Popular Post Gilberticus 374 Posted April 27, 2016 Popular Post Share Posted April 27, 2016 (edited) Dang, it's been a while since I've logged on! I've been on extended vacation in Myrtle Beach, S.C, doing typical Gilberticus stuff, like researching claims of pink tektite (which was bogus), researching claims of a new species of amberjack (also bogus), you know, typical me stuff. Anyway, if you're heading to Myrtle Beach this summer, I have a few places you might want to check out. 1) Ripley's Aquarium. My son and I had a tremendously fun time riding a conveyor belt while looking up at the sea turtles and sharks and stuff. It wasn't the biggest Ripley's I've ever been to, but I don't remember those branches allowing me to touch the tops of jellyfish like they did at the Myrtle Beach branch. 2) Professor Hacker's Lost Treasure Golf. The coolest miniature golf course I've ever been on. Connor got quite a kick out of riding a train to the top of the course. It also had the coolest water hazards I've ever seen. The place was very clean, staff was very friendly, and the course was challenging without being frustrating. The whole place was wheelchair friendly, which means I had no problem pushing my son's stroller around. There's only one negative I have to say. There's one place in the course that's right next to the train track. You either go up a series of steps or push a button that calls the staff to lower a plank over the tracks, but the staff never came, and I had to do it myself, even though there were signs forbidding it. However, we were golfing at 10:30 at night, it was easy to lift the gate and lower the planks myself, so I won't hold it against them. 3) Black Market Minerals. Lol, you knew I was going to say Something about minerals This place was hard to find. Their main sign faces the boardwalk in Barefoot Landing, and Not Highway 17, which is what I used to get there. I got lost, called them, and to my embarrassment discovered that I was calling them from their parking lot. Anyway, I absolutely fell in love with the place. Most gem stores I go to are either too cold and aseptic or too hippie dippy for me. I don't like stores that make me feel like I'm shopping for surgical equipment, nor to I like salespeople coming up "whoa , man, that celestite totally matches the color of your aura." But this place falls right between aseptic and hippie dippy. I think what I like the most is the store's integrity, they didn't offer some of the new fake junk flooding the market these days. For instance, anything with "aura" in the title (like rainbow aura, aqua aura, angel aura) are fake. Well, technically they're not fake, their color treated quartz, but they cost up to 5x as much as a normal quartz their size. For some, that's cool. However, I'm kind of a purist when it comes to minerals. If I want deep blue quartz, why pay $75 for quartz that was dyed in a pressure chamber when I could get the same size of quartz for $20 and then pay $5 for one of those little display platforms with the little color changing wheel over the light? I also didn't see the new pink/blue tektite that's flooding my area. I'm sorry, but tektites are only brown, black, and bottle green. And regardless of what a salesman tells you, tektite gets it's name from it's location. Moldavite can only be called that if it comes from Moldau, which is in the Czech Republic. Anyway, two thumbs way up for this store. I was obviously at plenty of other locations, but none that I can give a review on. For instance, Jenn just HAD to go to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. The place looked cool, but I think it's a place to drink more than eat, and I don't drink alcohol. We went there several times near the end of our vacation, so diminishing funds warranted me eating burgers over surf and turf. I once got the Cheeseburger in Paradise, and.... I was just unimpressed. Normal burger with a tiny dab of thousand island. It was just burgers that I could have easily done at home. Now, you want a good burger, the Midnight Moonshine burger from Hardee's is a darn tasty burger. Anyway, I can't give proper reviews on places like that when I didn't have the money to experience their signature dishes. On top of that, we went during the "off season". So I can't knock a place who's crocodiles weren't performing when the weather was barely warm enough for shorts and t shirts. Crocodiles become lethargic when they're too warm/cold, and I don't blame them, I wouldn't feel like jumping 12 feet in the air to eat a chicken when I was shivering/sweating. Anyway, those three places were my favorites, and might be worth checking out if you're heading there. Edited May 4, 2016 by Gilberticus 2 Link to comment
gogoblender 3,042 Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 Loved the read, felt like I was there with all your details. I've never been to Myrtle, but have friends who've been down for golf, and another who used to go down yearly when he was a kid with his parents, because they loved the weather and great beaches. gogo Link to comment
Gilberticus 374 Posted May 5, 2016 Author Share Posted May 5, 2016 Golf was great, I've never had so much fun losing before I think the quality of the course or lack of can really alter one's experience. The one I was on ran through artificial mountains, over waterfalls, next to a fake tar pit with giant dinosaur bones. It felt more like an Indiana Jones movie than a mini golf game. It was a place where you take your time, relax, and look around instead of the ones I'm familiar with, where you just zip through as fast as you can. Link to comment
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