GOOD: Huntington Beach State Park. Just North of Litchfield and South of Murrel's Inlet. Very nice facilities.

Historic Buildings and tours, too.



If your kids start misbehaving make sure to stop by the alligator lagoons between the park entrance and the beach. tell them if they don't STFU you'll toss them in. Instant angelic children.



GOOD: Brookgreen Gardens which is directly across the street from the entrance to Huntington Beach State Park

http://www.brookgreen.org/



BAD: Anything North of Huntington Beach/Brookgreen Gardens



(OK, this really isn't a photo of Myrtle Beach but it's my impression of anything North of Myrtle Beach State Park which in itself is nice but not as nice as Huntington Beach State Park)

The Pontificator has it mostly right on his post above. However, I take strong exception to has last comment about not staying north of Litchfield Beach.
Garden City Beach and Surfside Beach are nice seaside towns. Garden City has looser rules, and many high rise condos along the beach. They allow fireworks to be sold and set off in their city limits. Surfside Beach is a little more reserved, (no fireworks) and the only high rise buildings over 3 stories are two hotels. Everything else on or near the beach are small to medium low rise condos and single family beach cabins/houses. Both towns have their own fishing piers. Surf Diner at the Surfside pier is a good place to get breakfast if you are not in a hurry, and it has a nice outdoor area adjoining the pier, and great view of the beach. Service can be good or not so good.

Most of the best seafood places nearby are in Murrells Inlet. When we stay at the BIL's condo in Surfside, we have a rotation list of restaurants in the area that we frequent. In Murrells' we go to Inlet Crab House, Marshview Kitchen, and Grahams Landing, and under the Tiki hut at Half Shell Raw Bar (all casual and good).  For Dining a little more upscale, we go to Russells Seafood Grill or Salt Water Creek Café. Salt Water Creek Café has good food and fabulous $3.00 Margaritas; I can never go there without having 1 or 2, maybe 3 if I am not driving. If you are really hungry for some Southern Cooking and just have to do a buffet, go to Prossers Barbeque in Murrels Inlet. Its a self serve buffet of Barbeque, fried seafood, and Southern country cooking. Also, back inland on Hwy 707 is Driftwoods Steak and Seafood. Its where the locals go when the places nearer the beach are swamped with tourists, and its good.

In Garden City/Surfside area, if the weather is nice, eat lunch on the elevated porch overlooking the beach at the Conch Café. Painters Homemade Ice Cream out on business Hwy 17  is excellent. Other places on Business 17 that we like are: The Barbeque House, which has pretty good Barbeque, and great key lime pie. In fact, we have been known to go by there when we first arrive and get a whole Key lime pie to take to the condo. On Surfside Drive, we like Borgata and Surfside Beach Pizza. Now let me tell you about a hidden gem the locals frequent. Its a small place called The Southside grill in a plain strip mall next to the Golden Egg Restaurant. Its run by a family transplanted from PA, and its really good. They have seafood and other special dishes, nightly specials, and killer homemade desserts. The Homemade pan style red velvet cake is enough for 2 people. Southside is only open evenings from 4pm until the crowd dies out, Wednesday through Saturday. The Golden Egg nearby is a good Breakfast place too. Places we don't go to: Crabby Mikes, Sara Js, Seafood House, Original Benjamins, or anything named a Pancake House.

Now a word or two about the word Calabash. You will see lots of places claiming Calabash Style seafood. Its based on the way the restaurants in the real town of Calabash, NC fry small seafood. As best I can tell, you get a heaping pile of small breaded fried shrimp, oysters, clams etc., there. Calabash NC is about 2 miles north of Little River, SC. right off Hwy 17. If you have time, make the drive up to Calabash, NC, pick one of the places along the waterfront and see if you like it or not.

Now, about other areas. I have heard that North Myrtle Beach and Cherry Grove Beach are nice areas, but have never stayed there. I would not stay in the main part of Myrtle Beach, even if the rooms were half priced. Too congested, and too tacky touristy. Go do it once, then cross it off your been there, done that list, or drive in for the day from one of the smaller beach towns. As noted Barefoot Landing and the Broadway at the Beach are nice shopping and entertainment areas. There are 2 different Tanger Outlet Malls in the area, as well as a Gander Mountain and Bass Pro Shop. Surfside Beach has a big flea market if you are into that kind of thing. There are Crazy Wacky Golf Complexes about every mile or two up and down the Grand Strand area. They are great places to have some fun after dark, when its not so hot.

And now for a shameless plug. If you want to see what a really nice Surfside condo rental with an ocean view looks like, (not ocean front), go to Surfside Realty (dot) com and look up Beachwalk #204.
August 2024 edit--- The rental was moved to Garden City Realty 2 years ago, but fees were too much and cleaning not suitable to the owners. The unit is now again listed with Surfside Realty  https://www.surfsiderealty.com/rentals/beach-walk-204
Come down and enjoy.

Good Areas:
Cherry Grove
Litchfield Beach
Pawley's Island

Good Food Locations:
The Shack
Duffy Street Seafood Shack
Anywhere in Murrels Inlet

Good Attractions:
Barefoot Landing
Broadway at the Beach
Ripley's Aquarium(best aquarium by far in the state)

The Ugly:
Bike weeks, just stay away.

THE VERY BAD: ATLANTIC BEACH (located between Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach)

Trust us...just stay the hell out unless you want to see South Carolina's own Mogadishu.

THE GAY: 82nd Street North (Myrtle Beach) Don't ask me how I know this. OK, you can ask. It was the only place with one open parking spot in one of those public beach access areas. Honest!

THE EXCELLENT (IF you can get there early in the morning): Pawley's Island public  beach access and parking on the South end of the island.

You MUST get there early as the parking lot is very small and fills up quickly. The South end of the island has a large sand spit and when the tide goes out it's just awesome. great for sport kite flying. THIS IS "DECOMPRESSION" AT IT'S FINEST.

Pawley's Island is one of only two beaches in the state where alcohol consumption is legal (but no glass). We used to have three but several years ago trashy Folly Beach (South of Charleston) outlawed alcohol consumption after a large melee broke out and several LEO's were injured.

Pawley's is also known for hot wimmenz wearing Wicked Weasels. Such attire would get you ticketed and possibly arrested at Myrtle Beach.

Don't mess with the Israeli beachwear shop owners. They're obnoxious...and armed.

Store Owners Settle Suit in Deadly Beachwear Store Shootiing

http://www.vosizneias.com/33327/2009/06/12/myrtle-beach-sc-beachware-store-owner-found-not-guilty-in-parking-lot-death/

We're relatively local (within about 30 minutes of NMB) and as such when we go to the beach we go to the north end. Cherry grove is more family friendly IMO. as far as food we go to Finns Irish Tavern occasionally along with Empire fire (Mongolian food, you pick your meats/veggies/noodles of a cold/frozen bar and they cook them on a big gas griddle then hand the plate to you). If you are looking for calabash style seafood IMO nothing at the beach is as good as Dales Seafood in Tabor City, NC (small town about 35 min inland from NMB) plus it doesn't have the "tourist tax" lol.

If you come through Conway near lunch or dinner and like fried chicken give Maryland Fried Chicken a try. It's a hole in the wall but has best fried chicken I've ever had except for mommas, try their chicken tenders with the honey mustard.

I am heart broke that "big daddy steakhouse" is shut down...

They had steaks so good that A1 would only ruin them... They had brownie deserts that could make even the hardcorist Jihadist go "praise America"...

Please tell me they reopened... Or baring that, tell me where the next best steakhouse is...

Also, any good gun shops around Myrtle? And don't say Gander mountain...

707 is hit or miss depending on who's working. Rangemaster was real pissy about anyone having a CCW.

Brookgreen Gardens is awesome.  Me and the wife were there in September, and after a couple of hours we started noticing it was completely emtpy, and finally realized they had closed an hour earlier.  Thankfully they leave the exit gate unlocked.

Has anyone mentioned River City Cafe?  The 2 we ate at had killer food.

Went to NMB for a week, last week. Stayed at a great condo at dunes resort. had a blast there. However, did travel for a few hours tour down to the grand strand....I am so glad i was double carrying (My shield and J frame). While there, my house keeper that I took along was almost robbed. A couple tried to get her away from me and im sure a robbery was on their mind. Lucky I saw what was happening and got to her. They also had several day light hour robberies on the street and a couple of low key shootings. I think ill stick to folly beach for now on. I hadn't been to MB in many years, and wont be back. However, that dunes resort was great - 2 bedroom condo with an indoor water park and bar and restaurant on site...all for $80 a night. It was so peaceful. I think I got lucky on the rate as it is normally twice that much. No bugs, very clean, and family focused, plus very quite.

Going to be down with family  in May, I see no gun shows within driving range, anything new for surplus(real surplus,  not the uniform shop with all new items and few old MRE thrown style) shops, cool thrift stores, decent pawn shops and/or older tool buying places?

I know I will be trapped in that dreaded Christmas place for hours.  The highlight of last trip was a flea market type place  where I found two  of the "Bachman Books" by Stephen King published under the Richard Bachman name. A pretty good score that offset some of the pain. This will not be firearm trip for the most part, unless there are deals on a 10/22 for my mom.       Thank you for your time and effort to update.


SC Hometowm Folks,
Great job with the random box, I lurk in our down south brother Forum and I am amazed at the box and the valuables still going.  I wish we could have one in NC. Thank you all for years of enjoyment watching it grown and change.


*post trip  *  The indoor multi-vendor flea market is closing. This was the one in an old strip mall, where you walked through doorways  cut into  the previous stores' walls. Closing is to due rent increases and lack of profits. Closing was supposed to happen within  a month or two from May 2017.

"The Gun Store" in Conway, SC (20 miles from beach) is our only good gun shop.  Owned and staffed by good people.  Nice range and some cool FA rentals available.

Worth the drive.

I live in the "restaurant row" area of myrtle beach, and with Shore Drive and Kingston Plantation within golf cart range, I see tourists all day.  The ones around these parts seem pretty decent.

I'll add my experiences

Beach umbrellas in MB have to be behind the Life Guard erected row of umbrellas.  Gotta pay the King to get the best views.  They claim is so the life guard can see the beach.  North MB doesn't have a problem with this and no one is drowning because of it.  I visit NMB only.
EDIT:  A few years ago I purchased one of the high end commercial umbrellas like they rent.  Damned well worth the $175.

Taxes in North MB are lower.  Not sure which ones, but I know prepared foods are higher.  I visit NMB only.

Beaches are less crowded in NMB and it's more of a family oriented area. Not a party/thuggery zone.

Hotel/condo parking is usually limited to two cars on the property. Check with the leasing company. Some provide off site parking for trailers, extra cars, etc. I know for a fact Elliot Realty offers this service. Well, in NMB.

All the restaurant buffets seem to taste the same to me.  Not impressed.  Besides, taking out 6-9 people kills the budget.  

Our usual routine is to check in at agency and pick up the keys.  Go unload the car then go hit the grocery store and drop $400+.  And by tuesday we're back at the grocery store.

One year we had a shopping cart filled with nothing but beer.

The family is headed to Ocean Lakes Campground in a couple weeks to a rental house. Anything I should be aware of before the trip? We are coming down 77 or 79, if that helps for traffic to avoid. Any unusual carry laws?

Thanks

Yea, avoid Ocean Lakes Campground.  My son went there with friends years ago.  The place is a shit show with asshole kids teaming up to run mini-gangs while on vacation vandalizing as much shit as they can.

Great. Should be fun. We already had the house booked and paid for. There are 8 of us going. My brother in law is coming up from Florida and he isn't afraid to stay up, get drunk  and chase them off.

AAR:

Got back yesterday. We stayed in a house near the front of the place. Great amenities, nice beach. Golf carts everywhere. There were no mini-gangs of kids causing graffiti, at least not near us. Only annoyance was teens driving the carts around and playing music until the 11pm curfew. but it trailed off by 9pm near us. Mostly on the strip next to the beach. Lots of free activities. We played in two corn-hole tournaments while we were there. They had a day camp for kids 4-11 that we took advantage of. Best money spent the whole trip. They have a small waterpark with a couple of pools, kids area, lazy river and a couple big-ish slides. The kids had fun, we relaxed on the beach. The dredging project was still to the south, so we were not affected by that.

Overall, good experience.

Sounds great!  I also got back on Saturday from NMB.  Looks like they might have cleaned up the Ocean Lakes areas reputation.  Thank God!  My son went there with a friend when he was a kid.  He took his bike with him.  He could not find it when he left.  We went back a month later and went to security and they took us to the "bike lockup".  Sure enough, there it was.  A solid rusted hulk of shit that was a 6 month old bike.  Apparently some of the wanabe gangers stole it and dumped it in their salt water lake.  I asked the guy how long it was in there and he told me they probably dragged it out the day he left. It was their normal procedure to clean out the lake after the saturday guest evacuation.  I asked why couldn't they at least hose off the salt water so it wouldn't be a piece of shit in a matter of days?  
Apparently I was one of the first to ever come back for a bike, so they never worry about it.  

We might be down in that area next year. I dread the thought, but my daughter found a house south of MB that takes animals for the same cost of our condo rental.  I might go to Florida next year to avoid the family gathering with dogs.  
My adventure was having the cops called on us for refusing to leave the hot tub.     Apparently there is a new law in SC that the gates to pool areas have to have self latching and self closing hinges.  The maintenance idiot couldn't install hinges properly and tried to shut the hot tub/pool area down.  We told him to call the cops on us, we were not leaving under his authority.  
We got another 30-45 min in the hot tub and had a great conversation with the young man.  He was actually on our side and giving the repairman a hard time about it.    He found out we're from Richland County and was all excited about Live PD and some of his friends appearing on the show.

Well, hey from Tennessee!

Wife and I are going back to Myrtle probably this Saturday, having troubles deciding between the familiar and going to the panhandle.

We are typically good at 2+ star hotels and are on a pretty tight budget this time.

I found some deals that will allow me to rent a car as well and stay on track financially.

How bad is it right now between 29th and 17th avenue this late in the season? Anybody down there now that can say? Accuweather says rain in the forecast, too...

Thanks in advance, I'll try to check back in later today

Schools are starting back all over the state this week.  Should be much quieter around the MB area. I think peak actually ends after Labor Day.

Want to see a ghost town?  Go during Christmas for one of the shows.  It's really creepy at night.

Winter at a beach? Haven't done that since I was a child. Interesting...

I just booked a room there for the ABF bee convention this week. It will be at the Sheraton, but it's right down the road. Glad to hear its OK.

My parents are going to MB alone in a week, is it still safe down there? They are not dangerous folks like me, their brains don’t process stuff like it should.

Mom refuses to get CCW or even carry the mace I bought her.

Dad is elderly & disabled. While he has CCW, he rarely carries & from his performance at a class we took together this past Saturday, I’m not all that optimistic about his shooting ability if it came down to it.

And this video is still fresh in my mind.


Should I just insist that I go with them, or they cancel the trip? I offered to let them have their own room for privacy.

Tell them to go to Surfside Beach instead. Either Holiday Inn or Surfside Inn, or rent a condo or beach house. Plenty available this time of year.

dupe

Down here visiting right now. Went out to eat at the Claw House, and Damon’s. Excellent food at both establishments.

Hitting up the beach again.

Any things to do historical or wwii related?

Guess I need to research that. Leaving tomorrow and go back to work Wednesday. Hopefully weather won't be too bad.

I posted this in a general Myrtle Beach thread and thought I would cross post it here.

I can vouch for these places on the south end of the grand strand. IE: Surfside Bch/Garden City/ Murrels Inlet:

1) Another vote for Russel's, good eats in a classic wood paneled dining room with lots of old school coastal décor.
2) Conch Café, beach side/ocean view on Waccamaw Drive in Garden City, Great Food/ Great views.
3) Gulfstream Café on South Waccamaw in Garden City, about 4 miles south of the business district, very classy place with good food and view across the inlet to the Murrell's Inlet restaurants.
4) Deck 383 at the very end of Wachesaw Rd, at the marina there. (Its the back side of the Murrels Inlet area.)   CLOSED- SEE BELOW. Nice outdoor dining under a yuge Oak Tree. Good food, good service, views of the Waccamaw River/Intercoastal waterway. People also come there by boat.
5) The Claw House in Murrels Inlet, -very classy place, but we haven't eaten there yet. Make time to walk the Marshwalk there too.
6) One Eyed Willies in Surfside is a new Seafood Buffet and cooked to order crab leg place that is getting great reviews, CLOSED.
7) GENERAL - There are a lot of upscale restaurants located at the Market Common Village development off Farrow Parkway.

ETA: one of our favorites, The Salt Water Creek Restaurant has closed up.

May 2023 update: Deck 383 has closed and reopenned as a bar with food under a different name.
Adds:
8) On the Half Shell is a rustic restaurant out on the main Hwy 17, with good seafood and drinks, and nightly specials. If the weather is nice, get there early and get a seat at the bar, under the big Tiki Hut.
9) Grahams Landing, at the south end of HWY 17 business in Murrells inlet. Great Shrimp and Grits, seafood, deserts and drinks, and if the weather is decent, sit outside and enjoy the Marsh View.
10) Neptune Bistro and Raw Bar, in front of Wicked Tuna in Murrells Inlet. Very Good seafood and drinks in an open air cafe next to a small harbor. Some people come there by boat.
11) Benjamin's Bakery in Surfside Beach is a great Breakfast and pastry place.


Also, the Pier at Surfside Beach has reopened now that the reconstruction is substantially finished.

The wife is looking to book a condo at one of the resorts between 68 and 77 ave just North of MB for first part of August, is that a decent part of the beach? Any hoodrat shenanigans going on in that area? We are planning to take our 3 small kids too. Thanks for all the great info here, I appreciate it.

@d16man
@ThePontificator
@Sanlanman

Heading down for the last week of June. Will be staying in Surf Side. Anything I should watch out for in that area?

https://13wham.com/news/local/2-recovering-after-large-fight-at-16th-avenue-beach-access

We're headed to MB on Friday.  Looking for info on any cray-cray in the area.  Between the resurgence of COVID-19 and the BLM crap, I don't want to put in all the driving for a ruined trip.

Our place is in the 9600 block of Shore Drive.  I have no idea what that means.

Our fear is getting there with the kids, and finding that a bunch of the touristy-stuff is closed (go karts, etc).  My wife could handle a week of nothing but the condo, pool, and beach.  The kids and I will be going insane by the 3rd day.

You're north of the main strip, on a dead end road with no through traffic, so that's good.  I don't think anything is closed, but I did read that the city council just declared every weekend an "extraordinary event", which grants the police extra powers such as being able to shut down businesses.

I was in NMB over Thanksgiving and took the wife out for a date night on Saturday.  We hit OD's Arcade to shoot some pool and Duck's for music.   The music at Duck's was great.  Too Much Sylvia was playing.  We had an amazing time.  It was told to me the following morning that Duck's was pretty much THE NMB hotspot for COVID.  Apparently, there was an unofficial SoS gathering down there over the summer and Duck's and Fat Harold's were hot spots.  Fat Harold's is still closed.  

If you're in the area, I would also say avoid Sky Bar (or whatever it's called.  It's the one with a super loud rap music playing).  As we were leaving Duck's, there was a significant police presence outside of Sky Bar.  Apparently there was a large fight.   My best guess was it was over 9mm vs .45.  Regardless, I would avoid that joint (Sky Bar).  

Just an FYI.

Added:  Everything around there closed at 11pm due to the 'VID.

How are things looking down there for restaurants and a few touristy things?

We'll likely head to Cherry Grove in April, typically eat out a couple times at Calabash or Bimini, maybe hit up the aquarium and either Barefoot/Broadway.

Likely to be mainly beach and fishing on the pier or House Creek for us since we have a pair of 2 year Olds and a 6 year old in tow.

Business as usual.  Maybe a little less crowded.

Hi, guys.

We will be in Myrtle Beach in two weeks.

How are things going as far as mask mandates?  

Are some shops still requiring people to wear them?

We will have a box of masks just in case.  

Thanks,

Steve

@d16man
@ThePontificator
@Sanlanman


How's the area around the Surfside pier?

I've been staying up in Cherry Grove since I was a little kid, but I don't know much at all about the southern end of the grand strand.

Pawleys Island is also a consideration, don't know much about whats available to do there and how the beach is. We've only been down there for lunch.

Good to see that tourism seems to be picking up quite a bit based on the huge price increases and the lack of availability. Sucks for me, but we should have booked sooner.

Here are the areas under consideration for my family (twin 3 year olds and a 7 year old) for Easter.


Attached File


Attached File

@Lattimer

I love Pawley's Island esp. the public beach access on the southern end esp. at low tide. Admittedly I have not been there in about a decade but I am sure that not much has changed. There no restaurants or retail stores on the island itself. They're all on the mainland and there's enough eateries and shopping on 17 in the immediate vicinity to keep you not wanting to go to MB. As far as I know Pawley's Island is one of the few if only public beaches where alcohol consumption (cans, no glass) is still legal.

Surfside/Murell's Inlet/Garden City/Myrtle Beach/N. MyrtleBeach: Haven't been to any of those in over 2 decades.

Pawley's is for decompressing.

Just got back from a week in Myrtle Beach and had a great time! Really enjoyed the area. We're pretty mellow with no kids so off-season is perfect for us.

Overall: A great week of weather for sitting on the beach and lazing around MB and NMB.  The goals of staring at the ocean and eating good food have been accomplished. No mask requirements anywhere outside of the airport.

Really enjoyed Crescent Beach in NMB as our go-to, bonus that parking was free until 3/1. I see many people mentioned to avoid Atlantic Beach. The family friend that owns the condo just said "It's not safe" and I got the point. Which is good, because we were going to head off 17 to find a place to walk on the beach, saw the Atlantic Beach sign, and nope'd out of that and that's how we found Crescent.

For quality food, ate at the Hook and Barrel (awesome pork chop and beer) and Aspen Grille (excellent ribeye, calamari, and wine). For casual beers and shrimp/crab, Boardwalk Billy's was decent and families would probably also like Nacho Hippo and Hamburger Joe's (cash only). Was also advised 21 Main is good for steaks, and Ciao and Toscano would be good for Italian.

Stumbled on Broadway by the Beach when going to Sweet Carolina's BBQ and wound up spending hours there wandering the shops. Barefoot Landing was similar, good for families to hit up all the tourist shops. The Boardwalk and Promenade were also worth a visit with more of the spring break drunk vibe, lots of henna/hair braid stands, head shops, and beachwear places.

With MB being the golf and mini golf capital of the country, we did head south down to Shipwreck Island and that was an awesome course.

Outside of spending hours walking and sitting on Crescent, we headed south to the state park one day it was foggy in NMB and that offered many hours of beach time.

We will be back!

Headed to Myrtle Beach next week and was originally planning on bringing my CCW as my ID permit has reciprocity with SC. Doing some reading it seems that "No firearms" signs actually mean something in SC and can't just be ignored.

How common are No Firearm signs there? I'm going to guess since it's a tourist area probable pretty common? I'm trying to decide if it's worth the hassle of flying with a firearm only to have to constantly leave it in the car.

It is common, but not the majority.