North Myrtle Beach (Paul's Page)

		N o r t h M y r t l e B e a c h
		N o r t h M y r t l e B e a c h

	(click picture to go to myrtlebeach.com)
			Now this is a favorite stomping ground! Back when I lived in Columbia there were summers when I'd make mid-week daytrips to North Myrtle Beach (a 2.5 hour drive) almost every week. I had a lot of flexibility in taking days off from work so I'd simply watch the weather and pick a beach day based on forecasts for sun...

Home of
Vanna
White!

I'd usually prefer Thursdays, but if needed I'd pick a different day to avoid rain/get the sunniest weather. (Became adept at reading radar weather maps and learning to judge the movement of frontal systems, etc.)


	People thought it odd that I preferred Thursday daytrips (instead of Friday, to create a 3-day weekend), but I really liked breaking up the week like that... That way, I never had a work-week longer than 3 days, and I didn't mind coming home Thursday night to face a Friday a work, because hey!—only one day until the real weekend!

(click logo to go NMB website)

Had a perfect setup as my old college buddy Brad was living there at the time, between jobs, still single and with his own beach house two blocks from the ocean. I was working at NCR in Columbia and had 4 or 5 weeks of vacation to use per year, so I was able to take numerous single days off here and there. (Never took any long vacations back then, outside of working at the Fair.)

It was a simple routine... I'd leave Columbia about 9:00 AM and get to North Myrtle about 11:30 AM; Brad would sometimes just be waking up. Depending on the weather (and/or hunger levels) we'd head either straight to the beach or to a local eatery for lunch.

Afternoons were just spent sitting on the beach, drinking beer, people-watching, talking about life, liberty, and the pursuit of whatever, occasionally going in the water.

Around 4:00 PM surfing was legal so I'd take my board out and float around. (Not much surfing to be had on SC's coast in late summer, but that didn't stop me from paddling out to spend an hour or two in the warm, peaceful water.)

Later we'd reconvene for a bite to eat and a beer (maybe at Hamburger Joe's). I'd finally head home about 9:00 PM to get to Columbia just before midnight, tired and sunburned but happy and ready for Friday. Man, those were the days!

	Doobie & I braving 95 degrees & 90% humidity Windy Hill section of North Myrtle Beach		Still love going to this beach, but living on the West coast I only make it out here about once a year at best. Not sure if even Brad does much better; even though he still owns his beach house, he lives in Columbia now. Whenever I can, I'll get together with him, and/or Doobie, for a few days in North Myrtle—but never often enough!

	www.paulfidler.com	e-mail
	www.paulfidler.com	e-mail
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