Redneck Getaway 2011 - Day Five, 9/14/11

Even though the forecasts have been sketchy, the weather holds for another day of full sun!

Breakfast and beach again. Cooler full of drinks and Jello Shots. Waves are OK, so more boarding. In the course of the day, Angie gets her balls on the ground & is able to get on with the vacation!

We decide to walk down to Beach Cove for the exercise and activity. Also gives us a chance to look at the monstrous North Beach Plantation. There are so many units in the two buildings that the beach and atmosphere are the exact opposite of what we come for. Go to the little beach bar for beer and really bad Nacho's! Great people watching though, with a handful of freaks and weirdo's...time to go. Max out the sun, dinner in, a little shopping & another quiet night.

Crabs are fine.

Redneck Getaway 2011 - Day Four, 9/13/11

First day without the kids, is the longest and most calm so far. Except for a few work issues!

Breakfast and beach, with the biggest waves so far. We got to Boogie! Been here long enough to se a lot of the same people; the "clan" from Missouri, the honeymoon couple, the tent compound put up by Big Boy, the lonely chairs placed by our condo neighbor, & others. Lots of people watching...and a few Jello Shots!

I'm trying to do a call with a client & Angie is trying to herd her cats from work via phone all day..both being a bit of a distraction. Biggest challenge is the lack of connectivity; both phone and data. Her issues drag on, we decide to go to a bar to solve mine.

We call ahead to check on wifi and go to the Wild Wing Cafe at Barefoot. They have a great deck bar, pretty good food, cold beer, a view of the Gators...but no working wifi. I'm calm. Eat and drink anyway, push off call, and Angie gets to shop. Back to the condo for another quiet night

Redneck Getaway 2011 - Day Three, 9/12/11

More great weather on the beach today, with moderate waves and lots of sun! Rydan and Cierra are here for the whole day, although Rydan is already "done" with the beach...and just wants to "cool" in the condo. We now know "cool" means "chill" to a 4-year old.

Pool time, beach time and we even fly kites! I had never really flown a kite before, but was doing loops within 45 minutes...while Rydan sat under the tent asking what I was doing. Great day to wrap up the kids part of the trip.

Made a discovery trip down to old Myrtle to look for a hotel for Cierra and Nick to stay in in a few weeks. Love the old-school places, but man they are dives now! Found the Bar Harbor with weekend ocean front for $55 a night! Not a bad place & a great price.

Drive the kids back to Rockingham to meet Ashley and Sandy, who drive them the rest of the way back to K-Ville. Quiet drive back to the beach for us, and an even quieter evening!

Of course, there was more work on Angie's new Crabitat.

Redneck Getaway 2011 - Day Two 9/11/11

First full day on on the "Riviera" starts early with Angie and Rydan walking on the beach "shelling". While they don't find a lot of great shells...they do run into a local 9/11 tribute; first responders (see photo) walking the beach in full gear flying the flag. Lots of cheers and applause as they go up the beach. Unique way to commemorate. Also opening day for Steeler football, with me wearing the trunks early, but thankfully not watching much of the game.

Rydan had gotten his own Boogie Board the night before, so it was off to the waves after setting up the compound. He and Mommy were able to catch a few, until he got a full face of wave and decided to build Sand Castles. Just part of a long lazy day.

Took Rydan to his first full-on Putt Putt experience at Professor Hackers Dinosaur Adventure! Lots of nasty water hazards and big dino replicas...for $35! No wonder there are so many of these joints! Quickly found that he seems to have a knack for Golf. come on Nike!

From there it was of to Crab shop! Yea, we are now the proud owners of two Hermit Crabs...and the Crabitat they live in. Ry likes them, and Angie will take care of them.

Wrap up another night with a replay of a stupid local studio wrestling TV show. I think the host was doing two voices.

Redneck Getaway 2011 - Day One, 9/10/11

With Rydan getting older, we decided to make a trip to the coast part of our annual travel plans. We have done many years of visits to the Caribbean instead of the NC coast, and hauling a 4-year old on a flight to an island just didn't seem like the best thing. But we certainly wanted to see him experience the beach...and getaway ourselves.

For this RG we again chose NMB, with the Windy Hill area being the most calm, convenient, and not very crowded after Labor Day. With large condos, ocean front pool, and a wide beach...it off-sets any of the cliche concerns about it being "Myrtle"! But I still like to refer to it as our "Redneck Getaway. I mean there are still plenty of scary people, Wave-stores, and "I Love Grandma" airbrushed t-shirts.

Cierra & Rydan are along for the first few days, while Nick stayed back to do the responsible thing and work. The trip down was uneventful, with only a dozen true "are we there yet's". North Shore Realty folks were easy to work with. Condo they suggested is great, recently upgraded, and in one of the buildings we like.

Rydan's first few hours on the beach included, swimming, riding a wave on a Boogie board, building sand castle's and burying his Mommy. Guess we can go home now.

Beach is mostly empty, waves are small, cooler is full and Maria looks like a non-issue. Dinner in, girls go shopping, I watch the NASCAR race (it is a Redneck Getaway), and the moon is full! Should be a good RG