• Are you vacationing this Summer?

• Are you planning on staying in a hotel, motel or large chain lodging facility?

• You should consider a vacation home rental as an alternative!

We discovered this article recently on msnbc.com and there are some wonderful and wise tips and suggestions for you to use when deciding exactly how you’d like to spend your upcoming Summer vacation. Use these tips and you’ll be sure to find the rental you want with the amenities you want at the price that will suit your budget!

Spend half as much with vacation rentals – Tips- msnbc.com

Heading to Myrtle during the month of June? Here’s a few goings on that may tickle your fancy:

• Barefoot Landing SummerFest! 6/01/10 to 9/04/10 ~ From 5pm to
  10pm, enjoy the festivities at Barefoot Landing in North Myrtle
  Beach. Entertainment every night, fireworks every Monday, and a
  Parade every Wednesday. This is a kid Friendly Event.
• Pirate Fest 2010! 6/05/10 ~ Pirates, Pirates Everywhere! From
  11am to 8pm at Barefoot Landing in North Myrtle Beach, be sure to
  Dress Like a Pirate and enjoy the events happening through out the
  complex. Talk Like A Pirate, Kite Making, Pirate Wondering,
  Storytelling, Fortune Telling and even a Pirate School. This is a
  Kid Friendly Event.
• Myrtle Beach Pelicans Baseball! 6/07/10 to 6/09/10 ~ Call the
  Bass Pro Shop at the Myrtle Beach Mall for more information at 843-
  385-3180Game starts at 7pm at the Coastal Carolina Field. Take the
  kids out to the Ball Game and cheer for the Pelicans as they take on
  the Winston Salem-Dash. The games are entertaining and who could
  pass up a chance to see Splash the Pelican?
• The Grand Strand Sports & Fishing Tournament! 6/11/10 to 6/13/10
  ~ A Nautical theme festival, featuring the highest quality vendors
  and merchandise. Hunting, fishing, boating, kayaking, surfing and
  more will be highlighted during this 3 day event.  This is a
  Kid Friendly Event.
• Myrtle Beach Pelicans Game! 6/15/10 to 6/17/2010 ~ The Myrtle
  Beach Pelicans will be back in town as they take on the Potomac
  Nationals. Stop out and join in the fun. Game starts at 7pm.
• Monday Kidzone at Market Common! Mondays During the Summer ~
  Bring the kids for a night of inflatable fun at the Market Common in
  Myrtle Beach. $10 Wristbands includes ALL YOU CAN JUMP on the
  inflatable, a face painter and free kids meal with adult purchase at
  participating restaurants. DJ BATMAN will be in the crowd (Watch out
  Joker) This is a Kid Friendly Event

For more of what’s going on at the beach, visit our Calendar of Events.

If you looking for a quiet place to getaway, do some hiking and just relax, this might very well be the place for you.

Hidden away off of Highway 17 on the SC/NC border is the Vereen Botanical Garden. It is one of the few places in the area where you can actually walk right down to the shoreline of the Intracoastal Waterway with nearly no one around you…just the sights and sounds of the marshland and the Maritime forest. The map below is GPS tracking log of a hike that we took at Vereen the 1st week in April.

Browse through the pictures we took along the way and you’ll see what a beautifully, unspoiled area it is. We encourage you to visit on your next Myrtle Beach vacation. Pack a lunch and a couple chairs and sit on the deck overlooking the ICW or just relax along the shoreline.

Calabash Harbor - Home of the Hurricane Fleet

We don’t usually do a lot of the ‘touristy’ things when we spend time down at the condo. On our most recent trip down last week, we decided to change that. We have a lot of families asking about cruises, whale watching, dolphin watching so we decided to go out on a dolphin adventure cruise aboard the Hurricane II which operates out of Calabash, NC, just a short drive from the condo. We wanted to be able to provide some personal experiences when someone asked us about cruises that were available in the area.

We couldn’t have had a better time than we did that day on our adventure! Our crew leader William “Sharky” Stocks made this adventure far more enjoyable than we could have expected! It was just a gorgeous warm day out on the water, but the seas were predicted to be very choppy, and indeed they were as you’ll see from the video. Sharky

William "Sharky" Stocks - Our able crew leader aboard the Hurricane II

warned us all ahead of time though, recounting tales of upwards to 9′ swells the day before with people screaming as if on a roller coaster. Nobody chickened out though and although we experienced 4 to 6′ seas, it was rough enough but what a blast!

Best thing about the Hurricane Fleet’s cruises….they are totally interactive thanks to Sharky’s obvious vast experience and knowledge of the seas. You won’t simply be motored out into the open water and left to search for dolphins and anything else for that matter. With their own shrimpers out in the waters off Sunset Beach, they have a partner to add to the cruise experience. Cruising behind their trawling shrimper with nets down and seas rolling created an eerie ‘Deadliest Catch” atmosphere. Made for great pictures though!

Next time you’re down, make sure you put this on your To Do list….. especially if you have children! They’ll be rewarded with an awesome presentation of sea life harvested from the shrimper and they’ll be lucky enough to go home with a  live souvenir from the shrimpers catch!

For more pictures, visit our photo gallery here!

Click on the photo below to read the article on our website or click here to see the original article in the Sun News.

Here are the winners in all the categories:

Although the majority of people have wonderful experiences booking rentals, sometimes unforeseen problems can arise and complicate matters.  We recently found this web post outlining some things to consider before booking a rental. We have reprinted them here and included how we address each one of these considerations.

1. Whether you’re renting through a management company or directly from the owner, make sure to receive the owner’s contact details.  Otherwise, if the dishwasher breaks down, the AC malfunctions, or the garage door stops working, you won’t have anyone to call and will have to take matters into your own hands.  The stress that arises from such unforeseen circumstances could practically ruin your vacation.

· We provide you with our home phone number, both of our cell phone numbers, both of our work numbers and a local number: our son and daughter-in-law who oversee the property. Someone is available 24/7 and we have established relationships with local trades people and repair facilities in the event an emergency should arise.

2. Don’t believe everything you see in the pictures.  In the pictures, Myrtle Beach condo rentals may look great, but if those pictures were taken ten years ago, expect the reality to be a little different.  To avoid unpleasant surprises, have someone you know drive by and take a look, if possible.  If you can’t get anyone to drive by and check the place out, at the very least find out from the owner when the pictures were taken.  Be wary if the pictures were taken several years ago.

· We are constantly updating the pictures on our website. Many of the pictures on our website now were taken as recent as October of 2009. Videos also are as recent as October, 2009. The maps displayed on our website pinpoint exact location of our community. You are free to drive through and admire the property!

3. Ask if towels and linens are provided.  Although most people don’t bother to ask, it’s good to make sure of how many towels there will be per person and if there are extra sheets available.  Also find out when the last time was that the owner bought towels and sheets and where in the house they are kept.

· Bed and bath linens are always provided for your stay with up to 2 sets of towels for each guest (based on maximum 6 guests occupancy). There is always at least 1 extra set of bed linens for each bed. There is also a washer/dryer combination within the condo itself.

4. Typically, when you rent a vacation home, you have to pay a deposit of 10% to 50% of the total cost upfront, in addition to a cleaning deposit.  Protect yourself from fraud by paying with credit card.  Although many legitimate Myrtle Beach condo rentals owners accept payments via Paypal, money order, and checks, the safest way to pay is by credit card.

· Although we do not accept credit cards directly, we do accept them via PayPal. PayPal has an excellent dispute and resolution system in place to ensure your satisfaction. You always have your choice of paying by the method most convenient to you, be it cash, personal check, or credit card.

5. Use an online service like MapQuest or Google Earth to get a better idea of what the house’s surroundings and neighborhood are like. In the rental description, it may say that the rental is 10 minutes away from the beach, but you’d never know that private property is blocking beach access and that the only way to get from the rental to the beach is by car unless you investigated.

· Our website maps (Google and Bing) allow you to drill down to street level to see precisely what our neighborhood is like! We clearly indicate that our neighborhood is not within walking distance of the beach and is a 5 mile drive to the nearest beach with ample free and pay public parking along the beachfront. Our website maps will confirm the distances. We also provide maps indicating some of the best places to park. Our short distance to the beach allows us to pass on significant rental rate savings to you! Those savings will allow you to afford to do some of the things that you’ve never been able to do before!

Most importantly, when you are booking your vacation with us, you’re staying in Our Home. We are not a management company nor are we investors. This is not an investment property, it is our vacation home. We have a vested interest in not only keeping the quality and value of your stay at its maximum, we want to keep it that way for ourselves as well! We want you to enjoy your stay so that you’ll become part of our Vacation Family and come back and stay with us again!

Your Hosts – Gerry & Pat Monaco

Purple Ribbon Pumpkin Cake

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Let’s stuff it today! If you like meat in your stuffing…this is for you! Lots of ways to vary this recipe too!

Savory Meat & Spinach Stuffing

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