Sunrise Service & Wedding "at the beach"

     Just got back from Sunrise Service on the beach in North Myrtle Beach. We went with our friends from Ohio. This will be their last day "at the beach". They spent the Winter here and are heading back home tomorrow.  It wasn't that cold on the beach, but it was breezy and the clouds hid the sunrise.
     Yesterday we drove to Charleston to go to the wedding of a girl who Bev used to work with at the American Heart Association. It was held at the Charleston Harbor Resort at Patriots Point. It was a small wedding and they held the ceremony at the end of the pier with an outside reception. The weather was great, in the low 70's. We also made our regular stop at Trader Joe's on the way back to Myrtle Beach. Bev had to have her "Chocolately Cat Cookies".
     When the new terminal at Myrtle Beach International Airport opens on April 2, which will bring the number of gates from 7 to 13, a new bus shuttle service will begin as well. Two buses will take visitors to and from the airport. No exact routes have been designated as yet.
     International World Tour Golf Links will close 9 of their 27 holes for housing in 2014. A total of 21.5 Grand Strand golf courses have closed between 1999 and 2007 with plans for redevolopment that have largely been unrealized at least partially because of a recession and housing slump after 2007.
     In other golf news, The Dunes Club in Myrtle Beach will host the 2014 PGA Professional Championsip.  The tourney for club professionals will be held June 22-25. The Dunes Club along with the Grand Dunes Resort Club will host playes in the 1st 2 rounds of the 313 player tourney with the Dunes Club hosting the final 2 rounds. The players will be competing for a purse of $555,000 plus 20 spots in the 96th PGA Championsip at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.
     Myrtle Beach is getting it's first new hotel since construction abruptly stopped amid the housing and economy crunch. A 14 story Homewood Suites Ocean Front Resort and Conference Center is in the works for the vacent ocean-front spot at 1805 S. Ocean Blvd. on the former site of the Robbie Shyan Motel.  The 25 million dollar hotel aims to open in June 2014.
     If you're been waiting for the ideal time to purchase a retirement home, 2nd home or condo, or investment property "at the beach", now is the time. Prices have nowhere to go but up, so come on down, we're dealin!
     The 2nd edition of my Amazon and Kindle book MURDER ON THE FRONT NINE is now complete and available. www.stevenmcmillen.com. We are planning to be back in Lancaster the first week of May. If anyone would like me do a book signing at their business or organization,  please let me know. Contact me at smcmillen@sc.rr.com or 843.399.9745.

Sunrise service "at the beach"

 

Bev and the bride

 

The bride and groom

 

The beach in Cherry Grove

 

 

    
    

Warm and then cold "at the beach"

     January was a very warm month down here, I played golf at least once a week. Highs in mid 60's to low 70's and then February got cold, only into low to mid 50's. You just never know.
     Since we have friends in town, we have being hitting the "show" scene recently. We saw "Good Vibrations" and "The Carolina Opry".  Both shows were bery good and highly entertaining.  We read in the Preview Bio Book that the drummer, Lynn Brown, was from Lancaster, Ohio, but he had already left and moved on to Nashville. The male dancers in the shows were stars on NBC's America's Got Talent. They are, I think, the hit of both shows. They provide a whole lot of energy. When you're in town, be sure and take in a show or two. You will not be dissapointed.
     A new "Reality" show will be hitting your TV tonight. "Welcome to Myrtle Manor" airs on the TLC channel at 10:00 p.m.  The show was filmed at Patrick's Mobile Home Park off of Highway 15 in Myrtle Beach. There are a lot of pros and cons going around the Myrtle Beach area. Stay tuned.
     Another old hotel along Ocean Blvd. in Myrtle Beach has bit the dust. Late last week, crews started taking down the Beverly Motel (no relation) at 703 N. Ocean Blvd., the latest in a wave of old buildings that have been demolished to make way for new devolopment along the beaches main drag. Plans for the new site have not been released as yet.
     New owners are still trying to revive the old Waccamaw Pottery Shopping Center off of Highway 501. There are some physical changes - no more weeds, the parking lots are lit up, a new roof - but there is only a splattering of action in a couple of store spaces. Things are moving a lot slower than some officials had hoped, in part because of the still sputtering economy.
     In real estate news, sales showed  a continued upward trend in January, with a 10.3% boost versus a year earlier in sales of single-family homes and a 11.9% increase for condos. The median sales price for condos climbed 4.8% to $98,000 compared to the same period last year but single-family homes fell 3.1% to $155,000.  Business is picking-up so y'all come on down, we're dealin!
     My book Murder on the Front Nine has gone into a second edition. The publisher is now working on the Kindle version. I have several book signings planned and speaking engagements booked. I am actually spending more time on writing the second one Cougars at the Beach, which I hope to have completed by this fall. www.stevenmcmillen.com.
     See ya, Steve & Bev

Dancers at Carolina Opry

Opry singers and dancers

Anniversay dinner at Chuck's before Opry

Prime-rib roast after cooking, yum, yum