A little more than a year ago I published an entry to my blog titled "The Medieval Times Experience - Myrtle Beach, SC Edition", which you can read for yourself by clicking the hyperlink. As you might assume, that particular entry was more or less a gushing love letter to Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament. My wife and I are huge fans of Medieval Times, you see, so much so that we visit their Myrtle Beach castle at least once a year. On top of that, we've also been to the Atlanta and Orlando castles as well but to be completely honest with you of the MT locations we've visited Myrtle Beach is the best of the three in our opinion.
All that having been said, I'd like to share with you a vlog we recorded after a recent visit to MT in Myrtle Beach. I wanted to take the time to document the entire experience, from getting into the parking lot to ticketing, and from navigating the great hall to the tournament itself. I'd like to think I did a fairly thorough job which is why the video clocks in at just under 40 minutes. You people should know me by now - brevity is not something I'm good at.
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Sunday, October 6, 2013
The Medieval Times Experience - Myrtle Beach, SC Edition
I don't remember the exact date of the first show I went to at Medieval Times in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina but I do know that it was with my family during one of our vacations to the coast. I want to say it was in the late 1990s when I was still in my teens and not long after this particular Medieval Times location had been launched. Ours is one of the newer castles, having opened its doors - er, drawbridge (Yeah, that's it!) in 1996.
I was a fan instantly after that first exposure as the whole of the experience was amazing to me; it appealed to multiple aspects of my personality seeing as how I've always been interested in medieval warfare and I don't know any little boy (even those of us who happen to be masquerading as grown men) who doesn't get a kick out of action sequences like those from movies involving things like horses, swordplay and fisticuffs. I guess it tickles that same part of my childish brain that draws me to something like professional wrestling.
I wouldn't go so far as to say I've become one of their best customers, however I will tell you that I've been to at least 6 performances at this particular location over the course of roughly the past 5 years which represents the length of time that my wife & I have been together (we dated for about 2 years and have been married a little more than 3). Yes, my wife comes with me to Medieval Times - yes, she enjoys the experience just as much as I do or at least I think she does. She may only be in it for the tomato bisque; I'm fine with that, so long as it means I don't have to be the creepy guy who comes to Medieval Times by himself.
In case you weren't aware, Medieval Times is an action-packed dinner show the setting of which is that of medieval Spain involving knights of the realm who compete in a jousting tournament but also highlights such things as horsemanship and falconry. Why Spain and not England or somewhere else in Europe? Because the Medieval Times brand actually began in Majorca, Spain back in 1973. The brand would migrate to the United States a decade later when the first North American castle debuted - that being the Kissimmee, Florida location - in 1983. 8 more locations have opened since then, each of which run multiple performances per week year round. It's a huge operation that employs a multitude of individuals and South Carolina is fortunate to have a castle to call its own.
The Medieval Times experience begins the moment you walk through the doors. In our case, we typically will go to the castle to procure our tickets although you can just as easily purchase them online or by phone in advance. I kind of like that opportunity to see the interior of the space when it's not packed from wall to wall with patrons. You get a much better sense of just how large the facility actually is.
I will say this upfront about Medieval Times; the tickets are not cheap. A non-discounted adult ticket will set you back $50.95. (That's for the 2013 season at the Myrtle Beach castle, the admission fee varies from one location to another.) I say "non-discounted" because there are ways of getting a lower cost ticket as you can find coupons available locally or you can sometimes get discount codes online via the Medieval Times website as well as others. (There are pagodas in most of the nearby shopping malls that offer discounted tickets but you have to hear the sales pitch for whatever product they're hawking in order to get the deal.) I think the coupons may get you as much as $10-$15 off, which isn't bad by any means. What's more, if you take the time to sign up for the King's Court (their email distribution service) you'll get a free ticket for your birthday that can be used throughout your birth month. This is what my wife & I did for our most recent visit to the Myrtle Beach location as my wife's birthday happens to be during the month of September. Her freebie combined with the fact that all regular tickets had been discounted to $35 in celebration of Medieval Times' 30th year of operation meant the two of us got dinner and the show for around $40. Take it from me, that's a sweet deal!
Notice that I used the phrase "regular tickets" towards the end of that last paragraph. The base ticket price will get you in the door with a spot in one of the standard seating areas with a full 3 course meal (more on the vittles later). There are upgrades available in the form of what are referred to as Royalty packages. You can choose from either the Royalty package or the King's Royalty package. (I'm not going to take the time to detail what they include, rather if you want more information on them visit this page.) We opted for the King's Royalty package earlier this year more so than anything because we'd never done it before. It was nice and the included group photo was quite good but when you consider the fact that it's an extra $20 per person, it's not something that I would necessarily encourage you to do. If you want to make it a memorable evening, maybe, but even so I think most people would have a hard time justifying the extra expense considering what you get in return.
Once you have your tickets in hand and you prepare to enter the castle you are recognized as a lord or lady of the realm, meaning the admissions staff will assign you to a seating section denoted by the color of armor your unique knight happens to wear. There are 6 knights; Green, Red, Red & Yellow, Black & White, Blue, and Yellow. I believe they have names (I was right!) and they're meant to represent geographical regions of Spain from the era. More importantly is the fact that this is the stage in the procession where you receive your crown, which of course must be worn at all times lest ye be mistaken for a commoner whilst on the grounds.
PRO TIP: The castle will open roughly an hour and fifteen minutes prior to showtime. The time that you arrive and are processed through admissions is the determining factor as to what knight for who you'll be cheering. Guests are seated in such a way as to make the sections comparable in terms of their population so that they don't wind up having 20 people cheering for the Blue knight and 160 cheering for the Black & White knight. Sometimes the admissions staff will be able to accommodate a seating request but not always. In other words, don't arrive at 5:40 PM for a 6 PM show thinking you will be able to sit wherever you want.
From there you'll be ushered into a photography area where you'll be posed with either the King or his daughter, the Princess. The photos are not included in standard admission; if you would like to keep your photo you'll have to pay for it when a member of the staff brings them around during the tournament, unless that is you opted for one of the Royalty upgrades that involve your photo. The quality of these pictures is usually fairly high although the skills of the photographer you get will vary. I'm not certain but I want to say they will set you back in the area of $15.
From there you're able to make your way into the Great Hall, which is more or less an assembly area where all the lords & ladies of the realm (that's you, remember - staff at Medieval Times will always address a patron as either "My Lord" or "My Lady") gather prior to the tournament. You'll notice a pattern has started to emerge here as every stage I've described thus far has presented a variety of situations where guests can be separated from their money with haste. The Great Hall is perhaps the most prolific example of this as it contains a number of bars and souvenir stands.
The bars are full service, offering both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. You can get your beverage served in a number of various collectable mugs, goblets, etc., all of which are available at an additional charge. Truth be told, to my knowledge there are no cups for which you will not be charged. The most low-end cup you can get is a plastic cup that has a series of animated holograms on it. Obviously you don't have to buy a drink but to give you some idea of how much markup we're talking about when it comes to the price of beverages due to their being served as described, on our most recent visit I paid $17 for a Sam Adams' Oktoberfest draft and a virgin strawberry daiquiri.
The souvenir stands are loaded with overpriced baubles, generally speaking - everything from children's toys to replica swords and shields. I've never seen anyone buy a sword so for all I know the blades there now are the same ones that were there when the castle first opened.
Also in the Great Hall is the Torture Chamber, a display of - you guessed it - medieval torture devices that can be viewed for - you guessed it - an additional fee. (I do not think Torture Chamber admission comes with any of the seating packages, even the King's Royalty. It's been a while since we went through the Torture Chamber, but I want to say admission to it was around $2.) All I will say about it is that it's a brief exhibit featuring items that range from the perverse to being downright ghastly in nature. I find it amazing the sort of things we humans have managed to come up with over the ages in the name of harming one another.
In wrapping up my comments about the Great Hall, I'll mention that guests celebrating a special event may choose to participate in a knighting ceremony where the King will declare the individual an official knight of the realm. ("Special event" meaning virtually anything under the sun - I've seen people get knighted for anything from graduating college to their first visit to Medieval Times. One cool thing we saw on our most recent visit during the knighting ceremony was a guy proposing to his girlfriend while she was being knighted.) This, too, comes at an additional charge of around $20 but I believe you get a commemorative photo as well as a printed scroll.
I've talked about expenses a lot up until this point. For the sake of looking at this from a logistical perspective, here's an example of what you might be spending for an evening at Medieval Times; these figures are all based on two adults with regular admission.
- Admission: $50.95 x 2 = $101.90 (not counting tax)
- Commemorative Photo w/King or Princess: $15
- Beverages: $20 ($3 tip included)
- Knighting Ceremony: $20
- Torture Chamber Admission: $2 x 2 = $4
- GRAND TOTAL: $160.90
It's entirely possible to spend upwards of $200 for an evening at Medieval Times, and that's for only two people. For what it's worth, that $200 would make for a very memorable experience, especially if you were taking a child, but it's not necessary to spend that much. My wife & I typically go for the most bare-bones combination possible and we have never had a bad experience.
Finally, after much fanfare and celebration in the Great Hall, you'll be called to your section inside the arena. There's a procession to it as one section at a time will be allowed in so as to not cause a stampede. I may be wrong but I believe the order of entry at the Myrtle Beach castle is usually this: Green, Red, Red & Yellow, Black & White, Blue, Yellow.
The arena is massive - I have no idea how many guests the place could hold at maximum capacity but I would hazard a guess and say there's seating for at least 1,000 souls therein. (As you enter the arena, pay attention to areas that appear to be draped off; these are auxiliary seating sections that are kept covered when not in use.) It could rival certain small-to-medium athletic facilities meant for sporting events, and along those lines I would estimate that the actual floor of the arena where the action takes place is roughly the same size as a hockey rink or basketball court. Once you're seated, all you need to do is settle in and get comfortable because the main event of the evening is about to unfold before you - it's a double-header as you've got a feast as well as a tournament to enjoy!
Your server will introduce you to the particulars of the meal by making you aware of several factors, most notably that you'll be dining without the aid of silverware. Don't worry, you don't need it - and yes, plenty of wet and dry napkins will be available for when you're done. The only metal objects you'll come in contact with are the plates and bowls upon which your food will be served. When it comes to your beverage, you have a choice of Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, tea, or water and there will be two rounds of whatever you choose (your initial fill-up plus one refill, in other words). Alcoholic beverages are not included in the meal and your server will not bring you one, however you do have the option of either going back out to the bars in the Great Hall or waiting until a barmaid (yes, you read that right) comes by offering to fetch you something.
In regard to the service you receive during the meal, the folks attending to you are waiters and waitresses who happen to be serving potentially upwards of 50 people at a time. While they are more than able to attend to your specific needs, do realize that they've got a lot of mouths to serve. At the same time, also realize that they are working very hard in dim lighting to make you as happy as possible - tipping is always appreciated.
The meal itself consists of three courses - an appetizer, the main course, and desert. The appetizer comes in the form of a piping hot bowl of tomato bisque served with a piece of buttery garlic toast (I believe the style of bread varies from one location to another; in our castle it's more or less a piece of Texas toast with garlic & herbs). Remember how in the previous paragraph I mentioned that the plates and bowls are metal? Keep that in mind when you reach for the blistering handle of your soup bowl and prepare to press your tender lips against its scalding hot rim. I'm not kidding here as you could easily burn yourself. (PRO TIP: To avoid burning your fingers, wrap your napkin around the handle of your soup bowl.) Your main course is a combination of three items, those being a spare rib, half of a roasted chicken, and half of an herb-crusted baked potato. The chicken is the real star of the show for me but the ribs are fantastic as well. Last but not least, for desert you'll receive an apple turnover as well as a cup of coffee if you would like one.
Finally, it's time to get down as only 6 medieval knights know how! The tournament festivities begin with introductions for the King and his court as well as each knight. Handling the introductions in Myrtle Beach is none other than Sir David of Macedonia, a performer who has been at this particular location for almost as long as I've been coming to Medieval Times if not longer (Sir David is something of an emcee of the entire nights proceedings as he also welcomes guests and does announcements in the Great Hall). Next you're treated to a series of examples of horsemanship featuring some incredible work by handler and horse alike. It really can't be overstated as to how amazing these animals are when seen in an environment like this. In between these segments of the program you'll also witness a display of falconry, which is an ancient technique where hunters would employ trained birds of prey.
Prior to the knights engaging in the joust, they'll go through a series of challenging skill-based games several of which involve using a lance to skewer a small ring suspended from a scaffold. That's a task that comes off to me as trying to thread a needle while hanging out the window of a car. Similarly, the knights take aim while on horseback with a javelin as they ride full speed towards a small target hung above their entry point to the arena. In addition, the knights will participate in a relay race as well as a challenge whereby they have to ride side-by-side with one of their rivals, keeping pace while tossing a small flagpole between one another. It goes without saying that the knights are tremendous athletes who truly are in command of their physical conditioning and horsemanship. When a knight is successful in one of these challenges, he receives several flowers from the Princess which he'll then distribute to certain of the ladies in his gallery.
The joust and the combat that follows is the main attraction of the tournament, needless to say. It's very exciting to see the knights set lance to shield, as Sir David would say, but the real kicker for me is the swordplay as the knights use a variety of medieval weaponry against one another, all in the name of winning the tournament. This is where I can draw a lot of comparisons between this show and professional wrestling as the outcome of the tournament is, of course, predetermined. What, you thought these guys are just going out there and winging it? No, there's a script in play and a plot does unfold during the course of the tournament. I won't go into detail regarding what the story involves so as to not give it away. All I will say is that I've seen several iterations of the Medieval Times show and the most recent revision that's out now is the best one yet (I can remember when the program involved a wizard and the Green knight was always a villain - not so anymore, thankfully).
As it stands, you've got 1-in-6 odds of cheering for the knight who wins the tournament and is recognized as the champion of the realm. I honestly don't know that we've ever cheered for the knight who won, although I could be wrong. At this point we're just trying to make sure that we've been seated once in at least every section, and we're 5/6's of the way to that goal as the only section we've never sat in is that of the Yellow knight.
All things totaled, the Medieval Times experience is incredibly unique and it's something that I feel anyone who visits Myrtle Beach should do at least once. Yes, it's a gimmicky dinner show and it's expensive, but so is everything else in Myrtle Beach. Besides, if you're in Myrtle Beach you're more than likely on vacation - if you can't cut loose and do something fun while you're on vacation, you probably need expensive pharmacology and perhaps a psychiatrist. Or maybe just more rum - either way, take it from me when I say that Medieval Times is a great night out that you and your family can enjoy together.
I was a fan instantly after that first exposure as the whole of the experience was amazing to me; it appealed to multiple aspects of my personality seeing as how I've always been interested in medieval warfare and I don't know any little boy (even those of us who happen to be masquerading as grown men) who doesn't get a kick out of action sequences like those from movies involving things like horses, swordplay and fisticuffs. I guess it tickles that same part of my childish brain that draws me to something like professional wrestling.
I wouldn't go so far as to say I've become one of their best customers, however I will tell you that I've been to at least 6 performances at this particular location over the course of roughly the past 5 years which represents the length of time that my wife & I have been together (we dated for about 2 years and have been married a little more than 3). Yes, my wife comes with me to Medieval Times - yes, she enjoys the experience just as much as I do or at least I think she does. She may only be in it for the tomato bisque; I'm fine with that, so long as it means I don't have to be the creepy guy who comes to Medieval Times by himself.
In case you weren't aware, Medieval Times is an action-packed dinner show the setting of which is that of medieval Spain involving knights of the realm who compete in a jousting tournament but also highlights such things as horsemanship and falconry. Why Spain and not England or somewhere else in Europe? Because the Medieval Times brand actually began in Majorca, Spain back in 1973. The brand would migrate to the United States a decade later when the first North American castle debuted - that being the Kissimmee, Florida location - in 1983. 8 more locations have opened since then, each of which run multiple performances per week year round. It's a huge operation that employs a multitude of individuals and South Carolina is fortunate to have a castle to call its own.
The Medieval Times experience begins the moment you walk through the doors. In our case, we typically will go to the castle to procure our tickets although you can just as easily purchase them online or by phone in advance. I kind of like that opportunity to see the interior of the space when it's not packed from wall to wall with patrons. You get a much better sense of just how large the facility actually is.
 |
| A Google Maps view of the building - smart idea to make the roof a billboard as Myrtle Beach's airport is nearby. |
 |
| A ground-level view of the Myrtle Beach castle's entrance - sadly, there is no moat. |
I will say this upfront about Medieval Times; the tickets are not cheap. A non-discounted adult ticket will set you back $50.95. (That's for the 2013 season at the Myrtle Beach castle, the admission fee varies from one location to another.) I say "non-discounted" because there are ways of getting a lower cost ticket as you can find coupons available locally or you can sometimes get discount codes online via the Medieval Times website as well as others. (There are pagodas in most of the nearby shopping malls that offer discounted tickets but you have to hear the sales pitch for whatever product they're hawking in order to get the deal.) I think the coupons may get you as much as $10-$15 off, which isn't bad by any means. What's more, if you take the time to sign up for the King's Court (their email distribution service) you'll get a free ticket for your birthday that can be used throughout your birth month. This is what my wife & I did for our most recent visit to the Myrtle Beach location as my wife's birthday happens to be during the month of September. Her freebie combined with the fact that all regular tickets had been discounted to $35 in celebration of Medieval Times' 30th year of operation meant the two of us got dinner and the show for around $40. Take it from me, that's a sweet deal!
Notice that I used the phrase "regular tickets" towards the end of that last paragraph. The base ticket price will get you in the door with a spot in one of the standard seating areas with a full 3 course meal (more on the vittles later). There are upgrades available in the form of what are referred to as Royalty packages. You can choose from either the Royalty package or the King's Royalty package. (I'm not going to take the time to detail what they include, rather if you want more information on them visit this page.) We opted for the King's Royalty package earlier this year more so than anything because we'd never done it before. It was nice and the included group photo was quite good but when you consider the fact that it's an extra $20 per person, it's not something that I would necessarily encourage you to do. If you want to make it a memorable evening, maybe, but even so I think most people would have a hard time justifying the extra expense considering what you get in return.
Once you have your tickets in hand and you prepare to enter the castle you are recognized as a lord or lady of the realm, meaning the admissions staff will assign you to a seating section denoted by the color of armor your unique knight happens to wear. There are 6 knights; Green, Red, Red & Yellow, Black & White, Blue, and Yellow. I believe they have names (I was right!) and they're meant to represent geographical regions of Spain from the era. More importantly is the fact that this is the stage in the procession where you receive your crown, which of course must be worn at all times lest ye be mistaken for a commoner whilst on the grounds.
PRO TIP: The castle will open roughly an hour and fifteen minutes prior to showtime. The time that you arrive and are processed through admissions is the determining factor as to what knight for who you'll be cheering. Guests are seated in such a way as to make the sections comparable in terms of their population so that they don't wind up having 20 people cheering for the Blue knight and 160 cheering for the Black & White knight. Sometimes the admissions staff will be able to accommodate a seating request but not always. In other words, don't arrive at 5:40 PM for a 6 PM show thinking you will be able to sit wherever you want.
From there you'll be ushered into a photography area where you'll be posed with either the King or his daughter, the Princess. The photos are not included in standard admission; if you would like to keep your photo you'll have to pay for it when a member of the staff brings them around during the tournament, unless that is you opted for one of the Royalty upgrades that involve your photo. The quality of these pictures is usually fairly high although the skills of the photographer you get will vary. I'm not certain but I want to say they will set you back in the area of $15.
From there you're able to make your way into the Great Hall, which is more or less an assembly area where all the lords & ladies of the realm (that's you, remember - staff at Medieval Times will always address a patron as either "My Lord" or "My Lady") gather prior to the tournament. You'll notice a pattern has started to emerge here as every stage I've described thus far has presented a variety of situations where guests can be separated from their money with haste. The Great Hall is perhaps the most prolific example of this as it contains a number of bars and souvenir stands.
 |
| A panoramic view of the Great Hall; from left to right, the torture chamber, main entrance, gift shop, and bar. |
 |
| The second floor of the Great Hall; from left to right, the dance floor, Red/Black & White/Yellow entrance, bar, Green/Red & Yellow/Blue entrance, gift shop and restrooms |
The bars are full service, offering both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. You can get your beverage served in a number of various collectable mugs, goblets, etc., all of which are available at an additional charge. Truth be told, to my knowledge there are no cups for which you will not be charged. The most low-end cup you can get is a plastic cup that has a series of animated holograms on it. Obviously you don't have to buy a drink but to give you some idea of how much markup we're talking about when it comes to the price of beverages due to their being served as described, on our most recent visit I paid $17 for a Sam Adams' Oktoberfest draft and a virgin strawberry daiquiri.
The souvenir stands are loaded with overpriced baubles, generally speaking - everything from children's toys to replica swords and shields. I've never seen anyone buy a sword so for all I know the blades there now are the same ones that were there when the castle first opened.
Also in the Great Hall is the Torture Chamber, a display of - you guessed it - medieval torture devices that can be viewed for - you guessed it - an additional fee. (I do not think Torture Chamber admission comes with any of the seating packages, even the King's Royalty. It's been a while since we went through the Torture Chamber, but I want to say admission to it was around $2.) All I will say about it is that it's a brief exhibit featuring items that range from the perverse to being downright ghastly in nature. I find it amazing the sort of things we humans have managed to come up with over the ages in the name of harming one another.
In wrapping up my comments about the Great Hall, I'll mention that guests celebrating a special event may choose to participate in a knighting ceremony where the King will declare the individual an official knight of the realm. ("Special event" meaning virtually anything under the sun - I've seen people get knighted for anything from graduating college to their first visit to Medieval Times. One cool thing we saw on our most recent visit during the knighting ceremony was a guy proposing to his girlfriend while she was being knighted.) This, too, comes at an additional charge of around $20 but I believe you get a commemorative photo as well as a printed scroll.
I've talked about expenses a lot up until this point. For the sake of looking at this from a logistical perspective, here's an example of what you might be spending for an evening at Medieval Times; these figures are all based on two adults with regular admission.
- Admission: $50.95 x 2 = $101.90 (not counting tax)
- Commemorative Photo w/King or Princess: $15
- Beverages: $20 ($3 tip included)
- Knighting Ceremony: $20
- Torture Chamber Admission: $2 x 2 = $4
- GRAND TOTAL: $160.90
It's entirely possible to spend upwards of $200 for an evening at Medieval Times, and that's for only two people. For what it's worth, that $200 would make for a very memorable experience, especially if you were taking a child, but it's not necessary to spend that much. My wife & I typically go for the most bare-bones combination possible and we have never had a bad experience.
Finally, after much fanfare and celebration in the Great Hall, you'll be called to your section inside the arena. There's a procession to it as one section at a time will be allowed in so as to not cause a stampede. I may be wrong but I believe the order of entry at the Myrtle Beach castle is usually this: Green, Red, Red & Yellow, Black & White, Blue, Yellow.
 |
| A panoramic view of the arena - to the right you can see one of the servers giving instruction on who to boo |
The arena is massive - I have no idea how many guests the place could hold at maximum capacity but I would hazard a guess and say there's seating for at least 1,000 souls therein. (As you enter the arena, pay attention to areas that appear to be draped off; these are auxiliary seating sections that are kept covered when not in use.) It could rival certain small-to-medium athletic facilities meant for sporting events, and along those lines I would estimate that the actual floor of the arena where the action takes place is roughly the same size as a hockey rink or basketball court. Once you're seated, all you need to do is settle in and get comfortable because the main event of the evening is about to unfold before you - it's a double-header as you've got a feast as well as a tournament to enjoy!
Your server will introduce you to the particulars of the meal by making you aware of several factors, most notably that you'll be dining without the aid of silverware. Don't worry, you don't need it - and yes, plenty of wet and dry napkins will be available for when you're done. The only metal objects you'll come in contact with are the plates and bowls upon which your food will be served. When it comes to your beverage, you have a choice of Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, tea, or water and there will be two rounds of whatever you choose (your initial fill-up plus one refill, in other words). Alcoholic beverages are not included in the meal and your server will not bring you one, however you do have the option of either going back out to the bars in the Great Hall or waiting until a barmaid (yes, you read that right) comes by offering to fetch you something.
In regard to the service you receive during the meal, the folks attending to you are waiters and waitresses who happen to be serving potentially upwards of 50 people at a time. While they are more than able to attend to your specific needs, do realize that they've got a lot of mouths to serve. At the same time, also realize that they are working very hard in dim lighting to make you as happy as possible - tipping is always appreciated.
The meal itself consists of three courses - an appetizer, the main course, and desert. The appetizer comes in the form of a piping hot bowl of tomato bisque served with a piece of buttery garlic toast (I believe the style of bread varies from one location to another; in our castle it's more or less a piece of Texas toast with garlic & herbs). Remember how in the previous paragraph I mentioned that the plates and bowls are metal? Keep that in mind when you reach for the blistering handle of your soup bowl and prepare to press your tender lips against its scalding hot rim. I'm not kidding here as you could easily burn yourself. (PRO TIP: To avoid burning your fingers, wrap your napkin around the handle of your soup bowl.) Your main course is a combination of three items, those being a spare rib, half of a roasted chicken, and half of an herb-crusted baked potato. The chicken is the real star of the show for me but the ribs are fantastic as well. Last but not least, for desert you'll receive an apple turnover as well as a cup of coffee if you would like one.
 |
| Your place setting at Medieval Times; the metal plates are great but DO NOT bang them against one another. |
Finally, it's time to get down as only 6 medieval knights know how! The tournament festivities begin with introductions for the King and his court as well as each knight. Handling the introductions in Myrtle Beach is none other than Sir David of Macedonia, a performer who has been at this particular location for almost as long as I've been coming to Medieval Times if not longer (Sir David is something of an emcee of the entire nights proceedings as he also welcomes guests and does announcements in the Great Hall). Next you're treated to a series of examples of horsemanship featuring some incredible work by handler and horse alike. It really can't be overstated as to how amazing these animals are when seen in an environment like this. In between these segments of the program you'll also witness a display of falconry, which is an ancient technique where hunters would employ trained birds of prey.
Prior to the knights engaging in the joust, they'll go through a series of challenging skill-based games several of which involve using a lance to skewer a small ring suspended from a scaffold. That's a task that comes off to me as trying to thread a needle while hanging out the window of a car. Similarly, the knights take aim while on horseback with a javelin as they ride full speed towards a small target hung above their entry point to the arena. In addition, the knights will participate in a relay race as well as a challenge whereby they have to ride side-by-side with one of their rivals, keeping pace while tossing a small flagpole between one another. It goes without saying that the knights are tremendous athletes who truly are in command of their physical conditioning and horsemanship. When a knight is successful in one of these challenges, he receives several flowers from the Princess which he'll then distribute to certain of the ladies in his gallery.
The joust and the combat that follows is the main attraction of the tournament, needless to say. It's very exciting to see the knights set lance to shield, as Sir David would say, but the real kicker for me is the swordplay as the knights use a variety of medieval weaponry against one another, all in the name of winning the tournament. This is where I can draw a lot of comparisons between this show and professional wrestling as the outcome of the tournament is, of course, predetermined. What, you thought these guys are just going out there and winging it? No, there's a script in play and a plot does unfold during the course of the tournament. I won't go into detail regarding what the story involves so as to not give it away. All I will say is that I've seen several iterations of the Medieval Times show and the most recent revision that's out now is the best one yet (I can remember when the program involved a wizard and the Green knight was always a villain - not so anymore, thankfully).
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| A panoramic view of the arena with the knights and their servants during the introductions. |
As it stands, you've got 1-in-6 odds of cheering for the knight who wins the tournament and is recognized as the champion of the realm. I honestly don't know that we've ever cheered for the knight who won, although I could be wrong. At this point we're just trying to make sure that we've been seated once in at least every section, and we're 5/6's of the way to that goal as the only section we've never sat in is that of the Yellow knight.
All things totaled, the Medieval Times experience is incredibly unique and it's something that I feel anyone who visits Myrtle Beach should do at least once. Yes, it's a gimmicky dinner show and it's expensive, but so is everything else in Myrtle Beach. Besides, if you're in Myrtle Beach you're more than likely on vacation - if you can't cut loose and do something fun while you're on vacation, you probably need expensive pharmacology and perhaps a psychiatrist. Or maybe just more rum - either way, take it from me when I say that Medieval Times is a great night out that you and your family can enjoy together.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Myrtle Beach Vacation 2013
My wife Jill and I have created many unique traditions for our little familial unit since we got together, but we've adopted another from her family and quite frankly it's become something that gives me a reason to look forward to summer each year. (Why else would I look forward to summer? This is South Carolina - it's 117° in the shade and there are mosquitoes the size of humming birds.) Jill's family has been making annual visits to Pirateland Family Camping Resort in Myrtle Beach, SC for more than 30 years, meaning they've been vacationing there at least as long as she's been alive. She and I have been a part of these trips as a couple since 2009 - that first experience was a real eye-opener for me as it was my first camping trip. I have to say that prior to that I wasn't sold on the concept of camping but it's apparently rubbed off on me well enough as we've been doing it ever since and we've even discussed buying a camper of our own (we've agreed that while it would be a nice piece of equipment to add to our garage, we don't quite need to go down that road just yet). Pirateland makes for a great get-away and excursions like this are a fine example of how family ties get a bit tighter thanks to things like sharing meals and a whole lot of laughter.
Pirateland Family Camping Resort
I have to be honest with you about this. When we go to Pirateland, we're staying in a "campground" but we aren't really "camping". Camping, to me, implies sleeping in a tent out in the wilderness without much more than a backpack and a compass to sustain yourself. What we're doing is essentially staying in a condo that at one point in its life happened to have been a traditional tag-along style camper.
A friend of Jill's family owns what's referred to as a permanent site and these tremendously generous folks are kind enough to let us use it for our annual trip to Myrtle Beach. In case you didn't know, a permanent site is a plot of land in a section of the campground where people have taken actual campers, moored them into a foundation, then modified them so that in many cases they don't even resemble campers anymore. For example, the camper we make use of still has the overall shape of a camper, however it has added features such as a porch, living room, expanded bedrooms, full bath, and even a laundry/utility closet. It's not a huge amount of space (especially not vertically speaking; I have to remember to duck when going through certain doors else I wind up concussing myself) but it's more than adequate for the two of us.
The campground itself is almost like a carnival environment in that you have all these nomadic people who've traveled from far & wide then congregated together for the sake of seeking rest and relaxation (amongst other things). Personally, I love checking out all the various campers that people bring onto the grounds as I find these porta-houses and their associated technologies to be quite interesting. Recreational vehicles and motor homes are the most intriguing as some of these things are palatial in what they have to offer in terms of amenities. I've jokingly told my wife that when we're old and retired (assuming we get old and can be retired, that is) we're going to sell off everything and buy a RV then spend our waking years traveling around. Hopefully by then RVs will be equipped with guidance systems; I'm not sure how well I'll be able to drive one of those behemoths when I'm in my latter years.
Pirateland is one of several campgrounds in Myrtle Beach which are adjacent to one another - I've never been to any of those so I have nothing to contrast the kind of things that they may or may not have to offer with Pirateland. Be that as it may, Pirateland isn't too dissimilar from a hotel when it comes to offered services. There's a laundromat, a store, WiFi, several pools, and even a restaurant in the form of a food truck (Hog Heaven BBQ). I still enjoy staying in hotels but I will say that our set up within Pirateland affords us a level of privacy and serenity not found in most resorts. There's just something about being near an inlet nestled amongst a bunch of live oak trees that's particularly satisfying.
2013 Annual Truesdale Myrtle Beach Putt-Putt Challenge Championship
To make a long story short, the 2013 Annual Truesdale Myrtle Beach Putt-Putt Challenge Championship did not go my way. Very much the opposite, as a matter of fact, seeing as how Jill more or less took me to the wood shed this year.
The 2013 ATMBPPCC went 4 rounds, with my wife coming out on top 3-1 in our best 3-out-of-5 scenario. We played at some of the most challenging courses we've encountered yet, and I think that added a lot to the overall competitiveness of the event.
Round 1 was held at the Castle course of Adventure Falls Golf (the Surfside location; there's another Adventure Falls towards North Myrtle). This is an older facility but one that is certainly well maintained and deceptively challenging. The first hole nearly threw both Jill and myself for a loop but we managed to recover and finish the round with a final score of Jill 44 to my 45, 7 and 8 over par respectively (every hole was a par 2; I have no idea who set that up but I believe they were a sadist).
Round 2 saw play shift to the Viking course of Dragon's Lair Fantasy Golf, a facility I've wanted to play at for years but never had previously. This proved to be my lone victory in the 2013 ATMBPPCC as I managed to squeak out a win over Jill despite the fact that the final score was a tie at 43 all (43 also being even par for that course). ATMBPPCC rules state that in the event of a tie the player with the most holes in one for that round shall be declared the winner. I had 1 hole in one (hole #10), thereby making me the winner.
Round 3 truly was a test of our physical conditioning as the atmospheric conditions began to wreak havoc on the both of us. For this round, we played the Dunn's River Falls course at Runaway Bay Miniature Golf, which is attached to the Tupelo Bay Golf Center. The heat and humidity common to summers here in South Carolina was in full force this day - I'm not ashamed to admit that I had perspired through my clothing so much that at the end of the round the sweat stain on my pants looked as though I'd urinated on myself. Jill bested me this round by a score of 41-44 (both of us were over for the round as par there is 39). We retired back to our camper after this round, needless to say, for showers and a fresh set of clothes.
The fourth and final round of the 2013 ATMBPPCC was held at Gilligan's Island Funland Miniature Golf. The Minnow course proved to be my undoing as I couldn't keep pace with Jill on the back 9. The 14th hole was particularly troublesome as it was there that I went from having a two-stroke lead to a two-stroke deficit. The final tally was 48-49, with both of us doing particularly well against the course as 54 is par at the Minnow.
It was all over but the crying at that point. I humbly submitted my congratulations to Jill on having defended her title, the first successful defense and retention of the ATMBPPCC trophy in its history.
Random Acts of Fun and Hilarity
Food, Food, and MORE FOOD - Vacation, for a lot of people, is an excuse to let go of their diet and eat whatever they want. For me, it's just another day. I definitely need to be watching what I eat but I don't, and with that in mind came a consumption of mass quantities during our trip to Myrtle Beach. Every day while we're camping begins with a healthy portion of bacon, sausage, country ham, eggs, and crock pot grits (sometimes waffles, too, but they're not an every day offering). Several ladies in the family prepare these meals and they are always amazing - the meals and the ladies, I mean. Lunches are random in that they can be anything from buffalo chicken salad at Sweet Carolina's to a caramel mocha Rockuccino from the KISS Koffee House. Supper tends to be a family affair as well seeing as how one or two couples out of the gathering will handle cooking duties for the evening and provide enough vittles for the whole gang. Is it any wonder my clothes aren't fitting that well right now?
The New House of Blues Menu Blows - I have a long relationship with the House of Blues. I started going there for concerts around 2000 while I was a student at Francis Marion University (FMU and HOB are separated by roughly an hour's drive). It wasn't long after that that I found out about their Pass the Line program, whereby patrons of the HOB restaurant get early access to the concert hall. All you had to do was buy an entrée and you got in before the rest of the crowd; trick was, you still had to get there early enough to be at the front of the Pass the Line line. (HOB later debuted a program they called Crash the Barricade, which was similar to Pass the Line except you got treated to a buffet line with burgers, hot dogs, and the like. I never did this as I saw early on that folks in this line never got in as early as those of us in Pass the Line.) Seeing as how I went to hundreds of concerts at HOB, I became well-versed with their menu and I had several favorite items. Main among them were the catfish nuggets appetizer, buffalo chicken tenders, jambolaya, and the banana bread pudding (which was absolutely amazing). Unfortunately, sometime in the past two or three years someone within HOB's administration decided it was time to monkey with the menu in an apparent effort to fix what wasn't broken. They brought in Aaron Sanchez of Food Network fame and he redid the entire thing, removing all of our favorites in the process. I will say that we've eaten there twice since the changes were made and while the food is not bad it is not what we remember. I truly hope someday the old menu comes back but I'm not holding my breath on that.
C4W Explosive Wrestling - I don't get to attend as many independent professional wrestling events as I'd like, but I do try to keep my ear to the ground when it comes to the industry as it relates to local wrestlers and promotions. C4W is a federation I'd been following loosely online via their Facebook page as I'd never had a chance to see one of their shows live previously. They ran a card the Saturday we got into Myrtle Beach which is why I took the opportunity to check them out. I will say this, to get off on a positive note; C4W has a great venue and set up as they're part of a sports complex called the X Gym. Their staging and ring all looked good, so from a presentation standpoint C4W has what a lot of other indies don't. Other than that, I have nothing particularly positive to say about C4W. Yes, I am a wrestling snob - I've been around enough good wrestling to know bad wrestling when I see it and C4W is mostly bad. To me, they are an example of what happens when an indie promotion with limited talent tries too hard to replicate what WWE does with a show like Monday Night Raw. You wind up with overly intricate storylines and "wrestlers" trying to emulate what they saw on TV. What boggles my mind the most about this show, though, is the fact that it drew a big crowd - as in probably between 100-150 people. I have no way of knowing how many were paying admission (some weren't; I saw the girl at the gate marking off names from a list) but it was an insane amount of people for a show that poor.
Teazers Pole Fitness & Dance Studio - Men have won the battle of the sexes. You know how I know we've won? Because pole dancing is now considered a legitimate form of exercise. While I was at the C4W show, I noticed a section within the X Gym that had a sign promoting "Pole Fitness". I wanted to give this the benefit of the doubt as being an honest gimmick like Zumba but did a little research on the matter (You guessed it, I Googled something!) and it turns out this is a business operating within the X Gym called Teazers Pole Fitness & Dance Studio. I guess it would've been too obvious if they'd called it Myrtle Beach Stripper School.
MagiQuest - After Jill & I had completed round 2 of the 2013 ATMBPPCC at Dragon's Lair, we were planning to spend some time walking around Broadway at the Beach which is a huge outdoor shopping and entertainment district. You can find everything at Broadway from the Hard Rock Cafe to Build-A-Bear, from Ripley's Aquarium to an Imax theater. We've checked out most of the offerings at Broadway but one we'd never tried previously is MagiQuest, a live-action role playing game. The concept is that you create your own character (I'm Red Beard and Jill is Lady Night Owl) that exists in a magical realm (think Middle Earth from Lord of the Rings) and you go about accomplishing tasks and missions in order to develop your character's abilities. It's a lot like RPG video games in that you're building up skills and resources with the ultimate goal being to become a Master Magi. You get a wand, which you can also customize, and you basically run around with a bunch of kids trying to slay dragons and other random baddies. I wasn't sure if it was going to be corny or not when we first went in but we wound up having a lot of fun with it so I'm glad we took the time to check it out.
An Octogenarian on a Trike - I bear no shame in admitting that I have the worst sense of balance in the history of mankind. Seriously, I can be standing still and lose my balance. As such, riding a traditional bicycle is not all that easy for me. This is why I purchased a Schwinn Meridian earlier this year; it's more or less a tricycle for adults, and I've gotten a lot of enjoyment out of it so far. The only issue I have with it is that it has no gears so hills can be challenging. Jill & I decided it would be fun to take our bikes to the beach this year as the campground makes for a great place to ride. Little did I know that my trike would inspire Jill's 80-something year old Grandfather to jump on it and go for a ride himself! Well, "jump on" might have been too extreme as he needed a little assistance in mounting up but once he got going he was fine. I can't tell you how many laughs seeing him on my trike generated; it was a great moment and a fine example of why it pays to always have a camera handy.
Myrtle Manor, aka the Farcical Nature of Reality TV - Myrtle Beach has never had an issue with maintaining its visibility as a tourist destination. Try as local government has to bolster its popularity by giving the area a more wholesome presence, the fact remains that there are parts of Myrtle Beach which will always be synonymous with booze, partying, and loose morals. When it came to pass that the cable TV network TLC (which I think should be legally required to change its name; it may still be "TLC" but I don't think their current line-up is indicative of a moniker like The Learning Channel) announced a show called Myrtle Manor to be filmed in a Myrtle Beach trailer park, there weren't too many happy elected officials. Be that as it may, the show went on and it featured an assembled cast of random miscreants who were intended to represent trailer park stereotypes. It was something of a hit in its first season as another batch of episodes has been ordered. We couldn't not see this place for ourselves which is why we sought out Patrick's Mobile Home Park, the trailer park where Myrtle Manor is filmed. Myrtle Manor doesn't make up the whole of the park, rather a rear corner of the property. In case you're a fan of the series and had any delusions that what you see there is real, I can tell you that Myrtle Manor looked deserted. It had the appearance of an abandoned movie set, which is more or less what it is at this point in time - a facade meant to serve as a location for a scripted series of events.
Medieval Times - I remember the first time I took my then-girlfriend, now-wife to Medieval Times. She had a strawberry daiquiri in the lounge while we were waiting to be seated and it turned her cheeks a bright shade of pink. I swear, she's let me drag her to so many weird venues for wrestling and shows like this that I'm surprised she goes along with any of my ideas any more. Regardless, going to Medieval Times has become a tradition for us as we've been every year since then. The show has changed significantly from what it was when we first started going but what's remained the same is the quality of the entertainment and the meal you receive during the performance. It's not a cheap night out but I think you get your money's worth.
Homophones Are Fun - One of my favorite moments of the entire week happened when we went to the MT box office to purchase our tickets. We've been to the arena so many times that there are only a couple knights we haven't had the opportunity to cheer for, and this being the case we wanted to see if it was possible to get into one of those sections. Generally speaking, seating is first come-first served meaning you won't know which area you'll be seated in until you go through the line. While we were purchasing our tickets the lady behind the counter asked Jill "Which night would you like?" Jill's response was, "WE GET TO PICK WHICH KNIGHT WE WANT?!" I cannot duplicate with text the excitement in her tone of voice when she said that and I only wish I'd had a video camera on her when she did. Of course, the lady at the counter meant which evening's show would we like to attend, not which knight's section in which we wanted to be seated. Epic blonde moment is epic.
We've been back home for a few days now. One thing that I realized immediately when we got back to our house is how much bigger our place seemed after having lived in a camper for a week. Our house isn't huge by any means but man did it ever seem gigantic when we returned! While the camper may be small, it's become a beloved part of our life together. I guess that sentiment plays into the old saying "Home is where the heart is". We've built a lot of memories during these trips of ours to Myrtle Beach and I certainly hope they continue on for decades to come.
Pirateland Family Camping Resort
I have to be honest with you about this. When we go to Pirateland, we're staying in a "campground" but we aren't really "camping". Camping, to me, implies sleeping in a tent out in the wilderness without much more than a backpack and a compass to sustain yourself. What we're doing is essentially staying in a condo that at one point in its life happened to have been a traditional tag-along style camper.
A friend of Jill's family owns what's referred to as a permanent site and these tremendously generous folks are kind enough to let us use it for our annual trip to Myrtle Beach. In case you didn't know, a permanent site is a plot of land in a section of the campground where people have taken actual campers, moored them into a foundation, then modified them so that in many cases they don't even resemble campers anymore. For example, the camper we make use of still has the overall shape of a camper, however it has added features such as a porch, living room, expanded bedrooms, full bath, and even a laundry/utility closet. It's not a huge amount of space (especially not vertically speaking; I have to remember to duck when going through certain doors else I wind up concussing myself) but it's more than adequate for the two of us.
The campground itself is almost like a carnival environment in that you have all these nomadic people who've traveled from far & wide then congregated together for the sake of seeking rest and relaxation (amongst other things). Personally, I love checking out all the various campers that people bring onto the grounds as I find these porta-houses and their associated technologies to be quite interesting. Recreational vehicles and motor homes are the most intriguing as some of these things are palatial in what they have to offer in terms of amenities. I've jokingly told my wife that when we're old and retired (assuming we get old and can be retired, that is) we're going to sell off everything and buy a RV then spend our waking years traveling around. Hopefully by then RVs will be equipped with guidance systems; I'm not sure how well I'll be able to drive one of those behemoths when I'm in my latter years.
Pirateland is one of several campgrounds in Myrtle Beach which are adjacent to one another - I've never been to any of those so I have nothing to contrast the kind of things that they may or may not have to offer with Pirateland. Be that as it may, Pirateland isn't too dissimilar from a hotel when it comes to offered services. There's a laundromat, a store, WiFi, several pools, and even a restaurant in the form of a food truck (Hog Heaven BBQ). I still enjoy staying in hotels but I will say that our set up within Pirateland affords us a level of privacy and serenity not found in most resorts. There's just something about being near an inlet nestled amongst a bunch of live oak trees that's particularly satisfying.
2013 Annual Truesdale Myrtle Beach Putt-Putt Challenge Championship
To make a long story short, the 2013 Annual Truesdale Myrtle Beach Putt-Putt Challenge Championship did not go my way. Very much the opposite, as a matter of fact, seeing as how Jill more or less took me to the wood shed this year.
The 2013 ATMBPPCC went 4 rounds, with my wife coming out on top 3-1 in our best 3-out-of-5 scenario. We played at some of the most challenging courses we've encountered yet, and I think that added a lot to the overall competitiveness of the event.
Round 1 was held at the Castle course of Adventure Falls Golf (the Surfside location; there's another Adventure Falls towards North Myrtle). This is an older facility but one that is certainly well maintained and deceptively challenging. The first hole nearly threw both Jill and myself for a loop but we managed to recover and finish the round with a final score of Jill 44 to my 45, 7 and 8 over par respectively (every hole was a par 2; I have no idea who set that up but I believe they were a sadist).
Round 2 saw play shift to the Viking course of Dragon's Lair Fantasy Golf, a facility I've wanted to play at for years but never had previously. This proved to be my lone victory in the 2013 ATMBPPCC as I managed to squeak out a win over Jill despite the fact that the final score was a tie at 43 all (43 also being even par for that course). ATMBPPCC rules state that in the event of a tie the player with the most holes in one for that round shall be declared the winner. I had 1 hole in one (hole #10), thereby making me the winner.
Round 3 truly was a test of our physical conditioning as the atmospheric conditions began to wreak havoc on the both of us. For this round, we played the Dunn's River Falls course at Runaway Bay Miniature Golf, which is attached to the Tupelo Bay Golf Center. The heat and humidity common to summers here in South Carolina was in full force this day - I'm not ashamed to admit that I had perspired through my clothing so much that at the end of the round the sweat stain on my pants looked as though I'd urinated on myself. Jill bested me this round by a score of 41-44 (both of us were over for the round as par there is 39). We retired back to our camper after this round, needless to say, for showers and a fresh set of clothes.
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| Me, prior to losing 20 lbs. of water weight at Dunn's River Falls |
The fourth and final round of the 2013 ATMBPPCC was held at Gilligan's Island Funland Miniature Golf. The Minnow course proved to be my undoing as I couldn't keep pace with Jill on the back 9. The 14th hole was particularly troublesome as it was there that I went from having a two-stroke lead to a two-stroke deficit. The final tally was 48-49, with both of us doing particularly well against the course as 54 is par at the Minnow.
It was all over but the crying at that point. I humbly submitted my congratulations to Jill on having defended her title, the first successful defense and retention of the ATMBPPCC trophy in its history.
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| Jill with the ATMBPPCC trophy |
Random Acts of Fun and Hilarity
Food, Food, and MORE FOOD - Vacation, for a lot of people, is an excuse to let go of their diet and eat whatever they want. For me, it's just another day. I definitely need to be watching what I eat but I don't, and with that in mind came a consumption of mass quantities during our trip to Myrtle Beach. Every day while we're camping begins with a healthy portion of bacon, sausage, country ham, eggs, and crock pot grits (sometimes waffles, too, but they're not an every day offering). Several ladies in the family prepare these meals and they are always amazing - the meals and the ladies, I mean. Lunches are random in that they can be anything from buffalo chicken salad at Sweet Carolina's to a caramel mocha Rockuccino from the KISS Koffee House. Supper tends to be a family affair as well seeing as how one or two couples out of the gathering will handle cooking duties for the evening and provide enough vittles for the whole gang. Is it any wonder my clothes aren't fitting that well right now?
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| A typical breakfast during our annual Myrtle Beach trips |
The New House of Blues Menu Blows - I have a long relationship with the House of Blues. I started going there for concerts around 2000 while I was a student at Francis Marion University (FMU and HOB are separated by roughly an hour's drive). It wasn't long after that that I found out about their Pass the Line program, whereby patrons of the HOB restaurant get early access to the concert hall. All you had to do was buy an entrée and you got in before the rest of the crowd; trick was, you still had to get there early enough to be at the front of the Pass the Line line. (HOB later debuted a program they called Crash the Barricade, which was similar to Pass the Line except you got treated to a buffet line with burgers, hot dogs, and the like. I never did this as I saw early on that folks in this line never got in as early as those of us in Pass the Line.) Seeing as how I went to hundreds of concerts at HOB, I became well-versed with their menu and I had several favorite items. Main among them were the catfish nuggets appetizer, buffalo chicken tenders, jambolaya, and the banana bread pudding (which was absolutely amazing). Unfortunately, sometime in the past two or three years someone within HOB's administration decided it was time to monkey with the menu in an apparent effort to fix what wasn't broken. They brought in Aaron Sanchez of Food Network fame and he redid the entire thing, removing all of our favorites in the process. I will say that we've eaten there twice since the changes were made and while the food is not bad it is not what we remember. I truly hope someday the old menu comes back but I'm not holding my breath on that.
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| The now extinct catfish fingers/nuggets appetizer from HOB |
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| HOB's banana bread pudding - I can't tell you how depressing it is to know that I'll never eat this again |
C4W Explosive Wrestling - I don't get to attend as many independent professional wrestling events as I'd like, but I do try to keep my ear to the ground when it comes to the industry as it relates to local wrestlers and promotions. C4W is a federation I'd been following loosely online via their Facebook page as I'd never had a chance to see one of their shows live previously. They ran a card the Saturday we got into Myrtle Beach which is why I took the opportunity to check them out. I will say this, to get off on a positive note; C4W has a great venue and set up as they're part of a sports complex called the X Gym. Their staging and ring all looked good, so from a presentation standpoint C4W has what a lot of other indies don't. Other than that, I have nothing particularly positive to say about C4W. Yes, I am a wrestling snob - I've been around enough good wrestling to know bad wrestling when I see it and C4W is mostly bad. To me, they are an example of what happens when an indie promotion with limited talent tries too hard to replicate what WWE does with a show like Monday Night Raw. You wind up with overly intricate storylines and "wrestlers" trying to emulate what they saw on TV. What boggles my mind the most about this show, though, is the fact that it drew a big crowd - as in probably between 100-150 people. I have no way of knowing how many were paying admission (some weren't; I saw the girl at the gate marking off names from a list) but it was an insane amount of people for a show that poor.
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| This is all you need to see to know C4W's quality - kick pads over Vans instead of boots |
Teazers Pole Fitness & Dance Studio - Men have won the battle of the sexes. You know how I know we've won? Because pole dancing is now considered a legitimate form of exercise. While I was at the C4W show, I noticed a section within the X Gym that had a sign promoting "Pole Fitness". I wanted to give this the benefit of the doubt as being an honest gimmick like Zumba but did a little research on the matter (You guessed it, I Googled something!) and it turns out this is a business operating within the X Gym called Teazers Pole Fitness & Dance Studio. I guess it would've been too obvious if they'd called it Myrtle Beach Stripper School.
MagiQuest - After Jill & I had completed round 2 of the 2013 ATMBPPCC at Dragon's Lair, we were planning to spend some time walking around Broadway at the Beach which is a huge outdoor shopping and entertainment district. You can find everything at Broadway from the Hard Rock Cafe to Build-A-Bear, from Ripley's Aquarium to an Imax theater. We've checked out most of the offerings at Broadway but one we'd never tried previously is MagiQuest, a live-action role playing game. The concept is that you create your own character (I'm Red Beard and Jill is Lady Night Owl) that exists in a magical realm (think Middle Earth from Lord of the Rings) and you go about accomplishing tasks and missions in order to develop your character's abilities. It's a lot like RPG video games in that you're building up skills and resources with the ultimate goal being to become a Master Magi. You get a wand, which you can also customize, and you basically run around with a bunch of kids trying to slay dragons and other random baddies. I wasn't sure if it was going to be corny or not when we first went in but we wound up having a lot of fun with it so I'm glad we took the time to check it out.
An Octogenarian on a Trike - I bear no shame in admitting that I have the worst sense of balance in the history of mankind. Seriously, I can be standing still and lose my balance. As such, riding a traditional bicycle is not all that easy for me. This is why I purchased a Schwinn Meridian earlier this year; it's more or less a tricycle for adults, and I've gotten a lot of enjoyment out of it so far. The only issue I have with it is that it has no gears so hills can be challenging. Jill & I decided it would be fun to take our bikes to the beach this year as the campground makes for a great place to ride. Little did I know that my trike would inspire Jill's 80-something year old Grandfather to jump on it and go for a ride himself! Well, "jump on" might have been too extreme as he needed a little assistance in mounting up but once he got going he was fine. I can't tell you how many laughs seeing him on my trike generated; it was a great moment and a fine example of why it pays to always have a camera handy.
Myrtle Manor, aka the Farcical Nature of Reality TV - Myrtle Beach has never had an issue with maintaining its visibility as a tourist destination. Try as local government has to bolster its popularity by giving the area a more wholesome presence, the fact remains that there are parts of Myrtle Beach which will always be synonymous with booze, partying, and loose morals. When it came to pass that the cable TV network TLC (which I think should be legally required to change its name; it may still be "TLC" but I don't think their current line-up is indicative of a moniker like The Learning Channel) announced a show called Myrtle Manor to be filmed in a Myrtle Beach trailer park, there weren't too many happy elected officials. Be that as it may, the show went on and it featured an assembled cast of random miscreants who were intended to represent trailer park stereotypes. It was something of a hit in its first season as another batch of episodes has been ordered. We couldn't not see this place for ourselves which is why we sought out Patrick's Mobile Home Park, the trailer park where Myrtle Manor is filmed. Myrtle Manor doesn't make up the whole of the park, rather a rear corner of the property. In case you're a fan of the series and had any delusions that what you see there is real, I can tell you that Myrtle Manor looked deserted. It had the appearance of an abandoned movie set, which is more or less what it is at this point in time - a facade meant to serve as a location for a scripted series of events.
Medieval Times - I remember the first time I took my then-girlfriend, now-wife to Medieval Times. She had a strawberry daiquiri in the lounge while we were waiting to be seated and it turned her cheeks a bright shade of pink. I swear, she's let me drag her to so many weird venues for wrestling and shows like this that I'm surprised she goes along with any of my ideas any more. Regardless, going to Medieval Times has become a tradition for us as we've been every year since then. The show has changed significantly from what it was when we first started going but what's remained the same is the quality of the entertainment and the meal you receive during the performance. It's not a cheap night out but I think you get your money's worth.
Homophones Are Fun - One of my favorite moments of the entire week happened when we went to the MT box office to purchase our tickets. We've been to the arena so many times that there are only a couple knights we haven't had the opportunity to cheer for, and this being the case we wanted to see if it was possible to get into one of those sections. Generally speaking, seating is first come-first served meaning you won't know which area you'll be seated in until you go through the line. While we were purchasing our tickets the lady behind the counter asked Jill "Which night would you like?" Jill's response was, "WE GET TO PICK WHICH KNIGHT WE WANT?!" I cannot duplicate with text the excitement in her tone of voice when she said that and I only wish I'd had a video camera on her when she did. Of course, the lady at the counter meant which evening's show would we like to attend, not which knight's section in which we wanted to be seated. Epic blonde moment is epic.
We've been back home for a few days now. One thing that I realized immediately when we got back to our house is how much bigger our place seemed after having lived in a camper for a week. Our house isn't huge by any means but man did it ever seem gigantic when we returned! While the camper may be small, it's become a beloved part of our life together. I guess that sentiment plays into the old saying "Home is where the heart is". We've built a lot of memories during these trips of ours to Myrtle Beach and I certainly hope they continue on for decades to come.
Friday, May 3, 2013
The Catawba Fish Camp
[SIDE NOTE: I put quite a bit of thought into the title of this entry. I was trying to come up with something catchy that I could use as something of a recurring theme for when I have the notion to write about a particular dining experience. As you might expect, I was aiming for a phrase with an alliterative affect to go along with the overall title of my blog (Redbeard's Rambling) but I quickly came to the determination that there aren't many culinary terms that begin with the letter "r". Sure, there's "rotisserie", "ragu", "remoulade" and "rhubarb"; sadly, none of those can be conveniently shifted into the role of an adjective. So, for this entry at least, I'm using a headline that's remarkably more bland than normal. However, should someone reading this have a clever idea for a title to be used on recurring food-based columns that you think is worthwhile please post it in the comments - full credit will be given to the originator of the material.]
If you look at statistics regarding turnover rates for independent restaurants (as in those not operating under the umbrella of a larger chain), the numbers are quite staggering. Depending on what studies you read, between 23%-26% of all new restaurants fail within their first year of operation. I find that to be scary, quite frankly, as it equates to a 1-out-of-4 scenario. I guess that sort of potentiality is something prospective and current business owners just accept as part of the risk of such a venture, or perhaps it's a statement regarding how some diners will always be better than others, but even so it's mind boggling to me that so many eateries die so quickly.
That said, it's great to hear about a local restaurant that's done well. The Catawba Fish Camp in Fort Lawn, South Carolina (situated along the Catawba river, hence the name) has done so well in fact that theirs is a history that spans more than 60 years. Having grown up in nearby Lancaster, SC it should come as no surprise that it's one of my favorite restaurants and a place that I always look forward to revisiting.
The Fish Camp (as the locals refer to it; yes, Catawba Fish Camp is the full name of the joint but I honestly don't think I've ever heard anyone refer to it as anything other than simply "the Fish Camp") started off as a building that was not much more than a shack by today's standards. Now the Fish Camp is one of the larger restaurants in the Lancaster area, although the parking lot is significantly bigger than the building itself and on any given Friday or Saturday night you can expect almost every space to be filled with cars and a line of hungry patrons to be hanging out the door waiting for a taste.
So what makes the Fish Camp so special that it's lasted as long as it has? Great food, first and foremost, but also the fact that the Fish Camp has become an iconic eatery known for its style, southern presence and consistency in delivering some of the best seafood you're likely to find in the state.
Let me try to explain a bit about their food and what makes it so unique. Fish Camp is a seafood restaurant (What, you expected pizza?) but they also serve fried chicken as well as some of the best fried chicken livers you'll ever taste. Generally speaking, Fish Camp serves their food family style in an all-you-can-eat arrangement. (Items like crab legs or seafood platters aren't usually granted additional helpings.) The steaming hot food is brought to your table on a shiny silver platter - those platters are something of a trademark of the Fish Camp as they've been using them for as long as I can remember, and I've been eating there for the majority of my life. The photo below is one that I took a while back when visiting the Fish Camp.
What you see there is an example of some of Fish Camp's finest offerings. Starting in the top-left, you have flounder fillet, salt & pepper catfish fillet (the smaller, darker, more curled-up pieces), scallops and tilapia. Beneath that you have hush puppies and fresh cut French fries. Yes, almost all the food Fish Camp serves is fried (they do have boiled shrimp in shell as well as grilled chicken). If you have an aversion to food that's been breaded and cooked to a lovely golden brown, too bad. Actually, I take that back. If you don't like your seafood the way Fish Camp does it, good - that just means more for the rest of us.
If you're not familiar with the concept of seafood being prepared "salt & pepper", it's essentially nothing more than adding salt and pepper to the dredge used in breading the fish. Typically there's more pepper than salt which gives the fish some heat - it can liven up just about any variety of fish, although most commonly you see the salt & pepper tag applied to catfish fillet. Why, I couldn't tell you. It's one of those things that started sometime in the past and has caught on to the point that it's now more or less standard.
Flounder and catfish fillet are definitely the most popular catches at Fish Camp but my favorite happens to be the tilapia. Tilapia hasn't always been on the menu there; if I remember correctly, it was introduced a while back as a result of Fish Camp not being able to get enough flounder to suit demand. If you've never had it, tilapia is very much like flounder in that it's a white fish with a flaky texture. The flavor is mild and it has a surprisingly sweet taste to it. I like spicy food which is why I usually get mine prepared salt & pepper. I think it adds to the flavor of the fish and plays well off of its inherent sweetness. Hit it with a little cocktail sauce and you've got a meal that's just about perfect in my mind!
In describing the seafood I've neglected a few of Fish Camp's most well known accoutrements, specifically the hush puppies, slaw and French fries. The hush puppies and slaw are brought to your table along with your drinks as something of an appetizer (I've gotten a takeout order of nothing but slaw and hush puppies, truth be told, as I could make a meal out of them alone), and they compliment each other perfectly. The hush puppies are delivered to your table while they're still piping hot. If you've ever had a fresh, hot doughnut I can tell you that the experience of eating Fish Camp hush puppies isn't too far removed from that. Their exterior has a bit of a crunch to it but on the inside they're soft and warm. They'll literally melt in your mouth!
You have a choice of sweet or sour slaw - I prefer the sour although my wife prefers the sweet (I don't dislike the sweet slaw, I just would rather have the sour). I have no idea how they make the slaw other than to say that the cabbage is finely chopped, almost to a point where it takes on a pulpy consistency. I like to add a few good dashes of Texas Pete hot sauce into my slaw; again, I like spicy foods and I think the vinegar in the Texas Pete gets along great with the twangy condiment on the slaw. I like to use my hush puppy as a "sopping agent", for lack of a better phrase, to help me wrangle the slaw. That hush puppy gets even happier after he's had a chance to soak up some of the slaw's condiment/Texas Pete mix.
I've been going to the Fish Camp for as long as I can remember and one of my prevailing memories of the restaurant involves their French fries. When I was a young boy, my family would go to Fish Camp for supper and I often sat next to my Grandfather. My Grandpa was a big man (he earned the nickname "Big'um" in high school) with a deep voice. During one particular visit to Fish Camp I recall that he ordered fries with his meal but the waitress couldn't understand what he was saying - not a shock seeing as how it was a busy evening and the air was filled with conversations. Because of his tone of voice and the background noise, our waitress mistook his order of "fries" for "rice". To her credit she did at least go to the kitchen to verify that there was no rice on the menu. I think the only way this story could be more amusing to me is if she'd actually produced a side order of rice. I can only imagine what Grandpa's reaction to that would've been.
Another significant memory I have from the Fish Camp dates back to George W. Bush's first Presidential campaign. His tour rolled through the Lancaster area and made a stop at the Fish Camp where he stumped in front of a packed house of supporters and media. My Grandmother and I went to check it out - it's not every day that the potential next President of the United States comes to town, after all - but by the time we got there the restaurant was overflowing with people so we stood outside instead. His remarks were being pumped out into the parking lot via a public address system; ironically enough, when he was finished talking he made his way out and I believe we were amongst the first of people who got to meet him that day. He made his way through the crowd, signing autographs and greeting folks, all the while being shadowed by several large men wearing suits, sunglasses, cowboy boots and rodeo champion-sized belt buckles. They were Texas Rangers, his security detail for the campaign.
I wouldn't go so far as to proclaim the Fish Camp as being "world famous", however I will say that it's had a moment in the spotlight of viral media albeit not thanks to their food. Back in 2008, surveillance video surfaced of a little girl who somehow managed to climb inside a claw game situated near the entrance of the restaurant. As you can see, it's a rather amazing piece of footage.
If you look at statistics regarding turnover rates for independent restaurants (as in those not operating under the umbrella of a larger chain), the numbers are quite staggering. Depending on what studies you read, between 23%-26% of all new restaurants fail within their first year of operation. I find that to be scary, quite frankly, as it equates to a 1-out-of-4 scenario. I guess that sort of potentiality is something prospective and current business owners just accept as part of the risk of such a venture, or perhaps it's a statement regarding how some diners will always be better than others, but even so it's mind boggling to me that so many eateries die so quickly.
That said, it's great to hear about a local restaurant that's done well. The Catawba Fish Camp in Fort Lawn, South Carolina (situated along the Catawba river, hence the name) has done so well in fact that theirs is a history that spans more than 60 years. Having grown up in nearby Lancaster, SC it should come as no surprise that it's one of my favorite restaurants and a place that I always look forward to revisiting.
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| The Catawba Fish Camp - the roof is normally red when it's not covered with snow |
So what makes the Fish Camp so special that it's lasted as long as it has? Great food, first and foremost, but also the fact that the Fish Camp has become an iconic eatery known for its style, southern presence and consistency in delivering some of the best seafood you're likely to find in the state.
Let me try to explain a bit about their food and what makes it so unique. Fish Camp is a seafood restaurant (What, you expected pizza?) but they also serve fried chicken as well as some of the best fried chicken livers you'll ever taste. Generally speaking, Fish Camp serves their food family style in an all-you-can-eat arrangement. (Items like crab legs or seafood platters aren't usually granted additional helpings.) The steaming hot food is brought to your table on a shiny silver platter - those platters are something of a trademark of the Fish Camp as they've been using them for as long as I can remember, and I've been eating there for the majority of my life. The photo below is one that I took a while back when visiting the Fish Camp.
What you see there is an example of some of Fish Camp's finest offerings. Starting in the top-left, you have flounder fillet, salt & pepper catfish fillet (the smaller, darker, more curled-up pieces), scallops and tilapia. Beneath that you have hush puppies and fresh cut French fries. Yes, almost all the food Fish Camp serves is fried (they do have boiled shrimp in shell as well as grilled chicken). If you have an aversion to food that's been breaded and cooked to a lovely golden brown, too bad. Actually, I take that back. If you don't like your seafood the way Fish Camp does it, good - that just means more for the rest of us.
If you're not familiar with the concept of seafood being prepared "salt & pepper", it's essentially nothing more than adding salt and pepper to the dredge used in breading the fish. Typically there's more pepper than salt which gives the fish some heat - it can liven up just about any variety of fish, although most commonly you see the salt & pepper tag applied to catfish fillet. Why, I couldn't tell you. It's one of those things that started sometime in the past and has caught on to the point that it's now more or less standard.
Flounder and catfish fillet are definitely the most popular catches at Fish Camp but my favorite happens to be the tilapia. Tilapia hasn't always been on the menu there; if I remember correctly, it was introduced a while back as a result of Fish Camp not being able to get enough flounder to suit demand. If you've never had it, tilapia is very much like flounder in that it's a white fish with a flaky texture. The flavor is mild and it has a surprisingly sweet taste to it. I like spicy food which is why I usually get mine prepared salt & pepper. I think it adds to the flavor of the fish and plays well off of its inherent sweetness. Hit it with a little cocktail sauce and you've got a meal that's just about perfect in my mind!
In describing the seafood I've neglected a few of Fish Camp's most well known accoutrements, specifically the hush puppies, slaw and French fries. The hush puppies and slaw are brought to your table along with your drinks as something of an appetizer (I've gotten a takeout order of nothing but slaw and hush puppies, truth be told, as I could make a meal out of them alone), and they compliment each other perfectly. The hush puppies are delivered to your table while they're still piping hot. If you've ever had a fresh, hot doughnut I can tell you that the experience of eating Fish Camp hush puppies isn't too far removed from that. Their exterior has a bit of a crunch to it but on the inside they're soft and warm. They'll literally melt in your mouth!
You have a choice of sweet or sour slaw - I prefer the sour although my wife prefers the sweet (I don't dislike the sweet slaw, I just would rather have the sour). I have no idea how they make the slaw other than to say that the cabbage is finely chopped, almost to a point where it takes on a pulpy consistency. I like to add a few good dashes of Texas Pete hot sauce into my slaw; again, I like spicy foods and I think the vinegar in the Texas Pete gets along great with the twangy condiment on the slaw. I like to use my hush puppy as a "sopping agent", for lack of a better phrase, to help me wrangle the slaw. That hush puppy gets even happier after he's had a chance to soak up some of the slaw's condiment/Texas Pete mix.
I've been going to the Fish Camp for as long as I can remember and one of my prevailing memories of the restaurant involves their French fries. When I was a young boy, my family would go to Fish Camp for supper and I often sat next to my Grandfather. My Grandpa was a big man (he earned the nickname "Big'um" in high school) with a deep voice. During one particular visit to Fish Camp I recall that he ordered fries with his meal but the waitress couldn't understand what he was saying - not a shock seeing as how it was a busy evening and the air was filled with conversations. Because of his tone of voice and the background noise, our waitress mistook his order of "fries" for "rice". To her credit she did at least go to the kitchen to verify that there was no rice on the menu. I think the only way this story could be more amusing to me is if she'd actually produced a side order of rice. I can only imagine what Grandpa's reaction to that would've been.
Another significant memory I have from the Fish Camp dates back to George W. Bush's first Presidential campaign. His tour rolled through the Lancaster area and made a stop at the Fish Camp where he stumped in front of a packed house of supporters and media. My Grandmother and I went to check it out - it's not every day that the potential next President of the United States comes to town, after all - but by the time we got there the restaurant was overflowing with people so we stood outside instead. His remarks were being pumped out into the parking lot via a public address system; ironically enough, when he was finished talking he made his way out and I believe we were amongst the first of people who got to meet him that day. He made his way through the crowd, signing autographs and greeting folks, all the while being shadowed by several large men wearing suits, sunglasses, cowboy boots and rodeo champion-sized belt buckles. They were Texas Rangers, his security detail for the campaign.
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| Yes, I met the man who would be the President while rocking sideburns that awesome. |
The little girl was fine and I hear she's now performing as a member of Cirque du Soleil. I made that up, actually, but if she's still as limber today as she was then I'd say she could've been an incredible contortionist. And yes, if you were wondering, the claw game is still there.
Another unique feature to the Fish Camp is the candy bar. Yes, you read that right - there's a candy bar at the Fish Camp. No, I'm not talking about a singular piece of candy such as a Snickers or 3 Musketeers, I'm talking about a bar that's loaded with God only knows how many different varieties of candy, everything from Big League Chew (a personal favorite of mine) to mammoth lollipops. The candy bar is situated near the check out registers and guests pass by it on their way out of the restaurant. Some might say it's a gimmick the restaurant is using to get parents to spend a little extra money while they're there since no child is going to see that spread without asking for a few sweets. Personally, I think it adds to the experience as it reminds me of my childhood and fond memories I have of spending time with my family.
I'm going to wrap up this entry in the most appropriate way I can think of, that being to send it out with a song. You know that your restaurant is a true cultural phenomenon when it and, more specifically, a waitress in particular inspires a piece of art. With that, I give you "Fish Camp Woman" performed by the king of the country-western troubadours, the one and only Unknown Hinson.
For more information on the Catawba Fish Camp, check them out on the web and at their Facebook page.
The Catawba Fish Camp
6131 Lancaster Hwy
Fort Lawn, SC 29714
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Those Crazy Brazilians and Their Steakhouses
It doesn't take much more than a cursory glance at yours beardly to see that I'm a fellow who's rather fond of eating. I always have been, truth be told - it seems like food is an attachment that I have to some of my fondest memories. Case in point, when I was a child someone asked me "Why are you so big?" (I wasn't just a husky kid, I was also a rather tall lad for my age as well.) My response was to tell them that if they ate my Grandmother's cooking all the time they'd probably be big like me, too!
That was meant as a compliment to my Grandma, by the way. I make sure to point that out lest I come off as making it seem like I was implicating her in a negative light for my being the way I am.
I'm writing this entry as a tribute to a restaurant chain that's quickly become a favorite for my wife and I. I don't want this post to push me into the realm of being considered a "foodie" because I can't think of many more ridiculous culturally identifying terms than that and I would just as soon not get lumped into whatever psychosis agreeing to be labeled as such may involve. That said, allow me to introduce you to Cowboy Brazilian Steakhouse.
Yes, it's called Cowboy Brazilian Steakhouse, not Cowboy's Brazilian Steakhouse. I'm a stickler when it comes to grammar and mechanics, so trust me when I say I've mulled over the spelling for quite some time. I've come to my own conclusion that the "Brazilian Steakhouse" portion of the name is more than likely there for descriptive purposes than anything else.
Truth be told, I had never heard of a Brazilian steakhouse prior to February of 2012. It was then that while attending a software conference in Greensboro, NC I had my first exposure to an eatery falling into that particular genre in the form of Leblon Churrascaria. I was there with a friend & co-worker from my previous employer; the two of us partnered up with a representative from the company putting on the conference that we'd gotten to know rather well who happens to be from Venezuela (if you're not up on the geography of the region, Brazil and Venezuela aren't that far from one another). The idea was brought up that we try out a local Brazilian steakhouse. Suffice to say that I was blown away by the experience. It wasn't long after we'd returned home that the idea of seeking out other similar restaurants became stuck in my mind.
If you've never been to a Brazilian steakhouse, the presentation could be best described as a procession of awesomeness. You begin with a trip to the salad bar, which in no way does justice to the sort of food you'll find there. The salad bar includes actual salads like potato, tuna and chicken salad but it also has things like shrimp cocktail, smoked salmon (something that I developed an affinity for whilst on our honeymoon cruise to the Bahamas), and fresh mozzarella cheese. Also, there's a hot foods section to the salad bar that features mashed potatoes, broccoli Alfredo, white rice, Brazilian black beans, and, my personal favorite, mushrooms stewed in a balsamic reduction. (PRO-TIP: Use the broth from the mushrooms as a gravy for the mashed potatoes and put the black beans over the rice.) There are too many items on the salad bar for me to name them all individually, and as you might guess it's rather easy to become overwhelmed by its expanse and have it consume your capacity for enjoying the remainder of the meal. Don't let yourself get full just from offerings on the salad bar, in other words - there's a lot of other stuff to enjoy. This is only the opening salvo of your dining experience, after all.
The main event of a meal at any Brazilian steakhouse is the rodizio (the style of service) where gouchos (carvers) bring an assortment of meats to your table for you to sample and enjoy. Your waiter will give you the ins-and-outs of how the serving process works if you've never dined in a restaurant like Cowboy before. (They will also give you something of an appetizer in the form of fried bananas, fried polenta, and Brazilian cheese bread. The bananas and bread are great but the polenta has yet to really do anything for me.) It's a simple premise in that you're given a token - which looks a bit like an over-sized poker chip - that has a green side and a red side. When you're ready to be served, flip your token to the green side and the gouchos will begin visiting your table; when you're in need of a break, just flip the token over to the red side and they'll know you're taking a breather.
This may sound like a tremendously gluttonous comment (which I'm not sure why I'm concerned about seeing as how a restaurant like Cowboy is purpose made for admitted gluttons like myself) but I would recommend that you leave your token on the green side for the majority of your meal. Why? This is an all-you-can eat arrangement, however there's a bit of a challenge to it in that you never know what selection of meat will be coming around or how often it will come around. Better to have the opportunity to accept an offering than to deny it altogether, is essentially what I'm getting at. Just because a goucho offers you a certain cut doesn't mean you have to accept it. Don't want the garlic steak? No problem, politely tell the goucho you'd like to pass or, better yet, do so and ask that he have one of his comrades bring over some of what you're craving.
The meats are prepared and brought out on skewers and the gouchos will serve you a portion of their selection. A small pair of tongs comes bundled with your silverware. You could say the tongs are the interactive portion of the meal as they are what you'll use to assist the gouchos in taking the meat from the skewer to your plate. You can expect to find such cuts as filet Mignon wrapped in bacon, Parmesan-crusted pork tenderloin, leg of lamb, top loin, and many, many more. I'm not kidding - the menu at Cowboy features SIXTEEN cuts of meat. Now you know why I said it's important not to fill yourself up by overdoing it at the salad bar!
Personally speaking, I have yet to try any of the meats which I haven't thoroughly enjoyed, however I'll say that my favorites at Cowboy have to be the filet mignon wrapped in bacon, the house special Picanha (or top/rump loin), and the lamb loin. I wasn't aware of the fact that I enjoy lamb prior to eating at Cowboy - it just goes to show you that an outing like this can open your eyes to a wealth of tastes and flavors that you'd never had previously. That's one of the things I enjoy most about getting out and trying new restaurants, the chance to partake in unique culinary formulations. Some people like to jump out of perfectly good aircraft, I like eating. To each their own.
Of course there are desserts served at Cowboy as well. I can't recall all of the dessert options but I vaguely remember there being traditional New York-style cheesecake, turtle cheesecake, creme brulee, Brazilian flan, and some sort of chocolate layer cake (there may be 1 or 2 others). Should you have room for one, I would recommend trying either the traditional New York-style cheesecake or the turtle cheesecake. I'm a cheesecake fan, though, so you may want to go in a different direction depending on your individual taste. My wife, for example, loves chocolate and adores the chocolate layer cake.
It goes without saying that if you are of the vegetarian or vegan persuasion that you will not find much on the menu at Cowboy to sustain you. There are a few veggie-based items on the salad bar but I'm not quite sure why someone who subscribes to the herbivore lifestyle would even set foot in a steakhouse of any variety.
In terms of price, as you might expect from my description, Cowboy isn't exactly on the cheap end of the spectrum. Unlimited access to the salad bar and full rodizio is $30 per person, however you can have just the salad bar for $17. These price points do not include beverage, dessert, or gratuity. While $30 may seem high, I would contend that if you go to a restaurant like this and don't eat $30 worth of food you've done something wrong. These are brilliant cuts of meat perfectly prepared and served to you with a unique flair. To me, it's worth the expense.
Cowboy has three locations in South Carolina: North Charleston, Columbia, and Spartanburg - so far, my wife & I have dined at the restaurants in Columbia and North Charleston (I'm trying to plot a reason to bother with driving to Spartanburg just to say we've been to all three). Both the locations we've visited delivered consistency in terms of the food but I am going to give a rub to the North Charleston location, which just opened in December of 2012. The food there seemed a smidge better for whatever reason, however that's not to say the food in Columbia has ever been bad as I would (and will) certainly go there again. Another advantage their restaurant in North Charleston has is its location as the property it occupies is a stand-alone building that was a formerly a Piccadilly (a cafeteria-style restaurant chain that once had several outposts in South Carolina; they've all closed, unfortunately). It has great parking and is conveniently located of I526. The Columbia location is in the middle of downtown. If you know anything about downtown Columbia, you know where I'm going with this commentary: Parking and accessibility. While there is free valet parking available to Cowboy patrons, I would just as soon avoid the hassle of getting into downtown Columbia on any given evening as the area is typically a mob scene of cars, pedestrians, and all the craziness an active bar scene tends to generate. I hate to have to level criticism at what is a great restaurant based on where it happens to be but in all fairness it's worth mentioning. Seeing as how that's the only genuinely negative thing I have to say about it should give you real insight as to the quality of these restaurants.
That was meant as a compliment to my Grandma, by the way. I make sure to point that out lest I come off as making it seem like I was implicating her in a negative light for my being the way I am.
I'm writing this entry as a tribute to a restaurant chain that's quickly become a favorite for my wife and I. I don't want this post to push me into the realm of being considered a "foodie" because I can't think of many more ridiculous culturally identifying terms than that and I would just as soon not get lumped into whatever psychosis agreeing to be labeled as such may involve. That said, allow me to introduce you to Cowboy Brazilian Steakhouse.
Yes, it's called Cowboy Brazilian Steakhouse, not Cowboy's Brazilian Steakhouse. I'm a stickler when it comes to grammar and mechanics, so trust me when I say I've mulled over the spelling for quite some time. I've come to my own conclusion that the "Brazilian Steakhouse" portion of the name is more than likely there for descriptive purposes than anything else.
Truth be told, I had never heard of a Brazilian steakhouse prior to February of 2012. It was then that while attending a software conference in Greensboro, NC I had my first exposure to an eatery falling into that particular genre in the form of Leblon Churrascaria. I was there with a friend & co-worker from my previous employer; the two of us partnered up with a representative from the company putting on the conference that we'd gotten to know rather well who happens to be from Venezuela (if you're not up on the geography of the region, Brazil and Venezuela aren't that far from one another). The idea was brought up that we try out a local Brazilian steakhouse. Suffice to say that I was blown away by the experience. It wasn't long after we'd returned home that the idea of seeking out other similar restaurants became stuck in my mind.
If you've never been to a Brazilian steakhouse, the presentation could be best described as a procession of awesomeness. You begin with a trip to the salad bar, which in no way does justice to the sort of food you'll find there. The salad bar includes actual salads like potato, tuna and chicken salad but it also has things like shrimp cocktail, smoked salmon (something that I developed an affinity for whilst on our honeymoon cruise to the Bahamas), and fresh mozzarella cheese. Also, there's a hot foods section to the salad bar that features mashed potatoes, broccoli Alfredo, white rice, Brazilian black beans, and, my personal favorite, mushrooms stewed in a balsamic reduction. (PRO-TIP: Use the broth from the mushrooms as a gravy for the mashed potatoes and put the black beans over the rice.) There are too many items on the salad bar for me to name them all individually, and as you might guess it's rather easy to become overwhelmed by its expanse and have it consume your capacity for enjoying the remainder of the meal. Don't let yourself get full just from offerings on the salad bar, in other words - there's a lot of other stuff to enjoy. This is only the opening salvo of your dining experience, after all.
The main event of a meal at any Brazilian steakhouse is the rodizio (the style of service) where gouchos (carvers) bring an assortment of meats to your table for you to sample and enjoy. Your waiter will give you the ins-and-outs of how the serving process works if you've never dined in a restaurant like Cowboy before. (They will also give you something of an appetizer in the form of fried bananas, fried polenta, and Brazilian cheese bread. The bananas and bread are great but the polenta has yet to really do anything for me.) It's a simple premise in that you're given a token - which looks a bit like an over-sized poker chip - that has a green side and a red side. When you're ready to be served, flip your token to the green side and the gouchos will begin visiting your table; when you're in need of a break, just flip the token over to the red side and they'll know you're taking a breather.
This may sound like a tremendously gluttonous comment (which I'm not sure why I'm concerned about seeing as how a restaurant like Cowboy is purpose made for admitted gluttons like myself) but I would recommend that you leave your token on the green side for the majority of your meal. Why? This is an all-you-can eat arrangement, however there's a bit of a challenge to it in that you never know what selection of meat will be coming around or how often it will come around. Better to have the opportunity to accept an offering than to deny it altogether, is essentially what I'm getting at. Just because a goucho offers you a certain cut doesn't mean you have to accept it. Don't want the garlic steak? No problem, politely tell the goucho you'd like to pass or, better yet, do so and ask that he have one of his comrades bring over some of what you're craving.
The meats are prepared and brought out on skewers and the gouchos will serve you a portion of their selection. A small pair of tongs comes bundled with your silverware. You could say the tongs are the interactive portion of the meal as they are what you'll use to assist the gouchos in taking the meat from the skewer to your plate. You can expect to find such cuts as filet Mignon wrapped in bacon, Parmesan-crusted pork tenderloin, leg of lamb, top loin, and many, many more. I'm not kidding - the menu at Cowboy features SIXTEEN cuts of meat. Now you know why I said it's important not to fill yourself up by overdoing it at the salad bar!
Personally speaking, I have yet to try any of the meats which I haven't thoroughly enjoyed, however I'll say that my favorites at Cowboy have to be the filet mignon wrapped in bacon, the house special Picanha (or top/rump loin), and the lamb loin. I wasn't aware of the fact that I enjoy lamb prior to eating at Cowboy - it just goes to show you that an outing like this can open your eyes to a wealth of tastes and flavors that you'd never had previously. That's one of the things I enjoy most about getting out and trying new restaurants, the chance to partake in unique culinary formulations. Some people like to jump out of perfectly good aircraft, I like eating. To each their own.
Of course there are desserts served at Cowboy as well. I can't recall all of the dessert options but I vaguely remember there being traditional New York-style cheesecake, turtle cheesecake, creme brulee, Brazilian flan, and some sort of chocolate layer cake (there may be 1 or 2 others). Should you have room for one, I would recommend trying either the traditional New York-style cheesecake or the turtle cheesecake. I'm a cheesecake fan, though, so you may want to go in a different direction depending on your individual taste. My wife, for example, loves chocolate and adores the chocolate layer cake.
It goes without saying that if you are of the vegetarian or vegan persuasion that you will not find much on the menu at Cowboy to sustain you. There are a few veggie-based items on the salad bar but I'm not quite sure why someone who subscribes to the herbivore lifestyle would even set foot in a steakhouse of any variety.
In terms of price, as you might expect from my description, Cowboy isn't exactly on the cheap end of the spectrum. Unlimited access to the salad bar and full rodizio is $30 per person, however you can have just the salad bar for $17. These price points do not include beverage, dessert, or gratuity. While $30 may seem high, I would contend that if you go to a restaurant like this and don't eat $30 worth of food you've done something wrong. These are brilliant cuts of meat perfectly prepared and served to you with a unique flair. To me, it's worth the expense.
Cowboy has three locations in South Carolina: North Charleston, Columbia, and Spartanburg - so far, my wife & I have dined at the restaurants in Columbia and North Charleston (I'm trying to plot a reason to bother with driving to Spartanburg just to say we've been to all three). Both the locations we've visited delivered consistency in terms of the food but I am going to give a rub to the North Charleston location, which just opened in December of 2012. The food there seemed a smidge better for whatever reason, however that's not to say the food in Columbia has ever been bad as I would (and will) certainly go there again. Another advantage their restaurant in North Charleston has is its location as the property it occupies is a stand-alone building that was a formerly a Piccadilly (a cafeteria-style restaurant chain that once had several outposts in South Carolina; they've all closed, unfortunately). It has great parking and is conveniently located of I526. The Columbia location is in the middle of downtown. If you know anything about downtown Columbia, you know where I'm going with this commentary: Parking and accessibility. While there is free valet parking available to Cowboy patrons, I would just as soon avoid the hassle of getting into downtown Columbia on any given evening as the area is typically a mob scene of cars, pedestrians, and all the craziness an active bar scene tends to generate. I hate to have to level criticism at what is a great restaurant based on where it happens to be but in all fairness it's worth mentioning. Seeing as how that's the only genuinely negative thing I have to say about it should give you real insight as to the quality of these restaurants.
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