La Belle Amie Winery North Myrtle Beach, SC

Since the beach is our July 4th destination, $4.00 gas and all, I was excited to check La Belle Amie Winery's Website http://www.labelleamie.com and get information on their annual Independence Music Blast to be held this year on Saturday, July 5th. It's on the winery grounds from 12:00 to 5:00 and features The Andrew Thielen Big Band. Their website has video of past July 4th events, as well as their other annual festivals. Click on the Events tab to see their 2008 lineup of events.

La Belle Amie is such a nice relaxing place to go. I love just taking my lawn chairs and sitting listening to music there. We stumbled on the winery a couple of years ago, and have spent more than one lazy afternoon sampling their wines, enjoying the food, and even checking out the vendors they bring in for their festival. I stumbled OUT of the winery once (lol).

La Belle Amie Vineyard is family owned and operated by Vicki. The family built the wine and gift shop in 1999, in part from trees removed from the building site. But the effort to build La Belle Amie Vineyard began years prior to the opening of its wine and gift shop in early 2000.......

Family wine making began with Vicki’s ancestors from the south of France and was passed down to their Uncle Gifford, who continued the tradition. Every year Uncle Gifford made wine from “the old grapevines.” “The old grapevines” still thrive today and consist of four large vine arbors--two of the vines are over 100 years old and the other two are about 80 years old. The grapes from these vines are used to make the grape preserves sold at the shop.

I promise you an afternoon of fun. So if you're coming to the North Myrtle Beach, SC or Little River area, put La Belle Amie Winery on your list. Four to Go will see you there!

Four To Go - Going to the Beach for July 4th!

We're Going to Brookgreen Gardens Pawley's Island, SC

Many people who travel to Myrtle Beach, SC never leave the beach, the resort, or the area, but just a short 30 mile drive away is beautiful Murrell's Inlet, where you can enjoy a drink or a meal at the oceanside marina, watch all the beautiful boats and yachts, and see the fishing boats come in with their catch. We love this area. It is so like the tropical islands we so love. We stopped at the marina after a day trip to Brookgreen Gardens.

If you are in the Myrtle Beach area, don't miss this beautiful art/sculpture gallery and gardens. The property is an old working rice plantation that was previously owned by Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington family, and is now owned by the family Trust. Mrs. Hyatt Huntington was quite the art collector, and the gardens are full of "her" art. Some formally displayed in the formal gardens, some just unexpectedly tucked in around the plants and trees. The family's magnificent sculpture collection will amaze and awe even the most novice admirer of fine art.

Folks can spend hours here just looking at the native flora and fauna. There is a very informative tour offered on scheduled times. This tour is the best if you want the "scoop" behind the garden walls. You're also free to explore on your own.

The price for this tour varies depending on date and time, but is very affordable, and there are discount tickets available, or you can always use your trusty AAA card to get the discounted price.

There is a nice restaurant on the grounds, but there are also places to just get a drink and snack. There is a wonderful virtual video tour on the website, but it's an day trip not to be missed.

Families are welcome, and the gardens are family friendly. There is also a nice informal zoo on the grounds, and even a tram to take you from the main area down to the zoo and back to the parking lot. The exhibits include some of the Carolina well known and little known native critters.

To learn more about Brookgreen Gardens visit their website at http://www.brookgreen.org

On your journey back to the Myrtle Beach area, stop by that picturesque Murrell's Inlet Marina. Let me know if you loved it. I know I can't wait to visit next week!

fourtogo.com - can't wait for 4th of July Holiday to Go Some More! See Ya in the Gardens!

Going to the Grocery - Can't Forget My List

This post is a review of a cool new gadget that I recently purchased called the SmartShopper. It is a neat electronic device that I use to record my weekly grocery list. When I am cooking and run out of Olive Oil, I simply go to my SmartShopper machine and click "Record" and speak "Olive Oil" the machine adds it to a continuing list of products I need to replinish. On Saturdays when I go to my local Harris Teeter store, I simply hit the "Print" option, my list prints onto paper, and I'm off to the grocery store. It also has an errands feature, so I can record "go to the bank, go to the cleaners", and they print right along with my grocery list.

The really neat thing about the Smart Shopper is that is comes preloaded with 3500 food products, which makes recording really fast. It also has the capacity to add additional foods and categories. It has a great voice recognition system, and no "learning the voice" is necessary.

It even prints my list in category order, which makes it easy to shop when I get to the store. This product has really helped me with my dreaded weekly chore. It is affordably priced and was ordered online.

If you are one of the thousands of busy grocery shopping folks who want to make grocery shopping and stocking the pantry a breeze, please try the SmartShopper. .
www.smartshopperusa.com.
Four to Go - Off To The Grocery Store With This Week's List

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We're Still Going - Year Around School In North Carolina

In the biggest scam in history since the Boston Tea Party, parents are being "forced" into year round schools in N.C. counties by the wonderful (not) lovable (not) school board that we as voters have elected (not exactly). As you can tell by the date of this Blog, it's June 19th - long after school should be out. Children, and parents, should be sleeping late, not restrained by school bells, bus schedules, and homework (definitely not by homework at Summer Solstice). We are still in Year Around School - thanks to the Supreme Court, the County School Board, and to a greater/lesser extent the Board of Commisioners of the County.

Year around schedules mean we go to school 12 months a year - with brief (3 week breaks at four inconvenient times during the year). Our family has 2 more weeks of school, while everyone else is basking at the pool and on vacation with their family.

Supposedly this is saving "us" money, because seats are filled 12 months a year, with four rotating tracks - some in, some out during twelve month cycles. What this really means we are wasting gas for busses, air conditioning, maintenance, and salaries on a 12-month schedule, not a traditional 9 month school schedule. What monies are we saving, exactly?

Recommendation: Do not move to Wake County North Carolina if you do not want this DISASTER in your life.

Summer should be sacred for families - not touched by government, schools, counties, county budgets, and not by Wake County NC School Board. Last year when this decision was "forced" upon families by the school Board, I was opposed to this no-option, but we parents do what we have to do, and now we are at the tail end of this year.

So today we are doing school, YMCA after school camp, summer swim team, homework all in the same day. It's stressful for our family, and we are not alone.

S-U-M-M-E-R not exactly your Mama's Summer - not what it should be in a child's life - But Summer Solstice comes on Julius Caesar's schedule - welcome Summer in N.C.

Welcome Summer!!!

HERE'S ......FRECKLES

Finally, for all my readers who have been asking for Freckles photos, here's a couple to lose your heart to. The pup is getting bigger and more onery every day. Nothing escapes his attention, drop a lid on the floor, and he's got it and gone before I can even spot where it landed. He and Kara are great pals, and maybe they both needed each other more than we needed a dog. Fate, destiny, who knows.

We Are All Bloggers Who Are Going to Learn

I recently found an article titled 10 Blog Traffic Tips written June 16, 2008 at www.aimzster.info
about how to get your blog noticed. This is one of the most comprehensive articles I've read (and believe me I read lots how to articles on my new blogging experiment), on the complexity of just getting your blog noticed on the blogsphere. The author writes in clear detail covering several different ways to improve traffic, acquire readers, and get your blog picked up by search engines. It answers a lot of questions. Be sure to check out this article.

Something that I've personally learned is how to get one of the pay for post companies to accept you. Have you sent many many registrations through, and are you still getting their rejection letters? I found out from one of the companies exactly what they are looking for.

First, make sure you've been posting on that blog for at least 90 days. I was told there are several reasons for this. The main reason being that most bloggers are all excited about blogging in the beginning, but only very dedicated bloggers continue to blog after the first couple of months, and remain consistent with their posting dates.

Second, add some complexity to your blog, whether it be photos with descriptions, a video, a book review, or a product review-even if it's a non-paid one. When the blogs are reviewed at the pay for post companies, it gives them a better idea of your skill level in blogging.

Third, if you can get some product reviews that have URL links to a client's site, this allows the company to evaluate you on linking that type of URL to a blog to a product. Typically, the company will want to see original content surrounding that product review, and often sample text is provided by the pay to post companies to direct your efforts. Unless you are given specific information from the company you are working for, do not just go on the client's website and "cut and paste" that information into your article.

Lastly, vary your content. Pay for post companies want to see more than rants, raves, and children's tales, or information about what you had for dinner. Again, add some real content, even if it's as simple again as a movie review, an article you read (be sure to give source credit), or review a product you just purchased to try. I stumbled on a whole blog pretty much dedicated to the a blogger reviewing her own products. I thought that was a very innovative.

Personal blogging can be fun, allow the creative juices to flow, improve your writing skills, and allow you to test the the financial benefits of blogging. Reading blogs may even help to improve world relations. I love reading blogs from other countries. The blogs offer such insight into the culture, their humor, and their country. While different from Americans, they are today facing some of the same challenges we are with food shortages or high prices, gas price increases, not so perfect government. And just like Americans, they have their love of culture, family and faith.

Could world peace be started by simple blogging - that would be an amazing benefit.

fourtogo - gone dogwalking - have a great day!

We've Gone Too Much Over The Weekend

What a weekend! Way too much fun. Daughter had her first swim meet of the season, I had my first water aerobics class of the season, we had father's day Brunch, followed by the AA Farmclub Team Carolina Mudcats baseball game - which was great fun, good enthusiastic baseball playing, because these Mudcats players are still hoping to "arrive" in the Major Leagues, they are very enthusiastic and play like they love the game. After that we attended our neighbor's H.S. graduation party. Way to go Jake!

The weather here in Carolinas has been very hot and quite muggy, as we received some of that Midwest rain on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. It was much needed here.

Thanks for everyone asking about our newest family member Cocker Freckles. He's getting very big, is about the oneriest dog I've ever had, and is always ready to go anywhere. He went to school two mornings last week with Daughter, and charmed her classmates. I have some cute new photos that I will post tomorrow, hopefully.

And for all who asked about if we sold our Condo in North Myrtle Beach -that would be a big no. Our neighbors used it last weekend, and reported the beach was great, and they had a nice time.

Again, if you or any of your friends or business folks are looking for a wonderful buy on a condo just 30 giant steps from a beautiful section of beach at Cherry Grove Beach - we have a website at www.3togo.info which tells all about the condo, and it's also listed on Owners.com, search for Property I.D. WJ 2055. Priced to sell below market value at $199,000 fully furnished and ready to go. There's a whole summer of beach living left.

FourToGo - Going to Work

Saturday - We're All Going In Different Directions

Don't you just love Saturdays? Finally a day off work where one can just chill out and rest. What a laugh. Saturdays in 2008 for most families just means all day Going Somewhere. Running errands, shopping, library, your games, your children's games. All the things you can't do during the week, because someone is always going somewhere Monday - Friday also. It's seems there are a lot less Saturdays any more. Days when the family is free to just go on the lake with the sailboat. have a picnic on the lake, and enjoy life.

We used to have (take) time to do those things, and still manage to keep up with everything else during the week. Maybe that's when we had "Less" stuff to take care of, or just had different priorities on what HAD to be done. We used to take our Hobie Cat to the lake from Sunrise to Sunset, and still manage to get the yard mowed, laundry done and keep the house clean enough so the health department didn't close it down.

I have two solid theories about the difference. (1) the government (the scoundrels that they are), has been secretiively advancing the atomic clock a few second a day, since 1975. This was done during the time when managers were demanding longer hours and more productivity. Shortened days made people work harder and faster so they could complete their work in the same 8 hour day (not knowing that day was 10 seconds shorter in reality). Multiply that by 30 years, and I'd say we're about a whole 20 hours off from our old available time sctuality. Theory #2 (and one I don't like to buy into at ALL), is that we are older. Maybe it just takes that purportedly stolen few seconds longer to finish each task, reducing productivity now!

Our families are older and much more "independent" along as we're going and going with them in tow to all their activities.

Dogs, kids, sports, games, errands, and chores - Run like heck and enjoy your Saturday - OFF!

4 To Go - Gone -Swim Meet in 15.

Talk About Going - Where Did The Parents Go?

I read in our local newspaper that the NC graduation rate was only 69.5 percent, with our legal legal age to quit high school being only 16 years old. There's an initiative under way to get the graduation rate up by raising the legal dropout age to 18. There's public opinion about how "making" a child stay in school until 18 if they do not want to be there can be disruptive to classes and other students. The "experts" state that peer pressure to quit is often a deciding factor. I am of the opinion that it is so important to graduate, that students should be required to graduate even if they are 20+ years old. Maybe somewhere between 16-20 they will figure it all out.

Another new item along similar lines was the news story about a school where truancy officers are outfitting repeated class cutters with a GPS type tracking device, such as Lindsay Lohan wore. This device is supposed to insure that students come to class each day. The story told about a student that had missed more than 90% of school days, and was fitted with the device in a last ditch effort to make him attend school.

In both the dropout and the truant student, where are the parents? Certainly someone (a parent or guardian or the court system) could make a child go to school, and engage the faculty at that to monitor and make sure the child stayed there.

Maybe a curriculum change back to the 60's and 70's where high school students were offered more interesting classes such as wood working, auto shop, home economics. Let students get a sense of finishing a real project, working with their hands (not everyone is a book learner), and also learning a skill at the same time.

I think the dropout age hould be raised to at least 18, and I'd like to see the law changed with no opt out at all until graduation day. Tying school attendance with a getting or keeping a drivers license might help. I know at 16 I was not mature enough to make a life changing decision like this. I had a relative who dropped out of school in October of her Senior year, and she has struggled to survive since that day. Talk about a hard-knocks life!

I hope the State of North Carolina will come up with some innovative ways to make students stay in school. Raising the legal age would be a good first step. How about offering the first year of junior college, or tech school fully paid for students who are at the most risk of not graduating and maybe give them headstart on a better future.

Four to Go - Tired and Gone 6-12-08

Where Are We Going Next?

For the past few weeks my husband has been casually talking about buying an "emergency stash" of the nitrogen packed food which is good for about ten years in proper storage. Think of it like survival food or freeze dried camping food. Then tonight on the drive time home, I was listening to WZTK 101.1 FM radio out of Burlington/Greensboro NC, and the Allan Handelman Show. His talk show guest tonight was a nuclear weapons expert, who has written "Wings of Allah". Today it was reported that Isreal was threatening to fire a pre-emptive attack on Iran.

One of the callers into the show talked about the quick unraveling of the world if that happened. He talked about the fact that the U.S. only has about 5-6 months of oil in "reserve". He also stated, correctly, that no major U.S. city could feed and sustain it's population for very long. If the Middle East cannot produce oil, because of a multi-country nuclear attack, there will not be enough oil or food to sustain the U.S. population for very long.

It's not only very scary, but I believe it's not an unrealistic prediction. I came home tonight and asked my husband what the name of the "survivor" food website was. It's http://survivalacres.com.

Tonight on CNN they were discussing this very situation, and what it could mean for the U.S., and the next President. I only hope that they are including both Obama and McCain in any negotiations and treaties that are signed. Just in case-- I'm ordering some of that survivor food tonight.

4togo-gone for 6-11-08

Where Have All The Flowers Gone

A song from the 60's that evoked strong emotions during a long war at that time, "with gone to graveyards everyone" the ending stanza of that song spoke volumes to all the young soldiers losing their lives in Vietnam. Another endurance race war that was never won. Another country which was destroyed during that war. Another president with just an Agenda. Strangely during that time oil prices rose significantly causing gas to go to oh say $1.35 a gallon. Interest rates went through the roof (14-17%), and the economy was also in a recession.

Does it all sound too familiar? If government does not recognize past mistakes, they are doomed to repeat them. And repeat them, America surely has. I have never lived in a time where America is less respected. A country that stood at the top of the world in terms of respect, power, reverence and technology is now spoken about harshly even from bloggers in foreign countries. Bloggers in the Middle East blog about how we are the terrorists, coming in and bombing their museums, destroying their buildings, architecture. It's painful to read, and more painful to understand the truth of it.

But people in that 60's era had not had their teeth ground down as we do today. Today no revolt, no protest, not even gas line grumblings. All just march in their socially accepted lines.

Sunday Morning Freckles Tales

The Four to Go family was completed two weeks ago with the addition of a new cocker spaniel puppy, fondly named Freckles because he has freckles all over his nose. Frecks was three months old on Friday, and we've had him for three weeks. Talk about going and going and going - the potty training (cleanup) crew is always busy. This boy is one hard headed learner. We've raised a cocker before, to the ripe old age of 14 1/2, so we thought we knew all about cockers and their temperament, but this boy tests all we'd learned before. Here's hoping he'll fall in line with the family's schedule soon. In the meantime we need to be buying stock in paper towels and pee pads.

We finished the painting project yesterday, and we might actually be four to go to that beach condo and hang out next weekend. I always dread the packing and hauling all the weekend's stuff to North Myrtle, but oh once I put my put my toes into that sugar sand and see and smell the water, I remember each time how much I love the ocean.

Here's the scoop on our For Sale By Owner Condo in North Myrtle Beach. It's on the market for $199,000 (far below the market price). You can see pics and learn all about it at our website www.3togo.info. We truly want to find the perfect family who loves the beach as much as we do. It will make a great vacation spot for someone. It's very affordable and priced to sell. There's so much to do in Myrtle Beach, your family, relatives and friends will keep going and going.

Have a Blessed Sunday wherever you are today!

Four To Go - Gone

A Day On The Beach Is Better Than A Day A Work

For all those folks who live in the Northeast (New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania), and are willing to drive 10-12 hours to get to Myrtle Beach SC, you know what I mean. When we lived in Illinois and Kansas the thing we hated most was being landlocked. Here on the Carolina Coast we can get to the ocean within 2-3 hours and be on the beach.

We especially love our Condo on Cherry Grove Beach (North Myrtle Beach). It's far enough from the Myrtle Beach traffic and crowded restaurants, and the beach is that wonderful white sugary sand. We can literally walk for almost 2.5 miles along that section of beach. The Cherry Grove fishing pier is bustling with activities, fishing, eating, and just hanging out. Pier fishing is very popular in Cherry Grove, and the pier is open until midnight during summer.

And if you are the shopping queen like me, I have to have my fix at the Tanger outlet mall every time I go to North Myrtle. Our crew (always going somewhere) wants to go to the New Hard Rock Theme Park that just opened in Myrtle Beach this Spring. It's the Hard Rock version of Six Flags.

Hum, I think I'll pack my beach bag and go to the beach today. Oh but no, I'm committed to finishing a painting project I started weeks ago. Urghhh - I'd rather go You Know Where! Anyway sadly our Condo there is for sale. Lives and priorities change, so our nice condo there will become another families dream for adventure and beachbbum living. Tomorrow I will post a picture of our condo and maybe you'll become that new family.