My View of the World

This is the view from my beach chair, April 2, about noon, North Myrtle Beach, SC. Obviously, it is a little deserted. And I am fine with that. Trying to learn to relax. So far, so good.

Is This (Vacation) Art?

Sunrise. Sunrise. Sunset. Sunset. Sunset. Swiftly flow the years. One season following another.....

Just playing around with my photo editing settings on vacation at North Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Vacation: Day Four; Inland forecast? 90 degrees

On learning how to relax again on vacation

Loads of laundry done 3*
Beds made 0
Dishwasher loads 0
Times used Windex 0
Sunscreen bought 1
Aloe vera bought 1
Bananas consumed 3
Ankles twisted 1
Photos taken 200
Photos uploaded 40
Books read 0
Art projects done 0
Trips to the grocery 3
Seafood eaten 0**
Sunny days 3/3
Wine purchased 1***
Wine consumed 0
Number of colors in living room 27
Number of naps 0
Number of burkas or muumuus required for beach 1
Number of burkas or muumuus brought 0
Number of horrific, white, beached whales spotted 1
Number of great white sharks caught in North Myrtle Beach and reeled in 2****
Number of books or magazines able to read on beach with new sunglasses 0
Number of cleaning efforts (any kind) made so far 0
Number of favorite spots torn down: several
Number of backsides now burned 1
Times coming in for bottled water - several
People on beach - 1 gazillion + assorted dogs
Dogs seen:
Boxer and dalmation mix 1
Dachshund 1
Golden lab - 1
Yorkies- 12 (or maybe it's the same one)
Shitzus- 2
Whippet 1
Puggle 1
Corgi 1
Misc 10
Cats 0
Minutes spent gazing at ebay 0
Bad hair days 3/3

* stacking apartment size appliances (cute, though)
** yet
*** juice box size and shape, in fact, it is wine in a juice box
**** that I know of

Beach update

6:35 a.m. 04.05.10. Woke up, decided to try sunrise pictures. Captured spooky white circle (sun wasn't up yet and moon was behind me). Went back to bed.

How not to go on vacation?

Ahhhh! North Myrtle Beach, S.C. Arrived April 2. This is approximately my 40th visit in 25 years. This vacation was so needed; doctor's orders even. I haven't blogged here lately or posted (or made) much art. Haven't been feeling too creative or inspired or energetic.

So, I thought I would bring plenty of inspirational supplies, reading material and the like on vacation. The pics above don't even include the four Blythe dolls I brought to photograph and all of their belongings and props. But what you do see are enough supplies to knit, crochet, embroider, paint with acrylics, paint with watercolors, draw with charcoal or graphite, and of course equipment to photograph, blog, listen to music or do real work.

I wonder if I need "help" in learning how to take a vacation? I didn't used to. Already I have a sunburn. That might be viewed as a positive in this situation. We shall see. More to come...

My Beach-y Memoir-Published!

Is this not the coolest magazine cover ever? It makes me think of all things summer. It also makes me want to run and jump and do flip-flops like the gent on the cover. Why? Because my beach-theme shadowbox was chosen as one of the featured pieces of art in the "Life's A Beach" challenge as referenced on the cover of this July-August 2009 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine, by Quilting Arts and Interweave Press. Nearly 300 pieces of art were entered in the challenge and 14 were published. I feel truly fortunate.

My beach-y piece has few words but is truly a memoir as I created it while on vacation in North Myrtle Beach, SC, using some of the things I found there, like driftwood and shells. It's been traveling around awhile, so it will be good to get it home so I can hang it up and "dream."

You'll have to buy the issue to get a better look at mine and the other 13 entries. Check the September-October issue for results of the reader challenge charm swap!

Something Old, Something New

North Myrtle Beach sort of looks the same, I guess. Or maybe I should say my pictures always look the same. New on the scene, though, is the Hard Rock Amusement park, opening April 15 with The Eagles' Life in the Fast Lane Coaster, Led Zeppellin gift shop and more. The Eagles and The Moody Blues (are they even alive?) will play for the grand opening. We will miss both, but I did learn there is now a free "backstage tour" offered at the new theme park. So, why not? There is even a "paying" hard hat tour. Not sure that will be necessary. Too many other things to do. Like shop. Sunbathe. Eat shrimp until I grow a tail. Will not be posting photos of any of these things.

On the art front, as opposed to ocean-front, I completed my first of 12 houses for Jeri Aaron's http://artfulgathering.typepad.com/ House Row Swap. I needed to make a haunted house anyway for an ARTchix contest http://www.artchixstudio.com/ and Stampington & Co is seeking vintage Halloween images until April 15 for publication, so I decided to do triple duty. My house is pictured here. That's handmade holey paper standing in for cobwebs in case you're wondering. Some of the elements used were required for the ARTchix part. I was thrilled that Jeri not only asked me to be in this swap but also in a "side deal," she cut my houses for me in trade for some ephemera. The houses are mat board, which is pretty heavy, and I usually can draw blood just using an ink pen. So I was appreciative of her cutting efforts! If you want to see some really cool finished houses, check out Kathy Wasilewski's at http://alteredantiquity.typepad.com/. They are really great!

And it is such a small art world, really. My dear new Blythe friend Angela, herself an accomplished and published artist http://geminiangelsart.blogspot.com/, invited me to join Altered Art Divas Reliquary on Yahoo, which I promptly did, and ran in to Jeri there! I have yet to look up 'reliquary' to remind myself what it means, but I'm pretty sure it means "bunch of broads with one foot in grave doing art." Don't tell Angela I said that. But our Blythes keep us young. Or, maybe it is just the scouring of vintage stores for valuable doll clothes that keeps us that way.

Back to art.

First Day in North Myrtle Beach

Fifteen hours of driving were rewarded with lots of clouds and rain, so after a brief nap and laying in of supplies, we decided to venture out to see what has changed in six months. The Hard Rock Amusement Park is supposed to open in May, but it hardly looks ready. The park is located behind the now-defunct Waccamaw Park Outlet Mall, which was my first haunt 23 years ago. The mall featured two buildings and a third was built in the late 80's/early 90s. Now, it still stands in front of this new mammoth park. So one assumes it will soon be torn down.

Opening today, however, is the Market Commons- upscale shopping and dining- another amazing addition, considering Myrtle Beach just welcomed the state's largest indoor mall only about three or so years ago. Market Commons looks a lot like the outdoor mega-malls I see in the Midwest like Easton Town Square in Columbus, OH or Clay Terrace in Indianapolis, IN. I believe Charleston, SC also has one of these just two hours up the road. PF Chang's is calling my name for this week, for sure.

Tonight, however, was a pizza-in night, in light of the weather, driving and Final Four. I did manage to squeeze in a couple of art supply stores today: AC Moore ( a big box store), Artful Legacy, a great rubber stamp and altered arts store I saw for the first time, and Moonstone Beads, in the same plaza as Artful Legacy. How convenient is that? I hope to head there again later in the week.

Yay! Off to My Beach.....Again

Return visitors may be excused for yawning about now. You may recall my excessive posting of last October: that was my first time in 23 years at North Myrtle Beach after starting this blog, acquiring my first digital camera and also discovering free wireless in our condo. So post I did. Waves? Check. Sun? Check. Seagulls? Check. Thunderstorm? Check? Pretty much anything that moved? Check.

So, I promise to be a little more discriminating this year, and I believe I have learned more about my camera, also a plus. I'm just so crazy excited to get out of the Midwest and to see some blues and greens and pinks and purples. This has been an extremely long winter in varying shades of gray, and I need a color infusion, STAT.

I'm looking forward to the little respite. I've packed all the things I've been wanting to do, like making charms for Art & Soul and Castle in the Meadow (see blog badges at right), a couple hard-backs: John Grisham and Tim Dorsey, the latest magazines, one Blythe with props and a tote of art supplies. Last year I overpacked so much that one large laundry basket filled to the brim with art supplies was just the tip of the iceberg. Not smart. But I learned. This year, only a relative dab, so I can really spend some time relaxing.

I am looking forward to getting re-charged! Jimmy Buffett may call his beach "my beach" because likely he owns the frontage, but I'm calling North Myrtle "my beach"- squatters' rights.

No Doppler. No Radar. Just Weather.

My Beautiful Day turned all Marilyn Manson (that would be ugly, sorry MM) on me in a flash, literally, with a big ol' thunderstorm, angry ocean and the whole War of the Worlds sky. I only wish I could have captured it better, but the rain was blowing in. Now, it's just the perfect time for a nap! If only the thunder were louder.

A U2 Day

It is absolutely gorgeous here at the beach. The Weather Channel has been wrong every day, and even though I had a dream about Marshall Seese the other night, I may have to change my allegiance. In fact, it is so hot and humid my camera keeps fogging up. I had to wipe between photos, and I don't like to touch my lens. The weather makes one think it is going to storm every night, but something about the shore and the tides and the shape of the coast and the phase of the moon seems to keep it at bay. Gobs of seaweed were washed up last night, which is the first time this week, so something was different.

I swam in the ocean yesterday. It was so fun to just let the big waves knock me over. It's been a few years since I've done that, and I quite forgot the water is salty! I hated to come out. It's such an easy way to get sun and so relaxing! I don't like it unless it is extra-warm, which it was. Something slinky went past my leg; it was either a shark or a leaf. Something big and black was leaping way out; either a shark or a dolphin. My foot got sucked into a mucky hole and went thrwap thrwap when I pulled it out; either a killer crab or muck. As you can see, I am a wee scaredy when it comes to ocean creatures, another reason I don't swim too often. A nest of water mocassins by our pier when I was about 15 scarred and scared me for life. But, hey, this is the Ocean.

So What IS it About Myrtle Beach?

So just what it is about Myrtle Beach, S.C., North Myrtle Beach to be exact, that would bring a 40-something here nearly 40 times in the last 22 years? Uncrowded and wildly pretty beaches? Dolphin sightings? Pre-Civil War history? Low country food? Outlet shopping? I do love it all and think Myrtle Beach and South Carolina in general have long taken a back seat to Florida when it comes to southern vacations.

However, MB has enjoyed steady traffic since post-WWII as northerners came straight down I-95 for fun in the sun. Canadians made the trek, too, as evidenced by MB's salute to them annually in March called Can-Am Days. In fact, in the 1940s-1960s The Grand Strand had its heyday, with teens piling in cars to drive across several states to come to The Pavillion - an amusement park on the ocean's edge. That landmark was just torn down this year and the site remains vacant with no current plans.

I can remember coming to Myrtle Beach in the mid-1980s when one could not drive down Ocean Avenue in the late spring for all the foot traffic, cruising cars and general mayhem. Not long before that, Myrtle Beach was home to the now-famous band Alabama (who would have followed a band named South Carolina?), who in their early days played spots like The Bowery and The Spanish Galleon and provided accompaniment for couples dancing The Shag. Thankfully, I am too young to know what that is, but it was created and made famous on the Grand Strand. Alabama paid homage to their MB roots by opening The Alabama Theatre and playing here several times a year. At one point they also opened an Alabama restaurant, but that has since become a Nascar Cafe, complete with driving experience, go-carts, big-name cars on site and bungee jumping (not sure of the tie-in? death, maybe?).

But, I don't come for any of these things. In fact, I've never been to any of the attractions I just mentioned. I do love the history. It's not hard to imagine shipping captains stopping here for the white sand beaches, and from there it's a short leap to thoughts of pirates, mermaids and all sorts of ghost legends, which run rampant here.

South Carolina in general also has plenty of Revolutionary and Civil War history, and although I haven't done it, I would love to visit some really old cemeteries. It's also not hard to see how South Carolina could have gone the way of the Confederacy and become it's own little country. The really old folks seem to recall those days fondly. The roadside shacks, although today a sign of severe poverty here, seem to harken back to those renegade times.

One place I have visited on several occasions is Brookgreen Gardens, one of the largest American sculpture gardens if not the largest US collection. Brookgreen Gardens was founded by sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington and her husband and their former summer home/mansion can be seen at Hutington Beach State Park. At Brookgreen, which I last saw in March, I particularly enjoyed Frog Baby, whose Baby cousin (I guess) is a famous statue full of lore at my alma mater, Ball State University. I also really liked AHH's huge aluminum sculpture of Don Quixote, which appealed to the Spanish major in me, having read that a time or two and doing a couple papers on Miguel de Cervantes' hero/anti-hero.

Shelling is not the best here, at least not anymore. Twenty-five years ago we could find whole, large sand dollars and starfish, best found after a storm and more likely up the coast in North Carolina, at Sunset Beach or Holden Beach. It has been so long since I have found a whole shell bigger than one inch! Certainly, shelling is better in Florida, at places like Sanibel, Bradenton and others.

South Carolina also seems to have a more specific "menu" than the melting pot that is Florida. Low country cuisine includes very certain things and preparation styles. When I'm here, I say, bring on the cold boiled shrimp, the hush puppies and honey butter and those with a stronger constitution will add the collard greens, fried green tomatoes, crawfish, sweet tea and key lime pie (also a Florida specialty). Dining in MB is so popular there are caution lights and warning signs for driving on "Restaurant Row" during the dinner hour. Now, there is every possible chain restaurant and fewer and fewer famous local spots. Ella's in Calabash, NC, "just up the road" remains open for glorious fried seafood.

Sitting on the beach is of course a favorite and famous past-time here, made more enjoyable by the fact that the beaches are usually not too crowded, except during high season of June-August. Even then, it is not as elbow-to-elbow as Hilton Head, four hours to the south, or anywhere in Florida for that matter. But, in spring or fall, my favorites here and at home, one can sit on the beach, lie in the sun all day and not be bothered by anyone near. There are relatively few boats, fishermen, no motorized traffic allowed, no vendors hawking anything and only the occasional airplane with an advertising banner trailing after.

When I first came here, I used to think Myrtle Beach was only for "old" people. Now that it appears I may be one of "them," I see the last 22 years have taught me a lot about this favorite second home, and it is also much easier to see MB offers a lot for young people, children, adults, seniors and even late-night bloggers and artist wannabees. Something for everyone.