It ain’t the Gulf

This weekend we had a little family getaway to Myrtle Beach. Jackson constantly begs to go to the beach so we decided to take him before summer’s end. I booked our room on Sunday without realizing we had tix to the Sheryl Crow concert Sunday night. Oh well, busy weekend ahead.
On Friday, we drove down and checked in and immediately went to eat. Yes, it was a little crowded and we knew our limits with our kids. Instead of the fancy seafood places with long waits, we settled for a nice Mexican dinner. Complete with the parental pitcher of Margarita’s. Yep, we got a couple of wise looks but hey, we’re on vacation too. Besides, it won the world’s weakest margarita for 2 years in a row. After our burritos and taco salad, we went out for a beach tour. Just as we remembered, the brown, rocky sand awaited us. Some people just LOVE the Atlantic coast, and I’m not complaining about the coast being 2 hours away but I’m a faithful lover of my friendly Florida panhandle white sand beaches. My heart can not be swayed (oil or not). Jackson held nothing back and took off. Lincoln was already too tired to enjoy it much but he pretended to like it for a second then reclaimed his spot on my hip.
Although nightfall had set in, Lincoln was having no part in this hotel stay. I admit the bed wasn’t as comfortable as our sleeping arrangements at home but we did have the ocean in the background. After several hours of unsuccessful kid hypnotics, we succumbed to an earlier than planned bedtime to convince our children it was time to sleep.
As I had suspected, as soon as the sun peaked over the horizon, Lincoln was calling my name to remove him from that awful cage and Jackson was bouncing off the beds asking to go to the beach. We arouse, dressed in swim gear and headed out for breakfast. I would have preferred the made to order omelet but that required getting the kids to agree on getting in the car and going somewhere and I just didn’t see that happening. We settled on the hotel buffet and well, their weak coffee just wasn’t exactly what I needed after the early rising but I’m willing to compromise for my children. We spent the first couple of hours at the beach with Lincoln crying due to lack of sleep and Jackson running around in complete oblivion. He was searching high and low for crabs and sea shells. As soon as the hotel water park opened, we were a few of its first guests. We spent an hour there sliding and splashing and floating around the lazy river before Lincoln suggested lunch and a nap. We headed upstairs and had a picnic over the hotel coffee table of turkey and mayonnaise sandwiches. We bedded for nap but I think Lincoln was the only one successful one in the effort.
After naptime, we beached more and Jackson found a friend who helped him make a village of sand castles. About 70 of them total. After the friend left, Jackson was left to bask in his creation all alone until Lincoln decided it would be FUN to squash them. Well, you can imagine this didn’t go over so well with Jackson. Lincoln destroyed and Jackson squealed. . I always thought it would be the other way around. At one time, I’m pretty sure I heard Jackson say he wanted to sell him for $15 dollars. And they say everyone has a price.
We decided to try the Carolina Coastal tradition of seafood. It’s the only way we’ve found it around here and we knew it wasn’t our style. Again, it ain’t the Gulf but…we are off to eat seafood Calabash. For those unsuspecting, it is actually a fried seafood buffet in disguise. I’ll admit the selection was vast. They had sushi, fried cheese sticks and WHOLE lobster and crawfish. The crab legs were a big hit for Jason and Jackson. Lincoln was a little traumatized by the sheer size of the crawfish. They didn’t’ come from the Mobile Bay area that was for sure.
Bedtime came around a little easier the second night. The next morning, after packing up the car, we played a quick HOT round of miniature golf at the “Pirate Place.” Jackson really just wanted to pay to walk around the holes; the whole hitting the ball around was just a detail. It was a fun trip to the Atlantic Coast area and may well be our last one. After we move back to the “south” I think most of our trips will be reserved for our one true love…Sugar white sand beaches, grilled seafood and emerald waters…the Florida/Alabama Gulf Coast Beaches!