Myrtle Beach a Sandy Respite

 

An oceanfront room at a first-class hotel in Myrtle Beach! In my book, there is no better way to celebrate the end of a busy and challenging school year. 

We made the reservations a while ago so when Friday, May 16 finally arrived I couldn’t wait to hit Highway 17 north to this popular coastal attraction.

We returned to the Residence Inn Myrtle Beach Oceanfront. We must be moving up in the world! In May of 2022 our room was on the 15th floor (1508). This visit we had room 1606. 

Sunday morning I woke up at 6 a.m. in time to see this glorious sunrise. 

After snapping several photographs from our hotel room balcony I hustled down to the beach. A handful of other early birds had the same idea. 

Soon enough the yellow orb that is the sun emerged over the Atlantic Ocean. 

Bidding Farewell to the School Year at Biddie Banquet

 

Maybe this is becoming a tradition! For the second year in a row after South Carolina State University's graduation ceremony I enjoyed a fine lunch at my favorite Orangeburg restaurant. 

Biddie Banquet, bastion of down home cooking, is conveniently located for me on the way to Interstate 26 at 220 John C. Calhoun Dr.  Yelp reviews here. 

Commencement began at 10 a.m. on Friday, May 9, and ended a few hours later.

I usually get the fried chicken- always so good- but since I had KFC chicken a few days ago I wanted something else. I was hoping for the chuckwagon steak with gravy but it wasn’t on the menu this day. So I went for the fried pork chop. This was by far the biggest pork chop I’ve ever had. And it was excellent, very moist and tasty. 

For $13.25 I had all this. Along with the meat, the plate comes with three sides. I chose mashed potatoes, Cajun rice, and Cole slaw. 

I misunderstood the three sides part this visit. Dessert is included in the $13.25, as is that Southern favorite- sweet tea. But dessert counts as one of the three sides.

Halfway through the meal I asked the server about dessert, a chocolate chip cookie. My past visits here dessert has been different pies or cobblers. 

She explained the three sides deal and kindly gave me the cookie at no extra charge. I gave her an extra tip for her quality customer relations. 

Green Energy Ship Turns Heads Heading Out to Sea

Most of the large container ships and chemical tankers seen entering or leaving Charleston Harbor don’t wow you with their looks other than their sheer size. 

But on April 30 while at the beach on Sullivan’s Island I witnessed an exception: this stunning vessel steaming toward the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. I love this photo for capturing the ship’s bold beauty and because we see St. Philip’s Church in the background, a Holy City landmark (one of 14 downtown churches in my book “Stories from the Underground: The Churchyards of Charleston").

See what I mean about turning heads? This gentleman stopped and stared, as did I. 

Stena Prosperous it says on the bow and on the port side in even larger print is Stena Proman. The former is the ship’s name and the latter the company that owns it.  

More lettering on the side spells IMOIIMeMAX. Let us try to determine what all this means! But first check out this photo of the tanker from Ships Monthly. 

Stena Prosperous is an oil and chemical products tanker built in 2022 at Guangzhou Shipyard in China.  It sails under the flag of Limassol, Cypress.

Stena Proman is a joint venture between Stena Bulk, a leading tanker operator, and Proman, a leader in natural gas-derived products and services. The two companies joined forces to build and operate a fleet of methanol-fueled tankers.