***OK, this was actually a post from a week ago that I just realized that I forgot to actually post. It was to be titled "water, water everywhere" or something to that effect, I wasn't quite set on that. And normally I would just forget about it, but this story is pretty funny, so I felt that it needed to be shared.
I went to the grocery store last night. Now normally, that would not be an event worth mentioning on the ole blog (except for the time I hurled in Giant Eagle and left my purse in the store). However, this trip ended with me LITERALLY soaked from head to toe by the time I got home.
I arrived to the store about the usual time. And the weather was actually quite lovely. There was a chill in the air and it had me in a great mood (feeling that fall was near). One of my favorite songs was on so I sat in the car singing my heart out...er...listening quietly, until the end. I jumped out and opened the back door to get out the water jugs (we have a water cooler so we just fill the 5 gallon water jugs every week instead of buying bottled water). The little thing in the center of the lid of one of the jugs had fallen inside. So I removed the lid and started shaking it to get the little piece out. But alas, it had suctioned itself to the jug. I finally shook it loose, but OF COURSE the slippery little bugger slipped through my fingers and rolled into a crack in the floor of the van (we have stow and go and there are two itty bitty open crevices by each seat). so at this point I give up. I decide I'll just take the one in. I grab it and my canvas bags (right now, I'm realizing how "green" this post is...). So anyway, I close the door and LITERALLY 5 seconds later it starts the most ridiculous down-pour I've ever seen in my life. I stood there like a complete moron thinking
"should I go back and wait in the car"
"should I go back and get my umbrella".
"NO that's stupid, If I go back to get the umbrella, I might as well just wait in the car"
"make a decision you stupid idiot, you're soaking wet and your pants are falling down because they are now twice their normal weight due to water retention".
"Should I run?"
"NO, then your pants will fall down even faster and in front of everyone"
"should I just walk normally"
"oh sure, by the time you get there you will be even MORE wet"
"GOD you are stupid!"
So I ended up doing this really awkward fastwalkingbutnotquiterunning thing (and keep in mind that this whole time, I'm carrying an empty 5 gallon water jug, 4 canvas bags, my purse and my keys....and my pants). Except that by the time I made the decision to do THAT, it started HAILING. HUGE.FREAKING.HAIL. pelting my body like little bullets. I get in there and I am beyond soaked. My shirt is clinging to my chubby body like spandex. My pants are having to be held up by one hand at all times lest they fall around my chubby little ankles. My hair is plastered to my face and head. And my arms and face are covered in what look like little bee stings from the hail.
I really wish this was the end of the story...but alas, it is not.
I filled the one jug of water and got my groceries. By the time I left, it was down to a sprinkle, which was practically heaven in comparison to my trip INTO the store. I unload the groceries into the back and then hoist the 41.8 lbs (yes, i googled it) of water into the van on the floor behind the driver seat.
And then it happened.
CRACK!!!.....GUSH!!!
It is then that I start talking to myself.
"oh. oh my goodness. oh no. oh Gaaaawwwd. It's water. Oh no. It's everywhere. What should I do? Oh, please stop. please, please stop. you're not stopping. I said stop...please."
I then tip the jug upside down (yes, as in, stand it on the 2 inch wide opening with the little plastic lid). When I do this, it stops leaking. By now, I am crouching in the back of the van trying to decide what to do. I start thinking about what horrible decision making abilities I showed 2 hrs earlier, so I call Josh.
Me: uhhh. hi
J: hiii
Me: soooo. I broke one of the water jugs.
J: OK
Me: it was filled with water.
J: OK
Me: and it was in the van.
J: (losing his patience by now) OOOOOOKAY
Me: and it was the only one I filled.
J: Jesus Christ!
(now who would have thought that THAT would be what set him off?...)
Me: I'm sorry, it was an accident. I think I'm just too strong for my own good.
J: Yah, I bet that's it.
Me: So what should I do?
J: leave it in the parking lot
Me: but then what will we drink?
J: Really?
Me: well, ya know, I could probably just drive home with it like it is now.
J: How is it now?
Me: upside down. Or right side up, depending on which way you want to look at it. ya know...like the glass half empty or half full thing. hehehe.
J: yah. (not at all thinking my shit is funny) just leave it in the parking lot.
So OF COURSE I drove home holding it upside down...
Every time I stopped or sped up water would slosh out all over the place. By the time I got home the 5 gallons of water was down to about 2 1/2 and the van (and myself) was soaked. Josh came out to help me bring things in. He took the water in first and when I got inside with some bags I hear this..
"oh. Oh my God. Oh no. Towels. I need towels. It's water. It's water and it's..oh God...it's EVERYWHERE"
So of course I say...
"But is there a drop to drink?" hehehehe
He did not appreciate my humor. See neither of us really thought through the way the water cooler works. The water goes down into the cooler when the air pushes it down. Now when there is a giant crack creating an ever abundant flow of air...and in turn, WATER, there is an issue. The water was spilling up over the top of the water cooler. EVERYWHERE.
"So just pull the water jug off the water cooler" you're saying. Oh sure. Easy enough. Except we did that and the little part in the center of the lid (like the one on the other jug from the beginning of the story) had been pushed into the jug. So to recap...when it's on the cooler the water comes out over the top. when it was out and upside down, the water was coming out of the lid and when we flipped it over it came out of the crack. So there we are in the kitchen, soaked to the bone trying to plug a hole and a crack with all of our hands ("that's what she said"). We ended up with it on its side over the sink, but by now, it had more like 1 gallon of water left.
Now if you didn't laugh at that, I blame myself...I really should have stopped and taken video ;-).
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
awesome day
**this post has no pictures because I forgot to bring the camera. However, we took mental pictures all day long a la...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-MfVmfm9V8
So Saturday we went to the fair. Usually, it's just an excuse to eat food that's really bad for us and make fun of people (does anyone know why the freaks come out in masses to fairs?). We like to play "did ya see" on the way home. "did ya see the 400lb lady in the tube top and spandex shorts?" "yes. did ya see the family with 3 kids and none of them had shoes on?". Anyway, it's hard because the kids aren't ever tall enough to ride any rides (except the ponies, which they ride about 5 times each). But this time they were finally over 3 ft tall, which meant RIDES! Plus, the weather was absolutely perfect (about 67 and sunny). We ended up having a REALLY great day.
As soon as we got there, we put the girls on the ferris wheel. Sophia laughed hysterically the whole time. To say she loved it, would be an understatement. Meanwhile, next to her was Maria SOBBING "get me down from here!!!" (keep in mind, this was the kiddie one and she was no more than 10 ft off the ground). Jack kept saying "WEEEEEE!" every time they went by. As soon as they got off of that Sophia was ready for some more so we went over to the little swing ride (just goes in a circle). And Maria didn't want any part of that one either. While on that, Sophia catches a glimpse of a kiddie roller coaster and it was like a moth to a flame. She kept chanting "roller coaster" like she was in a trance. It was hilarious. So while on that Maria was down on land with us about to have a panic attack that something would happen to Sophia while she was on the roller coaster. She practically ran up and got her off of it herself when it was over. It was clear that Maria wasn't going to ride any more rides, so we let Sophia ride a few more by herself and then we headed over to the "big slides" (one of the few things she will ride). The bad part about those is that Josh has to ride down with each of them because they have to be 42" to go down alone (Maria has 2 more inches to go and Sophia has about 5 more. fingers crossed for next year). So anyway, it's 8 freakin tickets ($8) just for each of them to go down once :-P Anyway, then it was the main event...riding the ponies! After that, we ended up actually finding a bench (rare) and being able to sit down to eat. Then we left Josh there with his friends and dad to watch his 2nd tractor pull of the weekend while I took the kids home (one of those things he likes to do with his friends every year while I'm at home watching Christmas movies or scrapbooking :-).
Oh and on the way home I noticed that the sunset was absolutely beautiful. Just a perfect end to an awesome day!
So Saturday we went to the fair. Usually, it's just an excuse to eat food that's really bad for us and make fun of people (does anyone know why the freaks come out in masses to fairs?). We like to play "did ya see" on the way home. "did ya see the 400lb lady in the tube top and spandex shorts?" "yes. did ya see the family with 3 kids and none of them had shoes on?". Anyway, it's hard because the kids aren't ever tall enough to ride any rides (except the ponies, which they ride about 5 times each). But this time they were finally over 3 ft tall, which meant RIDES! Plus, the weather was absolutely perfect (about 67 and sunny). We ended up having a REALLY great day.
As soon as we got there, we put the girls on the ferris wheel. Sophia laughed hysterically the whole time. To say she loved it, would be an understatement. Meanwhile, next to her was Maria SOBBING "get me down from here!!!" (keep in mind, this was the kiddie one and she was no more than 10 ft off the ground). Jack kept saying "WEEEEEE!" every time they went by. As soon as they got off of that Sophia was ready for some more so we went over to the little swing ride (just goes in a circle). And Maria didn't want any part of that one either. While on that, Sophia catches a glimpse of a kiddie roller coaster and it was like a moth to a flame. She kept chanting "roller coaster" like she was in a trance. It was hilarious. So while on that Maria was down on land with us about to have a panic attack that something would happen to Sophia while she was on the roller coaster. She practically ran up and got her off of it herself when it was over. It was clear that Maria wasn't going to ride any more rides, so we let Sophia ride a few more by herself and then we headed over to the "big slides" (one of the few things she will ride). The bad part about those is that Josh has to ride down with each of them because they have to be 42" to go down alone (Maria has 2 more inches to go and Sophia has about 5 more. fingers crossed for next year). So anyway, it's 8 freakin tickets ($8) just for each of them to go down once :-P Anyway, then it was the main event...riding the ponies! After that, we ended up actually finding a bench (rare) and being able to sit down to eat. Then we left Josh there with his friends and dad to watch his 2nd tractor pull of the weekend while I took the kids home (one of those things he likes to do with his friends every year while I'm at home watching Christmas movies or scrapbooking :-).
Oh and on the way home I noticed that the sunset was absolutely beautiful. Just a perfect end to an awesome day!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Jack in the box
I had totally intended to do an 18 month post about our little Jack-in-the-box in July, when it was actually happening. But somehow I forgot. (Bad Mommy!) Anyway, here are a few things that I want to remember about Jackson as he is right now
- When he knows he's doing something wrong he starts nodding "yes" before I can even start shaking my head "no". He looks so darn cute doing it that I almost don't want to say "no" at all.
- When Josh pulls in the driveway he runs through the house screaming (at the top of his little lungs) "DAAAAAAAAD!"
- His favorite new words are "CHEESE!" and "what?". The way he says "what?" to the girls is so stinkin cute there are no words for it. He sounds like me or something (not that I am even remotely cute, it's just cute b/c he is "parenting" his 2 older sisters).
- His favorite old words are "uh oh" and "daaaaaad" (Josh and I are BOTH daaaaad, in case you were wondering).
- He is attached to me ALL.THE.TIME. I hate to call him a mama's boy for fear that he will read this in 15 yrs and be mortified, but alas, it's the truth.
- Favorite foods include goldfish, fruit snacks, blueberry waffles, mac & cheese and any variety of Gerber ravioli.
- Favorite toys include anything he's been told "no" about a hundred times such as, the trash, the recycling, the shoes, any food in the bottom shelf of the pantry, folded clothes, the button on the fans (even after it's been unplugged), anything in any of the kitchen cabinets and anything the girls are currently playing with.
- Newest tricks: opening doors, putting his (and the girls, if they let him) clothes in the correct hampers (one for darks and one for lights), taking off his diaper in bed and smearing poo all over his bed (obviously, this one is my *favorite*) and turning off/on the TV with the stolen remote that he is holding behind the couch so I can't see him (though, I can hear him b/c he's giggling about it the whole time).
- He's a big freaking flirt. I don't know how he knows the difference between a pretty girl and a not so pretty girl. But he does and he only flirts with the pretty ones (however, he does not discriminate based on age. I've seen him go for quite a few classy older gals too). Going to the grocery store with this kid is about like I'd imagine taking him to a hooters will be in 15 yrs. They just flock to him and he loves every minute of it. He poses and bats his eye lashes and tries to kiss them and smiles. It's hilarious and horrifying all at the same time.
- He has recently earned the nickname "the high stepper" because of the way he marches all around the house kicking his legs out as high as he can in front of him. No idea where this came from but it's here and it's funny as hell. (Unless, of course, he got it from one of his nazi friends, in which case we'll be putting a stop to it right away).
***As I sit here and type this he is pressing his face up against the screen in the window screaming "daaaaad" because he hears the neighbor mowing his lawn. pre-shus! lol
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Myrtle Beach Restaurant Reviews
These restaurant reviews are in chronological order from our trip last week (August 14, 2010-August 21, 2010). I have also thrown in a review of Ripley's Aquarium which we also visited. Now keep in mind, that Josh and I don't eat seafood, which is really big down there, so I have no first hand knowledge about that. I'm putting the links at the end of this post because I'm lazy and I don't feel like making a linky for every single one lol.
Angelo's Steak and Pasta
Ok, this place is rated pretty high on trip advisor and we went to the early bird dinner ($11 from 4-6, I believe), so we figured it would be a good bet for our first night. And for all intents and purposes it was pretty good. I (and the kids, though they were free) had the buffet. However, due to the kids attitudes (after being trapped in the car for 13 hrs) I didn't really get to enjoy very much of the food except some of the Italian sausage and pasta which was really good. The buffet is not very big at all (10 items-ish, not including sauces) and it isn't a serve yourself type of deal. There is someone up there and you ask them for what you want, which I found very odd. I mean it's nice, because there aren't a bunch of ppl up there sneezing on your food, but it was like I was asking permission to eat something I already bought. IDK, it was probably just me, but I thought it was strange. Josh had a steak and even though they tout having the "best steak in the universe", he says it was nothing special. Just a steak with not much flavor (though it was very tender and cooked properly). Another thing to mention is that the kids, while their dinners were free, their milks were $2.50 each (I guess they have to make their money somewhere). So for 1 early bird buffet, 1 steak, 1 beer, 3 kids milks and tip (they included it which I CANNOT STAND because we always tip 20% so they end up shorting themselves, and it said that they do it for groups of 10 or more and we only had 9, all with separate bills, so I guess we just looked cheap or something lol) it was $43. One of the cheapest meals we had and I would give it probably 3-4 stars
Crabby Mikes
In my opinion, this was the second best meal we ate. I easily could have gone here 3 or 4 times that week and had something different each time. First of all, after 5 o'clock they have a DJ outside to entertain the crowd that is waiting which is really nice and makes it seem to go faster. The place has a very cool ambiance and the kids were staring at all the fish and stuff hanging up on the ceiling. They start you off with hush puppies and honey butter (I could have made a meal out of these, and Jack practically did). The buffet has anything you could think of including prime rib. Now, I know what you're thinking, buffet prime rib...umm no thanks. But it was very tender and juicy (they give you the au jus) and it was equally as good as a prime rib dinner I ordered from a steak place later in the week. Also there are plenty of other meat and side options and there is any kind of sea food you could want (mostly fried, but lots of it wasn't) and the kids almost ate them out of fruit (4 PLATES EACH!). I tried crab for the first time (not a fan of the texture, but at least I can say I tried it, now and it did taste very fresh). I got a margarita at every dinner except for Angelo's and this one was the best. You could really taste the alcohol in it (a lot of places try to skimp thinking you wont notice b/c it's a mixed drink). Also our waiter was very nice and kept the plates and drinks coming and the restrooms were very clean (oh and when we were walking in a man was coming out of the mens room with toilet paper stuck to his shoe. I was sure that only happened in movies! lol). Each adult buffet was $25, the girls were $5 each and Jack was free. So for dinner for everyone, 1 beer, 1 margarita and not including tip, it was $72. And I could easily give them 5 stars.
Latitude 22/River City Cafe (the one at surfside beach)
Ok, there was a bit of confusion about this place in the beginning because up until this summer (or maybe even part of this summer) this was Latitude 22 (Caribbean food etc). However when we got there we were told that it is now River City Cafe (which is why we passed it...twice). We reluctantly decided to stay even though it was obviously just burgers and fries. It is beach front and you can eat outside overlooking the beach, if you want, which is nice. The tables/chairs/walls/floors are covered with customer graffiti and peanut shells. It has a definite beach-side lunch feel and the waitress said that's their really busy time. I had the BBQ bacon cheeseburger and it was huge and really good (though, the general consensus was that the burgers were overdone, we like a little pink and some juice to run down your chin lol). Each meal comes with tons of hand cut fries (think fair fries). We got all three of the kids their own meals (1 chicken, 1 hot dog and 1 grilled cheese), Josh and I got burgers, 1 beer and 1 margarita (prob 2nd best all week) and the bill was only $38 before tip. The food came fast, everyone left full and happy and it was obviously cheap. There was a bit of disappointment in the beginning, but if you know what kind of place it is before you go there, it is worthy of 4 stars, FOR WHAT IT IS. Not fancy or pretentious just burgers and sandwiches and fries in a casual, beachfront atmosphere. Oh and also, our waitress was really great too.
After we left River City, we took the kids to
Ripleys Aquarium
We had to wait in line just to get tickets to get into the place. I sort of thought it would be less busy at night when most people are at dinner, but IDK, maybe it's better during the day? Anyway, while waiting in line, the girls had to pee (of course). They actually let us in to pee, which was really nice. I'm sure if we were dishonest, we could have just stayed and they never would have known. So I was glad they saw that it was an emergency and not a con lol. The restrooms were nice (however you have to go down 3 ramps just to get there :-P). Once in there we realized that you CAN bring strollers in (a lot of aquariums wont let you) so Josh went BACK out to the car to get Jacks stroller (what a good daddy). Right after we got there, we sort of ended up in this dive show (rainbow rock?) and that was pretty cool. They only have a few of them a day, so I guess we just got lucky and happened to be there right when it started. Then we went and looked around. We all really enjoyed it because we like animals and stuff like that. The girls LOVED walking through the shark tunnel (it's really long too so you don't feel gypped). The one thing that we weren't able to even see was the new exhibit they have called "lethal weapons" or something like that. It was PACKED and originally we thought it was a line, but no. It's just 500 ppl crammed into a tiny room and never moving. I thought I lost the kids about 15 times b/c it's impossible to even move in there alone, let alone holding 2 little girls hands. We ended up leaving that room and I know Josh was disappointed in that. I'm sure it's cool, but you just can't even see the tanks and stuff. It was $50 for all of us (Jack was free, the girls were $4 each and we were $19 EACH!, which I think is probably how they make their money, since the kids can't come in alone lol). Speaking of making money, my only REAL complaint on the place is that you are not allowed to leave without going through the gift shop. I mean, I'm no idiot, I get it, they are trying to get you to give in to your kids and buy some stupid $15 stuffed animal they don't need. And trust me, I'm no push-over, I know how to say no to my kids (unlike some people). But the point is, why should I have to put a sour end to a perfectly lovely visit to the aquarium? Everything was fine and dandy until I had to say "no you don't need that" 100 times in a row for the last 5 minutes trying get through the gift shop maze just to get out of the place (it's not even a straight shot, you have to practically go around every single thing in the store). For this reason alone, I would not recommend this place to families with small children. Sorry, but until they can make the gift shop optional, we will not be back. I don't appreciate being hustled, it just left a bad taste in my mouth.
T-Bonz
I have heard lots of good things about this place and we were surprised by the decent prices when we looked at the menu. We didn't have to wait to be seated (but this was the case with everywhere we went because we usually got there by 5 so the kids could be eating at their normal dinnertime). I got a half rack of ribs and a margarita. Josh got the "drunken ribeye" and beer, we got all three of the kids a macaroni and cheese dinner (BIG mistake, b/c it's HUGE and comes with fries. talk about carbo-loading. how about a vegetable or some applesauce?) The waiter was good. The ribs were fine. The steak was fine. My mother in-law said her chicken was dry. IDK but we just left kinda feeling like we could have had a better steak dinner at Texas Roadhouse in our town in Ohio. I'm sure that for the locals, it's good, but for us, it seemed like a waste of time when we're only there for a week. I cannot remember exactly how much that dinner was, but I think it was about $85 which was fine since we took home the equivelant of a box of macaroni and cheese and an entire loaf of bread lol. I would say probably 3-4 stars for tourists, and a solid 4 for locals.
J. Edwards
OK, again we were here at what is considered early bird dinner so the menu is smaller and the portions are smaller. I got the 10 oz prime rib and a margarita, Josh got the 20 OZ(!!!!) prime rib (he had to ask b/c it's on the regular menu only) and beer and we split one child's pizza dinner (like the size of a personal pan pizza and it came with fries and he gave us some bread sticks too) between all three of the kids. The desserts looked soooo good and I probably easily could have taken one home, but resisted since I had just had prime rib lol. I would say that the prime rib was really good, probably 4 stars, (however, only equally good when compared to Crabby Mikes because all of the flavor was in the au jus instead of on the meat itself). It was cooked really well (we both ordered med rare and they were both "still kickin", as we say). When the bill came it was $75. They did include tip, but we added another $5 just because it's one of those family owned places his family has been going to forever and the service was pretty good. All around, I'd give it 4 1/2 stars.
Bennetts Calabash Buffet (the one at 9701 N. Kings Hwy)
One big meh. In my opinion this was cruise food. In other words, food made for masses of people that doesn't need to be good, it just has to fill up their stomachs and get them out the door. It was fine, I guess but the add says "120 items" and I'm just wondering if that's counting each and every fried shrimp or what, because there was definitely NOT 120 items. A LOT of the food tasted like KFC. Like the mac & cheese and the seasoning on the breading. It just was...meh. Nothing special at all. In my opinion it was a waste of time. I got the kids chicken tenders and I could hardly cut them with the fork and knife. I did have 2 slices of prime rib because that was actually pretty descent and had some flavor (though no spoon to get any of the au jus???). The T-Bone steaks looked about as hard as rocks so I didn't touch them and I mostly just ate the prime rib and the hush puppies. I forgot to ask anyone that ate the seafood how it was, so **Linda if you had any, feel free to comment on that. Also, the floors were sticky and my margarita was just one big giant shot of tequila (maybe they were trying to liquor me up so I wouldn't notice the food...) Here's the kicker, the buffet is $27 PER PERSON and the kids were $6 each, I think. So total was about $75. For that kind of money, I would expect something MUCH better than that. I would say that 3 stars is MORE than generous and they only get that because the prime rib was decent and I'd rather have all liquor than none at all ;-)
Rioz Brazilian Steakhouse
This is a place that we had heard of through my parents. They go every year to Myrtle Beach and sort of accidentally went here last year. When they walked in, they asked how much it was, because it looked so nice, and were shocked to hear "$35 per person". They decided they'd go somewhere else but as they were leaving the hostess stopped them and said "what can we do to make you stay". They said, "well it's not that, it's just a little more than we had planned to spend tonight". The owner/manager came out and told them, he'd give them 10% off their meal if they'd stay because "our policy is to not let anyone leave before they've tried the food". So they stayed. And they came home just RAVING about it, so we had always planned on going. We were elated to find out that children under 6 are free. (however, in my opinion they should also have a reduced price for children 7-12 because we would never be able to bring the kids when they are over 6). The waiter explained how it worked when we got seated and he said "see if the kids will eat what we have, but if they wont we have food for the small children too. I got them each a plate of the side dishes that were up there and they did eat some of it because they are used to eating a lot of veggies and stuff. But jack just wasn't happy with polenta, mashed potatoes and vegetable salad. Before I could even ask the waiter for some kids food, he just appeared, with plates of mac & cheese, chicken tenders and french fries. It was like magic and I loved it. lol. After Josh and I were done with our side dishes they came and gave us new clean plates and we flipped over our coaster to the green side, which means you are ready for the meat service to start. And oh.em.gee did it ever start! It was amazing. I could hardly keep up with all of the different "gauchos" with all of these different meats on skewers and they'd ask you if you'd like some and they just slice it off onto your plate. Oh my goodness, it was easily the best meal I've ever eaten in my life (and that's saying a lot because I'm a foodie and I'm hard to please when it comes to food). I don't know what the seasoning is that they use but it is soooo delicious. And the meat is sooooo tender and cooked perfectly it just cut like butter. My favorite was the garlic beef, oh and the filet mignon. But the bacon wrapped chicken and bacon wrapped steak medalions were also amazing. Oh who am I kidding, it was ALL amazing! I was actually glad that I hadn't liked very much of the side dishes on the buffet, because I was already stuffed by the end. It was hard because the food was sooo good and you just want to keep eating, but you can't. We did also, get desserts and brought them home. My chocolate mousse cake was just amazing!! Josh's turtle cheesecake met an untimely demise in the cooler on the way back to Ohio. It was rescued, but still wasn't all that great. I think there was just a LOT of cheesecake and not much crust/topping so the ratio wasn't right. SO, for 2 dinners, 1 margarita, 1 beer and 2 desserts, before tip, it was $105 and WELL worth it. Now, I'm just not sure what we'll do if we go back when the kids are older lol. Oh and the strangest thing is, it's owned by the same people that own T-Bonz, but we had two totally different experiences. Anyway, Rioz is an easy 5 stars. The only time I would NOT recommend it is if you are a picky eater who also doesn't like much meat or if all of your kids are in the 7-12 range and don't eat very much.
http://www.angelosteakandpasta.com/
http://www.crabbymikes.com/
http://www.rivercitycafe.com/
http://myrtlebeach.ripleyaquariums.com/
http://www.tbonzgillandgrill.com/
http://www.jedwardsgreatribs.com/
http://www.bennettscalabash.net/
http://www.rioz.com/
Angelo's Steak and Pasta
Ok, this place is rated pretty high on trip advisor and we went to the early bird dinner ($11 from 4-6, I believe), so we figured it would be a good bet for our first night. And for all intents and purposes it was pretty good. I (and the kids, though they were free) had the buffet. However, due to the kids attitudes (after being trapped in the car for 13 hrs) I didn't really get to enjoy very much of the food except some of the Italian sausage and pasta which was really good. The buffet is not very big at all (10 items-ish, not including sauces) and it isn't a serve yourself type of deal. There is someone up there and you ask them for what you want, which I found very odd. I mean it's nice, because there aren't a bunch of ppl up there sneezing on your food, but it was like I was asking permission to eat something I already bought. IDK, it was probably just me, but I thought it was strange. Josh had a steak and even though they tout having the "best steak in the universe", he says it was nothing special. Just a steak with not much flavor (though it was very tender and cooked properly). Another thing to mention is that the kids, while their dinners were free, their milks were $2.50 each (I guess they have to make their money somewhere). So for 1 early bird buffet, 1 steak, 1 beer, 3 kids milks and tip (they included it which I CANNOT STAND because we always tip 20% so they end up shorting themselves, and it said that they do it for groups of 10 or more and we only had 9, all with separate bills, so I guess we just looked cheap or something lol) it was $43. One of the cheapest meals we had and I would give it probably 3-4 stars
Crabby Mikes
In my opinion, this was the second best meal we ate. I easily could have gone here 3 or 4 times that week and had something different each time. First of all, after 5 o'clock they have a DJ outside to entertain the crowd that is waiting which is really nice and makes it seem to go faster. The place has a very cool ambiance and the kids were staring at all the fish and stuff hanging up on the ceiling. They start you off with hush puppies and honey butter (I could have made a meal out of these, and Jack practically did). The buffet has anything you could think of including prime rib. Now, I know what you're thinking, buffet prime rib...umm no thanks. But it was very tender and juicy (they give you the au jus) and it was equally as good as a prime rib dinner I ordered from a steak place later in the week. Also there are plenty of other meat and side options and there is any kind of sea food you could want (mostly fried, but lots of it wasn't) and the kids almost ate them out of fruit (4 PLATES EACH!). I tried crab for the first time (not a fan of the texture, but at least I can say I tried it, now and it did taste very fresh). I got a margarita at every dinner except for Angelo's and this one was the best. You could really taste the alcohol in it (a lot of places try to skimp thinking you wont notice b/c it's a mixed drink). Also our waiter was very nice and kept the plates and drinks coming and the restrooms were very clean (oh and when we were walking in a man was coming out of the mens room with toilet paper stuck to his shoe. I was sure that only happened in movies! lol). Each adult buffet was $25, the girls were $5 each and Jack was free. So for dinner for everyone, 1 beer, 1 margarita and not including tip, it was $72. And I could easily give them 5 stars.
Latitude 22/River City Cafe (the one at surfside beach)
Ok, there was a bit of confusion about this place in the beginning because up until this summer (or maybe even part of this summer) this was Latitude 22 (Caribbean food etc). However when we got there we were told that it is now River City Cafe (which is why we passed it...twice). We reluctantly decided to stay even though it was obviously just burgers and fries. It is beach front and you can eat outside overlooking the beach, if you want, which is nice. The tables/chairs/walls/floors are covered with customer graffiti and peanut shells. It has a definite beach-side lunch feel and the waitress said that's their really busy time. I had the BBQ bacon cheeseburger and it was huge and really good (though, the general consensus was that the burgers were overdone, we like a little pink and some juice to run down your chin lol). Each meal comes with tons of hand cut fries (think fair fries). We got all three of the kids their own meals (1 chicken, 1 hot dog and 1 grilled cheese), Josh and I got burgers, 1 beer and 1 margarita (prob 2nd best all week) and the bill was only $38 before tip. The food came fast, everyone left full and happy and it was obviously cheap. There was a bit of disappointment in the beginning, but if you know what kind of place it is before you go there, it is worthy of 4 stars, FOR WHAT IT IS. Not fancy or pretentious just burgers and sandwiches and fries in a casual, beachfront atmosphere. Oh and also, our waitress was really great too.
After we left River City, we took the kids to
Ripleys Aquarium
We had to wait in line just to get tickets to get into the place. I sort of thought it would be less busy at night when most people are at dinner, but IDK, maybe it's better during the day? Anyway, while waiting in line, the girls had to pee (of course). They actually let us in to pee, which was really nice. I'm sure if we were dishonest, we could have just stayed and they never would have known. So I was glad they saw that it was an emergency and not a con lol. The restrooms were nice (however you have to go down 3 ramps just to get there :-P). Once in there we realized that you CAN bring strollers in (a lot of aquariums wont let you) so Josh went BACK out to the car to get Jacks stroller (what a good daddy). Right after we got there, we sort of ended up in this dive show (rainbow rock?) and that was pretty cool. They only have a few of them a day, so I guess we just got lucky and happened to be there right when it started. Then we went and looked around. We all really enjoyed it because we like animals and stuff like that. The girls LOVED walking through the shark tunnel (it's really long too so you don't feel gypped). The one thing that we weren't able to even see was the new exhibit they have called "lethal weapons" or something like that. It was PACKED and originally we thought it was a line, but no. It's just 500 ppl crammed into a tiny room and never moving. I thought I lost the kids about 15 times b/c it's impossible to even move in there alone, let alone holding 2 little girls hands. We ended up leaving that room and I know Josh was disappointed in that. I'm sure it's cool, but you just can't even see the tanks and stuff. It was $50 for all of us (Jack was free, the girls were $4 each and we were $19 EACH!, which I think is probably how they make their money, since the kids can't come in alone lol). Speaking of making money, my only REAL complaint on the place is that you are not allowed to leave without going through the gift shop. I mean, I'm no idiot, I get it, they are trying to get you to give in to your kids and buy some stupid $15 stuffed animal they don't need. And trust me, I'm no push-over, I know how to say no to my kids (unlike some people). But the point is, why should I have to put a sour end to a perfectly lovely visit to the aquarium? Everything was fine and dandy until I had to say "no you don't need that" 100 times in a row for the last 5 minutes trying get through the gift shop maze just to get out of the place (it's not even a straight shot, you have to practically go around every single thing in the store). For this reason alone, I would not recommend this place to families with small children. Sorry, but until they can make the gift shop optional, we will not be back. I don't appreciate being hustled, it just left a bad taste in my mouth.
T-Bonz
I have heard lots of good things about this place and we were surprised by the decent prices when we looked at the menu. We didn't have to wait to be seated (but this was the case with everywhere we went because we usually got there by 5 so the kids could be eating at their normal dinnertime). I got a half rack of ribs and a margarita. Josh got the "drunken ribeye" and beer, we got all three of the kids a macaroni and cheese dinner (BIG mistake, b/c it's HUGE and comes with fries. talk about carbo-loading. how about a vegetable or some applesauce?) The waiter was good. The ribs were fine. The steak was fine. My mother in-law said her chicken was dry. IDK but we just left kinda feeling like we could have had a better steak dinner at Texas Roadhouse in our town in Ohio. I'm sure that for the locals, it's good, but for us, it seemed like a waste of time when we're only there for a week. I cannot remember exactly how much that dinner was, but I think it was about $85 which was fine since we took home the equivelant of a box of macaroni and cheese and an entire loaf of bread lol. I would say probably 3-4 stars for tourists, and a solid 4 for locals.
J. Edwards
OK, again we were here at what is considered early bird dinner so the menu is smaller and the portions are smaller. I got the 10 oz prime rib and a margarita, Josh got the 20 OZ(!!!!) prime rib (he had to ask b/c it's on the regular menu only) and beer and we split one child's pizza dinner (like the size of a personal pan pizza and it came with fries and he gave us some bread sticks too) between all three of the kids. The desserts looked soooo good and I probably easily could have taken one home, but resisted since I had just had prime rib lol. I would say that the prime rib was really good, probably 4 stars, (however, only equally good when compared to Crabby Mikes because all of the flavor was in the au jus instead of on the meat itself). It was cooked really well (we both ordered med rare and they were both "still kickin", as we say). When the bill came it was $75. They did include tip, but we added another $5 just because it's one of those family owned places his family has been going to forever and the service was pretty good. All around, I'd give it 4 1/2 stars.
Bennetts Calabash Buffet (the one at 9701 N. Kings Hwy)
One big meh. In my opinion this was cruise food. In other words, food made for masses of people that doesn't need to be good, it just has to fill up their stomachs and get them out the door. It was fine, I guess but the add says "120 items" and I'm just wondering if that's counting each and every fried shrimp or what, because there was definitely NOT 120 items. A LOT of the food tasted like KFC. Like the mac & cheese and the seasoning on the breading. It just was...meh. Nothing special at all. In my opinion it was a waste of time. I got the kids chicken tenders and I could hardly cut them with the fork and knife. I did have 2 slices of prime rib because that was actually pretty descent and had some flavor (though no spoon to get any of the au jus???). The T-Bone steaks looked about as hard as rocks so I didn't touch them and I mostly just ate the prime rib and the hush puppies. I forgot to ask anyone that ate the seafood how it was, so **Linda if you had any, feel free to comment on that. Also, the floors were sticky and my margarita was just one big giant shot of tequila (maybe they were trying to liquor me up so I wouldn't notice the food...) Here's the kicker, the buffet is $27 PER PERSON and the kids were $6 each, I think. So total was about $75. For that kind of money, I would expect something MUCH better than that. I would say that 3 stars is MORE than generous and they only get that because the prime rib was decent and I'd rather have all liquor than none at all ;-)
Rioz Brazilian Steakhouse
This is a place that we had heard of through my parents. They go every year to Myrtle Beach and sort of accidentally went here last year. When they walked in, they asked how much it was, because it looked so nice, and were shocked to hear "$35 per person". They decided they'd go somewhere else but as they were leaving the hostess stopped them and said "what can we do to make you stay". They said, "well it's not that, it's just a little more than we had planned to spend tonight". The owner/manager came out and told them, he'd give them 10% off their meal if they'd stay because "our policy is to not let anyone leave before they've tried the food". So they stayed. And they came home just RAVING about it, so we had always planned on going. We were elated to find out that children under 6 are free. (however, in my opinion they should also have a reduced price for children 7-12 because we would never be able to bring the kids when they are over 6). The waiter explained how it worked when we got seated and he said "see if the kids will eat what we have, but if they wont we have food for the small children too. I got them each a plate of the side dishes that were up there and they did eat some of it because they are used to eating a lot of veggies and stuff. But jack just wasn't happy with polenta, mashed potatoes and vegetable salad. Before I could even ask the waiter for some kids food, he just appeared, with plates of mac & cheese, chicken tenders and french fries. It was like magic and I loved it. lol. After Josh and I were done with our side dishes they came and gave us new clean plates and we flipped over our coaster to the green side, which means you are ready for the meat service to start. And oh.em.gee did it ever start! It was amazing. I could hardly keep up with all of the different "gauchos" with all of these different meats on skewers and they'd ask you if you'd like some and they just slice it off onto your plate. Oh my goodness, it was easily the best meal I've ever eaten in my life (and that's saying a lot because I'm a foodie and I'm hard to please when it comes to food). I don't know what the seasoning is that they use but it is soooo delicious. And the meat is sooooo tender and cooked perfectly it just cut like butter. My favorite was the garlic beef, oh and the filet mignon. But the bacon wrapped chicken and bacon wrapped steak medalions were also amazing. Oh who am I kidding, it was ALL amazing! I was actually glad that I hadn't liked very much of the side dishes on the buffet, because I was already stuffed by the end. It was hard because the food was sooo good and you just want to keep eating, but you can't. We did also, get desserts and brought them home. My chocolate mousse cake was just amazing!! Josh's turtle cheesecake met an untimely demise in the cooler on the way back to Ohio. It was rescued, but still wasn't all that great. I think there was just a LOT of cheesecake and not much crust/topping so the ratio wasn't right. SO, for 2 dinners, 1 margarita, 1 beer and 2 desserts, before tip, it was $105 and WELL worth it. Now, I'm just not sure what we'll do if we go back when the kids are older lol. Oh and the strangest thing is, it's owned by the same people that own T-Bonz, but we had two totally different experiences. Anyway, Rioz is an easy 5 stars. The only time I would NOT recommend it is if you are a picky eater who also doesn't like much meat or if all of your kids are in the 7-12 range and don't eat very much.
http://www.angelosteakandpasta.com/
http://www.crabbymikes.com/
http://www.rivercitycafe.com/
http://myrtlebeach.ripleyaquariums.com/
http://www.tbonzgillandgrill.com/
http://www.jedwardsgreatribs.com/
http://www.bennettscalabash.net/
http://www.rioz.com/
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Vacation by the numbers
Ok, I'm stealing this from Danifred because it was such a great idea
5: number of new words jack learned while on vacation (CHEESE!, all done, water, up and down)
26: total number of hours in the car
5,279: number of times we were asked "when are we gonna get there"
3: total hours sitting in traffic
2: number of screens attached to our new DVD player
3: number of screens we needed
4: DVD's watched by the girls in the car
2: new toys Jack got for the trip
1,467,598: shells the girls collected
83: shells that were unbroken (and almost all of those were collected by Maria)
9: people in the beach house
5: bedrooms in the beach house
7: new t-shirts
236: photos taken by me
7: photos taken by Josh
78: bottles of water consumed
12: games of "hand and foot" we played
3: times I called it "foot and mouth"
23: attempts at a good family picture on the beach
0: actual number of good family pics on the beach
4,762,485: granules of sand Jackson ate or got in his eyes
1: bottle of spf 65 we used up
1: bottle of spf 40 we used up
6: days on the beach
7: dinners out
5: times the kids ate macaroni and cheese
7: loads of beach laundry
3: number of loads that were Sophia's sheets!
3,894,512: waves enjoyed by ALL
23: waves that knocked me down
2: waves that knocked Joshs Grandma down!
16: beers Josh drank
6: margaritas I drank
4: plates of fruit the girls EACH ate after dinner at Crabby Mikes after our first full day on the beach
1: day it took for the girls to ask "can we go to the beach" after we got home
50: times we've talked about where we're going next year
5: number of new words jack learned while on vacation (CHEESE!, all done, water, up and down)
26: total number of hours in the car
5,279: number of times we were asked "when are we gonna get there"
3: total hours sitting in traffic
2: number of screens attached to our new DVD player
3: number of screens we needed
4: DVD's watched by the girls in the car
2: new toys Jack got for the trip
1,467,598: shells the girls collected
83: shells that were unbroken (and almost all of those were collected by Maria)
9: people in the beach house
5: bedrooms in the beach house
7: new t-shirts
236: photos taken by me
7: photos taken by Josh
78: bottles of water consumed
12: games of "hand and foot" we played
3: times I called it "foot and mouth"
23: attempts at a good family picture on the beach
0: actual number of good family pics on the beach
4,762,485: granules of sand Jackson ate or got in his eyes
1: bottle of spf 65 we used up
1: bottle of spf 40 we used up
6: days on the beach
7: dinners out
5: times the kids ate macaroni and cheese
7: loads of beach laundry
3: number of loads that were Sophia's sheets!
3,894,512: waves enjoyed by ALL
23: waves that knocked me down
2: waves that knocked Joshs Grandma down!
16: beers Josh drank
6: margaritas I drank
4: plates of fruit the girls EACH ate after dinner at Crabby Mikes after our first full day on the beach
1: day it took for the girls to ask "can we go to the beach" after we got home
50: times we've talked about where we're going next year
Monday, August 23, 2010
a few pics...
Just a few of my favorite pics from vacation.
(I promise I will have an actual blog post coming tomorrow. I just swear there aren't enough hours in the day!)
I didn't realize it at the time, but i took about twice as many pics of Jack than the girls and almost every single one is amazing.
Could she be any more beautiful? seriously. And btw when the heck did she grow up so fast!?
All of us that stayed in the beach house for the week (Us, Joshs mom and little brother and his grandparents)
(I promise I will have an actual blog post coming tomorrow. I just swear there aren't enough hours in the day!)
She said "Mommy, take my picca. Do I look beautiful?" I said "always"
I didn't realize it at the time, but i took about twice as many pics of Jack than the girls and almost every single one is amazing.
Could she be any more beautiful? seriously. And btw when the heck did she grow up so fast!?
All of us that stayed in the beach house for the week (Us, Joshs mom and little brother and his grandparents)
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