Ripley’s Aquarium and Chesapeake House Dinner

In case you missed my last post, we’re enjoying a nice little mini-vacation at the beach.  Unfortunately, today is our last beach day, so we’re going to try and make the most of it.  It sure has been wonderful to have time away with my family.  Unfortunately, Ryan does have to “work” some… he does have to attend the conference.  ;)  But in the afternoons, we have time to play on the beach and in the pools.  We have also had the most AMAZING weather.  Every day it has been 85 degrees, with low humidity, and lots of sunshine.  Perfect.

On Monday night, we took Sadie for a little outing.  She LOOOOVES an aquarium, so we thought she would really enjoy seeing Ripley’s Aquarium here at Myrtle Beach.  It’s a great aquarium!  AND, I recently discovered that it is FREE for teachers!  Ryan and I printed up our check stubs, brought our IDs, and YAY!  Free!  Not only that, but Sadie’s admission was half price (less than $3!)  So… if you are a teacher, and you are headed to the MB area, you should take advantage of this!

Sadie loved looking at all the sea creatures in the water.  One of the coolest part about Ripley’s is how you can walk through a tunnel with the aquarium (and sharks!) swimming above you.  It definitely is creepy to see how many sharks are swimming UNDER the water, and from the surface, it looks calm and clear.  There have been several shark attacks here in the MB area (mostly small sharks with ankle-height injuries, but still… a shark is a shark), which freaks me out now when I go into the ocean.  However, I try not to pass that fear on to Sadie.  Swimming in the ocean is so nice and refreshing.  I don’t want her to be scared of the ocean.

We also had a bonus—Ripley’s has a new dinosaur exhibit.  It took Sadie a little while to gather the courage to walk by this realistic-looking T-Rex. 

But once she did, she loved the dino section.

After we saw everything at Ripley’s, we headed to dinner.  We decided to hit one of the restaurants that my family has been to several times.  I like this one because it is locally-owned.  They have good food and you get a lot of food for your money. 

They also have a pond on the side with…

… yes, Alligators!  There is a fence that keeps them away from you.  But it makes for great entertainment when you are waiting for your food! 

 

(It turns out alligators will eat french fries if a little boy throws them over the fence to it.)

I decided on a crab-stuffed grouper, and Ryan had steak.  One great thing about Chesapeake House is that you do not need to order appetizers.  The entrees are served with a bread basket…

… full of cinnamon rolls, bread, and to-die-for hush puppies.  They are amazing.  I am not eating wheat, but I had to indulge a little.

The meals also come with salad (not pictured) and a cup of the fish stew, which is delicious.  It’s a lot like Manhattan Clam Chowder.  Yum.

Dinner was delicious. 

There was no room for dessert.  We were stuffed!

All-in-all, it was a wonderful night, and we were so proud of Sadie.  After 2 days of playing on the beach, we thought the night could turn really ugly as her tiredness reared its ugly head… but she was so well-behaved. 

If you happen to be in the Myrtle Beach area, be sure to try out the Chesapeake House!