eBay Guides - A VACATION IN MYRTLE BEACH

After years of a vacation being time spent working on the house and short day trips I decided it was time to really do something. I also wanted to create a good memory for my two daughters ages 11 and 13. This being said it also had to be done on a budget. I spent several months going over ideas, a week long camping trip? a week in the mountains? Myrtle Beach just kept coming up. I had heard so much about it being a wonderful vacation area and good for families. I had also heard that it was very pricey but decided to investigate because I wanted my girls to see the ocean.

The first task was finding a place to stay. I thought about camping and they do have several camping areas, some right at the beach. These camping site range from primitive to bringing your second home with you on wheels. The closest I come to that is a Chevy van that refuses to run. I also thought that a week of that might not be as relaxing as it sounds. Next I googled hotels. Yes, they are pricey, although the further from the beach the more reasonable. I did find a couple near the beach that were not badly priced but in reading the reviews I became unsure. That I will leave for you to research yourself.

Finally, on E-bay, I became aware of Condo rentals. At first I thought they would be the most expensive but found quite a few that were well within my price range. Condos are available on the beach but we decided on one about five minutes away. For a week long stay I wanted a little more quite time. I found a beautiful two bedroom, two bath condo in a very quiet area for a terrific price. The fact that it was two bedrooms was great. Try imagining my 11 and 13 year old daughters in one hotel room for a week.....NO! Two bathrooms, wow, we only have one here. It also had a full kitchen. This was a super plus. We were able to have half of our meals in the condo saving a fortune over dining out for a full week. The complex also had a nice swimming pool. At first I thought we would not use it because we would be at the beach all the time but the girls loved coming back from the beach and having an evening swim in the pool. I loved letting them burn off all the energy while I sat back in a lounge chair with a paperback. With the "sellers" permission I can reference you to E-bay user I.D. damurphy25, or: damurphy @ sc.rr.com for more information on this particular condo availability. I believe they have more than one unit they rent. Please note that I have no monetary interest in this condo, I just believe it was a great vacation!

Myrtle beach itself. First note that you can't "do" Myrtle Beach in one week. Well, maybe you could, but I can't consume that much coffee. I could go on forever about this wonderful vacation but my fingers would cramp so I will keep it as brief as possible. We decided mostly to spend our time at the ocean. We only went to the actual Myrtle Beach once. It was very nice but we enjoyed Surfside and Pawleys Island the most. These beaches are a bit less crowded and great if you are into shell hunting or watching "little animals" as my daughters refer to crabs and minnows. We also enjoyed Barefoot Landing and the wonderful T.I.G.E.R.S. Preservation Station. If you are more adventurous there are an amazing number of attractions in the area. We counted numerous miniature golf courses, Ripley's Aquarium and museum, at least one amusement park, a water park, regular golf courses, theaters, music houses , "Dining adventures" and so much more. All of this information and maps are available for free at the more than half dozen "welcome centers" located throughout the area. Shopping and dining coupon books are also available for FREE at these locations and in front of most of the tourist shopping stores. I have heard of people selling these coupons.......you can get more than you can use for free. Need internet service and a computer to use? I easily found an "internet cafe" that had great coffee to check my e-mail. If you have your own laptop, hot spots are all over the place.

Shopping? Had to. I first thought the "tourist trap" stores would be expensive but they really were not. When you add in all the free coupon books available there are some great deals to be had. Keeping it short, there are souvenir shops everywhere. We came home with gifts for everyone and items for our memories. Of course the almost obligatory salt water taffy but also four nice t-shirts that we got for $10 and the .99 cent hermit crabs. We now have three hermit crabs. My oldest daughter thought that one would be lonely........ Just remember that your .99 cent hermit crab NEEDS $20 or more of hermit crab accessories.

Dining? Buffets abound. From the standard and inexpensive to the supreme in seafood. We kept to a budget and avoided the more expensive but were well fed the entire trip. Also note that the full kitchen in the condo made for a much less expensive trip. Dining information and coupons are also available in all the coupon books. There were also most of the same "fast food" places that we have in our area. Basically there are almost unlimited choices available from casual to fine dining.

Now to the getting to Myrtle Beach. We are just outside of Dayton Ohio. My first thought was that a train trip would be fun. Unfortunately to this area a train trip would involve 24 hours and most of it would be by bus. The cost for the three of us would have been about $300 one way and we would need to rent a car once there. I decided that the train trip vacation will come later when we can actually go by train somewhere. Next came flying. Definitely the shortest route but the cost of flying out of our area would have been close to $300 per person and we would again need to rent a car upon arrival. That left me to packing up the car and driving. There is no way around it, it is a good 12 hour drive from Kettering. But it is doable. I am a AAA member and first requested maps and a "Trip Tik" from them. The maps are very handy but, my apologies to AAA, the route they planned for us was not. In fact, when I mentioned a AAA route to various locals I was met with laughter. This was the route we took down to Myrtle Beach. I also had the bright idea of night driving. I thought less traffic and my girls would sleep. Short and to the point, unless you have two drivers to alternate this was not one of my best plans. The route back I used Map Quest. MUCH BETTER! We also came back on mostly highways, did not end up in any traffic and I had half of the road changes to make. In fact at one point on the trip down we were on a highway with signs that said we were going "NORTH on route 1 and SOUTH on route 9" at the same time. It is going to take me a while to get over that. Even with the high cost of gas the getting there and back portion of the vacation cost under $200.

Southern Hospitality. Yes, this is real. I spent 10 years living just outside of Boston and another 15 in Southern California. ( Two vastly different cultures) Somehow during this time I developed a strange fear of the South. My attitude was very much like the song line, "I wonder if anybody'd think I'd flipped if I went to LA via Omaha." I was proven wrong. The people were warm and friendly and very helpful to a confused tourist. They even drive fairly well. - I knew we had crossed back into Ohio when I felt like I was in a NASCAR race. Hey, If I really wanted to drive like that we passed both Bristol and Darlington on our trip!

To sum up our vacation it was wonderful! I highly recommend Myrtle Beach. Just remember to take your sunscreen and USE IT! The girls and I had a great time and we did a whole week of vacation, travel, condo, food and goodies for under $1000.