The Grand Strand

We have not been to Myrtle Beach in a long time.  It used to be a place where we vacationed often 40 years ago, back before it exploded with development.  I remember that there was a single shopping mall in the late 70s, Myrtle Square.  And we have wonderful memories of once visiting Martha's Mamah and her Aunt Lizette when they were staying there at a gracious old hotel, The Chesterfield Inn, with its high ceilings and rocking chairs on the back porch.

But it slowly changed over the years, traffic grew heavier, motels one right after another on Ocean Boulevard, and we stopped going there.  

The exceptions, as I remember it, were in 2008 when I ran the half marathon there (see post of February 19), and then a few years later stopping for lunch on a trip from Beaufort, South Carolina to the Outer Banks.  And now we will be returning to this place from our past, leaving tomorrow morning for the race on Saturday.  This evening, we will be packing running clothes, race-morning food, and an overnight bag, and then we will come back here on Sunday. 

So we had a quiet, restful day, walking for a little bit on the beach this morning.  Martha had learned about an amazing sea monster created by Sand Sculptor artist Phil Singer of New York down at the circle in Atlantic Beach, and we went down to take a look.  What an amazing creature!

Now we are ready:  ready to push ourselves just a little, running a distance I have not run in two years, looking forward to the excitement of a big race once again.