Family Vacation

Family vacation for the summer finally arrived.  The week came and went quite quickly.  Last week, we spent the week at North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  This was different than our usual vacation.  Usually, you can find the Wood family at Ocean City, Maryland on 71st street.  Mom was ready for a new place, so Aunt Vonda contacted friends of hers.

Aunt Vonda's friends own a condo in North Myrtle Beach.  The condo is Xanadu 4.  It was a smaller building with only 16 units.  Our unit had three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a kitchen, dining area, and living room, along with an ocean-front view.  It was a cute little place.  Mom and Dad had a room, Aunt Vonda and Uncle Bob had a room, and I had a room.  There was just enough space for the five of us.

My schedule for the week was to be on the beach from about 9am to 4pm every day.  We took a break for lunch each day.  The weather was gorgeous.  It was sunny every day, but there was just enough wind that you didn't notice the heat.  We all spent a few hours each day under the umbrella when it did get really hot.  The ocean water was like bath water.  I would have preferred it a little cooler, but that was something I could not control.

I enjoyed the week reading "The Girl Who Played With Fire" and "The DaVinci Code."  Evenings were spent doing a variety of activities.  We went to a Steelers bar called Oscar's on our first night.  They had typical bar food, but the TVs everywhere were playing the Steelers preseason game.  There were tons of people with Steelers gear.  You would have thought that we never left Pennsylvania.  I felt slightly out of place, but I wasn't about to put on an Eagles jersey and get hassled!

We spent nights shopping, eating seafood, miniature golfing, and we even saw a show.  The show was spectacular.  It was sort of like Cirque du Soleil.  It brought back memories because I used to be able to do all the tumbling before I got hurt.  We met up with Mom's friends, Chuck and Cherie, one night.  We all went out to dinner and Mom and Chuck did a zip line across the river.  I thought about it, but it was a little too high.

It rained during the night on one or two days and in the morning on Friday.  We spent our last morning going out for breakfast and reading/relaxing in the condo.  The afternoon brought about more sun, so we all changed and down to the shore we went.

It was a really nice time.  It was just too long of a drive.  The traffic was not especially great.  It took us 12 hours to get down and 13 hours to come back.  I spent my birthday in a car taking naps on and off for 13 hours...I only got nauseous once!