Myrtle Beach {part two}

Elizabeth has always wanted to see the sun rise over the ocean.

Thus, after dropping into bed around 1:45 the morning after the Corbin concert,

we found ourselves at the beach just a few short hours later.

Our groggy-ness dissipated as we played in the waves

trying not to get our pajamas soaked.

A few early-risers out for walks

along the sandy strand of beach

waved hey to us.

The morning air was alive with contentment, peace--

I felt happy to breathe in the new air of the day,

 before the sun climbed out of bed and toasted it.

At once, the sun climbed over the horizon's tall clouds

and burst out over the waves.

Brilliant.

Then...off to the pool!

We took advantage of the lazy river and floated around a while.

Elizabeth rocked a cute hat

I rocked the red lipstick

We're classy like that.

After swimming, we got dressed and visited the Brookgreen Gardens--

a vast garden doubling as the stage for hundreds of sculptures.

After a tryst in the gardens

and plenty of bug bites

I was admittedly hungry, tired, and cranky.

So we stopped at a Piggly Wiggly

purchased some yogurt and fruit

and headed back to the beach

where I promptly fell asleep on my beach towel.

When we were at the store, I told E

I'd help her eat this slice of watermelon.

That didn't happen. I left her to her own devices.

I slept for about an hour as the tide rose closer.

"I was fast asleep until that helicopter

woke me up," I told Elizabeth

when I finally started coming around.

"Uh, what helicopter?" Elizabeth laughed.

Apparently, I was a little more tired than I realized,

conked out and dreaming of helies.

We said goodbye to the boardwalk

took a few photobooth pictures

and got back on the road.

Myrtle Beach {part one}

What's the best thing about having one of your best gals living in the same town? Well, beside having her stop by just to show me her new cowboy hat, running into her at ballet class, or being able to run her a quick burger for dinner when she has to stay late at work:

she's the perfect road trip/beach buddy.

I had to drive South for work and Elizabeth came with me!

This not only made for a much more pleasant drive

(conversations with an actual person vs. talking aloud to myself)

but we figured, hey, what the heck? Why not keep

going and spend the weekend in Myrtle Beach?

So we did.

After two schools' shows and

a quick stop in South of the Border,

we headed to our beachfront hotel.

We explored the boardwalk,

bought cheap sunglasses,

E got TWO henna tattoos.

And THEN.

Oh my goodness, I can't even wait to tell you what happened next.

We went to House of Blues

(and had this AMAZINGLY delicious Southern meal, there was cornbread with jalapenos and maple flavored butter involved, along with the most handsome, Greek-God-look-alike host who took us to our table and the best service ever from our waitress)

sorry, I got distracted by dinner details, here's the important part:

after dinner, we saw Easton Corbin in concert.

This guy.

So ADORABLE.

I love his music

and now I love him, too.

He's just a little rockstar

dancin' around the stage

throwin' guitar picks into the audience

 flashing his heart-stopping grin.

We sang at the top of our lungs and screamed like 12-year-olds every time he pointed to the ladies crowding the front of the stage (a group to which we belonged).

At the end of the show, he jumped onto the floor and started signing people's hands and hats. He was mobbed by a thronging wall of hands grabbing at his shirt, raking through his hair.

E grabbed me and pulled me to the front of the mob just in time--

she squeezed his hand and I totally grabbed his forearm.

Best night ever.

So glad I have this girl to be silly and crazy with.

p.s. We both looked pretty great that night;

I'll stick a picture in here when I snag it from E's camera.

After all, she was the one who put up with the security guys

in order to have a camera with us, at all.

Sweet Carolina

After a summer of overseas adventure,

I was excited to return to the South.

I flew directly from a tour in Arizona.

Kristen drove my car from Utah to North Carolina

and picked me up at the airport.

(She's the nicest girl, ever)

It was early. We were sleep deprived.

She had driven through the country,

I had flown through the night.

We needed sustenance.

Home-cooked Southern sustenance.

The Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen!

Golden biscuits turned breakfast sandwich.

She had the ham and egg.

I had a BLT, that's what.

(Did I just say "That's what"? Yup...)

We spent the day moving the contents of my storage unit

into a musty basement apartment.

The weekend was a blur of old friends, thai food,

a redbox dvd, church, way too many tortilla chips and salsa.

Come Monday, we had to get Kristen some genuine Carolina barbecue.

Lexington and Eastern style,

served with hush puppies and fried okra.

Bam.

After lunch, on the porch, we played checkers and rocked in the rocking chairs.

My apartment, while intolerably musty and without oven or fridge,

does have two redeeming boons:

a baby grand piano in the living room

and access to a private community lake.

When light rain began spritzing down on the sand

we took cover at a picnic table near the dock.

We are bananagram champions.

The next day we visited the Duke campus,

saw the famous chapel and had a picnic in the Duke gardens.

And, of course, no tour of North Carolina

would be complete without a trip to the beach.

Her manicure happened to match the sunglasses.

Someone scultped a beautiful sea turtle

with a shell made of sea shells.

Love this girl--we had a blast!

p.s. please notice our clothing.

We weren't exactly planning on going to the ocean at that point in the day

so we were without proper beach attire.

That didn't stop Kristen--she swam out as far as she could in her dress!