Craig Melvin Shares Family Vacation Photos After Week-Long ‘Today’ Absence

Before returning to 30 Rockefeller Center’s Studio 1A on Monday, July 28, Today‘s Craig Melvin gave fans a look into his week-long hiatus activities.

Melvin was absent from the NBC morning show all of last week, taking time off to travel to his home state of South Carolina with his family. “The annual Melvin family getaway to SC. Making memories #family,” he captioned Instagram photos from his vacation on Sunday, July 27.

The first slide of Melvin’s photo slideshow featured a sweet family group photo on the beach. Melvin smiled for the camera with his wife, Lindsay Czarniak, and their two kids, Delano (11) and Sybil (8), as well as more relatives.

While the family of four took their own beach photos, the Melvins posed for more pictures with their family as they enjoyed time in the pool, on a boat, and at group meals and hangouts.

Today lifestyle contributor Jill Martin left several heart eyes emojis underneath Melvin’s post, while a fan commented, “Yall look like your are having a blast. 💥. Good for you. You deserve it.”

 

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A post shared by Craig Melvin (@craigmelvinnbc)

“Beautiful South Carolina coast! Beautiful family,” another user commented, while a different person pointed out, “Aww kids are growing so fast!”

Though Today is filmed in New York City, Melvin resides in Connecticut with his wife and kids. Before becoming an NBC mainstay, Melvin studied at Wofford College in South Carolina and got his first broadcast news job in his home state at the local station WIS-TV.

Melvin has incorporated several aspects of his South Carolina upbringing into his life in the Big Apple and New England. “Here [in Connecticut, where I live now], there are foods that are designated for special occasions. If it’s a celebratory meal, maybe you’ll have fried whatever and collard greens or black-eyed peas and white rice. For us growing up, sometimes that was a random Wednesday,” he shared in an interview with Southern Living back in May. “You don’t fully appreciate that until you move out of the South.”

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Melvin said that he, Czarniak, and their kids “do Sunday dinner in this little booth in our basement,” adding, “If it’s a good Sunday, the kids are getting along and we can reflect on the week that was and look forward to the one ahead.”

Last month, Melvin’s third hour of Today cohosts, Al Roker and Dylan Dreyer, surprised him with the news that a sea turtle nest in Hilton Head, South Carolina, had been named in his family’s honor. “Last week, a mama loggerhead laid 138 eggs at your family nest,” Roker shared, while Dreyer noted the eggs would hatch in “about two months.”

While Melvin was appreciative of the gesture, he also called it “ironic” because he once had to pay a fine for having his lights on past sunset, as locals are required to turn them off so baby sea turtles can find their way to the ocean via moonlight.

“After that, we became acutely aware of sea turtles,” he explained, adding, “Thank you, Hilton Head. We can’t wait to come down and check ’em out.”

Melvin was not the only Today host to make his return to the show on Monday. Savannah Guthrie and Carson Daly were back on the NBC series after missing several episodes last week. Jenna Bush Hager, meanwhile, was also back on air after another of her usual Friday absences.

Today, Weekdays, 7 a.m. ET, NBC