South Carolina

Saturday, July 9th

We all woke up early to load into two cars. There were 11 of us and we were meeting two others there. Six of us rode in one vehicle and 5 piled in the other. We had a 17 hour drive ahead of us to North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for family vacation! My brother Shawn and I snuck “fart putty” in each car to ease the silences along the way. That night we stopped at a hotel in Tennessee and walked to a restaurant across the street called Taco Boy.

Sunday, July 10th

We finished the drive and met my sister Jordyn and her boyfriend Johnny who came from North Carolina at an Airbnb that we all went in on together. Almost all of us had our own room and bathroom, with a huge kitchen and living room that we could all sit in together. We hugged and quickly brought our bags up to get our swimming suits on and go straight to the beach. We walked the one block and kicked off our shoes in the sand. It was cloudy and windy out but we ran in anyway. The water was warm. The ocean breeze was calming and refreshing. Seagulls squawked above us and large cranes glided just above the edge of the waves. Afterwards we rinsed off in the pool and made a giant whirl pool.

Monday, July 11th

Our first full day of vacation was my favorite day. It was sunny and warm and we spent the whole day on the beach. The only time we went inside was to eat. I had so much fun swimming and fighting the waves with my siblings. We like to jump the big waves or ride them back to shore and swim back out again. One wave knocked my sister Emma on her feet so bad she got a bloody nose! We even found a jellyfish swimming in the water. I laid in the soft sand and soaked up all the warmth I could. Unfortunately, me, Staford, Emma and my brother Kyle all got really bad sunburns (even though I applied sunscreen multiple times throughout the day). I woke up with a swollen eye and a puffy forehead. Poor Staford got it the worst with blisters on his skin. My cousin Abby had a bad ear infection and had to go to a walk in clinic but was able to get drops and started feeling better. The elements hit us hard! Jordyn and I had fun spending time together making Chinese food for dinner. One of my favorite parts about our place was that it had a huge dining table that we could all sit at together for each meal.

Tuesday, July 12th

It was raining on and off in the morning so we all went to go walk around the outlet mall. That evening a group of us decided to go to the movies and watch “Thor: Love and Thunder”. It was really funny and I laughed a lot. When we got back all of us stayed up late sitting on the balcony. We laughed and made jokes and mom had to tell us to be quiet. One reason that I love my family is because they make jokes out of everything and are constantly making me laugh so hard I cry. There was a lot of that this trip. A lot of times I felt like a little kid again- in a good way.

Wednesday, July 13th

Almost every morning I had coffee on the balcony with my mom. Most mornings we walked the beach and most sunsets we walked it again. Our last day was bittersweet. Time went too quick and I wasn’t ready to go back to the “real world”. We spent as much time as we could on the beach. A group of us made a giant Patrick Star in the sand, headed by Kyle who is really crafty and artistic. It was raining on and off again but I didn’t mind. I collected shells and watched the strong waves. At the end of the day we took family pictures and we stayed up late playing games together.

Thursday, July 14th

Though it felt like we had just unpacked our things, we were packing them up again. We drove all the way home without stopping. I watched the grey fog roll off the Smokey Mountains through the windy, green, roads of Tennessee. We made it to the driveway at 4:30 a.m. and were exhausted. On the beach I felt so rejuvenated and healthy. I hardly every checked my phone or looked at what time it was. I’m so grateful for the time I got to recharge and do whatever I felt like doing (mostly sit on the beach). I’m also thankful that even though many of us are grown up now, my parents still want to go on vacation with us and make memories.