Touring South Carolina

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” --Mark Twain

       In the passed year September to September we drove the truck towing the 5th wheel about 5,400 miles. The truck averaged 10.1 miles per gallon. We drove the car about 19,975 miles. The average mpg for the year was 28. On the highway we average from 38-40 mpg. The 3 months we spent in Pigeon Forge TN really brought our mileage down with the heavy traffic in the area. These averages were for the passed 12 months.

      What a surprise, we got gas for $3.25 a gallon. Then it went down to $3.21. Disel was $3.61.  When we left PA we paid $4.19.

      We spent two weeks in Myrtle Beach. While there the town of Loris had a Chicken Bog Festival. What is "chicken bog" you ask. Well it is chicken, sausage and rice. The chicken and sausage are cut up into small pieces. The rice is cooked with the meats and different type spices to make the "bog". This is "low country" cuisine.There was a contest where we bought a ticket to test 14 different entries. They were quite different. Most were very good, a few bland tasting. The festival was very busy with many booths with different craft items. There was also a large car show with some really neat restored cars. Here is a recipe, but there are many many variations.
Traditional Preparation

A coastal South Carolina delicacy with chicken, sausage, and rice - This authentic recipe was contributed by the Loris Chamber of Commerce.

INGREDIENTS:

6 cups water

• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (3 pound) whole chicken
• 3 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup long-grain white rice
• 1/2 pound smoked sausage of your choice, sliced
• 2 tablespoons Italian-style seasonings
• 2 cubes chicken bouillon

PREPARATION:

Place water, salt and onion in a large pot. Add chicken and bring all to a boil; cook until chicken is tender, about 1 hour.
Remove chicken from pot and let cool. Remove skin and bones and chop remaining meat into bite size pieces.
Skim off fat from cooking liquid and measure 3 1/2 cups of this chicken broth into a 6-quart saucepan. Add rice, chicken pieces, sausage, herb seasoning and bouillon to this saucepan. Cook all together for 30 minutes; let come to a boil, then reduce heat to low, keeping pan covered the whole time. If mixture is too watery or juicy, cook over medium low heat, uncovered, until it reaches the desired consistency. Stir often while cooking.
    A large pot of Chicken Bog,

 The first photo shows the winner, our pick also, large crow tasting, Bob getting a sample

Some of the many cars

      We also toured many of the beach towns in the area. Then we moved over to the beach to Ocean Lakes RV Resort. We were parked less then 100 yards from the beach. The resort has about 3500 sites. One of the largest RV parks we stayed in. There are about 900 transient sites, the rest are permanent or Homes on stilts. A very nice park.
    The county were Myrtle Beach is Located

    A beautiful river walk

     Just reduced, beach front, anybody want to go half?

       The reason for the move to Ocean Lakes was to attend a Carriage Rally. There were 28 Carriage rigs that attend the Rally. We had a great time reconnecting with some friends we haven't seen since last February at another rally. We had a great time playing dominio's, pot luck dinners, breakfasts and of coarse going out to eat. We also got in some great beach time. The weather was perfect, but the water was only 72-74. Too cool for us, other then getting our toes wet.

       Here comes hurricane Sandy. We were only 100 yards from the beach so we had to decide what to do. We were glued to the TV weather channel. We saw Sandy was about 350 miles off the coast so we decided to stay. We had rain all day on Saturday and soon heavy winds. At high tide we went to the beach and watched the waves coming in. The waves almost covered the beach. Just a small area of sand above the waves. The waves almost came up to the dunes.
We were asked about making our pictures larger. You can, just click on the photo and it should enlarge to fill your screen.
      Murrells Inlet

Dave, Pat, Linda, Bob, Lance and Andrea, celerbrating Lance and Andrea anniversity at the "Dead Dog Saloon in Murrells Inlet

A BBQ we ate at in Roanoke Rapids NC

     Saw this licence plate on the road