Our big, summer vacation arrived. We went from June 11-18, including travel days. Myrtle is about 10 hours away, so it is doable in one day, and based on the ridiculous rates for hotels, we probably just should have driven through. (Seriously, they were all between $280-350 for a decent hotel!) We stayed at Princeton, West Virginia both directions in the same Fairfield Inn.
We left on Saturday at 2pm. Our drive was fairly noneventful which is not a bad thing. When the girls were little, I spent a lot of time trying to make the trip bearable. I figured I didn’t want them on screens the whole time, but they were too little to read or do many paper/pencil games. So, I had tiny “gifts” every hour or so – a fidget, a small toy, a pack of crayons, a treat, etc. We also tried playing car bingo and the alphabet game as they learned letters. Now, they kinda expect this on trips. I don’t do it the same way though, and we do allow them more screen time, and they do read books now. The past two trips, I have brought a binder filled with activities and an envelope labeled Bored. When they feel bored, they can pick a card from the envelope and I give them something to do – an art challenge, a word search, a decoding activity, a story starter, a travel game, a podcast suggestion, etc. It is all stuff that I accumulated from Pinterest, slide in page protectors, and pull out as needed. It doesn’t take up as much space, but they have fun. They probably only dove into the envelope about 6-8 times total. I also give them something at each state line. This year they got yogurt bites to snack on, gum to chew, and gas station treat stop ($2 limit on a treat of their choosing). It works.
Sunday
We left around 10am. Stopped at a fun rest stop.
Jeremy’s cousin had recommended we check out Buc-ees travel stop in Florence, South Carolina. These are huge truck stop like places. But no trucks are allowed. There are 120 gas pumps, a huge area to buy food (bbq, tacos, sandwiches), clothes, and home decor to name a few of the things in there. The mascot is a beaver – just like my college alma mater!
IT WAS CRAZY! The place was crawling with people. It may be because we are in the height of vacation season. It may have been because they had just opened this one. It may have been because that is just how it is. Whatever the reason, I think once was enough for us and Buc-ees. (Although it is something to see… kinda like Wall Drug in South Dakota.) We did eat some pretty tasty brisket and pulled pork sandwiches, so there’s that.
We arrived at our Air BnB at about 4pm. It was perfect, just like the pictures showed. And so close to the beach!
While the girls and Jeremy headed directly to the beach, I headed to the grocery store to stock up for the week. We planned on eating breakfast in (eggs, pancakes, baked oatmeal, cereal) and lunches too (sandwiches, mac and cheese, quesadillas). I did buy food for two suppers, but the pasta night was flexible enough we could take home the ingredients if we decided to go out.
Journal Recap
Monday
The girls wanted to go shell hunting right away. They found some neat shells this first day. Then, it was pretty much beach time all day long. And that’s what we did. Jeremy set up our umbrellas and chairs in the mornings around 8am. We would get out around 9:30 or 10am after slathering on sunscreen. We spent a couple hours digging in the sand and playing in the water. We would come in for lunch and a break and head back out around 2 or 3pm.
That night (our coolest night), we decided to go miniature golfing. Jeremy found one called Hawaiian Rumble. It apparently hosts the miniature golf Master’s Tournament. And there is a volcano that erupts every 20 minutes. The course was fun and the night was beautiful. We all – on different holes – even managed to get hole-in-ones! Just for the sake of bragging rights, I am going to mention that I won… beating Jeremy by 1 stroke!
Journal Recap
Tuesday
A little of everything today. We (I… the itinerary person) planned to go to Barefoot Landing to do some shopping on Tuesday night. It looked like it was still going to be cooler, and if I’m going to shop, I would prefer to be comfortable. But Jeremy had the idea of going to Top Golf. (Which to be honest, I was a bit reluctant about) So, I looked it up on our way down to Myrtle and discovered that they had half price Tuesday! What?!? I can’t pass up a deal. So, I booked us a time slot at 12:45 on Tuesday.
Our day started as normal – breakfast, sunscreen, beach.
Then, we took a break to head to Top Golf. Very different than mini golf. There are apparently many games you can play. We played the basic game – hit the ball and hope it goes into some part of the hole. I missed the ball multiple times while swinging, but I could just swing again. Madison and Ellie had a blast. Jeremy enjoyed it a lot, especially the second game after he was warmed up. He crushed all of us points-wise and technique. There is talk of going back.
We managed to squeeze in a bit more beach time after getting back to the condo and before heading to Barefoot.
Barefoot was a good time. We thought we would go to Flying Fish – a seafood restaurant. There was a 90 minute wait. So, we meandered through the shops while we waited to prep our brains for what we might want. At the ding of the text, we headed back to the restaurant. It was delicious. Madison and Ellie shared a platter of jumbo and popcorn shrimp. I indulged in Cajun-seasoned tile fish (one I had never tried before). And Jeremy splurged and fought with the king crab!
Afterwards, we headed back to the shops. Madison bought a necklace and t-shirt. Ellie got a visor and a long sleeved t-shirt. We all got some salt water taffy. And we enjoyed a beautiful sunset.
Journal Recap
Part 2 coming soon :)
