In the middle of this past week the Sun News tweeted out a link of the ten best ice cream shops in the Myrtle Beach area. Naturally I tapped my thumb on it as I love ice cream and I have had a great time trying out some of the different parlors here in South Carolina. As I read through the article one place especially stood out.

Called O.D. Pavilion Ice Cream it wasn’t the cool looking sundaes in waffle bowls that caught my attention. Rather, it was a cool little (or big) promotion that was advertised. Called the Waterdog Challenge it was the frozen dessert version of your typical eating contest. I learned that the Waterdog Challenge consisted of seven scoops of ice cream, five toppings, whipped cream, a cherry, and a large waffle bowl. Except for the time I took a stab at eating a gigantic hot dog, I have never gotten too excited over eating challenges. I love watching Adam Richman conquer them on “Man vs. Food” but I have never had the desire to do one myself.

This is O.D. Pavilion Ice Cream in North Myrtle Beach.

But the Waterdog Challenge was different. This was ice cream. This was my thing. It was only seven scoops. I could do this.

I told Sidney to block out her calendar on Saturday night so we could go to O.D. Pavilion. I told her about the challenge and my plans to possibly do it. What was my motivation for wanting to complete such a gluttonous task? Quite simply I wanted the free t-shirt, the Facebook recognition on the parlor’s page, and of course a killer blog topic. The challenge weighed heavily on me for the next 24 hours. Because of my OCD and organized nature I called the place on Thursday night to make sure the challenge was still offered and to inquire about pricing. The guy who took my call informed me that they still offered the challenge (great!!), it was $14.95 to do (sweet…not a bad price at all), and participants had five minutes to complete it (oh, crap).

How did I completely forget about a time limit?! All food challenges have time limits. Somehow I totally overlooked this minor detail. The worst part about it was the duration of it…FIVE MINUTES. Are you kidding me? Five minutes for seven scoops of ice cream? I couldn’t begin to think about the brain freeze pain that would accompany such an attempt. For the most part I put to rest my aspirations of completing the Waterdog Challenge.

Last night though we still went on as scheduled for ice cream at O.D. Pavilion. I am pretty sure I am the only one who would travel 30 minutes for ice cream in an area that has shops on every single corner. During the drive from Myrtle Beach to North Myrtle Beach I told myself that when I walked in the parlor if it seemed right I would put my doubts aside and take on the challenge.

But it didn’t seem right. When we walked in O.D. Pavilion I knew it wasn’t meant to be. The place was rather small, it was busy, and disorganization was evident. I was not about to put the employees through the headache of making the ice cream challenge, finding a suitable place for me to do it at, and timing me. I myself didn’t feel comfortable in the close quarters. I kept thinking that I was just setting myself up for embarrassment and failure. So I passed. I totally wimped out and purchased their cookie dough sundae.

After a few days of heavy thinking, I ended up just ordering the cookie dough sundae at O.D. Pavilion Ice Cream.

Sidney and I sat in the corner of the parlor that had photos of the dozen or so successful Waterdog Challenge participants on the wall. All male they looked very normal and in no obvious state of pain. Many of them looked fit and young, with big smiles across their faces. As I ate my ice cream I couldn’t help but think I could have completed the challenge. Clearly I missed out on the chance to obtain eating glory and the opportunity to write a blog post much more interesting than this one. No pain, no gain. Don’t Blink.