When I called our chosen resort to make a reservation (several months in advance) I was told there were no vacancies. The same with the next resort, and the next. Finally, in exasperation, I asked the reservation person if there was a reason that everyone was full that week. She answered that it was "Bike Week" in Myrtle Beach that week.
My mind was immediately filled with pastoral images of couples and families pedaling around on their Schwinns.
"Bicycle week?" I repeated? "No," she responded."Bike Week. Harleys, mostly."
Ouch. The lovely image in my mind faded instantly, replaced by the thought of thousands of high-rise hotels surrounded by loud motorcycles. I immediately decided that the 10th anniversary trip would have to have a change of venue.
When I told one of our neighbors about our problem she immediately suggested that we should rent her beach house. They had just finished building a new duplex on Emerald Isle, NC, after the original one had been destroyed by Hurricane Bertha. We had never been to Emerald Isle, but the price was right, and it was far, far away from Bike Week.
We were the 2nd visitors on the west side of the new duplex — christened appropriately Big Bertha.
And so our love affair with Emerald Isle, and more specifically, Big Bertha, began.
A year or two later we decided that we could afford to rent one side of Big Bertha for a week in the fall and we invited some friends to join us for a few days. The next year they rented the other side for the week and a new tradition was born. When those friends moved to the other side of the country we searched for new friends to share our week with, and those new friends evolved into our Durham family. Between 1999 and 2008 the only year we missed our week at Big Bertha was the year that our triplet preemies had just come home from the NICU.
We have enjoyed many years of sunny days, beautiful sunsets, warm waves, yummy meals, friendly games, long walks on the beach, collecting shells, flying kites, feeding seagulls, talking with friends, and watching shooting stars from the hot tub. This is without a doubt our family's favorite place in the world.
When Cindy Lynn offered to babysit for our trip to Maui, she suggested that an appropriate compensation might be a long weekend at Big Bertha after we got back. So we loaded up the car on Thursday and here we've been. The first two days were chilly, but today has been absolutely beautiful and tomorrow should be too.
You've got to love a payment like that!
I hope you've enjoyed some of Cindy Lynn's pictures from this weekend.
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Ah, what torture! The only disadvantage to Seattle is that it is so far from the "real beach."
ReplyDeletescrapbyjen- that may be, but I sure do miss afternoons at Matthew's Beach! And Cindy- consider yourself very, very, very fortunate to have missed out on bike week at Myrtle- I think the Birdnos may have had a fiasco like that one time. I have heard horror stories!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing tradition!
ReplyDeleteMegan--we feel really fortunate to have friends who rent to us for a reasonable price and sometimes give us an off season weekend for a real steal!
ReplyDeleteJen--I'll bet you miss the warm water and soft sand--however cool the Washington beaches are. But can you go on a whale watch trip there? Because that would be pretty cool.
Katie--I'll have to ask Cami--that's too funny! And I do consider myself fortunate. Instead of having a lovely time that lead to a family tradition, we could have just been annoyed the whole time!