most of the nicer properties are not on the ocean. So it's always a trade-off, either oceanfront or nicer, newer, and bigger with more amenities. This year we went back to Sheraton Broadway Plantation even though it's not directly on the ocean. Now that the kids are bigger, it's a little easier for us to drive to the beach. I took a few pictures to post here in case anybody is considering staying there.

Here's Brian hanging out on the bed in the master bedroom. We really love that the units have two separate bedrooms and two bathrooms. It gives us lots of room to spread out. There are also one bedroom units on the property. 

Looking toward the living room and master bathroom from the bedroom.
Mather bathroom

Parker and Claire hanging out in the living room.
Screened in porch
In the living room, looking toward the dining area and kitchen
Kitchen and laundry area (I love have a washer and dryer to use on vacation)
Second bathroom
Second bedroom (Both kids are very happy to have their own big bed.)
I didn't get any great pictures of the pools, but you can see them better on the website under the features tab.  They have a nice lazy river, several pools, and a really fabulous children's area. There is a special gate just around the children's area. Inside there are some water slides of different sizes and a really cool pirate water ship.

There are lots of other things to do on the property like volleyball, mini golf, tennis, fitness room, movies, and scheduled games and activities throughout the week.


There are lots of buildings in this resort. They are arranged into groups of about four surrounding a pond.
There's also fire pits and grills available to use.
We found lots of little friends in the pond behind our building. There were always turtles, fish, and ducks to feed.
My favorite of all was this weird looking creature. I guess it was some kind of duck, but it sure was ugly. I worried about him all week because the other ducks were mean to him. I called him a durkey because he looked like he was a duck and turkey mixed. Anybody know what he really is???

The Ugly Duckling

These guys were very pretty, but they had bad attitudes toward the durkey

Even though Sheraton Broadway Plantation isn't oceanfront, it has a great location. It's right across the street from Broadway at the Beach (hence the name, Broadway Plantation). Since we spend a lot of time over there, it's really convenient for us. I also love that the property is gated, and they have great security monitoring all the time. I'm sure we will definitely return there sometime soon. 

Let me know if you have ever stayed there or plan to in the future. It's a great place!



Wednesday, August 27, 2014

#CHRISFORBACHELOR


I interrupt these regularly scheduled Myrtle Beach posts for a very exciting announcement.

CHRIS IS THE NEXT BACHELOR!!!



Megan (my niece) and I have been running a behind the scenes campaign for Chris to be chosen as the next Bachelor. I have absolutely no doubt that the millions of text messages we sent back and forth to each other with #chrisforbachelor were the driving reason that ABC chose him. As Megan said, "We know how to get stuff done"!

Boom. Fist Bump.


I loved, loved, loved Chris last season. Next season should be a great one. He appeared to be such a nice gentleman when he was on Andi's season. Of course, there's always some type of drama or something on the show that I wish wasn't there, but I really think I will enjoy watching Chris as the next bachelor. If you haven't been watching, now's the time to start! I need people to watch, so we can chat about it!!! 



Sunday, August 24, 2014

Places To Eat In Myrtle Beach


Through the years, we've eaten just about everywhere in Myrtle Beach. I'm not even kidding. We've found lots of things that were decent, a few we hated, and several that we go back to year after year. Of course, you can find just about any chain restaurant that you want too if that's your kind of thing.

It's a tradition for our family to eat at Ultimate California Pizza on the day we arrive in Myrtle Beach. There are several locations, but we have our favorite one. To be honest, the pizza is good. Not great. It won't knock your socks off, but there is a lot of variety for sauce and topping choices. We obviously like it enough to keep going back.



Many years ago, we discovered Pier 14. It's a restaurant located on the pier near where we often stay. Now here's the deal...We have tried different things. Most of them are average. However, the ribeye steak is out of this world. I don't know what makes it so good, but I promise it is delicious. I like my steak well-done, and Pier 14 is one of the only places that can cook it correctly without burning it. The seasoning is also perfect. Brian likes his steak medium rare (I like to call it bloody), and he loves the ribeye at Pier 14 too. We highly recommend it even though it's a little pricey, and the rest of the food is just average.






I'm telling you...it's delicious.
Not the green beans though ~ I think we all know how I feel about green beans.



The kids like to eat at Pier 14 too. They enjoy the food, and it always comes with a free Frisbee.


The view is also really pretty. Ask for a table by the window if it is available. After you finish eating, you can walk out on the pier if you want.


This was our view from the table this summer.







A few years back, we found River City Café. Then for some reason, we skipped it for a couple of years. We went back this year and wondered why we've been skipping it. It was REALLY GOOD! Claire even loved it, and she's not really a hamburger type of gal.

Brian and I shared this bbq bacon burger and cheese fries. This might be a good time to add that we don't worry too much about calories when we're on vacation. Ha! Every bite we had was delicious. These pictures don't do it justice. Even the ranch dressing was homemade and fabulous. Go there if you get a chance!!!








One night, we ate at Liberty Brewery & Grill. We had eaten there before and knew it was fine. We picked it out of convenience because we were planning to be at Broadway at the Beach all evening, and that's where it's located.





We actually just got some happy hour appetizers. They were ok. Eh.


See above: not healthy



Nowhere near as good as River City Café


Many years ago, we found a little cheesesteak shack called Clarine's Cheesesteaks. It went out of business a while back, and we mourned. Then we found a substitute that is almost as good. We've been going to Cheesesteak Factory (not to be confused with Cheesecake Factory) for probably about six years. Yum!







This is my sandwich. I like the white cheese on mine. You can't see it much because it's mixed in with the meat.


The homemade chips and ranch are really tasty. I don't care for their fries.
Get the chips instead!
This is Brian's sandwich. He got the cheesewhiz instead of the white cheese.


This is a kids meal. Both kids enjoyed it!





Also many moons ago, we found Sea Captain's House. I feel obligated to say that we never, and I do mean NEVER, eat at seafood buffets. We tried them years ago (when we were young and inexperienced Myrtle Beach eaters), and we found them to always be cheap, sometimes imitation seafood all fried and overpriced. Extremely overpriced!

The food at Sea Captain's House is always high quality and very good. It is kind of expensive, but not any more than the large buffets. Believe me, it is way better than any buffet.


They serve these hushpuppies to every table when you sit down. They are sooooo good!




Sea Captain's side salad was fairly standard.


I always order crab cakes. Like I said, they are expensive but good.


This is the main reason we go there. Brian loves their she crab soup. I have to agree that
it's the best I've ever tried.





Sea Captain's House is located right on the ocean and also has pretty views. They often have live music as well.









I want to add that we discovered this BiLo grocery store near our resort this year. Since we have a full kitchen in our condo, we almost always eat breakfast and lunch there. In the past, we have bought our groceries for the week at Piggly Wiggly or Walmart. Piggly Wiggly doesn't have a great selection and can be overpriced. The Walmart in Myrtle Beach is so ridiculously crowded. It takes forever to check out, and ain'tnobodygottimeforthat!!! I highly recommend this BiLo!

A few of the other restaurants we've eaten at in the Myrtle Beach area:

Flynn's Tavern (we really like this one)
Margaritaville (fun but the food is average, and there is always a long wait)
Mr. Fish (pretty good)