-
Continued -
Introduction
After having to cancel one
trip to Myrtle Beach and then abandon planning for a jaunt to the Turks &
Caicos in the Caribbean because of conflicts with Sandra's work, we were
greatly looking forward to attending at least a portion of the SOS
(Society of Stranders) Fall Migration festivities when there's always the
wonderful dilemma of trying to choose among the many concurrent events
that are featured for lovers of Carolina Beach Music. We were
scheduled to arrive on Wednesday, September 22 and depart the afternoon of
Monday, September 27. Bet some of our astute readers noticed our use
of the word "scheduled". Things did not go as
planned. By Friday evening we both were suffering respiratory
ailments which wasted no time in evolving into full blown sinus
infections, very sore throats and bronchitis. It was most unusual
because, in fact, we can't remember ever simultaneously becoming ill like
that. Clearly it would seem we were exposed at the same time to
whatever precipitated the ailment.
After struggling along hoping
it might miraculously improve and quite the contrary occurring, we decided
we'd had all the fun we could stand and departed for home Sunday morning.
Traveling
The BMW Z4 was tightly
packed. In fact, it was packed a couple of times while trying to
find just the right arrangement that would allow everything to fit in the
trunk. It's certainly more challenging with the trunk space being
noticeably smaller than what we had available with the Cadillac XLR
roadsters. And, of course, that's with the top up because there's
much less room when it's lowered. The drive to Myrtle was wonderful
with very beautiful weather. Well, that's not altogether true.
Yes indeed the weather was excellent, but Sandra got a little fussy a few
times when Ed was slightly enjoying the Z4's performance
capabilities. Hey, what's wrong with a brief spurt at 130mph among
friends? Ed acquiesced and subsequently kept it to no more than
100mph and then only when passing.
Once at our destination and
relieved of the load of luggage, there was plenty of top down driving with
beautiful blue skies, bright sunshine and quite warm temperatures.
Just right! The first morning Ed was out early giving the Z4 a good
clean in the parking lot of the hotel and after an hour or so had it
looking quite presentable, devoid of its considerable Carolina bug
collection and assorted road grime from the previous day's drive.
Every day the car was parked at Fat Harold's Beach Club in the Ocean Drive
section of North Myrtle Beach where it got lots of attention.
Speaking of cars getting attention, Joy Thompson, General Manager for
Harold Bessent's clubs, has a new red Camaro which is a stunner - great
looking car which also was getting plenty of looks.
In the evenings when doing the
club scene we always used taxis which worked well most of the time.
There was one time when we were leaving the hotel that it took forever
for the bellman to get a taxi in spite of his obviously conscientious
efforts to do so. That was unusual.
The return drive home was OK until
we reached Laurinburg where the torrents of rain began. It rained
and rained and rained - literally sheets of it with water piling on the
road surface unable to drain quickly enough. To our considerable
amazement we were delighted to find the extremely low clearance Z4 was not
prone to hydroplaning and actually handled quite well in those abysmal
conditions. A lot of cars were pulling to the side of the road or moving
quite slowly, but we pretty much were able to continue at the speed limits
of 70mph and 65mph as we made our way up to Asheboro, NC. Once there
the rain abated somewhat but was still sufficient to slow and bunch up the
traffic on US 64 to the extent there was no hope of passing. After
reaching I-85 it was smooth sailing the rest of the way home. And
the sick people were glad to be there.
Accommodations
We
stayed once again at the Marina Inn Grande Dunes and once again there were
many things we enjoyed including the outstanding staff, the Reflections
Bar, Waterscapes, the entertaining view of the intracoastal waterway
and for the most part the attractive two bedroom / two bath suite.
There's a quite extensive description of the accommodations at the Marina
Inn in the last report about our previous visits - go to this link Myrtle
Beach Days 2009 Trips #3-5.
However,
something we found noticeably different with our suite (#4805) this time
were problems with the hot water supply for the showers and tubs in both
baths. It was most strange. Our first evening after fiddling
endlessly with the controls and letting the water run a lot with the
handles moved to both extreme positions there was still no hot
water. The really strange thing was there was plenty of steaming hot
water available from the bathroom and kitchen sink spigots. By that
point we had wasted so much time with the aggravating problem we were way
behind schedule for dining and then getting to the reserved table being
held for us at Nightclub 2001. Both of us took totally cold water showers
and Ed also washed his hair. And Ed thought he was going to
have the "big one" because it was quite a shock to one's
system. Exasperated and beyond annoyed he called the front desk and
let them know in no uncertain terms how unacceptable the situation
was. As we were dressing there was a noticeable "pop"
sound heard that seemed to come from the plumbing. Soon thereafter a
very nice maintenance person arrived. Guess what? There was
now hot water in the two baths, but not in the separate shower in the
master bathroom. The maintenance person allowed as how a safety
valve in that shower was defective and we asked him to please attend to it
after we were dressed and gone. The next day we found it was working
- that is until it was needed that evening and once again there was
nothing but cold water in the shower and bathtub in the master. The
combined shower / tub in the other bathroom was working. That
problem continued through the remainder of our stay.
While
on the subject of the plumbing, we have to note the water conserving
showerheads were an absolute major nuisance. Unlike what we
previously experienced in the two bedroom / two bath suites, these
showerheads were pathetic in terms of delivering such a weak stream of
water which was not adequate to effectively rinse shampoo from one's
hair. That's just taking conservation to an absurd level!
Unfortunately,
there were a few more disappointments we had not experienced on previous
visits. And, that was because on the past stays we didn't get sick
and find ourselves watching TV instead of being out partying. The TV
housed in the sitting area armoire was extremely basic - a moderate size
tube type which most definitely was not high definition. The fact is
we had forgotten how poor the quality is on those type sets when compared
to high-end, high definition, large screen LCD units. It was pretty
grim. And to make matters worse we discovered just how uncomfortable
the couch opposite the TV was. The seating space was quite narrow in
depth and hardly what one wanted trying to sprawl out with a blanket while
not feeling well. But a solution was found. If the loose
cushion backs were removed and flung on the floor there was then a more
normal size seating area available albeit with a then hard back. As
indicated, normally these things wouldn't matter in the least to us
because we wouldn't be using the couch or watching TV. By the way,
Sandra did find the also present Meridinne style couch to be quite
comfortable.
Something
we haven't mentioned in previous reports is the availability of free, high
quality WiFi service for guests. It worked extremely well and was
much appreciated. Another amenity that Ed especially enjoys is the
free coffee and newspapers in the lobby every morning. While Sandra
did her late snoozing thing, he would have several cups and peruse the
paper in the most attractive Library sitting area.
We
do think it important to mention that there was no problem whatsoever when
we decided to depart earlier than planned. The front desk staff
could not have been any nicer and more understanding. We were
promptly credited for the unused part of our reservation.
Would
we stay again at the Marina Inn? Yes, we definitely would with the
expectation we wouldn't get sick again and with the understanding we would
test the hot water situation immediately after arriving at the suite and
ask for a change if there were any problem. Oh yes, we might also
pack a decent shower head and a pair of channel lock pliers.
Flower
Arrangement
We
just keep heaping praise on Flowers On The Coast
because of their outstanding service, attention to detail, creativity,
flexibility and concern for customer satisfaction. They did another
great job with the flowers that Ed ordered for Sandra. Once again
they responded to the challenge of producing a custom arrangement that
would be delightfully beautiful, but small enough to transport home
sitting in the floor on the passenger side of the Z4. And as is
normally the case, this time many of the flowers lasted over two weeks
after we were home.
