I love both of the flea markets at the beach, but the one north of town has the best glass prospects. There is a woman at Surfside who sells Depression Glass, but she thinks a lot of her stuff and her prices are generally pretty ridiculous. I got to the north flea market and settled in for a good rummage. There wasn't a lot of glass to be seen today (or at least not a lot of the kind I was looking for) but there is always plenty to look at. I bought some new earrings. They weren't as nice as the ones I have bought there before, but they were nice enough, and for some reason I just buy most of my earrings at this flea market now. I found a pair of cool olive Carhartt pants for $3, so those were mine; and some grommets from the dollar store section, along with a cheap ash tray for the balcony (it's a non-smoking room, of course, and Russ has been putting cigarettes out against the wall, which I hate). I found the Arias Chimes guy. He's been there for years, and I bought a beautiful set of chimes from him today. I had a couple on the front porch that needed replacing.
I did eventually find a treasure today. I keep swearing off buying creamers, but this one was slung up in a bunch of inferior stuff, was purple ("amethyst" is the official color name), and was cheap (I think I paid $2). I just couldn't resist.
Newport, or "Hairpin" creamer in amethyst by Hazel-Atlas, circa 1936 - 1940
By the time I did all that shopping, I was pretty wiped. I got in touch with the boys and found that Billy was making breakfast so I headed that way. When I got to the room, Billy and Logan had finished eating, but there was no more breakfast made. Russ was just up. While I was settling back in, Billy made some more eggs and toast and disappeared. I ate my breakfast (I was ravenous) and then noticed that all the boys had disappeared. Billy had gotten upset about the night before, and Russ and Logan were helping him to feel a little better about it. I dealt with the maid, who of course chose that moment to try to come in.
They boys were lying down for a while, and I went into the internet vortex, unsuccessfully. There was a guy I had been talking to on Bear411 who wanted to meet, and we did, but I pretty much ran away. I went to the vendor area to have a look 'round. We had bought some really nice t-shirts last year, and we had all planned to get some this year, but that vendor didn't return. There were some guys there selling shirts, but they weren't nearly as nice, and most of the shirts on offer were black (for some reason the standard in specialty t-shirts, but I don't wear black). I found out the time, and immediately went upstairs for a nap. We had to leave for dinner at about 4:45pm.
Dinner tonight was at Medieval Times, and was set up by the run. I was vaguely underwhelmed at the prospect. It's a live dinner show with horses and jousting and stuff, but kind of looked like a tourist trap to me from the advertising. Logan had been before though, and he was pretty much stoked about going again. Plus it was paid for in my run package, so it wasn't like I had to cough up the $51(!!) ticket price to go. I had looked into going with Mom one year, so I knew there was a vegetarian meal on offer (the shtick is that you eat with your hands "just like in Medieval Times!", and the standard bill of fare is decidedly meat-centric). So I was game.
When we got there we were ushered (conveniently through a photo op with various 'royalty', which Logan fortunately knew how to skirt) and into an impressively large chamber. Did you ever go into a place that you immediately knew was designed specifically to suck every last dollar out of your back pocket? You would have deja vu here. I'm just sayin'. The waiting area to be seated was a huge bar/gift shop. They had commemorative cups on sale with your drink, pewter figures, hats, etc. I got a regular drink (a comparative steal at $7) and we went in to be seated. After somewhat of a kerfuffle we were able to secure four seats together, and our serving wench came out.
The show wasn't as dildonic as I had expected, although there was a LOT of dialogue in high-flown sounding vintage-speak, and the king sounded suspiciously as if he had been schooled out of a pretty heavy Jersey accent. (He sounded a lot like I imagine the child of John Walsh and Howard Cosell would.) They had the market pretty much cornered on vaguely androgynous long-haired boys of varying attractiveness, and had I been a roughly 12-year-old girl, I'm sure my pre-pubescent panites would have moistened. The horses were absolutely beautiful, I have to say. They did some pretty dressage and some tricks that I recognized as moves made famous by the Lipizzan Stallions (notably an airs above the ground move called the capriole which I had never seen done live before). I would have enjoyed more horse stuff and less dialogue, but I would most likely have been in the minority there. There was a joust woven into the story, and the riders did exhibit some pretty impressive-looking tricks to my untrained eye. There was also a display of falconry that was beautiful. Although I would personally have balked at the ticket price, it was a full evening of entertainment, and if you had kids they would have really enjoyed it. The boy sitting in front of us was rapt.
After supper it was back to the hotel, where we decided to head right back out to ride the Sky Wheel since it was the last night in town. We had been meaning to do it and just hadn't gotten around to it. The Sky Wheel reportedly cost $12M and is 187 feet tall. It's pretty impressive. You are closed into your own little compartment to ride, which is air-conditioned. I'm sure that's a very nice touch in the summertime. It costs $13 each to ride, but I guess for the experience, yada yada. We were on vacation. Plus Billy paid, so I had no reason at all to kvetch. Unfortunately, storm clouds had been gathering. About the time we got in and got to the top, a storm broke. The wind was whistling around us, the car was rocking, and there were little drops of water blowing in around the crack in the door. Russ and Logan were pretty much freaking out. It was disconcerting, to say the least. We were stuck at the top of the wheel (again, 187' up) because they closed it about as soon as we got on and were getting everyone off the ride. It wasn't pleasant, but it was surprising that Billy and I, who are afraid of heights, were more collected than Russ and Logan.
The view from the base of the sky wheel.
The view from the sky wheel, billed as "Best Scenic Experience in South Carolina". It was pretty.
We dashed through the rain to the Gay Dolphin Gift Cove. I love the Gay Dolphin. I've been shopping there since I was a child. In one way, I love the way that it never changes. You have never seen such a pile o' gratuitous tourist junk in your life! The spectacle of it never fails to delight me. In another way, I worry about it continuing as property values go up and up (it's in a prime location) and the merchandise seems to be (or may actually be) all the same. I found a searcy for Rhonda and a little set of wind chimes for me before the guys got antsy. Russ has been trying to cut back on the shopping, and Billy was worried about his willpower in the face of so much crap.
We left there and ducked into the arcade, partly because Logan wanted to play the games, and partly because by this time it was monsoon raining outside. By the time Logan wore himself out on a dancing game and both he and Russ purchased $5 milkshakes, the rain had let up and we made our way back to the Sky Wheel, where we were able to complete our ride. Then we made our way back to the car. We were upset to find that although we had been told the lot stayed open until midnight, the parking attendant had locked up and left when it started raining, leaving all the cars there locked in. With the help of some fellow strandees though, we were able to drive under the enclosing chain and make it out.
By the time we got back to the hotel, I was wiped. There were more parties tonight, but it had been a very long day, and my feets were killin' me. We went out by the pool just as they were wrapping things up down there, and I ran into Gobibear and chatted with him for a mo. I was able to snag a drink just before they closed the bar, and then headed for the room.
The boys gamely headed back out, but I just decided I'd had enough fun for one day. I sent Gobibear a text to tell him where I was but didn't hear back. I had heard from Sean and Eddie several times during the day. Although we had a great time last night, I was too pooped to go out looking for them tonight, and not sure what I would be able to do with them if I found them. Eventually I took my sleeping pills and turned in. I had a text from Sean and Eddie, and I just told them goodnight. It was about 1am.
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