Beach Vacation

I think I’m finally caught up from our week at the beach. Though I don’t know if I ever truly catch up with laundry!

I must confess that I am not super fond of the beach.

Strike 1: I’m fair-skinned and I don’t tan. And I’m not supposed to even try because I’m above average risk for melanoma.

Strike 2: I don’t like having to clean up the sand.

Strike 3: I’m don’t do heat well.

BUT, even though none of my children are fantastic swimmers, and they’re all fair-skinned, they still like to go to the beach. So we’ve been to the beach 4 out of the last 5 years. I should mention that we do not always go to the same beach. Most people I know go to the same beach year after year after year. We’re a little different I guess, but when I travel I like to go somewhere I’ve never been and see all the different things there are to see in that area. The kids…well, they tolerate it, sometimes better than others.

This year we went to Surfside Beach, just south of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I had not been to Myrtle Beach in over 20 years. And after driving through just some of the Myrtle Beach traffic, I don’t think I’ll regret skipping it for another 20!

But it was a lovely beach.

My bigger kids can’t get enough of the waves.

My little guy actually got his suit wet this year.

And little one wanted nothing to do with any part of the ocean.

None of my kids have ever wanted to even touch the ocean when they were little. The first time we went to the beach when my oldest was 3, he stood in the dry sand and screamed for us to come back. It took forever for him to come away from the dunes!

Everyone also played in the sand. We had some lessons on high tide and low tide. (very informal). This poor sand castle was a large circle, but the front kept getting knocked down with the incoming tide.

This was definitely one of the most comfortable places we have stayed at the beach. We stayed at a house that was in a gated community. Within the community were both indoor and outdoor swimming pools. And even though the house was not right on the beach…

We got the use of this golf cart! That was a wonderful blessing. No lugging beach stuff a long way or getting sand in the car.

So even though the beach isn’t my favorite place, it still was a lovely vacation. And we went to a few interesting places while we were there. More on those later!