For about a year, we as a Reed family have been planning my dad's retirement vacation. Many ideas were submitted but a South Carolina Myrtle Beach vacation took the vote. Everyone was put in charge of figuring out one aspect of the trip. Then we would return and report our findings. It worked great! When covid hit, we really were unsure if we'd be able to go or not! Luckily, things started opening up and we were able to go! And finally Aug 3rd rolled around and we were loading up to head to the airport bright and early at 6AM with our masks strapped to our faces!
We got there smoothly, and got checked in and then got a text from Adam saying he was too late to make his flight because he had to check a bag. Ooops! The fun was just beginning! We were actually flying into a hurricane and so things were about to get interesting! So 8 of us hopped on the plane headed to Dallas hoping Adam would soon find a way! We got notice that he found a flight to Dallas and would be just an hour or so behind us. BUT once we got to Dallas, all our flights started being cancelled! We quickly adjusted our flights and were able to get to Charlotte NC. From there, Chad and I got kicked off the flight because there was no room and just me and him were being rerouted to Wilmington. THEN the flight for EVERYONE was cancelled and moved to 6PM on TUESDAY! Not ok!!! We had a quick family meeting while adam was arriving trying to figure out if we should just bunker down for the night and make the most of it or rent a car and drive the 4 hours to Myrtle Beach. All the rental cars were out of cars and no one had one we could take and return in myrtle beach that fit all of us and our luggage! FINALLY we came to the conclusion once we found a van we would drive the rest of the way and then drive the van back to Charlotte on the way home. What a pain! During all of this mess we realized we needed to move our jet ski day back just in case we didn't make it. So some were on the phone trying to cancel or move that so we could get our money back, just in case.
It took a bit of tetris-ing to get all of us and our luggage in the van, but we did it! While we drove we chatted and laughed about our crazy day and actually really enjoyed the time together! We stopped at Chic-fil-A for dinner and after a massive online order we all had full bellies and were happy. A few more minutes on the road and we arrived at our Air BnB in North Myrtle Beach at 1AM!
As we were pulling into town, we realized with all our delays, we had just missed the eye of the storm. Wow, what a blessing. Our house had some big water puddles around it but it all seemed well. We divided up rooms, agreed to sleep in in the morning and hit the sack!
Tuesday morning I was up early-ish excited to see the beach. Chad and I went for a jog and we were surprised at the difference it is doing cardio at sea level. It felt SO good. The beach was already littered with people looking for treasures from the storm. We went back to the house, had breakfast and talked everyone into spending the first day at the beach since our jet ski tour had to be moved back. We had previously made a schedule to follow but realized quickly that it would be difficult to stick to. We got in our suits, and some of us lathered up with sunscreen, some did not! And we hit the waves! The water was so warm and it was sunny and it felt amazing! I love digging my feet into the sand and I even got brave and rode some waves on the foam boards. So fun! Chad could stay there all day and be perfectly content. Later, we built a giant sand castle, something that mom really wanted to do. Then we went back to the house and got ready to go to dinner at Taco Mundo in Barefoot Landing. The tacos were so yummy and we all stuffed ourselves.
While we were at Barefoot Landing, which is a big tourist shopping place, we decided to stay a while and shop. We found some fun souvenirs and a big candy shop that we filled up some bags in! It was such a fun cute place! A little on the pricier side, but still fun to look. Those who were sunburned on day 1 didn't enjoy being in the sun very much. Some went for a nap and Chad and I went back to the beach! When we all reconvened, everyone was still stuffed and we decided to skip dinner and go straight for the ice cream and shopping that was within walking distance. We gathered around the TV and looked at pictures of day 1. We all got an earlier start on bed time so we could wake up and go play the next day. I LOVED the humidity, our house, the beach and being with my siblings so much!
Wednesday was dubbed romper day. What started as a silly idea, materialized into all the guys buying rompers. Dad said he wouldn't do it so we were all surprised when dad came out sporting his own camo romper! Oh man! I knew I'd be laughing all day just looking at them! Chad got up that morning and went for a run on the beach, I stayed in bed and was all of a sudden woken by the loudest thunder! It didn't bother me and i figured it would pass soon, but then the rain started and the thunder got louder! Chad and Adam were out in that storm and I was starting to wonder if they were ok! It lasted for a good 30 min but the boys made it home safe. When we checked outside, there was a good 2-3 inches of standing water! It flooded the entry way a little but Justin's room, which was by the pool, got flooded! The water was up above the edge of the pool several inches and the whole back patio was covered in water. I was glad to be on the top floor!!
Once we got that mess cleaned up, we headed to Ripley's Aquarium with all our guys in rompers! They were stopped by SO many people giving comments or asking for a picture or where they got them. Some people even glared and looked disgusted. It made for a fun day. The aquarium was cool. Its always amazing to see God's underwater creations. We hit up the Boardwalk for Mr. Fries. We saw a review that described their bacon cheddar jalapeno fries as "orgasmic." So we had to try them out. All of us agreed they were not that! They were ok, but not what any of us were expecting. We then shopped the boardwalk, getting lost in the Gay Dolphin which is a HUGE, several level store of just about anything you'd want to buy. We returned home and yep, went back to the beach. That evening we went out to a fancier restaurant, yes the guys still in their rompers! While we were waiting we got several stares but one guy came out and tried to conceal his excitement by making small talk and then he just exploded with the biggest smile and laugh and said, "I've gotta ask the question!" Then he just went off! He was so hilarious and made the biggest deal out of Chad's taco cat romper! He stayed and chatted for a few minutes and was very animated in his talking. So funny!
Dinner was at Hook and Barrel and was really yummy! I had pasta. It was overpriced for what it was but it was still nice to sit in a nice place and enjoy some food. After that we hit up one of MANY mini golf places. It was late but it made being in the hot and humidity bearable. It was such a fun course! It started with a little train car ride up a little mountain and then we golfed our way down! We would have went for ice cream again if we could have but it was too late. We hit the sack to prepare ourselves for jet ski's on Thursday!
We were up bright and early to exercise again. This time I opted for Yoga on the beach on my own. I was trying to ignore the stares and looks because it just felt so dang good! Then we traveled a few miles to the marina where the jet skis were waiting for us. It was supposed to be a dolphin tour that the tour guide was 98% sure we would see dolphins, but sadly no luck. Chad was a bit more ambitious in the water than I cared to be and had to finally tell him to ease up because I wasn't feeling well. Everyone else took it pretty easy. I didn't know at the time but Mom, Tony, and Monse and Taylor were all really motion sick and the last 3 of those actually puked in the ocean! Monse is really afraid of the ocean and had a panic attack and was just so sick! Poor thing! We all tried to get our land legs back when we got back but not all of us were feeling to peachy! I was so glad I didn't get sick out there! I was just hanging on for dear life! Chad did let me drive on the way back in and I made sure to give him the bumpiest ride I could!
No one could do lunch after that so we took some time before we went out for lunch to River City cafe, a place I had been told had the best burgers around. It was pretty tasty and they had onion rings the size of my hand! I didn't love the taste of them but the burgers were good! After lunch we went back to the ocean! It was so nice just having it right there and just being a few minutes walk. I dug around in the sand and found some shells to take home to the girls. Dad had a good time treasure hunting too!
Most people were pretty full so we just ordered a little pizza and tried to eat up the groceries we had i the house. We just lounged and played a game and later looked at everyone's pictures from the trip. We had an ongoing picture contest and Brit won the prize with this one of us all lined up on the beach! I love it SOOOOO much!
I was so sad to wake up and have to get ready to go home. I did one last morning visit to the beach and did yoga again. It was so refreshing! I found mom there watching the sunrise laying on the beach in her swimsuit. I'm glad she enjoyed the beach too. We returned home, packed up and headed to the airport. Just and Carrie stayed 1 more night, so we dropped them off at their hotel, then Chad, me Tony, Monse, Adam & Brit all flew out of Myrtle Beach. Dad thought he had plenty of time to get to the airport in Charlotte! Here we go again with fun flying stories!!!
Dad put in the wrong address for the airport and while he thought he was really close he was still 40 min away! They stopped for lunch, but when they realized where they were, they booked it out of there! They still had the van to return! Luckily we checked Jordan's luggage just in case we ran into this problem. Once they got to the airport, they had troubles finding where to return the van. Oh man! Meanwhile Adam and I were eating Chick Fil A for a second time. Tension was building and our plane was about to board to Dallas! With 5 minutes to spare, they made it and boarded with us. Phew! Everyone's nerves were shot!
We made it to Dallas with just a few minutes before we had to board again! Times were tight! But we all made it to SLC safe and sound and exhausted from the day. We made it home to our kids just after 10PM. We were so grateful to Lori Walters, Michelle Lopez and Nannette Eash and their families for keeping our kids! They were spoiled and happy when we got there and excited to see what we brought them.
Despite all the problems we ran into, looking back we received so many blessings! I probably can't name them all but here are a few:
-everyone got along!
-we missed the hurricane
-missed/canceled flights somehow worked out better
-We found a 15 passenger van in a hurricane!
-The flooding wasn't too bad
-Mom's back survived the jet ski ride
-We all made it safe and no one has contracted Covid yet!
Among other crazy things that happened, there were tornadoe warning while we were there and an earthquake the day after we left. There was a big drug and gun bust in N. MB while we were there and also a missing person from our beach was lost in the ocean. I have 100% faith that the Lord was watching over us and directing our paths as hard as it seemed in the moment. Things could have been alot worse and I feel like we had the perfect vacation. I feel so blessed to have a family that gets along and loves to be together. It was so great to laugh and bring up memories and old times. I'm grateful to mom and dad who left us a wonderful legacy of love and support and who funded most of this trip! We love our family! I had a hard time coming home from vacation, as a I always do, but I expected it this time. After a few days I will be back to normal and not get upset that I have to cook and clean and that I can't walk down to the beach! But I know we will be returning some day! Hopefully sooner than later!
