Myrtle Beach Trip 2008

Summer is flying by and so has our trip to Surfside Beach (just south of Myrtle) for the annual Hilgeman Family Summer Beach Trip.  Here is a picture of the house – “Surfside 6″. 

  

 

 

We left Saturday morning around 8:45am and rolled into town around 5pm.  We stopped off at the grocery store to pick up some food for dinner.  The trip seemed to fly by and now here it is Friday, and we are wondering what all we did this week.   On the way to the beach last year, we passed a fireworks stand just across the North Carolina/South Carolina border on Rt. 701.  We just had to snap a picture of Rob standing in front of the sign.  This year, when we passed by, we were sure to honk our hellos! 

 

 

 

On Sunday, we all got together and had dinner to celebrate Mom & Dad’s birthdays.  Mom turned 60 the week before the beach and Dad turns 60 the week we get back.  Rob & I had ordered Portillo’s hot dogs and Italian beef sandwiches and brought them with us down to the beach for a celebration dinner.  (Dad loves Portillo’s hotdogs and Mom loves the Italian beef sandwiches.)  Portillo’s even shipped the sandwich/hotdog making hats which we bestowed upon the birthday boy and girl right before dinner.  

 

 

 

We enjoyed sleeping in until about 9am – a short-lived luxury especially since I will be commuting to Dahlgren on Monday morning (5am is going to come mighty early).  We saw a lot of the sights last year since it was Rob’s first trip to the Myrtle Beach area so we decided that this year we would focus on relaxing and doing only what we felt like at the moment.  We hung out by the pool a lot and also did a lot of walking on the beach.  We swam around in the ocean one afternoon and watched a lot of wakeboarders and skimboarders.  We went to Barefoot Landing to poke around through the shops  and had lunch at Greg Norman’s Grille.  We got some very YUMMY burgers and snapped a picture of us lounging on the couch in the bar area as well as outside on a bridge in the shopping area.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the way back to the beach house we stopped to see Journey to the Center of the Earth – 3D.  Very cool family movie and the 3D action made it lots of fun!  A few days later, we took Dad to see The Grand Canyon Adventure in 3D at IMAX.  This was also very good and left us all wanting to take a trip to see the Grand Canyon in person. 

 

 

 

We also played 2 rounds of mini golf while dodging the rainstorms.  We arrived at Runaway Bay Mini Golf course just as a thunderstorm was rolling in, but we weren’t scared… even with our metal lightning attracting putters!  We waited for the lightning to pass out of the immediate area and then headed onto the course with our putters.  There are two courses at Runaway Bay – Cockpit Country and Dunns River Falls.  We got through the first 6 holes on the first course (Cockpit Country) before the sky opened up.  We ran back through the course to the rocking chairs under the ledge and waited for the rain to pass.  We got through the rest of the first course and then started on the second (Dunns River Falls).  While we were playing the first hole, the sky opened up again.  Conveniently, the first hole was located in a cave so we just stayed put and watched the rain pass by through the window-like openings.  We got through 2 more holes before having to retreat back to the cave to dodge the rain again.  The final downpour occured when we were on the 8th hole.  Luckily there was a waterfall ledge that we were able to duck back under.  We got to hole number 9 and both of our balls got stuck in the tube so Rob had to run back to the counter to grab two more.  This seemed to be the end of our mini-golf drama as we were able to finish the rest of course without anymore rain or ball delays and the sun was actually shining by the time we were tallying up our final scores.  Rob won the Cockpit Country course 53-55 and he also beat me on the Dunns River Falls course 43-44 which was not a big shocker considering this was the course where he had his two holes-in-one!

One night we went to decided we wanted to have some Mexican food and margaritas.  We went to Abuelo’s for dinner - VERY DELICIOUS!!!  We got our first round of margaritas from the bar while we were waiting on a table to open up.  We were suprised to see that, being as they were “on the rocks”, they came out of the tap – sans rocks of course!!!  We were more surprised to find out that we had shown up at Happy Hour and they were only $2 a piece.  However, the best surprise was how good these “from the tap” $2 margaritas actually were!!  We left the restaurant very stuffed and Rob was gracious enough to drive home since my two “from the tap” margaritas were quite margaritafying!  Lucky for me that I found a man who can drive a stick-shift car!!

Friday night, our last night at the beach *sniff sniff*, we went out to dinner at Drunken Jack’s down in Murrell’s Inlet.  We got our picture taken with Drunken Jack himself (or at least the statue version of him) as well as a picture of us sporting our pirate hats! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also had our annual Hilgeman-Williams Golf Tournament (Par 3 of course!) on Friday night.  Last year, the Williams family (my sister Kelly, brother-in-law Rick, and nephew Ricky) took home the trophy.  This year, we challenged them and lost – AGAIN!  Maybe next time we’ll have better luck… We also decided that next time it would have to be the Fowler-Williams Golf Tourney as Rob & I will be Fowlers and my Dad will be the only Hilgeman on the team and therefore outnumbered 2-1.  Although, I suppose we could be nice on him and keep it “Team Hilgeman”.    Below is a picture of Rob putting for par.  He made it!

 

 

 

Saturday made for a long drive back to Maryland.  We were sad to leave and even more sad that we won’t be returning next year.  The plan, as of now, is to forego our annual beach trip for a Thanksgiving trip to Disney World in 2009!    Lookout Mickey, here we come!!

 

Blind Dinghy Race

The LCYC (Lord Calvert Yacht Club) First Annual Blind Dinghy Race was held on Saturday July 19.  Only three teams were brave enough to take on the challenge.  Each team consisted of two people – one blindfolded person who was responsible for rowing and one person (not blindfolded!) who was responsible for instructing the rower which way to go.  Rob & I took on Team Larry & Craig and Team Revel (Johnny & Vicky).  Rob was the blind rower and I was the navigator.  At first we were off to a rocky start as I was rather inconsistent with how I wanted to direct him.  I would yell which paddle to use (“Right paddle! Left paddle!”) and then I’d switch to yelling which way to paddle (“Paddle right! Paddle left!”) and then I’d revert back to the initial instruction method.  Needless to say, this all left poor Rob very confused.  Right about the time I realized what I was doing, he told me to pick a method and I did.  After getting our communication skills worked out (very important for a couple just about to be married!), we ended up passing by Team Larry & Craig at the end and won the race!  Go Team Fowler & Soon-To-Be Fowler! 

 

 

 

Red + Green = Gray

…Or at least that’s how it is in the world of watercolor! On Sunday, July 13th, Jen and I took a watercolor class. We purchased watercolor supplies almost 2 years ago and decided we would teach ourselves how to paint. We quickly found out how overly ambitious we were and decided that we should really get some formal instruction. It took over a year for the schedules to work out, but we finally were able to attend a class. We spent about 3 hours in a class with a wonderful woman named Mary Pat and received a lot of good information. The class was held at The Bay Arts Center in Chesapeake Beach, MD. A still life display was set up that we could paint off if we so desired. I wasn’t inspired by the still life so I chose from a variety of pictures Mary Pat had printed out. The first picture I tackled was of a set of footprints along a shoreline. Mary Pat showed me some really cool tricks with this picture. Some of them scared me at first (you want me to take yucky water and just splatter it on the picture then smear it all together?!?!) but then afterwards, it turned out to be a pleasant surprise – or one of what Mary Pat calls, “Happy Little Accidents”. Below is a picture of my very first watercolor picture.

 

 

 

The second picture I tackled was of a white flower set amidst a bunch of green leaves. I figured this would enable me to play with various shades of the same color and work with how to differentiate among them. I started the picture in class but did not have time to finish it there. I hope to finish it once things have settled down from the wedding and have more time. Below is what I have completed so far.

 

Tea Time

Saturday July 12^th was an absolutely delightful afternoon!  Jen, being my lady of honor, had asked me what my thoughts were with regards to a bridal shower.  I told her that Rob & I did not need a lot of the smaller household items that are traditionally given as gifts at a shower, so I wasn’t sure if I should even have one.  Because she is as wonderful as she is, she offered to host the Bridal Tea that I had wanted to hold prior to the wedding, but knew I would never be able to arrange.  I had thought it would be nice to get all the women in the family together for a tea party the afternoon before the wedding.  However, the practical side of me knew that it would be too much to request that people come down early enough to attend something like that.  So, Jen hosted the family tea in lieu of a shower!  It was held at The Royal Tea Room in LaPlata, MD and we dined on tea, scones, finger sandwiches and a variety of pastries – very yummy!  Jen and Mommacita (Sally, Jen’s Mom and my 2^nd Mom) were even kind enough to escort me to the event!  Also in attendance were my Mom (Carolyn), my sisters (Kelly & Erin), my future mother-in-law (Anne), and two of my future sister-in-laws (Nancy & Sue).

 

*PICTURES COMING SOON*

 

HOWL If You Had Fun, Hon

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWL, YES!  Jen knows me well enough to know that I would want to do something fun before getting married but that I am not into the tacky typical bachelorette shenanigans.  I am not into strippers, I have no desire to wear plastic light-up penises around my neck, and I’m just not a tiara kind of girl.  So, after several discussions, I decided that I’d like to simply do a Girls Night Out.  I chose to keep the group small and limited it to Jen & Julia (who are two of my closest girlfriends) and Kelly & Erin (my two sisters).  Being as Kelly, Erin & I rarely get a chance to hang out all together, I thought it would be fun to have all three of us together.  Plus, with just the 5 of us, we would be able to all cram into a hotel room and not have to worry about driving home after being out.  We arrived in Baltimore the afternoon of Saturday June 28^th and met up at the hotel (which ended up being a pretty sweet hotel only a few blocks from the Inner Harbor).  We walked down to the harbor and had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory.  After a delicious dinner, we walked back to our room (to drop off our cheesecake slices of course!) and rested a bit before heading off for some music and drinking.  Since I LOVE piano music, Jen thought it would be fun for me to go to ”Howl At The Moon”  – a dueling piano bar!  Jen arranged to get a package so that we would have a reserved table up front by the stage.  Included in this were also a few free drinks.  Needless to say, we shared two buckets of margaritas.  If you don’t believe me, just check out the picture!!

 

*PICTURE COMING SOON – HINT HINT ERIN, SEND THE PICTURES!*

 

We had a great time singing and dancing along with the wait staff and band (a drummer and guitarist joined the two pianists later on in the night).  Included in the package deal was also a roast – just for me!  That’s right!  I had to get up on the stage and at first was serenaded with the song Amie (Pure Prairie League) and then I was given a tambourine and instructed to get the crowd singing and clapping along while I danced to none other than Dancing Queen (ABBA).  In addition to this (and I’m sure it was NOT part of the package deal), Jen and I were brought onto the stage, told to turn around, place our hands on the pianos, scoot our feet back out towards the edge of the stage, and DANCE!  At this point, we were turned around with our butts sticking out towards the crowd while the pianist proceeded to bust into “Baby Got Back”.  Somewhere, Erin has video footage and if I can get it to load onto this page, I’ll do so if for no other reason than because I want to see who all actually does read this blog!!! 

 

After a night of music, drinking and some butt shaking on stage, we went back to the hotel for our cheesecake.  Kelly left to drive home afterwards and Jen, Julia, Erin, and I settled in for my morning surprise.

 

The next morning, we checked out of the hotel and proceeded to Café Hon  in the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore.  We got breakfast at Café Hon and it was absolutely delicious! I had a smoked applewood bacon and Vermont cheddar cheese omelet!  YUMMY!!  Afterwards, we walked around the neighborhood browsing through the various shops.  Believe it or not, they have a shop that sells chocolate and shoes.  We all decided that whoever opened that shop was an absolute genius and that it was a good thing that we did not live close enough to do any damage whenever we got upset!!

           

 

Fortune Cookie Fun

I enjoy getting Chinese carry-out.  I enjoy eating Hot & Sour soup – especially if it’s extra spicy.  If my nose isn’t running while I eat it, it’s not spicy enough!!  I enjoy my vegetable spring rolls (with plenty of duck sauce) and I even enjoy my Szechuan Chicken and Kung Pao Chicken.  But, what I really enjoy is opening my fortune cookie at the end of the meal.  Lately, our favorite Chinese food restaurant has been giving us 3 fortune cookies so even Quincy gets a fortune!  Some of my fortunes are quite disappointing and don’t seem to make any sense regardless of how hard I ponder them.  Others are quite simple, such as the one that read, “You like Chinese food.”  Really?!  Wow!  However, I have gotten a few fortunes that I liked well enough to save.  Some of them are taped to my monitor at work, just to keep me smiling and some are displayed on my fridge at home.  A few of them showed up at uncanny times.  For example, I received the following two fortunes a couple weeks before I met Rob:

 

“One must kiss a few frogs before Prince Charming comes along.”
and

“Your love life will soon be happy and harmonious.”

 

And, I received this fortune not too long before my team lead interview:

 

“Do not be afraid of competition.”

 

The following fortunes are others that I’ve saved:

 

“What you will discover will be yourself.”

“A thrilling time is in your immediate future.”

“A pleasant surprise is in store for you tonight.”

“You are heading in the right direction.”

“Everyday in your life is a special occasion.”

“The only limits to the possibilities in your life tomorrow are the buts you use today.”

 

And of course, one that I absolutely agreed with and Rob had to laugh at:

 

“A new pair of shoes will do you a world of good!”

 

How to Find Our Wedding Information

Apparently there has been some confusion in using this site so I am going to lay forth some details that might not be obvious when first viewing the site.  There are various pages within the Fowler Follies site.  The links (or tabs) for the different pages can be found along the top right of the main page that contains our blog postings.  The page options that are currently available are: “Home”, “About”, and “Wedding Randomness”.  If you click on the “Wedding Randomness” page link, it will take you to a separate page within our site that contains a lot of information on our upcoming wedding.  If you have any requests for information you would like to see posted, or any comments you would like to make, you can do so by clicking the “comment” link on that page.  On another note, if you want to make comments with regards to any of the blog entries we have posted on the main page, you can click on “leave a comment” at the end of the blog entry and a comment will be sent to us and posted on the blog.  J

 

April Shenanigans

On Saturday April 12^th, we had our first party.  Rob had told me that he wanted to have a combination birthday/housewarming party.  I told him that I didn’t think that we should have a housewarming party since the house was technically already “warm”.  I mean, after all, I had already been living there for about three and a half years with my cats, fish, and roommate!  So, I told him that instead, we should have a “We’re Officially Living in Sin” party.  I think he thought I was kidding… he was wrong!  Soon after the discussion, invitations were sent for the “We’re Officially Living in Sin & Rob’s Birthday Bash” party.  It was a great time and somehow we were able to fit about 30 people into our house!  Jen’s Mom (Sally a.k.a. Mommacita) made Rob a “naked lady” birthday cake to fit in with the “Living in Sin” theme.  It was quite a surprise for him (not to mention the rest of the guests) when we brought it out and lit the candles.  Julia snapped a picture of Rob blowing out the candles prior to the boys making certain requests for specific pieces of the cake.  They had to wait their turn though because Rob, being the birthday boy, got first choice!!!  J

 

The Great & Mighty Shed

While I remained miserable with the flu, Rob and the guys braved the cold to build our new shed.  At this point, I had been sick for almost a week so I stayed in bed and watched The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers.  Rob, Jack, Mike, Jim, and, of course, Quincy worked away and did a great job.  Every now and then I managed to crawl out of bed and peek down from the bedroom window to check out what they were doing.  And, I was sneaky enough to get some pictures of them working! 

The shed turned out great and now all we have to do is put on the shingles and paint it.  J 

 

The Future-Honeymooners

Well, not only have we FINALLY made a decision on where to go for our honeymoon, but we also booked the airfare and cruise!  Western Mediterranean, here we come!!  We will be flying to Barcelona and boarding the “Norwegian Gem” (Norwegian Cruise Line) for a 7 night cruise.  The itinerary is as follows:

Day 1: Barcelona, Spain
Day 2: Day at Sea
Day 3: Valletta, Malta
Day 4: Naples/Pompeii, Italy        
Day 5: Rome, Italy
Day 6: Florence/Pisa, Italy
Day 7: Nice, France
Day 8: Barcelona, Spain

Upon our return to Barcelona, we will spend an extra day in the city before flying back to the good ole US of A!