For the past several years, our family has made it a priority to get together for a short family trip. We have traveled to the mountains of West Virginia and spent time at a lake in North Carolina. This year, we decided to try something different—a Labor Day weekend at the beach in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.
I will admit that I am not generally a big fan of beach vacations. I can do without the crowds, the oppressive heat and the sand that somehow follows you home in your shoes, your car and everything you own.
But this trip was never really about the beach.
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Our first challenge was finding a date when everyone could go. Coordinating the schedules of our son and his wife with those of our daughter and her husband is difficult enough. Then they must work around the increasingly complicated schedules of our four granddaughters.
Ali, our oldest, is now teaching school full time. Avery is in high school and busy with the varsity dance team. Emery is juggling junior high school with both her school basketball team and an AAU team. Sadie, the youngest, has started first grade and is already busy with soccer and dance classes.
Scheduling a family getaway has become a logistical exercise worthy of a military operation. Somehow, Labor Day weekend emerged as the rare time when everyone was available, so we claimed it before another obligation could appear on the calendar.
The next challenge was finding a house large enough for our growing group and close enough that both families could reach it in a reasonable amount of time. Fortunately, a friend of my wife had recently purchased a property in Murrells Inlet, and it fit our needs perfectly. The house was less than a block from the ocean, with plenty of parking and a swimming pool in the backyard.
When we arrived and saw the “Almost Heaven” sign out front, we knew a group of West Virginians had found the right place.
Our son, Jason, and his family arrived a few minutes before us and were already unloading and settling into their rooms. Our daughter and her family had attended a high school football game that ran late, so they did not pull in until around 3 a.m. They arrived with sleepy eyes and little interest in anything except finding their beds.
We slept in the next morning and headed to the beach around midmorning. The sun was shining brightly, and despite the holiday weekend, the beach was surprisingly uncrowded.
Sadie was soon running toward the water and gathering seashells as they washed ashore. After a few hours, however, the heat began to win the battle. We retreated to the backyard pool, where cold drinks, snacks and a little shade were waiting.
That evening, we decided to cook dinner at the house. Jason took charge of the grill, preparing steaks and hot dogs. After dinner, we watched football and played card games until nearly midnight. There was nothing elaborate about the evening, but seeing everyone laughing and enjoying one another’s company made it special.
The second day was even sunnier. We returned to the beach, collected a few more seashells and, despite our best efforts, brought home a little sunburn. That evening, we enjoyed a family dinner at one of the many local restaurants.
It was a short getaway, and it passed much too quickly.
As our granddaughters grow older and everyone’s lives become busier, we know these trips will become even more difficult to arrange. There will be jobs, school activities, basketball games, dance practices, soccer matches and countless other demands competing for everyone’s time.
That is why weekends like this matter.
We may not remember every meal we ate or every card game we played. But we will remember the laughter, the seashells, the late-night arrival and the simple joy of having our entire little tribe together under one roof.
I may never become a true beach person. But for one Labor Day weekend in Murrells Inlet, “Almost Heaven” felt like an entirely appropriate name.
