We are going to myrtle beach for a week in early June. The stay is free as my in laws "own" a timeshare. Face punch. Myrtle beach does not seem to be my cup of tea based on google (highly commercialized, tacky, etc) but they have been begging us to go with them for years.
Expected expenses:
Gas for 12-14 hour drive
Possible hotel overnight on the way there or back: hope to use points or stay with my brother. Also hope kids can hack it in the car and we don't have to stop.
Food (groceries)
Food (restaurants)
Small souvenir for kids
In laws eat out every meal and will pay for us if we join them, but we will buy one dinner as a thank you. We plan to eat most meals at the condo but expect to spend more than usual as we will need some convenience foods and won't have our freezer and pantry stash, won't want out spend a ton of time cooking from scratch, etc. I am hoping we can be under 300 for all food costs for the week, I but I expect that will be a challenge. Face punch. What is reasonable here? (2 adults, 2 kids, normal grocery budget is 500 exclusive of eating out).
What else should we do? I don't even know what we should plan on doing other than beach. I want to avoid the awful Ripleys museum traps, but is there anything good to do that is worth the money for a 4 and 6 year old? Are there any good spots within an hour drive that aren't necessarily in myrtle beach? Hiking would be great. What should we do if there is a rainy day? The location we are staying is on N. ocean blvd at about 70th ave n.