Broadway at the Beach

Mom and I, alternately in the IMAX theater in our 3D glasses, and in the restaurant at dinner

We spent the evening at Broadway at the Beach, although that isn't what we intended originally. After shopping today, we were both pretty wiped. But we rested for a bit, and got cleaned up to go see the IMAX 3D movie. The one we saw was called "The Deep". It was very good, and the 3D was excellent. It was really cool. They route you in and out of the theater through the gift shop - masters of marketing that they are. At this time of year, the whole gift shop was 50% off! They had some BBC documentaries for $10, and I just couldn't resist getting one. I also got a cute present for Ava for Christmas, and a smaller one for Lisa.

Since it was still fairly early, the shops were open. Usually when we're there, the shops are all closed or closing. So we walked around for a bit, and looked at the water, and ducked in a few shops. We ended up eating at the Key West Grill, a place Mom really likes where we have eaten before. Mom says in the summer time you wait hours to get in, but we were able to walk right in and be seated at a prime table near the water. We had a good meal in a quiet little area we had all to ourselves. I had Grouper over pasta with alfredo sauce, and an excellent glass of Pinot Grigio. The brand name was Sartori. It was crisp, light, and clean. A perfect Pinot Grigio (for my tastes) and a perfect accompaniment to the meal. I'm going to have to buy some of it. Just as they started to seat a huge noisy party near us, we finished up and left.

We shopped around the stores and things, but didn't find anything we couldn't really live without. I had already spent a ton o' money today. Plus I'm spoiled for flea market prices. Still, it was nice strolling around on the big decks, looking in the shops. We saw some exquisite (and VERY expensive) porcelain, read the funny t-shirts, and looked at the fish and ducks.

Since it was still (fairly) early, we decided to drive out 501 and see what had been built up since the last time we were down. The Hard Rock amusement park was deserted and un-lit. You could see a few loops in the distance, out behind the abandoned Waccamaw shopping center out there. It was pretty desolate, and honestly, I was surprised they haven't done more to smarten up that area. Further out, on the other side of the road, is a new factory direct shopping center, like the ones in Gaffney and Commerce, GA. By the time we got out there, it was close to closing, but Mom wanted to look in the Levis outlet, and once I got out of the car, I wanted to go to the Lennox outlet. Mostly I wanted to go out of curiosity. When we got in though, they had the Christmas ornaments out, and they had a Lennox china Grinch ornament. The perfect thing for Mom - she LOVES the Grinch. It was not the kind of thing I would have ever expected to find or looked for, but it was perfect. So of course we got it. Mom and I buy each other a Christmas ornament every year on the trip. I looked but didn't find anything I liked. I did buy a cool ice blue hoodie at the Timberland store though.