Myrtle Beach Weekend

Last weekend, Nana (Chris' mom) took Chris, Lottie, & I to Myrtle Beach for the weekend. It was a wonderful weekend of relaxing, site-seeing, and playing on the beach.

Nana flew in Thursday morning, and we left for Myrtle as soon as I finished working. We first showed up at the Holiday Inn on the strip, which thankfully was the wrong hotel because the strip was ridiculous. It was crawling with drunk college students on their spring break and covered in cheesy, garish stores. Not really our scene. We finally ended up at the correct Holiday Inn on Surfside Beach, which was just our speed. Surfside Beach is quiet and much less crowded.

Friday morning, Chris, Charlotte, and I took an early morning walk along the beach, showing Lottie the beach for the first time.

We spent some time playing in the hotel while everyone got ready. Lottie dressed up in Nana's shower cap and made faces in the mirror. She looked like one of the mushrooms off Mario Brothers. She is such a little ham.

We later ate lunch by the pool and in front of the beach.

We then decided to visit Ripley's Aquarium. Lottie loved it. She was mesmerized by the fish. 

Touching a horseshoe crab

Touching stingrays

Chris and I decided to treat Lottie to a souvenir since she could actually pick one out. We offered cute sea turtles the size of her, pink sea turtles, and sparkly funny stingrays. However, she choose a realistic-looking octopus. And she loves it. This girl loves her animals.

Lottie with the real octopus and her stuffed octopus

Despite the cool temperatures and strong wind, we donned our bathing suits and headed to beach that afternoon. 

Lottie did not appreciate the cold water.

Or the sand at first. However, the sand grew on her once Daddy showed her how to play in it.

We didn't stay long because the little goose started shivering (note she is tucked into Daddy's shirt in the pictures above to help keep her warm).

For dinner, we ate at the Nacho Hippo. Chris and I are rarely suckers for advertising, but the Nacho Hippo was advertised everywhere, and we loved the name and logo. It ended up being a great pick--the food was delicious. Lottie really enjoyed the black beans. They also had a pretty good reggae singer. 

The following day, we visited Huntington Beach State Park, which we loved. We love the wilder beaches of state parks. It was a lot like North Padre National Seashore. We had a great time even though it was still too cold to get into the water.

 

Jumping waves

Playing in the sand

 She still wasn't impressed by the cold water.

 She did love walking on the beach.

 

Of course, both Lottie and I got cold, so we hoodied up, so we could keep enjoying the beach.

For dinner, Nana treated us to a yummy seafood dinner. It was a wonderful day.

Sunday morning, Chris, Lottie, and I took a 3 mile walk on the beach right after sunrise.

Before leaving town, we visited the Governor's Lighthouse.

We arrived back in Spartanburg just in time to drop Nana off at the airport. We are so thankful to Nana for treating us to this incredible weekend. We love and miss you Nana!