When we finally got ourselves in gear, we decided on a “road trip” for this sunny, warm Sunday. We drove to North Myrtle Beach, Little River, and Calabash. First we explored the area where Ladd’s parents had had a condo in North Myrtle Beach. We found the exact spot and their old condo by the river and golf course. The condo, pool, stores, and restaurants around there brought back so many great memories of when Dean was little and we visited Grandma and Grandpa Valentini. Poor Mimi and Dennis were probably so sick of hearing me say, “Oh, I remember when we went there and Dean did…” or “I remember that store had….” Thanks for putting up with our trips down Memory Lane, Mimi and Dennis! Ladd remembered a great oyster place we had been to that had piles of oyster shells outside. Of course, we did not know if it was still in existence, but we decided to see if we could find it to go there for dinner. Well, believe it or not, we did actually find it: “Steven’s Oyster House”, but it was closed on Sundays. Rats! Then we headed to Little River and cased out menus from several restaurants on the river. We chose “Crab Catchers”, and boy, were we GLAD we did! You could sit inside or outside on the deck overlooking the river. Since it was so beautiful out, we sat at a table at the end of the deck right by the railing and overlooking the river. I saw a shrimp cocktail going by to someone’s table that looked big and delicious. I decided before I looked at the menu that I’d have one of those. All four of us actually decided to have appetizers with sandwiches. I had that shrimp cocktail and a scallop sandwich. Dennis had oysters on the half shell and a scallop sandwich, too. (The scallops were done SO PERFECTLY and were so fresh you could “cut” them with a plastic fork!) Ladd had onion rings and a fried oyster sandwich. Mimi had gator bites, (yes, alligator), and sea bass sandwich. We shared our appetizers, and EVERYONE LOVED EVERYTHING! (Except in the interest of full disclosure, I must tell you that I was the only one who did not try the gator bites…LOL!) All of our seafood was so fresh and delicious. Since Dennis and Mimi live close, they now say they can’t wait to bring their friends there. As we ate we not only enjoyed the food, but also the boats going by and the pelicans and other water birds entertaining us.
Of course we could not finish out the day without checking out the BIG store Mimi has been telling me about. As we pulled into the parking lot of “Callahan's of Calabash“, I blurted out, “Oh! We were here with Grandma and Grandpa Valentini when Dean was little. And Ladd’s mother bought me a gorgeous Easter decoration: a colorful wicker Easter basket that has lighted eggs in it.” I still have that beautiful basket and still put it out at Easter. I wondered if they still had those. Mimi and I went in to explore and shop as “the guys” sat out on the store porch. This store has everything: souvenirs, decorations for beach houses, Christmas decorations, Easter decorations, clothes for kids, clothes for adults, cheaper and expensive jewelry, cards, etc. I smiled when I discovered they DID still make the Easter basket decoration baskets like mine! When we went outside thinking the guys were probably tired of waiting, Mimi told me that I had not gone all the way to the end and had missed a whole part of the store. This place is SO HUGE! That’s what I get for rushing! Then Dennis told me that section sold fudge…phooey! But don’t despair, Dennis bought some fudge for all of us to sample. Hooray for Dennis!
Back at Dennis and Mimi’s house we ended the day exactly as we started it: sitting out in their screen room chatting. What a relaxing, fun day!
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