When Darren and I first married, we went to the beach every year. We both love the water. After Connor came, we stopped going at around his age 3 (thanks to budget, time, other plans).
This summer we were very excited to plan a long overdue beach trip.
This required so much planning from Darren who budgeted, researched places to stay, serviced/waxed/washed/vacuumed the van, added new brakes, and added extra work hours.
The day before our trip, the kids, Darren, Meme, and I were so excited to hit the road. I had to make one stop at the mall the day before our leave. When it was time to go, the van would not start.
No matter how hard I tried, it wouldn't start. I had to call Darren in 1000 degree heat to come and get me.
To make a long story short, the (new) van had to be towed and we were stuck with a service charge, a tow charge, and a rental charge.
Thus began The Sechrist Family luck.
We call ourselves the Griswolds.
We had to try to budget our money, so we rented a much smaller vehicle. It felt like:
My mother-in-law rotated the front and back (squished in with the kids and cooler) with me .
Prior, I was left with a packing challenge: pack the least amount possible.
I had to channel Mrs. E. who says to take two neutral bottoms and a few extra tops when traveling.
That is what I did for the whole family.
I even googled how to roll clothing for maximum packing space.
Finally,
we were on the road and ready to ride the wild surf.
In the words of Clark Griswold:
"Well I'll tell you something. This is no longer a vacation. Its a quest. It's a quest for fun. You're gonna have fun and I'm gonna have fun... We're all gonna have so much fun we're gonna need plastic surgery to remove our smiles!"
(cable/clean version)
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| beach shark by random boy beach side I thought it was awesome. Unfortunately our road trip didn't end the way we wanted. We booked a room at a place we had never stayed, but the pictures looked good, the reviews were fair, and we had called ahead. The hotel reassured us we would have a family friendly space for our clan, a kitchen(ette), restaurant across inn, and all rooms had been remodeled. That would be negative. It was a dump. (I can't say it any nicer.) I'm not going to go into details about this room or show you all the (yuk) pictures I took because I do plan to write some letters and I do plan to write some reviews. However, because you're my friends I will give you a little peak: |
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| says it all, doesn't it? |
Yep, that would be a Mexican wrestler sticker right on the only window (or Satan, I don't know).
We are in no way snobs but for the price we paid, there is no way this room was up to code.
We were so very disappointed.
And, just because you are my really, really good (and nonjudgmental) friends I will also provide you a pic of the underwear that showed up on day 2 and stayed until the end:
(Trust me there was always a party nearby.)
Let's just say most people rush to the room to wash off the "bacteria" from the ocean, we ran to the ocean to wash off the bacteria from the room.
Yes. We complained.
Yes. We were lied to and told we would get an upgrade.
Yes. The manager was off the next 2 days.
Yes. We thought about finding another room but knew it would be near impossible to get a refund and find another room.
And, the kids could care less and were thrilled to be at the beach.
Yes- this was me:
I held it in until I had to take a shower, then I lost my mind and said 'WE ARE GOING HOME NOW'. Don't worry I recovered.
If the Sechrist Family can do one thing well, it's get over it.
I went out to get a few redneck pieces to match my new neighborhood:
Somehow Carlee talked me into this fringe two piece (what was I thinking?) Darren was not happy I paid good money for this two piece/ swimsuit/ fringe/ thing.
(Hey it's funky man.)
Tire Float (yeeee haww)
In true Griswold fashion, we forged ahead and stayed out in the fresh air as much as possible. In the words of Clark Griswold "The moose says you're closed, I say you're open."
Nothing can stop our fun!
Our hotel did have a nice pool and a lazy river. I enjoyed the little caged kiddie area because it allowed me to swim while watching Carlee. It also had a nice bar/grill (not restaurant) and nice employees (ie. cleaning staff, mechanics, etc.)
Luckily, my children love the water as much as I do and we had a great time.
The kids loved these Shirley Temples/ order of fries at the swim up bar.
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| Cornhole |
The pools were open to the public. Connor made a friend each day, so he was never bored.
Carlee was even more friendly with strangers than normal (not throw your underwear friendly but more talkative).
We were also invited to visit our friends.
It was a bit further down the coast, but it was well worth the drive.
It was a bit further down the coast, but it was well worth the drive.
These buddies know how to have a good time together:
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| love these boys |
A water park, fun conversation, lunch, french braids, and laughter made up the day:
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| king of the slides |
We also enjoyed some great food and golf.
I loved The Barbecue House where our waiter was very friendly. He saw that Connor was interested and talked to him a lot about surfing. He even showed off his apps with wave length/ speed prediction and his shark repellent watch.
He recommended that we go to Mayday Mini Golf.
It started out as fun but then the heat got to the whole family. At hole 9 Connor had to go to the bathroom, which meant I had to interrupt 9 more holes with people playing to get him to the bathroom. Then Carlee fell and skinned her leg.
Being a "highly sensitive child", she screamed bloody murder the rest of the night.
Darren kept laughing and saying 'Mayday, Mayday' because we were so grumpy.
I kept shooting him dirty looks (and thinking about punching him like Clark did the Moose).
-This is crazy. This is crazy. -Clark
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| Mayday Golf |
We also enjoyed Overtime Cafe.
Connor, Darren, and I split the Nachos. It could have fed us for a week.
The boys loved the sports theme and all of the memorabilia covering every inch of the wall.
"I'm so hungry I could eat a sandwich from a gas station." -Clark
For our final night, the kids really wanted to visit Alligator Adventure and Connor had his heart set on a seafood buffet. Seafood is his absolute favorite.
However, the night before Meme (who won't let me take her picture) got a terrible nosebleed. It would not stop. The next morning we looked up a clinic and the doctor packed her nose.
Unfortunately, it would not stop the bleeding and Darren had to drive her to the emergency room where she had a painful posterior nasal packing. I felt really bad for her.
Clark: Aah, what d'ya say honey? Ohh. Despite all the little problems, it really is fun isn't it?
Ellen Griswold: No. But with every new day there's fresh hope."
We finished the night with a late trip to Alligator Adventure. The kids enjoyed it. They touched a snake, alligator, and turtle. There were a lot of cool reptile exhibits. Connor wanted to stay longer but Carlee was being a 'highly sensitive child' again.
Carlee scored this wind up alligator and Connor got a shirt and an alligator tooth necklace from the gift shop.
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| Carlee seems to be helping the alligator in this photo. |
We called it a night at 9:30pm. It was too late for the Seafood Buffet, so we hit up The Waffle House.
Can you go wrong with The Waffle House (even at the beach)?
Last but not least we made fond memories at the beach. Being near the ocean reminds me of God's greatness. It creates peace and connection with me. I hope to live near the water one day.
I loved walking by the waves in the early morning and late evening.
Although it was hot, we had such great weather with no rain for more time at the beach.
The last day we had to leave for the pools. Apparently there was a major jelly fish outbreak. They were everywhere.
The Little Mermaid
Once in the ocean, Connor hit himself in the face with his boogie board. His nose started bleeding and he trucked it out of the water like he was on fire. When I asked him what was wrong, he said sharks can smell a drop of blood 2 miles away.
#thanksSharkWeek
I enjoyed my beautiful babies so much:
Why aren't we flying? Because getting there is half the fun. You know that. -Clark
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| Anniversary 13 years of Adventures Ahhh, the first ones here! and you know why? Cause we're the Griswalds!! -Clark Griswalds |
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