Edisto Beach

Typically we vacation in Florida since we go the first week in October. The weather has always been great for us and the beaches are much less crowded. This year, Heath didn’t have a week to take off work so we wanted to go to South Carolina since it was much closer. I didn’t want to spend 6-7 hours of one of our precious days driving when we could be at the beach already!

I found Atwood Vacation Rentals online, selected a beachside condo with a pool available, and we braved a new vacation spot, Edisto Island, Sc. I can be pretty annoying thorough when it comes to reading all the terms & conditions of a contract, so I was surprised when I got my reminder email before we left with a "linen rental" clause I hadn’t seen before. I called because I was sure they meant extra linens….nope, they charged separately for all linens, including bedding (for 3 beds), bath towels/mats/washcloths/dishtowels, etc. I was pretty peeved and considered stripping all the beds here and bringing everything with us, but that sounded annoying too so we went ahead and paid the fee. Upon check-in, they handed us our key and all the linens in a bag that I had to put on the bedding once we got there. What?! This was my vacation- I was not there to make beds people!

Luckily the condo was everything pictured, there were no surprises there, and we headed to the beach our first evening and had a great time. We ate out that first night at a local seafood restaurant and afterwards found a Bi-Lo for our breakfast/lunch groceries.

The next morning we took a walk in our pj’s to check out the amenities offered and found a great playground for the kids, right next to the pool.

Our neighborhood at home doesn’t have a pool so our kids hardly ever get to swim in one and they were all pretty excited about practicing what they learned in swim lessons. I went to the front office to ask about our pool pass while Heath stayed at the playground with the kids. I was SHOCKED when they told me the pool wasn’t included with our condo rental- and at a fee of $14 per person, per day, we could buy one. My pregnant hormones totally got the best of me and I became really upset. I had told the kids we could swim, we had brought our beach and pool gear, I had already paid extra for sheets to sleep on, and now you’re gonna tell me it’ll cost me $56/day to take my family to the friggin’ pool? Who charges to use a condo pool? The lady there didn’t care either, she was very, “that’s the rules and the way the condo owners handle the pool expense.” Awesome. Thank you, cheap condo owners. It wasn’t a very nice way to start the week, and so I just determined we’d have a great time at the beach all week, for free.  Unfortunately, the weather had a different idea in mind.

To make a whiny blog short (ha), it rained all day, every day. We braved it in the mornings, and went out in our shorts and t-shirts, and I sat wrapped in my towel while the kids played. I don’t know if the beaches at Edisto are always full of seashells or if it was just the storms, but there was hardly any sand, you had to walk over hundreds of shells. The boys wouldn’t have sand in their shorts, they had tiny, tiny shells stuck all over them- their hair, their ears, their legs, everywhere. That’s when we discovered there wasn’t a foot shower at any of the beach access entrances…or at the condo.  There was zero way to wash off all the shells/sand/toys, anywhere. The boys sat naked in the car on the way home so they wouldn’t chafe sitting on shells, and immediately had to shower. After showers, lunch, and Easton’s nap, no one felt like sitting out in the rain again and repeating the process.  

 

 

 

We did find an ice cream parlor the second night we were there, and that helped brighten things up a bit.

 

 

On the next rainy day we decided to drive and find something to do. There were no malls, and we looked at two souvenir shops, and found one of those brochures with activities listed. There was 1 museum, 1 plantation, and a nature trail. The museum was closed, the whole road to the plantation was closed, and we couldn't walk a trail in the rain. I asked Heath just to drive and see what we found. So we drove, and drove, and drove, and it was all nothingness. It was way too out there for me- I need to see a Target, or Cracker Barrel, or I would have even been happy with Wal-Mart if only there was something to look at. 

 





Needless to say, we left earlier than anticipated. It just wasn’t worth sitting in a small condo every day, while it poured outside, with nowhere to really go. With no mall, Starbucks, wifi, or cable, combined with the extra rental fees and weather, Heath and I were done.

 

Luckily, I think the boys would say they had a great time. They didn't seem to mind the beaches, or that it rained, they enjoyed the movie marathon, and they didn't ask about the pool since it rained so much. I’m not really sure if we’ll vacation next year with a baby, but if we decide to- it’ll definitely be back to Destin for us!