Two years ago we had our first Girls Weekend and we agreed that we would definitely do it again. Planning began in January this year and it included every adult female family member. 12 of the 14 said they were in. As the time got closer, flights were booked, excitement grew, and it was confirmed there would be 13 of us total. I was excited that everyone was coming and even more excited that we were all going to be staying under the same roof, my house.

The adventure started with my mom coming to Southport on Monday evening. We would be leaving on Tuesday to head to Charleston, SC to meet part of the group.

Mom was going to head down in the morning and I was going to head down after work. Plans changed just a little and we both left after I got off work. We made it to Charleston, checked into the rental house, and then headed to the airport to pick up my Aunts Connie and Virginia and my cousin Melissa. Once we got them to the house and unloaded, we headed into town for dinner and drinks. We all had amazing food and good drinks at the restaurant we chose. It was probably the best meal we had while there (and the most expensive). We stayed up pretty late hanging out and talking. We were also waiting for Aunt Pam to arrive. She was scheduled to be the first one in Charleston at around 10 am, but due to delays in her flights, she didn’t arrive until 11pm!

Wednesday morning started off low key. We didn’t get too involved in anything because we had to pick up my cousin Megan from the airport. Once we picked her up, got her freshened up, we loaded up and headed into downtown Charleston. We walked around, had lunch, and then went on a carriage ride.

After our time downtown, we went back to the rental, had some drinks, played some games, and laughed a lot. We were waiting for my cousins Jasmine, Jacklyn, and Julia to arrive. We decided to meet them for dinner. Since parking isn’t easy in town, we decided to walk to the restaurant. After dinner, we walked a little and ended up at an interesting bar. They were having a silent disco. People check out a pair of headphones and chose the station they wanted to listen to. We made fun of them for a while but then we decided to join in. It was actually a lot of fun. By the time we decided to leave, it was pouring down rain so walking home wasn’t a good option. We ended up calling an Uber.

Thursday morning I got up and walked to a little coffee shop for some breakfast muffins, packed up and headed to Myrtle Beach to pick up Hillary and Amanda. We had plans to go to Broadway at the Beach for lunch and to walk around but it was a gross rainy day. Instead, we stopped at Duplin Winery and enjoyed a glass of wine before heading to Southport.

When we arrived to my house, part of the crew was already there. We decided to take advantage of the gap in the weather and quickly packed up and headed to the beach since Hurricane Ophelia was going to make it so we probably wouldn’t get another chance to go.

After leaving the beach, we tidied up a bit and headed to Southport Tap and Cellar for trivia night and a food truck. We had a great time even though the rain tried to run us off. We tied with a bunch of other teams for 2nd so we didn’t get a prize.

On the way home from trivia, we decided to take a “quick” scenic trip around town since the majority of their time here was going to be rainy. When riding through the yacht basin, we decided to stop for a “quick” drink at American Fish. There was nothing quick about it. We had several drinks and stayed until the live music was over. I guess that helped some get their second wind because they didn’t want the night to end yet. So…Tiki Tavern here we come. We went in, had some drinks, danced, and sang lots of karaoke.

Friday morning was rough for a few of us. It was a slow start to the day. Jasmine, Jacklyn, and Julia drove up from Charleston and got in after lunch and Danielle came in that morning. Our group was now complete! The weather was pretty crappy. We drove down to the yacht basin and had lunch at Fishy Fishy. We hung out at the house, playing games, drinking, and just enjoying having everyone together. For dinner, we went down to Moore Street Oyster Bar. We took every seat at the bar. After dinner, it was Tiki Tavern part 2. We kinda took over the bar with the 13 of us. There was lots of drinking, laughing, dancing, and tons of karaoke. At one point, we ALL got up together and sang We are Family. It was pretty epic. The rain ended while we were in there so we enjoyed the walk home.

Saturday was low key. It was kinda cloudy, kinda cold, and sprinkling a little. My aunt Connie had shirts for all of us made. We wore them out but most of us had jackets or sweatshirts on over them. We went to lunch at Loco Jos and then rode the golf carts around town for a little tour. We walked around and stopped in a few of the downtown shops. We went back to the house and played games. For dinner, we were going to eat at Frying Pan, but they had like an hour wait so we went over to Provision instead. Afterwards, we went back to the house and sat around the fire pit. We didn’t have a fire because all of the wood was wet, but we did have great company and conversation. We chose not to go to the tiki for a third night since a few of the cousins had to leave for the airport at 4am.

On Sunday, I drove Megan, Amanda, and Hillary to the airport in Myrtle Beach for their crack of dawn flight. When I got home, I took a little nap before getting up to see Jasmine, Jacklyn, Julia, and Virginia before they left for the airport. Danielle also left in the morning. My mom, Connie, Melissa, and me rode over to Wilmington to walk around a little and have lunch. It was a gorgeous day. When we got back to Southport, my mom packed up and headed home. Then there were 4. We went to Frying Pan for dinner and just enjoyed a low key evening. Aunt Pam left at the crack of dawn Monday morning and then later in the morning I drove Melissa and Connie to the airport and girls weekend was officially over.

I had an amazing time hanging out with my awesome family. We had lots of laughs and made a ton of new memories. We talked a lot about continuing this tradition and I hope we do. Until next time…