Out of all the vacations I have been on throughout the course of my life, there has always been one that stood out to me. I collected the most memories when I went to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. My sister, brother, mom, and dad all went together with me. Me and my family decided to go on vacation near my 10th birthday since not a lot of tourists would be there, and the hotel room would be cheaper. Being able to spend my birthday out in paradise filled me up with joy and happiness.
We arrived at the hotel, and I remember there being 8 pools inside and outside, and there was a whole lazy river outside, too. On the night of August 24th, I remember being pushed off the fluffy, soft bed by my sibling, and I ended up waking up on the floor in between the bed and the rough wall. My dad woke me up and I checked my phone, my blurry vision making it hard to see the numbers. As my eyes adjusted to the light, and I was able to make out the time as 8:34 am. My dad then told me to look outside on the balcony.
I walked across the small hallway to the living room, opening the sliding door. A cold breeze hit my face and arms, with goosebumps popping up on my skin. I looked out to the calm ocean waves, and once my eyes moved down to the beige sand, I saw my mom waving her arms frantically, trying to get my attention. Next to her were the words, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALAINA!” carved into the sand. There were hearts all around her hard work as well.
Me and my dad rushed down to the first level so I could go see my mom. I’m sure that the people passing by knew it was my birthday because of the bright look on my face, and some of them even said happy birthday to me. However, there was this one nice woman who came up to me and asked if it was my birthday. She explained that her name was also Alaina, and she was surprised and confused when she looked at the sand when she woke up.
Later that day, we decided to go swimming at the beach. I got my suit on and we walked down to the lukewarm water. I’d never go farther into the ocean when the water was beyond my hips, mostly because I was afraid of getting aggressively knocked down by a strong wave and drowning in the sandy water. So, I stayed by the shore. I soon gathered up the courage to go deeper, softly swinging my arms around me. Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my fingers, assuming I had gotten attacked by a shark.
I immediately squeezed my own hand, tight, attempting to stop the bleeding. Then I sprinted out of the water to my mom, screaming out that I got bit by a shark. I didn’t cry, but I was very panicked. The sand stuck to my feet and flung up into my eyes as I was kneeling down in front of my mom. She made me take my hand off of my fingers, and there was no damage. No cuts, no blood, nothing. My fingers were very swollen though, and there was a streaky mark on my skin that stood out bigger than the rest of my skin. We called the lifeguard over and he diagnosed it as a jellyfish sting. He poured some water and vinegar on it, and told me to keep eating foods with a lot of vinegar.
Turns out, my siblings also got stung. That was my first time getting stung, and hopefully my last. The best part about that experience was that I got to eat a lot of pickles with the homemade chili we made in the hotel room. Not to mention, there were some pretty sick thunderstorms I was able to watch that night. I’d go back to Myrtle Beach any day.