Culley's Corner: Almost Kid-Less Vaca

Adrienne’s new dance studio is a competition one. What this means is that they learn dances for the purpose of competing them locally, and eventually nationally. The national competition was in Myrtle Beach this year. When we booked our travel in the fall, Steve and Emily expressed an interest in tagging along. Very quickly a plan was hatched!

We knew the trip was going to coincide with Grand Haven, and we knew the other kids would much rather be there! Mom and Dad agreed(~~stupidly~~ graciously) to keep them so we could go and focus on Adrienne!

Emily and I met them for dinner and did the trade off. We had warned them that there probably wouldn’t be enough room for them to take everything and everyone in one trip, but I’m not sure they believed us until they actually saw it with their own eyes.

Right up until we transferred the last items my mom kept saying she was going to be able to put some of her stuff in there. Well, not so much.

The next day we were off! We took the big white van because we pulled a trailer filled with props for the dances.

It was one long day’s drive and we were happy to get there, but a little disappointed at our accommodations. Let me be more specific…ewwwww. Not up to my standards.

I guess I’m a snob, but whatever. I like clean. Luckily we brought spirits to help.

Being honest, we were a little out of sorts the first two days. Most of Adrienne’s friends hadn’t arrived yet because the seniors didn’t dance until the third day. Being our first time doing a Nationals, we didn’t know you didn’t necessarily need to be there the whole week. Also, I don’t really know any of the other moms. Adrienne drives herself so there isn’t a reason for me to go into the studio. All of these variables made us feel a little lost. We did know there was a great outlet mall though, so we spent the whole first day shopping! It was honestly too dang hot to do anything else!

It was SO HOT. It’s like being on the surface of the sun I think. We found a good little restaurant for our first night’s dinner.

We did some walking on the strip which is everything I hate. Tons of people walking in packs, stuffing their faces with junk, and little to no consideration for those around you. I was over it. We did ride the Skywheel which was fun and gave us a great view of the city.

The next day Adrienne had friends arriving so she could dump us old people and go to beach! We decided we needed to get a little more on the outskirts of the city. It was a good plan. We found a fun seafood restaurant with a good view.

What are the chances? We obviously picked the right spot!

When we got back Adrienne told us she was going out with a group of her friends that night. The guys went and found a bar while we waited for Adrienne to get ready. All of the sudden the sky got real ominous! There’s nothing cooler that watching a storm come over the ocean.

We had only a few minutes to decide whether we were going to try and outrun the rain and get a block up the street to the restaurant, or wait it out. Adrienne’s group said they were going, so we followed suit! We were heading to restaurants right across the street from each other. We made the right choice, because I swear the minute we got there it started pouring harder than I’ve ever seen! It literally poured buckets for hours. There was no way anyone was going out unless they wanted to be soaked immediately! Thank God I had a deck of cards in my purse! We hunkered down and closed the restaurant playing cards. Girls won of course.

The next day we decided we better try the beach. After all, 3 days in Myrtle Beach without actually going to the beach is kinda embarrassing. Two words: TOO HOT. Is that even a thing? Too hot for the beach? How is that even possible? I assure you though, I am not making this up.

That night we finally hooked up with some of the other moms and went to Senior Frogs. The guys did their own thing, and everyone was happy! The DJ loved having all the dance girls there!