The North Carolina Blackberry Festival is in Lenoir, NC July 12-13 and is roughly a 5 hour drive from the south end of Myrtle Beach. Mom had been talking about going for weeks. She planned the weekend and said she got our hotel booked and were ready to go. I was really dreading that drive though.

Little did I know, the Blackberry Festival was all a coverup for a covert operation. I was up packing the night before and she was awake texting me after 11pm and she’s never up at that hour. I wasn’t sure exactly what all to pack so I was asking her. She said she would be up to show me something which was a little strange but I didn’t really think anything of it.

Well I’m laying on my couch and she comes in along with my friends from KY, Lauren and Emily. I was shocked, speechless, and just in awe. I couldn’t believe they were here and it was all a surprise. We were not going to the Blackberry Festival at all. And everyone knew for months. They definitely got one over on me. It was great! I was so excited!!!!!!

I really do have the best friends a girl could ask for. We packed so much into three days and had such a great time. We were exhausted by the end of it but was totally worth it!!

On Friday, we got up and went to breakfast at Johnny D’s. I got the red velvet waffle of course!

Funny story — I wore my new Vineyard Vines Shark Week hat to breakfast. The lady that checked us out was like “I love your hat…wait…Are you THE Vineyard Vines?”….”Huh?”….”Were you on Shark Tank with the wine”….”Um no???”….She was almost freaking out and thought I was on Shark Tank for some kind of wine making and she was like I was totally going to ask for a picture. 😂😂

After breakfast we hit the beach for a great day in the sun!

We ended up going to dinner at the new Wicked Tuna at 2nd Ave Pier. They just opened July 5th but this is their second location (first in the Inlet). We made reservations online to sit on the top deck. They do have free parking and free valet which is nice. The main restaurant is on the second floor where the pier shop is. We walked in and they were going to seat us in the main dining area. It was not really that busy. We asked to sit upstairs and she informed us that they had a separate waitlist. The third floor is the bar area but with dining also and has open air windows.

We got seated at the worst table in the place! It was the last table in the back near the kitchen and the drink station. It took about 7-10 minutes to get our drink order. Our waiter was, let’s just say, way too over attentive. He lingered A LOT. He did not have menu knowledge of the drinks or the food. He placed our orders on a handheld pda that seemed to be his lifeline. I think we ended up being there for about 1.5 hours but it seemed so much longer.

Their menu is pretty pricey. They seemed to have the same selection as the Inlet location which was surprising as it is definitely a different crowd on the Boulevard. Our drinks were in plastic cups and the decor didn’t match the menu prices.

Emily got a seasonal mule, which the waiter had no clue what made it seasonal; Lauren got a beer, where the waiter offered ice with it; and I just went with the old faithful bourbon and ginger ale, which he didn’t know what the house bourbon was.

We ordered an appetizer of calamari which was delicious!!! Their ranch was very good too.

My entree was the Crab Stuffed Shrimp with garlic mashed potatoes and a creole sauce. It was a $39 plate. Was it good? Yes! Was it with $39? Absolutely NOT!

Emily got the shrimp scampi. I believe it was a $29 plate. She definitely enjoyed it.

And Lauren went with the old faithful: Burger!

The waiter visited us too many times to count and each time was even more awkward than the last. A photographer went around taking pictures of your party. She made Emily come to the other side of the table with me and Lauren. When she came back around, she picked the good pictures for option of purchase and our complimentary photo was just awful. It was comical how bad we looked lol. A dessert lady was going around with jars demonstrating what was available. She never came around to us (probably because of our horrible table location) so we asked a manger for her to come over. 10 minutes go by and we never see her so we ask for the check – waiter did not have any knowledge of the dessert menu. We paid and here she comes! Luckily the dessert options were not appealing. Finally – dinner was over! I definitely got the Wicked Tuna out of my system!

As we were leaving, we asked an employee to take our picture and he ended up being the nicest most competent person we encountered!

We headed to Broadway at the Beach to get some Kilwan’s ice cream and go to the piano bar, Crocodile Rocks. We always have a great time there and love the Jell-O shots 😬🤗!

Saturday morning we got up and went to breakfast with mom to the Surfside Diner at the pier. It was busy so we had a little wait. Our service was lacking and the food just wasn’t on point like it usually is there. We were pretty disappointed.

We spent the day at the beach. It was such a windy day so we didn’t stay very long. We still got a great tan! We went to the outlets and shopped a little and then went to dinner at Bimini’s. It is evidently a local favorite that I hadn’t heard of. It is a hole in the wall for sure but ended up being GREAT! We had great service and the food was excellent.

I got a seafood platter with fried shrimp and scallops with homemade chips. Their hush puppies were very tasty.

We ended the night at Riptydz on the Boulevard. We got in horrible traffic but it was great for people watching. Riptydz is ocean front and serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner and they have free valet. They have an open air rooftop bar with cornhole, Jenga, and a DJ. Drinks are actually pretty reasonable priced once you get waited on. It had rained earlier in the day so a lot of the games were wet. But we had a great time and a lot of excitement.

The girls’ flight was late in the evening on Sunday so we could have another beach day. It ended up being the most perfect day with calm ocean water, hot day, sand art on the beach, and some wildlife sighting. (Cannon ball jellyfish do not sting).

We had dinner at Good Time Charley’s at Broadway, had some more Kilwin’s ice cream, and did some shopping.

Then I had to take them to the airport. 😩 The weekend went by sooo quick. We made so many memories and had such a great time. I still can’t believe they surprised me with such a special visit!!! I can’t wait till the next time they come down!