Henry’s POD: Myrtle Beach Week-The House

Well kids Myrtle Beach was one of our favorite vacations of the year. We would always go right after you got out of school in June for an entire week. We were fortunate because I had a work associate whose family owned a place in The Tidewater Golf & Swim Community and they would always let us stay there for free...remember now we are just broke but back then we were broker then broke so free meant a lot to us.

Anyway the place was beautiful and had plenty of room for all of us. It is located in the Cherry Grove part of Myrtle Beach but it was about a 3 mile ride to the ocean which never seemed to bother us. They also had 3 swimming pools on the grounds and I think you guys were just as happy going to the pools. One area had a hot tub next to the pool too.

We had many traditions that we would do each year that hopefully you still remember. It was always one of the most relaxing vacations for your mother and I since most of the week was spent relaxing by the water, watching movies everyday and enjoying plenty of food & booze!

The tradition we started the first year that we love to tell the most is about ice cream. One of the first things we did after we unloaded the car was to go to Food Lion for groceries. We let each of you kids pick out your own half gallon of ice cream (that's right we bought 6) and we told you that it was yours and you could eat it whenever you wanted and without permission so if you wanted it for breakfast you could have it. At first I think you thought it was a trick and that you would be in trouble if you did get it without permission but that wasn't the case. We did this every year that we went and you guys loved it! As you probably remember Sean was always the conservative one and the only one with ice cream left at the end of the week so being the good guy he was he ended up sharing his with the rest of you...ahhhhh.

Well like most good things the trips didn't last forever but we did go just about every year from 1997 through 2005. This week is all about 1997 and our first trip there. Ryan was 13, Stephanie was 11, Sean was 9, Jared was 7, your mother was 39 and I was 37. Since we didn't have to pay for the place I told your mother that we would go out to eat every night so she wouldn't have to cook...$1500 later that tradition ended in year one! We then started going out just once during the week but I did let her pick the restaurant.