Vacation, part 1

Y'all don't even know how excited I was to finally get to go on vacation. Although I love my many jobs I get to do, I hadn't had a 10 day vacation, well, pretty much ever. I hadn't taken that much time off from a job since Elliana was a baby. And we had never really taken the kids anywhere, so this was it....our first REAL vacation as a blended family.

We decided that I would pick the girls up in Savannah and head north to Myrtle Beach. Scott and the boys would drive south and we'd meet in the middle. A four hour drive for us, a six hour drive for them and when we arrived we were absolutely thrilled to find a little piece of paradise ......ours for the week.
I booked this luxury resort a few months earlier for a great price considering there were 7 of us and we needed enough space. We had a beautiful condo on the 18th floor with an incredible oceanfront room. Water as far as the eye could see.

Here's a view from the balcony of the beach toward North Myrtle Beach.
If I had taken a picture straight ahead it would be nothing but water and you'd be bored.

The boys had their own space in a huge room with two queen beds and a sparkling bathroom. The girls had their own space with a queen bed and the master suite was fit for a King. Not that I had planned to cook, but we at least we had a full kitchen complete with granite 'tops and tile floors and a washer/dryer to keep those beach towels nice and clean. And the great thing was I didn't come home with any dirty laundry.

The balcony was amazing and stretched from the living area to the master suite. The panorama was nothing but pure Atlantic Ocean! It was so peaceful to fall asleep listening to the sound of the waves crashing against the shore.

18 stories below the balcony was our choice of 3 pools, 2 hot tubs and our resort came with a lazy river to boot!Obviously Myrtle Beach in July is a happening place, pretty much anywhere you go because of the tourist season. The first night we were there we decided to eat at Landshark, which is part of Jimmy Buffet's chain of Margaritaville restaurants, with an amazing view of the SkyWheel that offers this really spectacular LED light show. Beachy vibes, boardwalk atmosphere, jazzy beach tunes and the spicy queso and salsa was the perfect start for my hungry crew.

After picking up a few breakfast goodies for the family at the Piggly Wiggly, we headed back to enjoy some pool time with the kids under a blanket of stars.

Here's some spicy queso to knock your socks off!!

1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup picante sauce
1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese
4 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
dash paprika
1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chile peppers
dash Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
tortilla chips

Sauté onion in butter until tender. Add picante sauce and stir. Gradually add the cream cheese and shredded cheese. Stir in paprika, peppers, Worcestershire sauce, and salt; continue cooking and stirring until cheese is melted and mixture is well blended. Serve with tortilla chips. Keep warm in slow cooker, if desired.
Makes about 2 cups.