Myrtle Beach – Family Style

Back in May I traveled down to Myrtle Beach, SC for family vacation. We had been to Myrtle Beach twice before, so this time my mom decided to plan it out a little differently. We each picked 2 “excursions” that we wanted to do while there for the week. We wrote them down on a piece of paper, then put those pieces all in a hat and picked out one each. These were our four winners (in the order we did them):

Pirate Dinner Show

The pirate dinner show – I was skeptical. It sounded very touristy, located in a gaudy building. And during the pre-show, my skepticism only increased, as we were led through pirate songs and taught pirate words (like “Argh”). But boy, was I wrong. At the end of pre-show, we filed into the main event, in a giant, tiered room. It had a large pool in the middle, where sat the different stages of the ship. There were parrots, sea lions, good food, great service, and one of the most amazing displays of acrobatics I have ever seen. It was so much fun, and upon leaving I had no doubt why the show had such amazing reviews. My mom’s choice of excursion was going to be difficult to beat.

Escape Room

Next up was my sister’s submission, the escape room. We went to Captive Escape Rooms, where we took on Dracula, working through three different adjoined rooms to escape our fate of becoming dinner. I was the only one of the group who had done an escape room before, and I’d only done it once. It was difficult, for sure, but using both of our allotted clues we made it out alive! (Albeit, we may have been 3 minutes over our hour of time). Had we taken any longer, Dracula may have found at least one of us already dead. But it was wicked fun, and I’d 100% do it again.

The Skywheel

The Skywheel was my excursion selection, and I couldn’t have been more excited. I love Ferris Wheels, and this is a giant one. I’m not sure everyone else loved it as much as I did (in fact, my sister was terrified). It was so amazing to see out over the city and over the ocean from the top. I wished we could have kept going around and around.

Ripley’s Aquarium

Last, but not least, was my dad’s pick of Ripley’s Aquarium. We saw sharks, sea turtles, starfish, jellies, and tons of fish. My sister even high-fived a manta ray (who apparently love all the pets). It was a bit smaller than we remembered from when we were there as kids, but very cool getting to walk through the tunnels of sea life nonetheless.

The Beach

Of course, I would be remised if I didn’t mention the beach! It wasn’t an “excursion,” but was the main reason we were there in the first place. At sunrise, sunset, and every sunny moment in between; laying out on the soft sand and jumping waves in the warm ocean; listening, endlessly, to the crash and pull of the water and taking in the salt in the air.