Just Checking In

It's windy and getting colder again here, so no golf today.  We went to a movie this afternoon!  I love a good King Kong movie where he's the good guy and I can root for him!  😊  The world needs more goodness.  There were plenty of "jump in your seat" moments with lots of other creatures, too.

It's supposed to warm up and maybe be in the 70's by the weekend.

Stay safe and God Bless America!

Happy Spring!

This was yesterday.  Surprise!  Huge, fluffy flakes that entertained the furry boys!

But that is our weather pattern here - up and down, back and forth.  After a weekend of cold, rain, and snow, today is supposed to get into mid-50's and the sun is shining brightly.

Golfer and I caught up on some recorded shows and have been reading some good books.  Did some odds and ends around the house.  He has his annual eye appointment today and I have a couple appointments this week, too.

Life is good.  Stay safe and God Bless America!

Spring Forward! Did You Remember?

Did you remember to set your clocks an hour ahead last night? Time for all of us to adjust to losing an hour, changing routines a little, and trying to explain to our furry family members that their meal time has changed.  😊  For the record, our furry boys did NOT change their clocks and they were waiting for their breakfast about 5:00 a.m.  They were disappointed.  I went back to sleep.  They have now been fed and are happy.

In other news, the cherry blossoms are blooming on Canon Boulevard!  I took the picture from inside the car as Golfer was driving us home from breakfast yesterday morning.

Stay safe and God Bless America!

Just an Update on Today

After I got some things finished up around the house this morning, I decided I'd better get to the errands before any rain started.  I hate doing errands in the rain!

While I was out the wind got stronger and it rained just a little bit.  The wind is blowing the petals off the blooming Bradford pear trees and it looks like snow blowing around.  The Hallmark store was one stop.  They keep their decorative twirly yard decorations on display outside the store.  Right after I got inside I heard some shouting and the wind had blown a couple of them out into the street.  The ladies were rushing out and by the time I was done shopping the decorations had all been taken in.

Stay safe!

Spring??

Our weather here is still going back and forth, up and down.  We have had some beautiful warm days.  Things are "greening up" and starting to bloom.  Today is cloudy, getting cooler and windier, and there is a chance of snow predicted for Sunday.  Blah.

However, my internal clock has said it is time for Spring Cleaning!  The library, office and our bedroom have been wiped, scrubbed, vacuumed, windows washed, things dusted and polished.  There is a sense of accomplishment with all that.  I always think of my Grama and how she cleaned her wall paper with big "wads" of cleaner that looked and smelled like Play-doh.  I've always wondered if that is what Play-doh really is with some added color?????  She would also drag the carpets and rugs out and hang over the clothes line and beat them with a thing that looked like a tennis racket.  Thankfully, those methods of cleaning are gone now.  😊

The window treatment in the office needed to be cleaned.  The cost of dry cleaning was over half the cost of replacing, so I gathered my Bed, Bath, and Beyond coupons and went shopping.  The new ones look pretty good.   Like I've said before, there are things I just don't worry about any more.  Years ago, I would have worried and found a way to keep the old ones and clean them.

Golfer did some yard work yesterday and some cleaning up and raking.  I think the next time he's out there it will be to mow and trim.  It will be time for me to do another "walk around" and check things in the mulched areas soon.  And I need to call Steve and arrange for new mulch to be delivered and spread around.

I got the first biopsy report, the one for the place on my leg.  Pre-cancerous cells were found, but they got it all when the doctor made the divot in my leg.  It is healing now.  Next up will be the place on my face.  I see a plastic surgeon for the removal and that biopsy.

So, all in all, life is good!  Stay safe and God Bless America!

P.S.

Guess what I got in my email today????  A customer service survey from the hotel!  I had a lot to say!  😊

Back Home!

Golfer and I are back home now.  It was a great mini-vacation!  We got to visit with friends and he got to play golf a couple times.  And we ate at some of our favorite places.

However..............

It is time for a hotel review.  We started staying at Ocean Dunes back in 1997.  Back then they were a sponsor of the Retired Military Classic tournament.  It is a nice area, and at the time they were perfect.  Over the years the property declined.  The conditions on Memorial Day weekend with the Bike Fest people finally got so bad we found Royal Garden in Garden City and started staying there.  It is a lovely place and has everything we need.

Ocean Dunes has a new owner now and changes and improvements are being made.  I've been getting their emails and ads and snail mail telling about all of them.  Then they ran a special to "come and see".  We were in need of a little cabin fever get-away so we thought we'd try them.  We were disappointed.

We booked a room with two queen size beds in the hotel.  The "Try us!" $59 per night rate was for the first night only.  Then it went up the second night and went up again for any additional nights. A $300 deposit was required.   Booo!

The next issue was no one on duty at the front desk when we got there.  Evidently they aren't scheduling people to be on duty all the time.  We had to walk over to the other desk in the Sands building.  So, we finally got to our room on the second floor - I had requested a higher floor, but didn't feel like arguing that point.  The room was clean and had a fresh coat of paint everywhere.  The bathroom had been re-done.  It looked nice at first glance.

Then the issues were discovered.  There was no closet, not even any hooks anywhere to hang anything.  The dresser was small, and with no place to hang anything, it was not big enough. If there had been one of those folding stands to put a suitcase on, I would have used that, but we didn't have one of those either.  There was no place to sit and relax, read, or visit unless we sat on small hard-backed wooden chairs that were at a small round table.  There were no safety bars in the bathroom.  Nothing at all to hold onto getting in and out of the shower.  Safety issue!

Housekeeping was a joke.  Golfer and I are neat people and I usually spread up the beds when we get up in the morning anyway, but the service was sad.  The trash was taken out every day, but the floor was never swept once.  The bathroom was not cleaned.  I had to ask for towels one day.  And on that subject, when did it become the "thing" for hotels to not furnish hand towels????

Various new shops and places to eat on site were advertised, but none were open.  Work was being done in the outdoor pool area and noisy jackhammers were in use a LOT.

So, as I said, we were disappointed in the hotel experience.  We had a wonderful time and enjoyed ourselves, but I doubt we will be returning to Ocean Dunes any time in the near future.

And to end this review on a silly note, here is some advice.  Start packing your own soap.  We started doing that several years ago so we were okay, but I just had to show you this:

The "bar" of  bath soap is just about 3/16" thick.  The label says "made with vegetable oil".  It was like trying to wash your hands with a wad of Crisco.  (sorry, Crisco)

Stay safe and God Bless America!

It's a Beautiful, Sunny 39!

Hi, from Myrtle Beach!

Golfer and I are having a mini vacation for a couple days.  The weather has been beautiful, was 80 just two days ago.  Then a rainy storm front came through during the night and cooled things down.  The good news is that the rain washed some of pollen out of the air.  It's been thick!  I'll be taking Kirk to the car wash when we return home. 

Golfer has had a nice couple days of golf with our friend T.  I have had a great visit with wonderful conversation with friend E.  We have eaten at a couple of our favorite places.  I have had some quiet time enjoying the ocean and listening to the waves and the birds. 

There will be a post later about our hotel so I won't go into that here.  Let's just say I have a lot to say on that subject.  :)

There is still clean-up and repair going on in the area due to damage from Hurricane Matthew.  There are still buildings being repaired that have lost siding and roofs.  Lots of trees were downed. The large Palace Theater is closed due to a huge hole in the wall.  The saddest part is the damage to the dunes and dunes grasses.  They are flattened or just simply washed away.  In earlier posts I've had pictures of the ocean and the grasses at the dunes.  This is now:

The small wooden fences are all gone, washed away.  What grass is left is flat and browning.  We're told the dunes grasses will come back but it will not be quick or soon.  E says that the sea turtles did return to lay their eggs though and everyone is hoping there will be lots of baby turtles in the future.  That was one of the biggest worries.  The turtles always return the same area and they are protected as much as possible.  If you enjoy reading, Dorothea Benton Frank includes lots of history and stories about the turtles in her books that are based in the Low Country.

You may have noticed the birds in the picture.  Every morning there have been hundreds of sea gulls lined up at the very edge of the water on the beach.  The day before the storm front they were all in a straight line facing South -- every one of them!

Occasionally there are large pelicans flying by that remind me of Jurassic Park!

There is no golf planned for today.  We looked at the beautiful sunrise this morning.  We have been to our favorite breakfast place, Eggs Up Grill, and we will be heading out soon to look around, maybe shop a little and possibly see a movie.  Dinner this evening with T & E!

Stay safe and God Bless America!