Today my family and I just got back from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, a favorite vacation spot for us. Though my wife and I prefer the mountains, our kids really love the beach. Besides the beach itself, there are lots of family-friendly activities in the area, so it's perfect for us. Two events this week showed me just how incredibly fearless my little eight-year-old daughter is.
One of the places we visited was Alligator Adventure. This is an animal park designed around alligators, crocodiles, and their cousins, as well as some birds and other animals. Both kids like it but my daughter loves creepy-crawly animals and was fascinated by being in the snake house and looking at all of the various reptiles. They have an interactive show where a keeper educates on various reptiles and gives kids the chance to touch some of them. My little girl was so excited to get to touch a baby alligator! No hesitation whatsoever.
But the big surprise was when we went to WonderWorks, an interactive museum with lots of kid-friendly activities. One of the things they could do was a "skyline", walking dozens of feet in the sky on ropes and narrow beams, safely attached by a tether. My son is developing a fear of heights, and couldn't be up there for more than a few minutes before having to go back down. My daughter? We had to keep telling her to slow down so my wife and I could catch up! It didn't matter how wobbly the walk was or how narrow the rope, she scurried across without any hesitation whatsoever!
It was a very nice, relaxing vacation. The best part was that we had a limited agenda and concentrated on spending time with our family and not rushing. For the first time in I don't know how long, my wife and I each read an entire book in one day. We are realizing the benefit of simply taking it easy and not having to fill our days with activities.
Tomorrow....details on my new endeavor!
