Family Friday: Myrtle Beach

So after our last minute venture into North Carolina we continued onto our original destination: Myrtle Beach. My hubby's Mom moved to Myrtle about 6 or 7 years ago. Since then we have only visited her once. She has visited us a few times, but we don't get to see her as often as we would like.

I feel the need to interject a side topic here: Mother-in-Laws. Every time I hear some horror story, read a blog, or talk to a friend ;) about their MILs, I feel very blessed. I have a great MIL. I will say that I attribute this partially to my MIL and I, but I also give credit to my DH. I think a lot of In-Law issues stem from the husband (or wife) being unable or unwilling to put their spouse first. I don't think my husband has ever been a "Momma's boy" but I do know that from the beginning he showed with his actions and attitudes where his priorities are. Now my In-Laws would never treat me like the stories I have heard, but I know if there was ever an issue my husband would stand beside me. And, in just saying that, I realized that this is another reason for the no conflict.

Ok, back to the original topic. We arrived in Myrtle Beach around 5pm. After a short visit with J's Mom and her husband we headed out to dinner. They took us to this really cute little pizza place, Mellow Mushroom. The food was great. Ok, well the only thing I could eat was a grilled chicken salad, but the pizza looked and smelled DELICIOUS! I would definitely like to return some day when I am able to eat bread again.

Saturday we did a little shopping. I bought a new pair of jeans and then we hit the grocery. Jeff spent most of the day helping his Mom with some computer issues. That evening we were lucky enough to be able to enjoy a dinner alone thanks to my MIL. Jeff took me to this restaurant on a pier by the ocean. It was a nice little place, but our food was not the greatest. Still, we enjoyed ourselves and the scenery. After dinner we headed upstairs to the outdoor bar/lounge area. I had 1/2 a beer (lightweight) and we enjoyed the view of the ocean and boardwalk. We are pretty boring, so we were home and in bed by 10pm.

Sunday we had planned a trip to the beach. It turned out to be a perfectly beautiful day. We traveled about 30 minutes to Huntington Beach State Park. This is also the site of an old Spanish-style castle called Atalaya. My MIL thought the kids might enjoy touring this site, and they did. T still has the map of the house in the car and will occasionally ask "Did we see the outdoor studio?" I have answered that question 10 times so far, but he still insists on asking.

After our tour of Atalaya we walked over to the beach and enjoyed a picnic lunch. Then Jeff and the kids played in the sand while the rest of us sunbathed and enjoyed a book. It really was a lovely day. There were even several people swimming, but the water was a little cold for us.

Later that day we returned home and the kids spent some time playing with the neighborhood children. We grilled out for dinner and started gathering our items for our return home.

Monday was a very long day in the car. We left Myrtle Beach about 9am and spent way too much time on some back roads getting to the highway. Scenery is nice, but not when you just want to get home. Overall it was one of our best family vacations. We had a great visit with Jeff's Mom. Jeff and I had a lot of time to talk and dream. The kids were pretty good in the car and we made some great family memories.