Vacay, Day 1

On Saturday the 16th we got up and out the door by 8:30 am to begin our drive to South Carolina. Tony and I have been wanting to make a trip to Myrtle beach since the last time we were there (NINE years ago) and this year it finally happened. We made our usual Dunkin Donuts pit stop and then we were off. To save a little time and money we packed our cooler with some sandwich making basics as well as a couple premade salads and ate at a rest stop in North Carolina. It was nice to be able to get out of the car for a bit without having to sit in a restaurant. The kids made friends with all the dogs being walked and enjoyed running around a bit before getting back in the van for the rest of the drive.

The lady in the photo below came over to tell us what nice children we have! She said they'd used such nice manners when talking with her and that she really appreciated that they'd asked to pet her dog before doing so. :)

We made it to our hotel around 4:30 pm. We stayed at The Caravelle Resort in North Myrtle beach. 

Our room was in the tower and I'll admit that I was a bit disappointed when I first saw it. It's an old building and looks pretty dumpy from the outside but I was pleasantly surprised with the room once inside. It could definitely use some updating and upgrades but I would have stayed another week without complaint. I LOVED how close we were to the ocean and I LOVED that there weren't any real crowds to speak of. The beach wasn't empty by any means but there weren't crowds either. We always had tons of space and room to run around without bothering anyone else. There were lifeguards on duty from early morning until about 5 pm and I thought that was really nice. 

As soon as we were done unloading the van we walked over to see the water. 

When I told my parents we were planning a trip to SC they decided to book a spot at a nearby RV park. While we were unpacking and checking out the beach they drove over to our hotel and then we all walked a block or two to Cheeseburger in Paradise for dinner. 

While we were waiting for our food we were watching the tv's and I was amazed to see that they were broadcasting a Super Smash Bros. tournament! I mean, it was serious business. Each challenger would come out and walk to the stage like they do in the WWE; it was quite funny.

After dinner we walked back to our place and then decided to go have one last look at the ocean for the day.