The rest of my US trip

After the (second) bestest wedding weekend ever, I had plans to go down to Myrtle Beach for a week. MB is my home away from home, having gone there since I was about 8 months old. (My first plane trip was to MB as a baby - I'm told I slept through it). I can whip around town, dodge tourists who are confused by the three main streets, endless mini golf courses, and fast food places with ease.

The first order of business was hitting the outlets. I was on the hunt not for me, but for hubby who was in need of new shirts (he has plenty but he always rotates through the same Izod outlet shirts and I was hoping to add a few to the mix). With coupons in tow, I was able to snag four really nice looking shirts for about $90. I even got myself a few new shirts at the Banana Republic and Ann Taylor Loft outlets. It was quite a successful day.

The second order of business while in SC was eating copious amounts of Chick Fil-A, Sonic, Zaxby's and visiting The Library. The Library is where I want to have my last meal on earth - I adore their steak diane and I was excited to share this place with my sister and her boyfriend this trip, especially since they both appreciate good food. My sister and I had their table-side from-scratch Caesar salad. So delicious.

The third order of business was evening out my crazy burn/tan thing I had going on, so we waited for a halfway decent beach day and I was able to get everything evened out. (Obviously I burned first and then tanned, but within a week it was all good).

My favorite part of the trip was hanging out with my sister's dog, Bear. He's a sweetie. We hung out on the drive back to Maryland too, where we were backseat buddies.

Like me, he's also a fan of naps.

Before I left we stumbled upon a huge Bark Park and took Bear:

 This is Bear's bench. He did not like it when any other dogs tried to come near.

 (My sister laying down the law)

 Crazy eyes.

He's pretty cool as far as dogs go.

The day after we got back to Maryland I found myself at the airport again waiting an inordinate amount of time for my flight which caused my connection to be re-booked, but I was super happy to be back in Europe. I definitely felt some culture shock when I was in the US because I was already accustomed to less "noise." By noise I mean there are less invasive advertisements, fewer traffic problems (and better drivers), fewer choices and other things that make life simpler. Because of this, and because it's pretty pricey to fly across the Atlantic all the time, I don't have plans to return for the foreseeable future. We're hoping that friends and family take their turns on the long flights to see us so we can introduce them to new and exciting experiences.

Will I miss things like decent pizza and certain restaurants? Sure, but the benefits of living here far and away outweigh that stuff.

On tap for Wednesday: A review of four airlines (United, Lufthansa, British Airways, Ryanair) and our experiences.