Sleep Tight, Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite!

So I know you all (I am hoping there are at least one or two of you out there) have been waiting for a post about our trip to Myrtle Beach. Well believe it or not...this is it. Odd title you may say. Well, lets just say that the old saying became the theme of our adventures. So...it all started the first night we got to our Condo. It was awesome. I mean it looked just like the pictures from the Internet- huge kitchen with a great table for games and dinners, 4 awesome bedrooms, etc. We were all very tired from traveling and of course just finishing a week of finals (aka NO SLEEP- okay not for me, but for many of the others). Dear Amy and Nelson are married and both in dental school so they were the first to hit the sack. Ryan and I were sharing a bedroom with them so when we were finally ready to go to bed we were met at the door with a frightened Amy and a surprised looking Nelson. Why? Bed bugs!!! They found they were sharing their sheets with some tiny, unwelcome creatures. Of course we are all now freaking out and refusing to sleep in the beds. Britni and I decided we must confirm the identity of these bed bugs and figure out what we could possibly due to get rid of them at 12:30 am. Our resource- Harvard.edu. Let's just say not so helpful. Their advice "Make a plan and stick to it." Thanks guys, apparently I could go to Harvard. Anyways...there ended up being nothing we could do at the moment and at this point most of us were delirious. So some braved the beds, some braved the couches, and Ryan and I braved the tile floor.





The next morning we got the wonderful news that we were being moved...to ocean front property!!! At our first place the beach was merely across the street, but now we had the ocean in our view at all times and we only had to take 20 steps until we felt the sand between our toes. This picture is the view from our balcony...lovely!
The rest of "moving day" was spent at a local outdoor mall looking at fun, random shops and feeding seagulls directly from our hands. I know it is disgusting and now I have no idea why I did such a thing. This picture doesn't show it actually taking the food from my hand, but it was and I thought he was going to rip my skin off.

We spent the following day traveling to Charleston, SC and enjoying some history. The famed rainbow row, Charleston markets, and amazing old houses consumed our day. Of course some authentic southern seafood was mixed in including raw oysters, grits, jambalaya, crab cakes, and shrimp.

Basket weaver at the market

We were able to visit Boone Hall Plantation which sits on over 800 acres of land and was the setting of numerous movies, including Ally's home in The Notebook. Of course we all wanted to watch the movie the rest of the week, but there was no DVD player in our new condo...tragic.

9 original slave homes remained on the plantation and we were able to learn about slave history and be reminded of how far our country has now come. Amazing. We were also able to learn about the Gullah culture- language and music developed by the slaves that allowed for their stories and traditions to passed between generations. We learned this from a crazy lady who frightened us, entertained us, and sang and danced with us. We all ended up on stage dancing and singing with her. Pain in my hips...Ranky Tanky!

The following days were filled with visiting some crazy souvenier shops, relaxing on the beach, swimming in the pool and lazy river at the hotel, miniture golf, going out to breakfast, and relaxing...just what we all needed.

How cool that they actually had my name?!?

Best day ever. Relaxing on the beach for hours.

I am pretty sure I now want to live in San Diego on the beach. Early morning walks, listening to the waves crash on the shore all night long-I don't see why it can't happen.

Miniature Golf...courses were everywhere! Unfortunately Ryan didn't get to hit the real courses this time, but we had fun having a Latin dance party at Cancun Lagoon anyways.

Thanks for a great week guys! I am ready for our next adventure whenever you are!