There's No Place Like Home

We're back from Myrtle Beach and so glad to be home. It was wonderful to climb into my own bed last night after a day of driving. I haven't even looked at all the pictures on my flash card yet so I'll have to post those later, but here's three things I learned from our vacation.

1. Length of Stay - it's hard to get that one just right. When we went to Hilton Head we were there for two nights and three days and could have stayed longer, so I thought six nights and five days would be great, but it was actually about a day too long. I think a big reason it seemed too long was due in part to #2.

2. The Sun is Important - we only saw the sun for about 8 or so hours all week. Once was Wednesday morning and boy did we hit the beach! So did everyone else, it was funny to see everyone come out in droves to enjoy a little sun. The water was still quite cold and not too many people ventured out that far, but we enjoyed as much time on the beach as we could. I got a little sun tan and Brady got a little nap (that's about how it usually works for us), the kids had a great time at the beach and the pools. Mental note to self: don't go NORTH when looking for a lazy beach vacation during Spring Break - it's still WINTER there! We left the gorgeous Florida sun and found plenty of clouds, drizzle, fog and cool temperatures. No wonder everyone comes HERE for Spring Break!

3. There is No Substitute for a Good Old Map! I'm not sure what possessed me to hop in the car and take off on a 9-hour drive without my big Atlas that I love to travel with, but Brady had his GPS (we call her Leah - or Ms. Hona) so I thought we were covered. Well, the route we were supposed to take was also the one that a million other people were taking (I-95) and it was so congested we couldn't go over 20 MPH. It was funny to see all the out-of-state liscense plates heading back up North. I mean EVERYONE was on the road that day! What was supposed to be a 9-hour drive turned into a 12-hour drive, most of it done OFF I-95 on back roads. It was a pretty drive, just too long! All the time I was mumbling under my breath that I sure wish I had my map! The drive home was MUCH better - we made it in just under 9 hours including stops, no traffic at all.

We had a great time at the condo - we had three TV's for the kids to watch so they were in heaven! There were three pools (one indoor), five hot tubs, two lazy rivers, a game room, an exercise room, pilates on the beach (the one morning of sun - yeah!), and lots of other things for the kids to do. Our favorite place to eat was Ryans - a Golden Corral of sorts but not as expensive. It was a lot of fun to take five adults and 10 kids there! (We were with our friends the Roberts, plus Dina's mom). The five adults went to dinner a few times alone and saw some great shows - ONE at the Alabama Theater and Legends at the Legends Theater. We toured Broadway at the Beach as well as Barefoot Landing (both BIG tourist traps with unlimited shopping all connected by boardwalks over water), spent some time at the outlet mall, went for Italian ice (ours is much better here), and ate LOTS of popcorn! :) I brought our popcorn popper and donut maker - two essentials!

Pictures to come soon...as soon as my kids quit bugging me for the computer. There's a line-up right now.