I have been looking forward to this week for a long time. My best friend since like 3rd grade, Kayla, her mom, Deloris, and her son, Jaxon, were coming down to Myrtle for vacation.

Kayla and I were inseparable most of our lives. We did everything together, she came on vacations with my family, we had a BFFC Club, did hair (she’s now a beautician – I was always her guinea pig), photo shoots, you name it we did it! She is definitely more like my sister than anything else. Whatever life takes us through we have always been there for one another!

I took off a couple of days so I could spend some time with them. The last time I saw her was our high school reunion in summer of 2017 before I moved. But of course we can always pick up right where we leave off.

They were staying at the Sandy Beach Resort. It is located on 3rd Ave S right beside Family Kingdom. It was a great location for me – I just had to go straight down 501 then veer to the right for 3rd Ave!

Their room was on the top floor (19th)! What a view!!!

They had a really nice condo – two queen beds, large bathtub shower, kitchen, and a Murphy bed in the living room. It was a great size! Parking is across the street and there is ample space. Not a bad walk. Each person has a wrist band for the pool area. The pool area, which is where we spent most of our time, was great. Lots of chairs for everyone, a cool pool, a hot pool, hot tub, kitty pool, lazy river, and an indoor cool pool. (Kayla is now a pool only gal as there may be sharks out there 😂🙄🙈). They also had drink and food service poolside and an Italian ice cart right on the pool deck. It was tasty!

Tuesday was the first day I had off so I met them in their condo. Kayla brought us some Krispy Kreme’s then we headed to the pool. It was Jaxon’s 10th birthday. Time sure does fly and he has grown up so much!! Proud aunty!!

We met my parents for dinner at Damon’s. It’s at the end of Ocean Blvd ocean front and you can eat for free on your birthday (must show ID). Kayla’s Birthday is Saturday so it was soon too!

We had a little bit of a wait but not bad. Our waitress was very slow. We ended up being there 2.5 hours! It was a little extreme but we definitely used every bit of it to catch up with each other. None of us stopped talking (especially Dad). But we had such a good time.

We did see a full rainbow over the ocean.

It definitely took too long to get our food and the service was not great. I got the She Crab soup with my entree. It had great flavor but was super spicy for me. Mom and Jaxon got the clam chowder and liked it. Dad and I ordered the prime rib (which came out cold), Mom got shrimp, and the rest got ribs. My plate wasn’t really blog worthy but here it is. And Mom’s looked a little better.

Mom made Jaxon a birthday cake – red velvet with cream cheese frosting – his favorite.

When we walked in we met a lady downstairs and she saw us carrying the cake and told us it was also her birthday. She ended up sitting behind us so we shared some cake with them. They were so sweet and ended up giving Jaxon $5. It was so nice!! Everything definitely happens for a reason.

The next morning I brought us all some McDonald’s breakfast but ended up having to drag Kayla and Jaxon out of the bed. 😂🤦🏽‍♀️ I took in all the views on that 19th floor balcony!

We ate and then headed to the pool. Another great sun day! I got some Italian ice today. They sell a refillable koozie for $10 and then each refill is $3. Or you can get a large for $5 or a small for $4. The koozie is definitely worth it if you get it at the beginning of the week. I got lemon and mango. The lemon was delicious; mango was not.

Jaxon had birthday money burning a hole in his pocket so he wanted to go shopping. So the plan was the outlets after dinner.

We chose Boardwalk Billy’s in North Myrtle for dinner. We got to sit outside – wind was a little crazy but it was nice: great view and spacious deck. They give you peanuts to start off with. Service was not so great here either. The best part about Boardwalk Billy’s is the crab queso. The waitress thought I said crab cake – so we didn’t get it till after our food came. I ordered the shrimp basket, Deloris got the coconut shrimp basket, Kayla got flounder and shrimp, and Jaxon got the boardwalk sampler with mozzarella sticks, wings, and shrimp. Food was pretty good and the queso was amazing but took most of it home. We were there during happy hour but didn’t take advantage.

Off to the Outlets. Jaxon got some Steph Curry shoes and some vineyard vines – his new obsession! And I found a VV hat and a beachy straw hat. Our final stop was of course Starbucks for my Java Chip Frappe, some Americanos, and a Dragon Drink.

My final day with them was another great pool sun day!! We had some morning Berry Prosecco Mimosas to start the day!

We took a walk on the beach. I told Jaxon he should find us a megalodon shark took and he looked down and found a small tooth. Well that started our hunt for as many shark teeth as we could find. Kayla and Jaxon definitely have an eye for them (I was not so lucky)! He was soooo excited!!!

I had to leave them around 4 as I had a flight to catch to head to Lexington, KY for a short weekend trip. One of my good friends, Jesse, is getting married! 🤗👰🏼

I had such an amazing time with Kayla, Deloris, and Jaxon. We definitely made some great memories!!! I can’t wait to see them again soon!