MYRTLE BEACH, SOUTH CAROLINA

So we have been kicking around the idea of moving on (leaving Michigan) for Kellen's career. Since I am a nurse, I can pretty much work anywhere, so we would be focusing on what Kellen's job has to offer. He would really like to stick with Bosch, especially since it would be difficult to get the same pay degree anywhere else without an MBA which he has yet to get (especially since he has been working such long hours with his current position pretty much since he started there 6 years ago). That does limit our options, however. Bosch is pretty much limited to here in the east/midwest. But we are not cold folk. We grew up in the hot desert and prefer the heat to these wonderfully cold winters that Michigan offers. So we have been interested in South Carolina as a possibility. Good schools, low cost of living, warmer weather (sure its humid, but so is Michigan), decent sized LDS populations. And now that it looks like his sister will be moving to Atlanta, Georgia, it looks like a good option. But of course we wanted to check out the area before we really considered it as an option to live there. So we took a short vacation to South Carolina.

Of course it was a long drive, so we broke it up. We drove down Friday night after Kellen got off work, slept for a few hours (in the car), then got up and went to the Mammoth Caves in Kentucky. We went on a 2-hour tour. It was amazing. They said so far they have found over 400 miles of underground caves all connected! And it was so nice and cool in there compared to the humid 80 degrees outside :) We also drove around the park and saw a bunch of butterflies just chillin'. Pretty cool.




Then we drove to Greenville, SC. That is one of the areas that has a Bosch location. We went to church the next morning (the people were all very friendly and welcoming, and there were plenty of kids in the primary), and then drove around the area and checked out Anderson, SC (another Bosch location). They had some really nice, big elementary schools. And both areas are SOOOOO green and gorgeous (some of these photos are likely from the drive there, but I didn't keep track. It was all gorgeous though).



But we also wanted to have some fun and go to the beach and ocean. So the next day we drove out to Myrtle Beach. We got a great groupon and stayed at Ocean Creek Resort. We had a room with 2-bedrooms, 2-bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining/sitting area, 2-balconies, and a short 3 minute walk down to the beach that connected to a small river that had a calm/shallow area for little kids. It was awesome. We stayed there for 3 nights. We wanted to be able to take our time, plus we had 2 little kids, so we didn't overbook our days with activities. Even so, we still managed to have a lot of fun.

The first day at Myrtle Beach (Monday) we got in a bit late so we just drove up and down the business route (where they have all the tourist attractions). We also ate at Crabby Mike's. It is an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet that was recommended to us. It was a bit pricey, but really good food.



The next day (Tuesday) we went to the beach. The beach was beautiful with lots of fun seashells, calm waves, and the water was shallow for quite a few feet before it got deep, which was fun for Shade. We had found a cheap body board for Shade, and he was loving it. Olive was a bit intimidated by the waves, but she still managed to have fun. She loved the dirt. At times she attempted to put all the dirt from the beach into the ocean. Then we went to do mini golf. There are TONS of mini golf places up and down the business route, so Shade had been keeping track of which ones he liked the best. At one point he said "this is my worst day. There are too many mini golf places and I can't decide which one to do!" But he finally settled on a Jurassic Park themed one. It was pretty fun, and we each got a hole-in-one! Shade's hole-in-one was actually on the last hole too! Then that night we went to the Pirate's Voyage dinner and show. It was also a bit pricey, but it was very awesome. It was a theater show with a lot of acrobatics, sea lions, and a yummy dinner. Shade loved it, and Olive even stayed entertained the entire time.

Beach


Mini Golf


Pirate's Voyage


Wednesday, we went to the beach again for a long time. Then we went back to the room and took a nap. Then later we went to check out the Boardwalk and went on the huge Ferris wheel where we got to see an aerial view of the whole area. We did some window shopping and spent most of the afternoon just walking around enjoying the area.



Then on Thursday we went to the beach again. Afterward, we went downtown and went to Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum. It was fun and pretty interesting. That night we also had ice cream for dinner :)



The last day we were there (Friday) we finished up at the beach one last time, then hit the road back home. We stopped at a real Battleship in North Carolina. It was huge, and really amazing. Shade also loved that, even though it was not air conditioned and we walked through almost the whole thing. He was amazed by how big it was and how many rooms and tubes there were on that thing. He kept saying "this must have cost like $9,000!" Afterward, we drove until we found a hotel around 10:30pm (in West Virginia), then finished up our drive home the next day, on which we found an awesome sign just for Shade :)




So the drive was long, but doable. And definitely cheaper than flights. Plus, we got to talk a lot (which we never seem to have time for these days with Kellen working late and me still working a lot on weekends). So overall, it was an awesome week!