Hand & Foot

I will expand this with more pics and rules in a bit, but this will work for now.

Points:
Aces & 2 = 20 points
4-7 = 5 points
8-Kings = 10 points
Joker = 50 points

Black 3 = -200 points
Red 3 = -500 points

Extra 100 points for drawing 26 cards
Extra 100 points for winning

Books: 
Clean (no wilds) = 300 points
Dirty (has wilds) = 100 points
All wilds (2 & Jokers) = 500 points
All Jokers = 1000 points
All Sevens = 700 points

Round 1 = 50 points
Round 2 = 90 points
Round 3 = 120 points
Round 4 = 150 points

What do you want to do?

As I said previously, I don't have a schedule for the week and there are no major planned activities.  But there are some fun things that we can do.  And if you have anything you want to do, let me know and we'll add it.

Tie Dye



I love doing tie dye and can do the type that spiral with alternating colors. I also use the type of dye that you can throw in the wash with your regular clothes and not worry about it dying everything else.  I've got a bunch of colors and we'll just have fun one afternoon.  Bring whatever you would like to dye: T-shirts, socks, underwear (only clean please), anything.  Of we can get t-shirts once you get to the beach.  Anything can be dyed!

Canning



Mary and Georgia want to make peach preserves and dilly beans one afternoon.  These were a favorite of Grandma's and are super easy to make.



Singing



Do you remember the last time we were (almost) all together?  We did a roadtrip from Grandma's to Aptos and sang crazy songs the whole way! (Peel Bananas, Peel Peel Bananas)  I can't wait to teach the new cousins all those songs.  So start racking your brain and seeing which of them you can remember!

What activities would you like to see us do as a group?

Myrtle Beach: Part 3

There are two more sights in Myrtle Beach that need to be pointed out.

The Outlet Mall



Does this need any more description or is it self-explanatory?  MB has two fabulous Outlet Malls.  One is in North MB and only 45mins away.  It has all the great stores and I can ALWAYS find great deals at Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, and Sketchers.  There is another outlet in Southern MB which is a good hour+ away.  It's the same company and has almost all the same stores.

The Sky Wheel



This is brand new and I cannot wait to go!  Think London Eye in Myrtle Beach.  Its the only Ferris wheel of its type in the US.  It is 200 feet tall and has 42 climate controlled gondolas.  Tickets at $12 each (kids $8 & Caroline is free).  Sky Wheel

Food!

My plan is to keep this reunion really low key.  No big events scheduled or planned activities.  The purpose is to hang out together and reconnect.  Mostly at the beach or around the pool.

One fabulous way to do this is with dinner each night.  Dinner will be at Mary & Dick's house.  The idea is for each family to take one night and they are in charge of feeding us (18).  You can be simple and grill hamburgers and hotdogs.  Or you can go all out with Brunswick Stew (mom, hint hint).  You can order pizzas or subway sandwiches.  Whatever you would like.  Their kitchen is yours to use.

Saturday: arrival night, we'll have sandwich makings for whenever you arrive
Sunday: Alexis & Tanner (if he's still there) (I'll help if not)
Monday: Georgia & Charlie - Crock pot spaghetti
Tuesday: Meredith & Brian
Wednesday: Mandy & Ryan
Thursday: Mary & Dick - rotisserie chicken on the grill
Friday: Amber, Megan, & Lizzie - taco bar

You don't have to come to dinner every night.  Sometimes you might need some down time just with your family.  That's okay.  Or maybe you need babysitters for romantic nights out, I think we can take care of that for you. You don't need to decide now what you're cooking/ordering/whatever.  Maybe it's a favorite family recipe.  But if you have an idea, go ahead and post it.

These days are not set in stone, so if you want to switch feel free to.

I'll be making grandma's pies in any type of flavor you would like (put your requests in).  And Mary & Gerogia will be hosting a peach preserves and Dilly Bean canning afternoon.



As for other meals, you're on your own.  There are lots of fabulous places to get lunch and breakfast.  The Purple Onion has the most delicious chicken salad that they serve in a scooped out cantaloupe.  And Sunrise Pancake has these platter size pancakes that seem to suck syrup into a pancake black hole. Cinelli's in Ocean Isle has delicious pastas and strombolis.  You can also get shrimp right off the boat in Calabash.  (Word of advice, restaurants that serve Calabash style means that the food is fried).  Plus see the previous posts about Myrtle Beach.

One of my all time favorite places to eat it Crab Catchers in Little River, SC.  The most delicious dive/hole in the wall place you can possibly get.  It is outside, on a dock, over the Inter-Coastal Waterway.  I highly recommend the Grouper Special or Buffalo Shrimp.


There are numerous grocery stores in the area to stock up on cereal, bread, cold cuts, and snacks.  Water right out of the tap is delicious!

You might even be able to convince Mary to do a traditional southern biscuits and gravy one morning, or Dick to make his fabulous pancakes and French toast.

Myrtle Beach Miniature Golf

While Myrtle Beach boasts that it has over 100 golf courses, it also has over 50 miniature golf courses.  And these things are amazing.  This is not the putt-putt golf with spinning windmills. These are gourmet!



The mini golf here is themed within an inch of it life, down to the tiniest details.  The above picture shows Mayday Golf with it's airplane, but there is a helicopter as well.

Buccaneer Bay and Treasure Island both have pirate themes.  At TI you follow clues to find Long John Silver's treasure.


Another awesome looking course is the one at Broadway at the Beach.  It's called Dragon's Lair.


Some have jungle themes like this one, Safari Golf.  There is also Jungle Lagoon with 2-18 hole courses.


And Molten Mountain is an indoor golf course.  This could be important when escaping those hot summer days.


Hawaiian Rumble has an obvious Hawaiian theme and it is home to the Pro Mini-Golf National Tournament.


And, the librarian in me loves the idea of Captain Hooks Adventure Golf.  It is based on J.M. Barrie's novel Peter Pan.


Now, I have just one question about all these golf courses.  Why do they dye the water that hideous color blue?

Myrtle Beach

Wow!  Myrtle Beach can be overwhelming, both in trying to figure out what to do and navigating the summer traffic.  But, it is so much fun!


This will actually end up being a couple of posts.  There's no way to sum it up in one.

Myrtle Beach is in South Carolina and about 30 mins-1 hour away.  This year it was in US News and World Report's top ten Best Family Vacations in the US, National Geopgraphic's #3 best Boardwalk, and was Trip Advisor's #1 US Beach.  (of course they didn't visit Sunset Beach just up the coast, but whatever). There are two super fun places to go for entertainment, food and shopping.

Broadway at the Beach


Broadway is crazy!  But crazy fun!  There is soooo much to do here.  There is a movie & IMax theater (we'll probably be seeing HP7.2 here (IMax 3D Harry!)), MagiQuest, NASCAR raceway, WonderWorks, and a water park.

One place I've always wanted to visit is Ripley's Aquarium.  They've got sharks, sting rays, an octopus, touch tanks, and just a ton of stuff to do.  And apparently a new live show called "Mermaids".


The restaurants are overwhelming and themed beyond belief: Liberty Steakhouse, Senor Frogs, Margaritaville, Joe's Crab Shack, Key West Grill, Planet Hollywood, and Hard Rock Cafe, just to name a few.  There are 19 to choose from.  They also have 2 Ben & Jerry's, a Fudgery, and the required Starbucks.

There are also more than 100 shops.  While most of them are the typical tourist type shops, they are still a lot of fun.  They have a Build-a-Bear, and it's not just the regular store.  It also has the Build-a-Dinosaur and Build-a-Friend (which seems a little creepy to me, but hey).  Reigning Cats and Dogs is a favorite if you are a pet freak, The Foxworthy Store for your redneck needs, kite stores, toy stores, jewelry stores, sunglasses stores, and coupons to go with all of them.

This is an over-stimulated paradise!  Check out their link.

Barefoot Landing


Located in North Myrtle Beach, this place is a little more low-key than Broadway, but still has a ton to offer.  The Alabama Theatre has a fabulous performance called "One, the show" and Lee Ann Rimes will be there for a concert on the 15th.

Another fun attraction is Alligator Adventure.  But here's a special tip, you don't have to buy a ticket because you can watch them feeding the alligators from the patio at House of Blues (plus we have our own alligators in the pond behind M&D's house).

House of Blues will have Natasha Bedingfield in concert on Wednesday and tickets are still available.  On of my favorite things to do at HOB is their Sunday Gospel Brunch.  They open the kitchen as a buffet and have the most delicious food.  And gospel singers perform the whole time you eat.  If we want to d this our first (and only) Sunday, let me know to make reservations.  I highly recommend it!

Barefoot Landing has lots of other restaurants and fun shops.  There's a rock and bead shop that's great, although mom thinks it wreaks of incense (it does).  Check out their link.

Things to do: Sunset Beach

Sunset Beach is a small town.  It's big tourist draw is the beautiful, sandy beaches.

From the map above (courtesy Google Maps (thank you, Megan)) you can see how close Sea Trail is to the beach.  Between the beach and the mainland are salt marshes that you can rent kayaks to explore.  Here are a few fabulous things to do in Sunset Beach and the neighboring towns of Calabash and Ocean Isle Beach.

Ingram Planetarium

Sunset Beach

The planetarium offers lots of family activities throughout the summer.  There are shows to see and a Science Center to explore.  Some activities they've done in the past are building a comet, assembling rockets, and shadow drawing.

Museum of Coastal Carolina

Ocean Isle Beach

The museum has seven themed galleries, dioramas of local animal and plant life, family programs, a touch tank, and a show about snakes (I'll skip that one).  They also have an outdoor classroom and birdwalk.

Miniature Golf

There are two putt-putt golf courses in Sunset Beach, Par Harbour and Bridge Grill Pizza and Golf.  There are a ton more in Myrtle Beach that might make a blog post all their own.  They are amazing!

Callahan's of Calabash

Calabash

While this is a shop, it is also an attraction unto itself.  Callahan's is made up of Callahan's Nautical Gifts, Pea Landing Mercantile & Fudge Shop, and St. Nick's Nacks.  Here you can find all you tourist doo-dads and tchotchkes, some of them tacky and some really classy.  (This was my family's first introduction to Sunset Beach, 20ish years ago)

Stay tuned for things to do in Myrtle Beach and Wilmington.

Kite Video

I have one other video I want to share.  This is someone who attached a video camera to their kite.  AWESOME!  It's long, but beautiful.

The Sunset Beach Bridge

It used to be that you had to wait to cross the one-lane pontoon boat bridge to get from the Mainland out to the island and beach.  It used to be a horrible nightmare during the busy summer season.

But that has changed with the opening of the new bridge.  This is a high rise bridge that spans the intercoastal waterway.  The views from it are amazing.  I found this short video with pictures of the grand opening.  At the end there is a video of the old pontoon bridge and how it worked.  The pictures from the bridge are beautiful.  You can even see some of Sea Trail and the golf courses.

The second video give's a little bit of history of the area and how the old swing bridge worked.

Enjoy!

Sea Trail

My parents live in Sea Trail Plantation in Sunset Beach, NC.  This is a great neighborhood with lots of fun activities available.

Golfing
If you like to golf, Sea Trail has 3 golf courses.  My parents live on the 17th fairway of the Byrd Golf Course (or is it the Jones).

Pools
There are two great pools we have access to.  The Pink Palace (I don't know the real name) also has workout facilities.  The MAC center pool is next to a lake filled with turtles and alligators.

There are also tennis courts and the roads are perfect for running or walking.  And we're tracking down bicycles for you to borrow.

Let me know if you have any questions about Sea Trail Resort.  I'll try to get some pics of the Condo to share.

We have a date!

Everyone has said any of the dates will work.  However Meredith and I would both prefer the early July date.  So plan on coming to the beach:

July 9-16

There are a few different ways of getting to Sunset Beach.  The closest airports are Myrtle Beach, SC (MYR) and Wilmington, NC (ILM).  Both of these are small airports and might be more expensive.  Another option is Raleigh-Durham, NC (RDU).  Raleigh is 3 hours away.  There is the option of renting a car or using the A Couch shuttle service.  If flying into RDU, please allow enough drive time for us to pick you up.

(Have I mentioned yet today how excited I am?)

Sunset Beach, NC

Here are some photos of beautiful Sunset Beach.

The beach is very long and gradually sloped.  This means you can walk out forever and never get your shoulders wet.  At low tide there is a huge beach perfect for kids to play games and build castles.

It's also great for long walks at sunset or sunrise.  You can also usually find fabulous shells.

This is one of our favorite dive restaurants.  Its on the Inter-Coastal Waterway, right over the water.  I highly recommend the Grouper Special or Buffalo Shrimp.

This is the back of my parents' house.  It has a huge backyard, right on the golf course, and a large porch with outdoor fireplace.

This is where we will have dinner most nights (and probably other meals) and there is more than enough room for all 18 of us!

(Have I mentioned how excited I am yet?)

WOW!!!!

I am so excited that everyone wants to get together this summer.  Honestly, part of me didn't think it would happen.  Someone wouldn't get the time off.  We couldn't all get the weeks to coordinate.  It would be too short notice for this year and then we would forget about it.

But, NO!  Everyone wants to see each other this summer.  And I am so excited to invite you all to the beaches of North Carolina.  There is sooooo much to do in this area.  Over the next few months I'll be posting information about the area on this blog.  Great restaurants, fun activities, and so much to do.  If there is anything in specific you want information about, let me know.  I'll get it for you.

In the mean time we need to nail down a few tiny details, such as dates.  The two weeks that would work the best are July 9-16 or July 16-23.  Think about it.  I need to know somewhat soonish so that I can reserve the condos.  Summer can fill up pretty quickly at this beach.  Between our friends' 3 condos and my parents' house we have more than enough room for everyone!  No need to worry about a hotel.  I'll try to post some pictures soon.

Feel free to leave comments.  I can also add your emails to the blog so that you can post yourself.

Have I mentioned yet how excited I am?  In case I didn't...

I AM SOOOO EXCITED!!!!