Other Summer Fun: Myrtle Beach

I would love to devote an entire blog entry to what a great husband and father Kevin is. He's a fabulous man, with a great sense of humor, and he's so much fun to be with! Unfortunately, writing about Kevin doesn't really fit this blog because he doesn't fall under the heading "Greenways", and if I did one under the heading "Other Summer Fun" it would probably be misinterpreted as appropriate for mature audiences only -- not quite what we were going for with this blog! To keep it more "family friendly" let me give you some examples of the how fabulous my husband is by telling you about our trip to Myrtle Beach.

First of all, last week when I was out of town with my book club, Kevin called and asked, "What would you think if I took next Friday off and we went to Myrtle Beach?" Umm, let's see: a weekend getaway to celebrate the end of summer in grand style (lazy river, frozen drinks by the pool, good food, family fun)? Yeah, I'm definitely in. He planned the whole thing (found the place, made the reservations, etc.) and then left town for the week to go to Nashville for work! My only job was to get us all packed and ready to leave by 7:00 am Friday morning, so we'd be down to Myrtle Beach early enough to get in some serious pool time Friday afternoon.


As we backed out of the driveway at 7:33 am on Friday morning, Noah asked, "Daddy, can we play that game? You know, with the questions?" The "game with the questions" consists of Kevin asking the kids trivia questions. Sounds simple, except that he makes the questions up on the fly (some with multiple choice answers), and the questions come from a huge variety of sources -- everything from Sponge Bob to Star Wars movies to Jerry Clower routines to baseball plays . . . . and, he asks them each separate questions, geared to their individual level of knowledge. The fact that he can do this and keep the kids occupied for as long as he can come up with questions may not sound like a big deal, but it's actually pretty amazing to witness. I try to jump in and help out by asking a question, and my mind goes blank. It's as if, not only do the kids and I share no common knowledge, but I know absolutely nothing. On this trip I resorted to asking a few multiplication problems, which they refused to answer. I concede that Kevin is the king of trivia, and I just like to sit back and enjoy the show!


Kevin put Noah off a little bit by saying, "It's not time for questions yet," and getting them to watch a movie first. After watching "Journey to the Center of the Earth" it was finally time for questions! About 20 minutes into questions everyone's nerves started to fray a little. The weather was iffy, with a dark sky, rolling rain clouds and scattered thunderstorms . . . Noah started getting frustrated that he wasn't able to answer every question right, so he started getting whiney. Nathan, never missing a chance to aggravate his younger brother, started jumping in and answering Noah's questions when Noah didn't know the answers, and even when Noah did. A fight ensued. There was yelling from the front seat. There was yelling from the back seat. People quit the game. And then, the booming voice that said, "CHOOSE FUN!" Of course, there was the implied threat of what would happen if fun wasn't chosen, but still, I was proud of how quickly everyone got on board. Choose fun! They did, and we did. No punishments or other negative consequences necessary!

We got to the resort and Kevin went in to get us some wrist bands (so we could us the pools before check-in time) and got us an upgrade to an ocean-front suite. I LOVE being able to sit in the car and have Kevin take care of stuff like that! I would never have even asked about getting an upgrade, or if I had asked I would have said "No thanks!" when I found out there was an extra charge. But not Kevin! Extra charge? Who cares?!? We're on VACATION!

For lunch we went to Margaritaville at Broadway on the Beach. We sat outside on the patio, sipping (what else?) margaritas and watched the clouds break apart and the blue sky and bright sun show themselves. After eating we let the kids ride a huge, rocking pirate ship ride, which I actually had to ride as well, because Noah wasn't tall enough to ride without an adult. Kevin sat on a bench and watched -- gotta love a man who knows his limits!

After lunch and rides we headed back to the resort to change and check out the pools. It is so great to be a mom of boys, because once they get to be a certain age (i.e., potty trained) and you're out as a family, you never have to take them to the bathroom. Or changing room. You only have to worry about getting yourself changed and ready, while your husband handles the boys. I love that husband of mine!

Over the next 36 hours we really did little else but swim in the pools, sit in the hot tubs, float in the lazy river, jump the waves in the ocean, eat, play games, watch TV, and generally relax and have fun with each other. We ordered food and drinks poolside, went to Starbucks for breakfast, ordered take-out pizza for dinner and ate in our room on the 12th floor, with beautiful views of the beach and ocean, the resort, and all up and down the coast. We discovered that this was Noah's first time to stay in a hotel with a balcony (at 8 years old -- poor deprived kid!), and I was especially glad Kevin and sprung for the upgrade! The kids got to watch a wedding that took place on the grounds below our room, watch fireworks light up the night sky, look down on pelicans flying across the sky, and we all watched with keen interest as a small garbage truck drove up and down the beach, emptying trash cans into its back end. Balcony's are cool!

For Friday night dinner out we took the the kids to Dick's Last Resort, a fun restaurant at Barefoot Landing in North Myrtle Beach. Kevin and I had taken Nathan there when he was 2 1/2 and I guess my memory was a little cloudy. I know Dick's advertises itself as "the place your momma warned you about", with the rude wait staff and tall, cone-shaped hats made out of butcher paper they put on your head with cleaver sayings written in black Sharpie . . . I remembered it being kind of "all in good fun", but parents everywhere, let me warn you: Dick's Last Resort is strictly for mature audiences only. Nathan was absolutely mortified when they put a hat on his head that read "Free Breast Exams Here" with a cut-out for his face to poke through, and I think he wanted to punch the waiter. Kevin (thank God for Kevin!) was able to talk Nathan down, and we did end up having a nice evening. However, I saw a glimpse of what our next few years may be like, as puberty moves in and takes up residence, and I admit it, I'm nervous! At least Noah didn't really understand a lot of what was written on the hats (his said "I'm wearing her panties" with an arrow pointing to me), so perhaps we've only caused great emotional pain and scarring to our oldest.

Overall, the weekend was such great fun, that come Sunday morning Kevin was suggesting that perhaps we stay another day. I love his free spirit, and hated to be a big party pooper, but hey, someone has got to work! And since I'm kind of liking the fact that it's not me, I figured we needed to get him back in time so he could be fresh and ready to go Monday morning!

Noah: On Friday we went to Myrtle Beach. We went on the balcony, we went to Starbucks, and we went to Dicks Last Resort. We went to the pool. There was a lazy river and a pirate ship with a pool. We went in the lazy river. We went in the pirate ship. I played. Then I went in the other pool. I did a front flip into the pool. Me and my brother were jumping in the pool. My Mom and Dad got in the pool. We played water tag. My Mom and Dad said we had to go back to the room. I had a great time at the pool. My favorite things were swimming and spending time with my family.

Nathan: We went to Myrtle Beach on Friday and we stayed until Sunday. On Friday we drove down and went to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. We ate lunch and then we rode on a pirate ship ride. Next we went back to the hotel and went to the pool. First we went in a pirate ship pool, and then the lazy river. Me and Noah swam around it. But out of nowhere two 16-year-olds attacked us. They were splashing in our mouths and pushing us under water and grabbing us. When they turned on Noah, grabbing him and stuff, I said, "IT'S GO TIME." Then I sprung up and got one in a choke hold. Then the other guy came to help and Noah jumped on him and then they pushed us under the water and we ran to get Mom. We were coughing and hacking and Mom was all like, "What's the matter?" So I told her and she went over to them and put down the Law. On Saturday we swam in the pools and the ocean and everything. And on Sunday we watched TV until 10:30 am and then we went home. While we were there we also saw fireworks from the balcony, and went to Dick's Last Resort. My favorite things were swimming in the lazy river, going to Margaritaville, and playing miniature golf.

Mom's Note: I was really surprised, when I read Nathan's journaling, that he spent so much time writing about the "fight" with the two boys in the lazy river! I've got to admit, when they came up to me "coughing and hacking" I was dozing in a lounge chair , and so they startled me out of nap. I was a little disoriented, and had no idea what they were talking about or what had happened. I knew my boys were probably not completely innocent in whatever had happened, but I take horseplay in the water pretty seriously, so I felt I needed to address it with the other boys. We walked over to the lazy river and my kids pointed them out to me, and I waved them both over. One of the boys pointed to his chest and raised his eyebrows like, "Who, me?" I nodded, and looking nervous, they waded over. I'm pretty sure they weren't 16, but they were older, taller, and stronger than my boys. My laying down the "Law" consisted of the following: "They said you guys were playing really rough. I don't know what happened, but I've asked them to stay away from you and would like you to stay away from them. Can you do that? Great. Thanks." And then I headed straight back to my lounge chair -- after all, my beer was getting warm! Oh, and "It's go time"? Straight from the movie "Paul Blart, Mall Cop". Thank goodness I don't let them watch movies for mature audiences only!