Holiday shore excursion all about family
Thanksgiving is not about turkey, stuffing or pumpkin pie for the Brady family of Meridian, it's about taking a break and focusing on family time.
They have celebrated Thanksgiving at Myrtle Beach, S.C., for more than 15 years.
Sheila and Michael Brady both work full time and often travel, while their sons Beau, 19, Colin, 11, Brett, 9, and Maguire, 5, maintain their own busy schedules.
Planning a vacation and a holiday all at once may sound stressful, but Sheila Brady has a goal in mind.
"I want my children to know that, above all else, family comes first," Brady said.
She and her husband took the first trip was when her 19-year-old son Beau Bechtel was a toddler, deciding to make it a family tradition.
Sheila's twin nieces Brittney Casper and Melissa Monroe, now 23, have come along for several trips. Other attendees have included Brady's parents Jane and Kenneth Neely, her sister, Paula Casper, and close family friends.
"It seems like everyone is running in different directions, sometimes" said Jane Neely of Butler. "It's nice to be there with everyone."
Pulling the well-worn kitchen calendar from the wall at her home earlier this month, Brady flipped through the dog-eared pages.Hockey games, school activities and other obligations fill most of the days, so the family is frequently on the move."See any blank days?" Brady asked. "I don't think so!"Taking a vacation allows them to abandon their jam-packed schedule for the week and come together as a family."I'm looking forward to de-stressing because around here, we go constantly," Brady said. "On vacation, there's no structure and I don't have to be out the door at 6:30 a.m."Brady said she took a cue from her parents, who took the family camping every year without fail."We had that family time and it was so important," Brady said.The camping trips were nothing fancy, Neely said, but neighborhood friends were interested, too."We always had additional children begging to go along," she said.The holiday vacation is not entirely traditional, since Brady doesn't usually cook an elaborate Thanksgiving meal."We've gone years where we didn't even have turkey," she said. "But we'll usually go out to dinner that night."Neely will prepare the meal if she comes on the trip and has packed a special memento on several occasions.Brett made her a paper turkey in school and she has taken it along to get into the holiday spirit."We had to fold it so neatly and then iron it out to hang on the wall," she said. "We took it to have at our Thanksgiving dinner away from home."The Bradys usually leave at night, drive halfway and sleep in a hotel. They drive the rest of the way to Myrtle Beach and arrive the Saturday before Thanksgiving."We're in the car for so long!" Colin said. "And we just want to get to the beach."Keeping several children entertained and happy during the car ride is not always easy, said Brady, whose sons bring along video games, activity books and homework.Still, they always stick to one tradition upon arrival."Before we even unpack the car, we go for a walk on the beach," she said.Brady remembers one moment after a long car ride, when her nieces were about 8 years old."I can remember them running to the water and just jumping in with their clothes on," she said. "It was late in the day when we got there, but all they wanted to do was get in the water."The weather does not always permit swimming, Brady said, but it's usually warm enough to get wet.The average high temperature in November is 69 degrees, according to travel literature."The kids are kids, so they go in the water," Brady said. "Even if it's just to get sand for their sandcastles."The beach is pretty much empty until the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, when visitors begin to arrive for the holiday weekend, Brady said."It's nice to have the beach to ourselves for a while," she said.
Sand, sun and water are not the only attractions for tourists, especially during the cooler months.According to the Myrtle Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Myrtle Beach attracts more than 15 million visitors annually.Hotel rates and package prices drop in the offseason, said Kimberly Miles, bureau public relations manager, which makes Myrtle Beach especially attractive to families.The family usually shops around for the best hotel bargains, Brady said."It's affordable and that's why we like to go at this time of year," she said. "The hotel rates are more in the summer and the beach is more crowded."The seasonal crowds have dispersed by November, but most attractions remain open all year with the exception of water parks and some amusement parks, Miles said."There's a number of things that you can do; it's overwhelming, really," Miles said.One of the most popular tourist spots is Broadway at the Beach, a shopping center that houses an Imax theater along with Ripley's Aquarium and the Palace Theatre."We have eight live entertainment theater venues with shows going on all the time," Miles said. "There's a lot of culture and arts here that people don't realize."Since weather is usually mild, state parks also receive numerous visitors, she said."We have two state parks that offer programs for kids," she said. "You can go fishing and there's kayaking, boating and that sort of thing."With 50 miniature golf courses, Miles said Myrtle Beach is known as the miniature golf capital of the world, another attraction for families."Regular golf is huge here, as well, and a lot of the courses are ranked by Golf Digest as some of the top in the country," she said.An avid golfer, Michael Brady has explored some of those destinations, getting up every day to go out — often with his sons."They love to go golfing with their dad," Brady said. "These are the boys that had golf clubs delivered to the hospital when they were born!"Despite those outings, the family says hotel time adds to the trip's appeal."We like to stay on the higher floors because then we have a good view of the beach," said Brady, pointing to a shot in her photo album of the boys posed on a hotel room balcony."I love to go out and sit on the balcony, wherever we are, and watch the sun rise or set," Neely added.One of Brett's favorite moments was stepping outside and seeing dolphins in the ocean."One morning, I remember waking up to dolphins," said Brett, who could see them from his bedroom. "They kept jumping and jumping."
During a recent phone conversation with her niece, Brady got sidetracked sharing memories about the beach vacations.The children always enjoyed playing miniature golf, racing go-carts and hunting for shells and sand dollars on the beach, she said."It's those little things that make you look back and smile, she said. "We look back and think these are the times that mean so much."Showing a recent photograph of her niece Melissa<B> </B>holding a grinning Maguire, Brady said her children and their cousins have always been exceptionally close.The children are not only cousins, they're friends, she said."The oldest are 23 and the youngest is 5, but nobody is too old or too young for anyone else because they've always had this opportunity," she said.Leaving behind work and school for a week can feel overwhelming, Brady said, but is well worth it."You have to take the time; life is short," Brady said.She remembers her sons playing boccie on the beach, going to a local fishing pier and visiting the playground with their grandfather, Kenneth Neely, who died Oct. 3."If we wouldn't have taken them, they wouldn't have had time to make those memories with their pap," she said.Looking back, she said she is thankful her children have had that chance."It's those priceless things that make it worth it," she said. "Like when your children give you that look, when they're so excited to do something — that's really special."
Sheila Brady is a supply chain specialist at BASF in Evans City. Her husband, Michael, is the director of sales and product logistics at Magnetics in Pittsburgh.Brady's eldest son, Beau Bechtel, 19, is a private first class in the U.S. Marine Corps and is stationed in Hawaii. He graduated in 2008 from Butler High School.Colin, 11, Brett, 9, and Maguire, 5, are students at Meridian Elementary School.<br></BR><br></BR><br></BR>
<B>Climate</B>Average January temperature: 57 degreesAverage July temperature: 90 degreesPopulation of Myrtle Beach: 29,971 (2007 estimate)<B>Tourism</B>Annual visitors: 15.2 million (2007 estimate)Number of golf courses: 102Rounds of golf played annually: More than 3.4 millionNumber of miniature golf courses: Nearly 50<B>Attractions</B>State parks: Myrtle Beach State Park, Huntington Beach State ParkFamily attractions: Ripley's Aquarium, Children's Museum of South Carolina, MagiQuestTheatres: Carolina Opry, Palace Theatre, Alabama TheatreHistorical sites: Brookgreen Gardens, Governor's Lighthouse, Hampton Plantation<B>History</B>Myrtle Beach has gone by several different names in its history.Its original name, "Chicora," came from a Native American word for "the land."When white settlers came upon the area, it was briefly dubbed "New Town" before it was named "Myrtle Beach" for the wax myrtle shrub, a common plant in the area.Information from www.visitmyrtlebeach.com and www.wikitravel.com.<br></BR><br></BR>
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