After three kids and 11 years of marriage, we finally went on our first true family vacation.
Sure, we had gone on trips before… Even a three-week trip to Brazil back in 2011.
But all the trips we had gone on were to visit family and friends who happened to live far away.
This was the first time that the trip itself was the end goal. A true vacation!
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Amy found an amazing deal on a resort in Myrtle Beach, SC. Myrtle Beach is a well-known vacation destination for families with children and folks looking to do a lot of golfing.
Besides the ocean, the city is peppered with interesting attractions, golf courses, and dining opportunities.
As a way to attract Canadians during their off-season, many resorts were offering their prices on par with the Canadian dollar, which, right now, means a 24% discount. So the price was unbelievably low.
Besides that, we were able to find round-trip tickets for 5 on Spirit Air for an incredible price US$287. That included all taxes and fees, for all five of us. Yeah.
Lodging
We stayed at the Seawatch Resort, in a two-bedroom, ocean-view apartment. The apartment included an ensuite, full kitchen, three flat screen TVs, a second bathroom with a door to the second bedroom and another door to the main living space, and a laundry room with a washer and a dryer.
This was the perfect setup: the kids bunked together in the second bedroom, and Amy and I stayed in the ensuite.
Both the living room and the main bedroom had sliding glass doors to a large balcony (which you can see in the picture above).
Activities
We spent a whole week in Myrtle Beach, and we got to do a lot of things.
- The beach: the kids loved playing in the sand and the ocean. There were many beached jellyfish and seashells to explore and collect. We also went for a walk on the beach almost every night after dinner.
- The pools: the resort had 6 pools and 9 hot tubs on the main level, just steps away from the ocean. The kids liked the pools better than the beach, so we spent a lot of time there.
- Ripley’s Aquarium: on one of the rainy days we spent a morning at this amazing aquarium.
- Aunt Grace: we were able to drive to Columbia, SC, and visit Amy’s great aunt Grace, who is a wonderful person. We had lunch at Cracker Barrel and got to visit with her at her lovely house.
- Barefoot Landing, and eating! We got to drive around the Myrtle Beach area and visit many of the sites, including some of the famous seafood restaurants in the area.
Memories 🙂
We had a blast in Myrtle Beach.
I tried to document all that we did in a private WordPress.com blog so the kids will have something to look back on years from now.
If you have an opportunity to take some time off and spend it with your loved ones, take it.
We are all looking forward to our next vacation!