Yesterday I shared the first half of our Fall Break vacation to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Today is all about the second half.
~ Day 4 ~
We started off nice and early on this day. All week we had been hyping the pool that contained Splash, the onsite water park, and today was the day it was scheduled to open for the first time since we arrived. The kids were so excited they woke up waaaaaaaay too early.
We headed across the street to the resort again for breakfast and by the time we ate the last piece of omelette it was 7:32a.m.
Yikes! We still had hours to kill before the park opened at 10:00a.m.
It was also kind of mist/raining so we were a little nervous if they would even open it. Rather than sit in our villa and go stir crazy I rounded up the family for a little walk to explore the pier we could see from the resort.
We read that the Apache Pier is the longest on the East Coast. It offers fishing and has a camp ground at the entry to it that seemed to be quite popular - even in the off season.
From the resort it is at most a ten minute walk. There is a beach side walking path that connects all the condos and hotels leading almost right up to it.
We didn't realize how big it actually was until we got on it. It was huge!
The kids loved it and thought it was so neat to see all the way up and down the coast from both sides. They wanted to go fishing, but we promised them we would go another day when it wasn't so rainy.
On our way back we passed Splash and it was open!
Rain or shine, the kids were not going to pass up the chance to go in the water park. We quickly changed into our suits and with in moments were water sliding with the best of them.
Now the lifeguards at the park we learned were super strict (a good thing of course!), and while I thought I could sit on the sidelines and watch the kids - no chance. Little Cute doesn't turn three for another month and even with her swim float on they wanted a parent with her at all times. Like hands on her - literally if she was in the water I had to hold her hand.
And if you think they don't notice, I let go a few times and I was whistle blown with in seconds. It also distracted me a few times and that large bucket got me. And let me just tell you, that water wasn't the warmest water a person could swim in...or have 3000 gallons of water splashed on you.
So when it thundered a slight bit off in the distance, a million whistles blew for all 7 of us that were in the water and that place was shut down for the next 30 minutes.
We decided this was a great time for a break and a snack.
And by snack, I mean for mommy and daddy to test out one of the fruity beverages.
The Cutes found friends to play with and share Goldfish with and everyone was happy for the entire half hour.
Then it was back to the grind.
And for this moment I might need to pray to Jesus a little bit for some forgiveness. I saw that the big bucket was about to tip over. I warned the mom next to me, and then I bailed. I risked a whistle blowing because I left The Cutes behind, but I'd already been hit four or five times and they loved it. Cute would hear it starting to tip sometimes and dive into that mess.
After a few more thousand times down the water slides, I tapped out and let Mr. Cute do some hand holding while I enjoyed another Peach Fuzz Buzz.
And then this little darling let me snuggle her to sleep again!
It was already late, but we were having so much fun we shut the park down, ate a quick dinner at the resort and then it was lights out.
~ Day 5 ~
We did our morning routine and then we decided this would be our special pier fishing day. The kids were so excited and couldn't wait. They both proclaimed they were going to catch "the biggest shark in the whole wide world".
After about thirty minutes they were able to help Mr. Cute reel in this big guy.
Needless to say after about an hour it didn't hold their attention, so I left Mr. Cute to enjoy some peace and quite and I took the kids to the base of the pier to play and swim.
We had the entire beach to ourselves for the most part. It was probably the coldest day of the trip and it was extremely overcast and rainy at times, but it didn't stop us one bit.
After some serious seagull chasing by the older Cutes and some serious sand eating by the caboose, Mr. Cute surprised everyone with ice cream treats he found at the pier restaurant. L.C. literally ate hers in five seconds.
We realized how late it was and thought the kids might be hungry so we packed up and headed back to the villa to get warm and dry.
Note: When I say it was the coldest day it was 81 degrees. We've lived in 95 plus for so long the poor kids think 80 is means to break out a down jacket! Bless their hearts.
Mr. Cute decided he wanted a little change of scenery and corralled our kids up for some putt-putt. Now we noticed Myrtle Beach is packed with putt-putt places. Literally there is one almost every block.
Cute was set on having a pirate themed place, so...pirate themed it was. We had a blast. It was probably one of the best putt-putt places we had ever been to.
After putt-putt we headed to what was probably our family's favorite restaurant out of the week - Mr. Fish. We literally just picked a place we saw from the road, but the food gods must have been looking out for us because it was fabulous.
The food was so good, but the customer service was excellent! A manager came right up to Cute and started telling him all about the fish tanks and the lobster tank. Cute was riveted so she even pulled one out to hold.
L.C. while quite adventurous wasn't about to touch it so Cute handed it to me. I think there is a picture floating around somewhere but I couldn't find it. And then it became a game of make mommy hold the moving lobster and see her face.
If I find the photo I will share. It's not nearly as awesome as Carrie Beth's from her Key West trip a few weeks ago, but I laughed thinking neither one of us are the lobster holding type but within weeks of each other we were now "pros".
If you are in the Myrtle area, I would highly recommend Mr. Fish as a must eat on your itinerary. It has a fun history to it, and interestingly enough has even been in Southern Living a time or two. Definitely worth checking out!
~ Day 6 ~
Hallelujah! The sun is full on shining! We couldn't believe for our last day we were so lucky.
We did the normal breakfast thing one more time, and then we headed back to the beach one last time.
Again, thank goodness for the beach cart. Now that the sun was shining and the sand was a little dryer, it was definitely a little tougher to pull the wagon.
We enjoyed our last morning on the beach immensely. It was sad knowing that we were going to be back in "real life" in a few hours, but we made sure to make the most of that last little bit of vacay.
We decided to split our time between the beach and the water park to maximize the last day fun, so after lunch we were back at Splash.
And since the sun was shining and water temperatures were now a little warmer than a polar bear swim, Mr. Cute decided he would get in on the action this time.
It was such a fun day!
We closed the park down again and then headed to the villa to change and go to dinner. We decided to leave the resort for dinner, but then saw there were restaurants right at the beginning of the complex. We popped in the Italian restaurant and decided to grab some pasta and some pizza.
The kids were in heaven!
They also thought this was so funny - a wall of cards! This kept them more entertained than the iPads. They loved it, and we then became the proud owners of pamphlets from every place along the beach.
After dinner the kids were so wiped out they fell asleep in two minutes tops. We woke up the next morning not quite ready to face everything we had been ignoring for the last week, but so grateful for such a fun family vacation.
That wraps up our trip for Fall Break!
Now...where to go next? What are some of your favorite Fall destinations?
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