Beach Vacation 2013

 We made the trip to Charleston SC for some family time at the beach.  The plan was to camp out but with 100% chance of rain in the forecast, we decided to spend the first night in a hotel.  We were glad we did when around 8pm the skies opened up and poured rain most of the night. 

After arriving at the coast, we found a Starbucks to get coffee and make out hotel reservation online.  Then we hit the beach.  There were a handful of surfers out and a few people walking.  We waded out into the water and played in the waves.   A little while later, we saw a news crew on the beach and ended up getting interview (channel 2).  I was not sure why, but later found out that we were swimming in Tropical Storm Andrea!   I was not daunted,  I'm from the mountains and there we race bikes in this stuff!  Because weekends don't wait for the sun!

 Friday morning we hit the aquarium.  The place was packed out and I did not have a blast.  Too many people in that place.  The wife and kid did though so I made the best of it. 

 The kid caught a turtle.

 Friday evening, we met up with Joel, Marsha and Olivia at the Sewee Restaurant for some seafood.  It was great to see Joel and fam, and to talk about bikes, trips and surfing.  He offered to loan me his longboard, but the timing didn't work out.  The kid and I did go to Wal-Fart and buy a couple of $12 boogie boards with proved to be the way to go.  The waves were choppy and inconsistent, but only being waist to shoulder deep,  I caught way more rides than I would have if I had been on a surfboard.  I'm still on the hunt for a cheap surfboard that I can call my own.  That way I'll have one when I need it!

After dinner, I took the fam out to see the Palmetto Trail Trailhead.  It was less than 1.5 yrs ago that I was here and started my trip.  I couldn't help but think about another one in the future, but currently, most of the first 50 miles would be under water. 

Beach Bums

 While I was playing in the waves, for a time totaling about 15 hrs over the 3.5 days,   it dawned on my why I overheat so easily.  My blood is made up of mostly saltwater.  I feel as much at home in the ocean as I do in the mountains, and the thought of a riptide pulling me out and causing a huge rescue, somehow got me a little bit excited.....  after all, the dolphins are our friends!

 The kid had his first boogie board experience and absolutely loved it.  I was stoked to see him pick up this sport and enjoy the ocean like I do! 

 The campsite:  We stayed at the KOA in Mt Pleasant.  Not a bad little kampground.   The first night was peaceful, the second, not so much.  We had a fire and smores and crawled into the tent at 9:30pm.  All was quiet until 15 minutes later the neighbors pulled up.  It sounded like there were 20 people.  There were 6.  That's how noisy they were.  They were thrilled to be here, get some beer, start a fire etc.  Loud and obnoxious.   My blood boiled.  I sat up and said in my "stern voice":  "  Just so you know, quiet time starts at 10pm".   They made a couple of comments but ended up, surprisingly, moving their get together to the next empty campsite, giving a more bearable distance between us.  Although they continued making rude comments, I opted to stay in the tent and not escalate the issue. 

We were finally able to get some good sleep. 

 Sunday we packed up and headed to the beach again before the drive home.  The wind had died down and I stayed in the water for 2.5 hrs, searching and waiting for the perfect wave.  While conditions on the grand scale were not that great,  I had a blast, and realized that my love for the ocean will never fade.   At the same time I have grown to love the mountains as well, and don't plan to leave anytime soon. 

Tired and content after lots of time in the water.