A Visit To Myrtle Beach

Before leaving Vancouver for this adventure we planned a couple short trips to interesting nearby cities: Myrtle Beach, SC, and Savannah, Georgia.  Whenever we told locals here in Charleston that we were planning on going to Myrtle Beach, they said 'oh, you'll be glad to get back to Charleston' or 'you won't need more than a couple days there'.

But the internet said that there were SO many things to do! The internet doesn't lie, right???  I had bookmarked tons of fun kid-friendly activities: waterparks and museums and aquariums and amusement parks. Not to mention that beautiful beach! It seemed that we would be able to fill up days with activities and still have more to do. 

Resting up on anticipation of all the excitement.

And it's true. There is plenty to do. The internet didn't lie to me.
It didn't, however, tell the entire truth. The truth is that Myrtle Beach has a slightly rundown seedy veneer, kind of like Vegas' less prostitutional, less glamourous sister. With a beach attached. There are still Vegas-style shows, and big spectacles, and eccentric tourists from near and far. It's loud and tacky and overpriced and surreal. As you travel north up 'the Strip', you can see the evolution from small, older motor hotels growing into huge high-rise sparkling ridiculously-priced towers. 

Now, when your hotel is advertising 'COLOUR TV', you know you're in an old hotel! 

This is not where we stayed, but it was the same era.

 The 'SkyWheel' on the strip, with a beautiful sunset.

 Free children's festival on the beach on Monday evenings.

 A weird cloud phenomenon at sunset. It looks like something's in the way and causing a strange shadow.

We had originally planned to stay in Myrtle Beach for 5 days, 4 nights. It's only a 2 hour drive or so from Charleston, with a convenient mid-way stop in a cute little place called Georgetown for lunch. Our trip ended up being halved - to only 2 nights, and a grateful escape back to our big clean palatial heaven back here in Charleston.

Speaking of eccentric tourists....   

This isn't all that strange... until I tell you it was in a McDonalds parking lot. And I saw 5 adults climb into it. 

Happy Honeymoon!

(?)

That's $2.94 a gallon, which with the current exchange rate works out to just under $0.80/L.  

I thought it was worth taking a picture of!

Ultimately, the hotel did us in. It got excellent reviews on tripadvisor, indicating that it was exactly the right place for us: focussed on families, older but very clean and well maintained, inexpensive, but with a great location close to activities and right on the beach. Rooms were simple, without frills,but had a kitchenette so you could have cereal or toast for breakfast and not have to eat out. We don't care about bells and whistles, because we're there to explore the city and not stay locked up in a hotel room. AND it had free internet. Perfect, right? 
Except that it seems that every single reviewer on tripadvisor was either a person who was a smoker or who had broken olfactory nerves.

The hotel stunk of cigarette smoke. Now, if you know Johnny and I, he is vociferously anti-smoking. Woe to the driver who tosses a cigarette butt out the window when stopped at a red light when Johnny's cycling; he'll pick up the butt and toss it back in your car! And I both loathe smoking and have a rather sensitive nose. (Evidence that ability to smell is related to nose size??? Perhaps....)
We decided to give it one night to see if we could tolerate it, but by the next morning we were too disgusted to stay any longer. When we tried to shower the smell off our ourselves in the morning, the hot water tap in the shower was broken. We asked for another room that was actually non-smoking (the one we were staying in was purported to be, but had cigarette ashes and a carton wrapper in a drawer... so much for "very clean and well maintained"), but they were full. The hotel owner very quickly offered us a refund without further discussion. We think she knew that there was a problem, and hoping we wouldn't make a fuss. It ended up being very non-confrontational (probably because she doesn't want to upset her great reviews on tripadvisor!) --- but after one night of Myrtle Beach we were pretty well ready to pack it up and go 'home' to our lovely, clean, sweet-smelling Charleston house.

Apparently the kids aren't bothered by cigarette smoke. 

 The hotel was gross, but with a view like this (gorgeous beach + yummy Asian man), how can I complain?

This is directly behind our hotel.

2nd Avenue Pier (1 block from our hotel).

 I forced my small whiny child to stand still so I could show you how gigantic this hibiscus flower was. 

It's almost as large as his small whiny head!

 This lovely boardwalk runs for several kilometers along the beach and behind the hotels. 

We decided to pack our last day with fun activities for the kids, so in the morning we went to see the 'Alligator Adventure'. Ready to see a whole lotta alligators?

 Not an alligator.

 This lady is risking life and limb to feed these huge monsters some chicken. That guy is over 12 feet long!

 Tired of seeing alligators yet? You can tell these are the little juveniles because they have black stripes.

 If I was that turtle I'd be worried.

 Cuddly?

Apparently you can approximate the size of an alligator: every inch between their eyes and nose corresponds to about a foot of body length. Males top out at around 15 feet long!

We enjoyed a picnic lunch on the beach, and took the kids to an amusement park in the afternoon. It was called 'Nostalgia Park' at Broadway on the Beach, and had a collection of all those rides you'll remember from being a kid. No elastic bands shooting you up into the sky; just the swinging pirate ship and the swings. It also had a large number of kid rides and mysteriously, NO LINES, so we got the kids all-day armbands and let them go to town.

Ready for a whole bunch of my kids having the best time of their lives on the rides?  

  

 (Confession: the above three photos are actually from a ride on the Strip, the previous day.)

  Looking down from the ferris wheel. 

 This was their favourite ride. They must have gone on it ten times. In a row.

  

 Apparently this one was boring. Back to the race cars!

That's better!

I just had to show you these. I guess in Myrtle beach, if you can't find a parking spot, you just make one up!

We figured they'd be tired after a couple hours, and then we'd hop in the car and drive back to Charleston. WELL. After four hours they were still going strong! It was after 6, so we spontaneously decided to stay at a very nearby hotel and return to Charleston the following day. It was a chain hotel, it included breakfast and internet and sparkling white sheets. AND it was a non-smoking property. Lesson learned!  

On our way home we decided to stop at a barrier island beach recommended to us by a Georgetown local. Pawley's Island is a small island off the coast that has no commercial businesses, no restaurants, and only 2 hotels that were grandfathered in when these stringent rules were put in place. For much of the small island, there is a single row of houses with marsh on one side, with their boat docks reaching out into the water, and sandy beach on the other side! Amazing.

 Marsh side. 

Beach side.

Another lunch stop in Georgetown. What a cute little town!  

The place we ate backed up on the boardwalk and fishing boats. And an excellent fresh fish sandwich.

 Salty and sandy and windblown from the beach - and still makes my heart skip a beat.

 Highly recommended!

We've been back here in Charleston for a couple days, and glad we made the choice to 'staycation'. Today we're off to Savannah for a couple days, but we've cut that trip shorter that originally planned too. Is it possible to be homebodies when you're not really at home?