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Going back through these photos and videos from our first beach trip as a family of six just gives me all the feels and a desire to go back. Our trip to Carolina Beach, North Carolina truly was a core-memory for us all, and I can only thank Sweet Hideaways for it.
After a 10-hour road trip from Alabama (4.7.24), we arrived to the condo and it truly felt like a home-away-from-home. The kids happily explored the place and played with the toys provided while Aaron and I got the luggage in and food put away.
Then we got ready to go to the beach. The original idea was we’d have a picnic dinner but the kids ran immediately to the water and ended up getting soaked so we ditched that idea and had dinner back at the condo. This was my second time seeing the Atlantic but it was everyone else’s first time and definitely their first time at the beach (technically Rylie and Emmaline have been before as infants, but that doesn’t feel like it counts..).
After a full travel day, we got some much needed rest before waking up (4.8.24) and getting ready for the beach. The beach was a 5-minute drive from our condo but we did have to pay for parking. We found the cheapest day rate to maximize our money.
We weren’t on the sand 10-minutes before Rylie and Emmaline ran up to me saying this was the best day ever! haha.
I got two sets of sand toys off Amazon for the trip and they were perfect!
You can get the three bucket set here and the train set here.
We spent 5+ hours at the beach and probably could have stayed longer.
After we got cleaned up, Emmaline spent time washing her bucket of shells she wanted to keep and Rylie & Spencer curled up on the couch with a book.
Aaron wanted to go out on the town so we went to a local restaurant and then headed to the arcade and ice cream shop before calling it a full day.
We slept so hard that night.
Tuesday morning (4.9.24) we chose a slower morning. The girls slept in so Spencer and I snuck out of the house and drove 3-minutes down the road to Island Bagel to get some breakfast. I also splurged and got an iced latte.
The bagels were delicious and we watched a few Duck Dynasty reruns while we ate and woke up.
Shortly after, we were ready for another day at the beach. We grabbed all our old faithfuls (shoutout to the washer/dryer provided because that was a lifesaver!) and went to the beach. This time, we borrowed the condo’s beach chairs and that was a game changer!
I got a lot of questions about my swimsuit on social media, so here’s the link for you. My shoulders burn really easily so having long sleeves was incredible!
We took one final trip to the boardwalk for a few arcade games and another round of ice cream before coming home and getting ready for bed. This book was a beautiful conclusion.
Leaving was hard… checkout day (4.10.24) I found myself wishing we were getting ready for another beach day instead of packing to go home. But we completed the checkout checklist and got loaded up.
Sweet Hideaways blessed us with a beautiful place to stay while we created lifelong memories for our family. This truly was one of the best AirBnB’s we’ve been to. They were closely located to main things (grocery stores, restaurants, coffee shops, stores, tourist attractions, the beach, etc.) while also feeling secluded. The amenities were helpful and the overall atmosphere was homey (my favorite!). Did I mention their nightly rate is super reasonable!? I truly hope to visit again soon!
In addition to my Instagram Reel overview, take a peak at my YouTube video, highlighting the space.