Last weekend I got to do something I had been looking forward to all winter, and that was to go to the beach.

My great escape was a trip to Myrtle Beach. I have a good friend who lives there and that means a free place to stay and someone really cool to hang out with for a weekend.

The only problem with great escapes is though, especially when you work in a deadline driven industry such as the news business, you have to work three times as hard to be able to take some time off. And, you pay for it when you return, because there are extra phone calls to return and emails to answer.

My only complaint about my trip was that it was colder than normal. When I first got down there last Thursday night, it was downright cold and I forgot to pack a coat or sweatshirt. The days were a bit warmer, but I don’t think I broke a sweat until I started loading my car up Sunday afternoon to come home and that was because I was running up and down stairs.

While I was down there, I noticed that the tourists in Myrtle Beach are clearly different than the ones we have here. I think the mentality there is “Nobody knows me here, so I can act like a crazy person.”

My first night there, I was standing on the balcony of the hotel watching people on the beach. Apparently there’s a new craze at the beach. They now sell these green laser lights that people use to drive people on the beach crazy.

This one guy that was standing with a group started yelling at the people with the lights — screaming profanities at that, and boy, that made it worse. Every laser light in the hotel was on him then. It was kind of funny actually.

That got me to thinking, we sure are lucky here to have some of the friendliest people coming to visit our little town. You never see any of them standing in the middle of Main Street cussing anyone. I guess that’s because we set the tone here by being friendly ourselves.

All in all, I’m glad to say that I did have a fabulous time. I got to enjoy the surf and sand. I even came back with a tan.

While great escapes are a great thing, and certainly a much needed thing at times, it’s good to be back home.

Mondee Tilley is a staff reporter with The Mount Airy News. She can be reached at mtilley@heartlandpublications.com or at 719-1930.