Day 133 -- August 11, 2003 -- Monday

The day was spent in the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina area. It's a nice beach area with activities galore, so it's easy to see why 14 million people come here each year. Myrtle Beach has the World's Largest Number of Miniature Golf Courses -- something like 45. I managed to see 23 of them. There are big Branson-like theatres, numerous Ripley attractions, and a great entertainment and shopping complex called "Broadway at the Beach."

Broadway at the Beach and Celebrity Square are a huge entertainment / shopping complex. Very nice. I saw the big theaters, the aquarium, Planet Hollywood, the Nascar Park, and more. There was one attraction after another. We saw nothing like this when we visited Myrtle Beach a number of years ago. Either we were in more of a resort area, or it had grown tremendously. I suspected it was a little of both. I saw the huge Carolina Opry and the equally huge Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede.

Lunch was at Sam's Corner -- excellent hot dogs and the fastest service I believe I have ever experienced anywhere.

I drove up and down Business Highway 17 to see miniature golf courses. I saw Hawaiian Caverns, the home of the US Open, the US Professional Miniature Golf Association US Open that is. At Treasure Island and Captain Hook's Adventure Golf, I saw gold legged mermaids on a fountain with an alligator. As with Sevierville, there seemed to be one pancake place after another in Myrtle Beach. Tons of pancakes.

I saw Mt. Atlanticus MinotaurGoff. Pretty clever. Jungle Lagoon Miniature Golf, Cap'n Cain Golf, Pirate's Watch Adventure Golf, lots o golf.

Safari Golf. More pancake houses. Jurassic Golf...right next to yet another pancake house that had gone out of business. Shipwreck Island Adventure Golf, Ocean Adventure Golf.

There were a lot of painted carousel horses around Myrtle Beach?must be a fundraising program like so many others we've seen.

Rainbow Falls Golf, Lost Treasure Golf. Thunborough Family Amusement Park, Mutiny on the Bounty Caribbean Adventure Miniature Golf, The Tiki Miniature Golf. An endless supply of miniature golf courses.

Laura Lewis interviewed me for a newspaper article, and I met a number of nice folks. Natalie and Brian took care of us at the River Country Golf & Games Ice Cream Shoppe. Unfortunately, the place lined up for pie was unexpectedly closed for the day, so Laura and I settled for ice cream. Brian and Natalie served us. Cookie Dough Ice Cream...very good. I did manage to get some pie in Myrtle Beach later that day -- got a Southern delicacy at a gas station -- a Moon Pie.

Vanna White and Mickey Spillane are from the Myrtle Beach area.

I met Malcolm, John, and Thomas at the Shell Quick Lube. John spent a year and went across America on foot, bicycle and by rental car in various and sundry directions. I met Moose, Daniel, Wolf, Angie, and Michael at the Sparkle Car Wash in North Myrtle Beach. I took a few minutes for the PT Cruiser to get washed and oiled. This young man named Moose proved to be the only live "Moose" that we saw on the trip. Going mooseless was certainly one of the disappointments.

May Day Miniature Golf. Hawaiian Rumble Golf claimed to be the number one most famous mini golf in the world, the home of the Masters, said they're rated number one in America by Golf Magazine.

I drove to Charleston, South Carolina at the end of the day, and I really enjoyed meeting up for dinner with Karen Jones. Karen worked with us in the late 80's, and it had been 13 years since we had seen each other. Karen is one of my all-time favorite people, and she was, without any question, the best salesperson I have ever had the privilege of working with. She's a professional dart player, a fine Wallyball player, and much more.

We had the best Fried Green Tomatoes and Fried Oysters at the Atlanticville Restaurant in Sullivan's Island, South Carolina. And their Banana Cream Pie was fantastic! We met Jason, Jeff, and Ryan there.

49 states so far with just one to go. Hard to believe.

Pollianna and Patrick took excellent care of me at the Hampton Inn in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Each day, we collect our thoughts on a web page just like this. We drop in some of the photos from the day. Our goal with the Daily Journal is to write about the towns we visit, the sights we see, the people we meet, and the pie we eat. We write about where we are, where we've been, and where we are going, but we also make observations about what we've seen and done as well as about life in general.

You can follow our travels from the Daily Journal section of this web site. Other pages of interest include the running report of "vital statistics" on the Trip Scorecard, our nominations for the Best & Worst of the trip, as well as a rating of the pie we eat. If you'd like to see information for a specific state or town, click here, and then click on the state of interest and the full itinerary is shown.