Vacation 2013 Myrtle Beach

As you all may have realized by the countdown, sneak peek photos and overwhelming excitement I took my first vacation of the year two weeks ago.

It has taken me sometime to get this little post completed because I feel like if you ever want to visit Myrtle Beach you can come to my post for suggestions, pictures and so forth.
It may get a little lengthy but if you stick around I am sure you will gain a ton of ideas for places to eat, sights to see and the wonderful attractions in the area.

 

I could have and still would love to be a traveling photographer. I’m pretty sure Madison was sick of posing for pictures by the end of the week by the “MOMMMMMM” comments and if objects could speak they would have screamed at me for taking so many random shots.

We tried to stay on a reasonable budget while choosing our dine-in options. It can become very expensive if you plan to eat out for all three meals. I mean come on now who doesn’t love to pig out on your time off? So budgeting can be somewhat of a challenge but I think if you plan carefully it can be a lot easier than you might think. Just make sure you eat POST poolside, I get that little budge we like to call the food baby and with a bikini on it ain’t cute!

I also did a lot of pre-planning when it came to the attractions. I wanted to find discounts online for tickets, wrist bands and anything that said buy one get one. There are a lot of online discounts for Myrtle Beach so definitely use Google and you can’t go wrong!

Saturday May 4th, Day 1: Midday arrival

Arriving around 1pm we checked into the hotel and headed over to the Boardwalk. It was pouring rain that day so we decided to dash into a diner, Peaches Corner. There we devoured chicken strips, hotdogs, fries and soda. Even while budget planning, a lunch for 3 is around $30.

Myrtle Beach has two arcades at the Boardwalk so we spent the night playing games and staying dry. We spent around $30 on tokens and were there for about 3 hours. Madison loaded up on prizes! Their arcades are pretty big so if you have small children it is totally worth it!

After 6 hours of drive time (Madison was surprisingly the best back seat passenger) and a long day we decided to hit the hotel room and get a goodnight’s sleep. Still full from lupper (lunch and supper) we opted out to spend anymore money on food.

Sunday May 5th, Day 2: A Thrill Ride

After finally catching some shut eye from the long drive we ate lunch at Hamburger Joes. I am not a breakfast person and Madison just had some cereal. We weren’t all that hungry but needed something to satisfy our small hunger pains before spending the day at the Family Kingdom, I’ll get to that in a bit. Hamburger Joes was an awesome budget and family friendly place. Hamburger Joes has $1 bills stapled to every wall covering the entire inside with $1 bills. The lunch totaled around $25.

We really look asleep don't we? Ha!

The amusement park opened at 1 so we drove to the park, grabbed our ride tickets and began the fun! It was still a little cloudy and drizzling rain but that wouldn’t stop us! $1.25 a ride or $25 per person and I can say this was the most fun I had the entire trip!

Later into the afternoon we decided to go back to the Boardwalk where Tim would take a ride on the slingshot, we would explore the scenery and eat dinner at the River City Café. The River City Café was the most budget friendly dinner we had and the food was excellent! They cover the tables in brown paper so we got to pass the time drawing up Myrtle Beach art and taking pictures. The entire place is covered in license plates and other memorabilia. Really neat!

Monday May 6th, Day 3: An Adventure To Remember

Everyone I talked to advised me to go to Alligator Adventure. It was a mini zoo and beautiful garden area in one. It was a little overpriced ($60) but we had a good time. When we arrived we were able to catch the alligator feeding and it was unlike anything I had ever watched. Who knew alligators could jump out of the water so high?

We spent about two hours there and then walked over to Barefoot Landing where we had lunch at California Pizza. I wasn’t a real big fan of this place. They didn’t get our salad order right and the pizza was very doughy. Around $40 for lunch. I wasn’t too impressed.

It began to really warm up so we decided to spend several hours at the pool and beach. There is nothing like getting a good tan and drinking fruity drinks!

We wore ourselves out swimming so we stuck by the hotel and ate at the hotel’s restaurant, Crowe’s Nest. They had the best drinks and nachos! Such a great combo for taste but not for calories! Whoopsie!

Tuesday May 7th, Day 4: Explore Galore

The talk of the town was to not leave Myrtle Beach without visiting Broadway At The Beach. It is a little area with lots of shopping, Starbucks (thank god because I hadn’t had one yet and there are no shops without driving a half hr) and lots and lots of things to see and do!

We fed some fish and ducks, explored the grounds taking lots and lots of pictures and grabbed lunch at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville. Volcano Nachos (if you haven't noticed, I'm kind of a nacho freak) and a fruity tootie drink called Don’t Stop The Carnival a tropical blend of Margaritaville’s Authentic Island Silver Rum, Island Oasis® Strawberry, Banana, and Mango mixes. YUM!

After leaving Broadway at the Beach we spent the afternoon swimming and re-visiting the beach and pools, our resort had 23 of them.

I had been craving seafood since we drove into town and I needed it in my life asap. I googled recommendations and prices and found that Seafood World was the best choice. The buffet cost us $90 with drinks included for the three of us. It was pricey but being able to fill around 5 plates of seafood, salad and dessert it was worth it!

Wednesday May 8th, Day 5: Hole In One

The morning started out a little breezy and cloudy but like every other day ended in sunshine and warm weather. Myrtle Beach has a miniature golf course on every street corner but the closest one to the resort was Cancun Lagoon. It had a Dairy Queen next door and trying to stay on budget we grabbed lunch and headed to play a round of golf. I ended up winning (as usual) and Madison kicked butt getting a hole in one on a pretty hard hole. She like her mama will rule the golf course one day!

Being that it was our last full day at Myrtle Beach we stayed around the resort soaking in the sun and scenery. We walked the beach down to a nearby pier about 2 miles away where local fisherman set up their fishing poles trying to get their next big catch. One fisherman caught a baby shark and Madison begged to see and touch it and so she did, a lot braver than I’ll ever be!

 

We spent the evening re-visiting the Boardwalk and snapping some last minute pictures. We walked down to a local shop and grabbed Madison some ice cream then spent the rest of the night packing and cleaning up the room.

Thursday May 9th, Day 6: Red and Blue lights are never a good sign

We gathered our things and left Myrtle Beach around 8am. I drove about two hours and to my surprise my phone had been in roaming the whole trip and so my data roaming charges had hit their maximum limit so my GPS and apps became disabled. Being that we had only printed off directions going down to Myrtle Beach and not back made it quite frustrating. You would think “Oh just use the same directions, just go the opposite way.” No my friend it doesn’t work that way.

The way we were coming back was a little different, a shorter route. So while driving and trying to get our phones to work with no reception I ended up on Kentucky 9. This would be the road that is 55 mph, 2 hours long to get into Cincinnati and of course with my luck a cop catching me doing 88 in a 55. Dang it. So of course, he whipped a U-Turn and flipped those lights on.

Thank you Kentucky law enforcement for being so understanding and letting me off with a warning. I think with a map in my lap and the look on all of our faces he could tell we needed to catch a break. I set the cruise control and completed the 13 hour drive looking like a hot mess but ticket free.

In all the vacation was wonderful. Many strolls along the beach, hours spent poolside and one too many strawberry pina coladas (who am I kidding there will never be enough of those!) If you want to take a reasonably priced vacation and experience many cool attractions this is the place to visit!