Way back when, my great grandmother began this trip to the beach each year with family. At first everyone rented a house at Surfside Beach and as the years progressed and Surfside grew, Garden City began the beach of choice. We rent a home way down from the pier so it is rather quiet. My Aunt Kim and her husband, David, rent a home on the waterway for their crew - all in all, we have 23ish people at any given time together on the beach and for meals....it is fun, somewhat organized chaos!
On our drive down to the beach, we stopped for lunch at Rush's and decided to surprise Ryan's parents with a visit. Ryan's mother was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma ten years ago and has been doing very well until recently. Her markers have been elevated and she has been taking oral chemo as well as receiving radiation on her back....she is a fighter but she is tired. She is 84 years old and, on a normal day, has more energy than I do but this round of meds is knocking her down a bit. On this day, she asked for a chili dog in hopes that it would taste good vs like styrofoam - she says everything tastes awful now that she has endured chemo!
We arrived at Garden City Beach during the late afternoon.....surprisingly, we were the last to arrive - this is not typically the case. Usually, it is Kellie who is last :) We made many, many, many trips up and down the stairs, began unpacking and making up beds....and then we realized that we had left not just one but TWO of our hampers at home....these two hampers contained sheets, towels, beach towels, and many other items we needed for the week. But, instead of getting upset, I simply chose to use this as a reminder that things could be much worse - at least this was an issue that could be taken care of easily with a shopping experience at one of my favorite venues, Target :) So, off I went to buy all the things!
The week was spent eating way too much of all of the traditional beach foods, playing games well into the later evening hours, chatting, swimming, chasing the ice cream truck, going to the pier and arcade, family picture chaos, and everything in between. It was a great week of family time and, for that, I am thankful!
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