The family got to spend a week down in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with Carly’s parents. 2017 was intensely busy for both of us so even just six weeks from our Xmas holidays we were happy to relax in the sunshine. And so was Fitz.
ABOVE: We flew out of Toronto’s Island Airport on Porter. Because the terminal in so small it’s a really kid-friendly place to be for 2 hours before take-off. Fitz made a lot of friends while he was doing laps of our gate.
ABOVE: This was the view, looking south down towards the hub of Myrtle Beach, from the balcony of the condo.
ABOVE & BELOW: The first day was a little overcast and chilly but nice enough for Dennis to take Fitzy for a walk on the beach. This was the only time that Fitzy was calm down by the ocean — from here on in he was hesitant to play in the sand until he lost all interest by day 4.
ABOVE & BELOW: During the first 2 days it was pretty easy to spot dolphins swimming by in the morning. But by Day 3 they disappeared. I was lucky enough to catch a few of them early one morning.
ABOVE & BELOW: Fitz left a message for Carly in the sand.
ABOVE & BELOW: Pelicans were plentiful and often flew by our balcony at eye level.
ABOVE & BELOW: We took Fitzy to the Ripley’s Aquarium one afternoon. We got to see sharks and weird fish and at this pool we could pet friendly stingrays.
ABOVE & BELOW: There was plenty of horsing around time.
ABOVE & BELOW: There was a place not far from our condo called Alligator Adventure, which kept a huge assortment of alligators and other exotic animals (like emus and hyenas).
ABOVE: The place hosted an information show where audience members got to touch a juvenile alligator. Fitzy was very interested in the tape around the mouth of reptile. It’s the one thing he remembers from the encounter. And this alligator below has the world’s worst under bite. It looks like a pig snout but his lower jaw veers right while the upper part veers left. He must’ve gotten teased a lot as a kid.
ABOVE & BELOW: All that excitement was followed by rest.
ABOVE & BELOW: We went for a walk at a place called Barefoot Landing that has these cute bridges over swamp-ponds. There were dispensers of fish food that we threw into the water and watched *huge* catfish swim up and eat.
ABOVE & BELOW: We attempted to go on the Myrtle Beach SkyWheel one morning but there were mechanical issues so we instead walked the pier and had lunch.
ABOVE & BELOW: We got to go on the SkyWheel the following day. Fitz loved it and was calmer at first than Carly or myself. Its height — 187 feet — gave us a cool view up and down the beach.
