Well, its been almost a week since we returned from our 9 day expedition to sunny and extremely hot Myrtle Beach. Myrtle Beach tends to be one of our favorite vacation spots since it is so very family oriented and really pretty affordable. We have been to the area 4 times over the past 12 years or so. This year in an effort to save some cash, we (actually I) decided it would be in our best interest to drive the 12-1/2 hour drive...the entire famdamily! We left on Friday intending to drive about 8 hours and stay the night somewhere since the condo we were renting wouldn't be available until Saturday after 3PM. We drove until we reached the Charlotte, NC area and spent the night in a very nice Embassy Suites resort for a really reasonable $115 which included breakfast the next morning. I am partial to Hilton properties due to their rewards program and typically their properties are clean and comfortable and I really enjoy Embassy Suites because of the added space and the breakfast but this was definitely the nicest Embassy I have ever spent time at. Modern, resort with golf course and a couple of restaurants and cheap! We ended up eating a rather good pizza from the hotel bar for dinner at 10PM.
Saturday morning, we had our breakfast and headed over to an outlet mall that was in the area to kill some time before driving the last 3 hours. The 3 hours actually turned into 5 plus hours due to nasty traffic heading into Myrtle Beach. I am thankful that we took a different route on the way home. We did end up at the condo around 5PM. The condo was really nice. We were a bit worried about renting a condo sight unseen but it was exactly as it was described and as the pictures on the website showed. We were right on a tee box of a par three on a Greg Norman designed golf course and condo was nicely furnished and extremely comfortable. To think that we could rent a two bedroom condo with fully furnished kitchen, living room, dinning room and screened in porch at $800 for the week was amazing to me. I guess that a bad economy can have a few perks. Granted we weren't on the beach but for an average to below average hotel room on the beach would have cost us at least $200 more than the condo and would have been nasty and cramped.
The condo was actually in a large planned community that included several pools, condos, homes and 4 golf courses. The community was actually affected by the wild fires in the area that took place in March and several homes were destroyed and damaged.
Saturday after we unpacked and relaxed for a few minutes we ended up at a sports bar called The Overtime Sports Cafe (food as just average but we were starved) and then we walked around a nice outdoor shopping area/tourist trap called Barefoot Landings.
Sunday was our one and only day at the beach. The resort has a shuttle that picks up every hour from various point in the resort area but since we had a ton of toys to bring and the fact that we couldn't count on the kids wanting to leave at the right time to catch the shuttle, we decided to drive ourselves. The resort has an area at the beach with restrooms and a sun deck so we wanted to be sure to camp at the beach near the area but no where could we find a map to where the resort's property was anywhere. So, we found the shuttle and followed it there. Parking was an entire different story. We rented an umbrella and chairs and played in the ocean for about 3 hours in which Shawn got pretty beat up in the waves and of course my little daredevil loved the water and sand. Back to the condo for our daily nap-time and then to Thorney's for dinner. We have been to Thorney's the last three trips but this one will be the last. The place is a hell hole and the kid's meals were horribly over cooked. Lisa's steak was really the only thing that was decent.
Monday was spent at the resort's huge pool. I have never seen a pool so large in my entire life. This thing had to be nearly as big as a football field and is only 3 to 3-1/2 feet deep. It was great for the kids, but swimming in a 3 foot pool is a bit challenging for a fat boy. The kids and I were at the pool for about 4 hours that day while Lisa worked through her payroll issues. Yes, Lisa even does payroll when she's on vacation. That evening, we ended up a one of the many Calabash seafood establishment in the area. I love oysters and this is the place to garbage up on them. On the way back to the condo for the night, we stopped by another outdoor mall/tourist trap but this one is newer than Barefoot Landings called Broadway at the Beach.
Tuesday was time for a change. Shawn and I went golfing on a nice par 3 golf course but could only play 9 holes because Shawn was so hot. It was for the better anyway I think; Shawn wasn't scoring too well anyway and it was nearly 95 degrees in the shade. That afternoon, we ended up a one of the miniature golf courses and then to dinner at East of Chicago Pizza....simple and familiar.
Wednesday was back to the pool and then Shawn and Lisa headed to Alligator Adventures while I napped with Katelyn. Wednesday's dinner was at the Liberty Steakhouse and Brewery. The food was pretty good here and they had a nice IPA.
On Thursday Shawn said "no pool today" so we ended up driving toward Georgetown, SC and wandered around a few shops before heading to a nice little shopping area somewhere between Georgetown and Myrtle Beach called Hammock Village. Then back to the condo to rest and then to Barefoot Landings for dinner at a place called Bully's Pub. Bully's has an outdoor dinning area that overlooks the lake. The lake has a ton of carp and turtles which Katelyn decided to feed most of her meal to. After dinner, Lisa and I sampled about 10 wines at the vine shop at The Carolina Winery and ended up picking up a half case to take home with us. Shawn ended up wandering through a mirror maze, Katelyn and I took a merry-go-round ride and I won her a stuffed animal turtle by catapulting rubber frogs into a lily pad.
Friday was spent at the pool and to Planet Hollywood for dinner where Kate fell off her chair and whacked her head pretty good. It took about 10 minutes to get her to stop crying. Then Shawn spent an hour at MagiQuest. MagiQuest is a pretty neat concept and to watch all the kids and some of the adults running around like ticked off ants looking for their ant hill was entertaining.
Saturday, we were on the road by 7:45am. The traffic out of town was nice and steady but we were caught behind a traffic accident for an hour or more in the mountains in Virginia. We ended stopping in Columbus for a quick visit to Marc's and a quick bite to eat before heading for home. We finally arrived home at 11pm. The ride home was better than the ride down (Lisa behaved herself better on the return trip) and I got to spend father's day at home instead of on the road.
Father's day was nice. We ended up at the grocery store spending more than I can ever remember on groceries and then I grilled some steaks marinated in a soy-ginger mixture which turned out really nice. I also got a "world's greatest golfer" trophy from Shawn and 2010 Tiger Woods Golf game for the Wii.
Monday it was a return to work and in the evening it was time to get rid of some of the dill that I grew this year. The dill is out of control and it grows like crazy. I ended up making 8 pounds of pickles and a wine bottle full of dill vinegar. I will let you know how they turn out in a couple of months.
Tonight is our annual night at the disco party. This year should be fun since it's supposed to be in the upper 80s. Looks like beer will be flowing to cool off....if I really needed an excuse.
Here are the pictures from vacation
Here are some father's day pictures
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