It seems like I can’t quit talking about our recent family fun at Myrtle Beach. But I promise you that this will be the third and final post about our beach vacation here.
Some of you may not know where Myrtle Beach is so I have made a screenshot of google maps illustrating our road trip from Virginia to South Carolina.
As mentioned in my previous entry, we were trying to keep the budget for this trip under $500. We only ate out once a day, making most of our meals in our suite. We could access groceries easily with pharmacies and supermarkets nearby.
So I finally sat down and looked through all the transactions on the Mint app. Guess what? We went slightly above the budget for our 4D3N escapade. Oops!
After taxes and miscellaneous fees, accommodations rang up a total of $285. We drove a total of 770miles (including driving around Myrtle Beach) so based on 24.5 mpg, we spent roughly $75 on gas. We didn’t spend much on groceries. $11 went to a gallon of milk, half gallon of orange juice, 2 dozens of eggs, and a roll of paper towels (which I forgot to pack along). The kitchenette in the suite had all the cooking equipment I needed. They even provided cooking oil and dishwashing liquid.
As for eating out, I didn’t expect us to burst this category’s budget. I guess every dollar adds up. Can I blame this on pregnancy cravings, too? I was craving for Cracker Barrel on the way down to South Carolina and then badly wanted some Chicken Parmigiana in Myrtle Beach. And finally, I craved for a seafood buffet, which was glorious yet quite expensive. All in all, our once-daily-big-meal and fast food stops added up to $165.
Other miscellaneous costs were $4 parking, $23 Skywheel rides, and $2 Pier 14 entry. Grand total spent $560.
But wait, that’s not all. We were invited to a timeshare presentation off the beach which required us to sit through the two hour tour and presentation. Because we were interested to find out how timeshares work anyway, we decided to attend it after they offered us gifts of $75 cash and two tickets to a local tourist spot.
So, that means our total vacation expenditures was brought down to $490! We did it!!
How could I not reward Mike with some crab legs? As you can see from his clean hands in the picture above, this was his first plate. He actually ate three plates of crab legs!
My little girl was only interested in checking out what a crab leg was, not eating it. She preferred fried food (of course)!
Aside from the boardwalk and food excursions, our number one activity was going to the beach and enjoying the waves, sand and sun.
This trip was dedicated to relaxing — for my husband to take a break from recent long hours of work, for me to enjoy a babymoon as a family before baby number 2 comes in October, and for Annakate to soak in some quality family time.
Like any vacation, the last day came all too quickly. Although the time to check-out from the hotel was 11:00am, we managed to squeeze in slightly more than an hour of beach moments one last time before we left.
As for my friends and family abroad, I know you are eager to see more pictures, especially my baby bump. I hope you enjoy all the photos we have taken throughout this beach getaway.
I have also included a youtube video to this entry. It consists mostly of Annakate enjoying the beach.
With all the wonderful memories made at Myrtle Beach, my heart is filled with love, joy, and contentment. I am grateful. Very grateful to the Lord for a beautiful family He has given me.
Public Service Announcement: This is the final blog entry from GraceOng.com and everything will be transferred to LifeGraceLove.com as of July 1, 2015. Thank you so much for being with this blog for the past decade.