Well, I never actually meant to take months, and months, and months off from blogging, but here we are. It’s mid-September, and I’m here. I’m alive. We’re all alive, actually. It’s been a wild year of transition as we adjust to having babies again, start daycare again, and figure out what the heck we’re doing with the older kids’ schooling (more on that later). But, for now, I’m just going to dive back in…forgive me. We’re sharing all about that time we went to Sokcho, South Korea for the 4th of July. And yes, that’s how far behind we are.
Spending a Long Weekend in Sokcho
Sokcho’s been our list for a long time – like, even when we lived here before. It never quite made it to the calendar though. So, when Ryan had a four-day for the 4th, we decided that we’d skip last year’s on-post festivities and, instead, make our way north to go hiking as a family. Now, caveat…the babies hadn’t been on a long road trip up until this point, so we weren’t sure how it would go. We figured we had to start somewhere though, right?
Sokcho is about 3+ hours from Pyeongtaek/Asan, and we figured we’d do a few rest stops as needed. The babies actually did quite well though, and we did one long(ish) rest stop to eat, as well as a couple short stops to stretch our legs and change babies’ diapers. Even with all that, we made the road trip to Sokcho in about 3.5 hours.
Where We Stayed, Played, and Ate in Sokcho, South Korea
We briefly considered staying in an Airbnb while in Sokcho because it’s always more convenient to have more space. However, because we’d never been before, our goal was to stay close to the city center, get out, and explore when we weren’t hiking. So, we chose to stay at the Ramada Wyndham Gangwon Sokcho right on the waterfront. Think: US Ramada’s but way elevated. The only bummer is that the pool was under construction, and I didn’t know that until we got there.
We ate at Jadam Chicken the first night, then the second night after hiking, we ventured out to the beach areas and ate at Beach Burger our second night. It was a little taste of America, and the kids were pretty stoked. We also indulged in the buffet at the hotel, which was yummy, but definitely leaned more Eastern than Western, and the kids definitely wished their were pancakes.
Things we did:
- Dinner at Jadam Chicken
- Explored the lighthouse on the waterfront
- Beach evening at Sokcho Beach
- Hiking at Seoraksan National Park
- Dinner at Beach Burger
- Church at the local ward
Was the Road Trip to Sokcho Worth it?
I’ll always say that these trips are worth it, even if I know we can do better. Honestly, half of exploring and traveling with babies is just teaching them to travel and explore. They get in our rhythm and learn, okay, this is just what we do. So, yes, it was worth it – long drive included. Better yet, Sokcho is one of those slow-burn cities. There’s so much to do and see beyond the tourist traps, and we’ve been consistently talking about when we need to go back. It has a special charm all of its own, and we just loved it.
Check out day 1 of our family’s road trip to Socho on our YouTube channel!
