Carolina Day Trip: Insider Guide for Visiting Myrtle Beach, SC & The Grand Strand

Places to Stay

First, let’s consider accommodations. There is a B&B in Myrtle Beach. Serendipity Inn is about 300 yards from the beach, on 71st Avenue North. It has received excellent reviews on Trip Advisor, and some folks return year after year to enjoy the location and personal attention from Phil, the owner/manager.

If you’re looking for more of a resort atmosphere (this is the Grand Strand!) there are lots of ocean front and near-ocean resorts that offer commanding views of the beaches. You can find more than enough choices at www.VisitMyrtleBeach.com

And, the beach house that your parents once rented may still be available, if you’d like to recapture that long-ago, fill-the-house-with-all-your-family atmosphere. You’ll have no shortage of rental companies that specialize in beach houses, also available through www.VisitMyrtleBeach.com.

Once your decision’s made, it’s time to play.

Things to Do & Entertainment

Although we promised to take you outside the normal radar, we’ve got to include Ripley’s Aquarium at Broadway at the Beach. Sure, it’s well known, but there’s an important reason for that – it’s a fabulous afternoon or morning destination. During the summer, Kids Night Out offers youngsters ages 6-14 a night in the aquarium -- with music, dancing, karaoke, scavenger hunts, pizza and more, until these happy campers go to sleep "with" the sharks in the shark tunnel!

Also, a lesser known related attraction is Ripley’s 4D Moving Theatre. Are you ready for hydraulic seats that move in sync with the screen action? You really will feel as though you’re part of the film. And then there’s Ripley’s Mirror Maze, a new fusion of the old house of mirrors with a very reflective maze. With 2,000 square feet of mirrored paths, it will test your depth perception and your patience.

OK, anyone who has ever visited the Grand Strand knows there are a myriad of attractions, including rides, miniature golf, Myrtle Waves Waterpark, and NASCAR SpeedPark, where you’ll experience the thrill of the racetrack. We recommend it all. But, did you know there’s the Carolina Improv Company, presenting interactive improv comedy, appropriate for all ages?

For a bit of highbrow entertainment, we suggest attending a performance by the Long Bay Symphony  (yes, a professional symphony orchestra along the Grand Strand). Or, check out Atlantic Stage, the first and only professional theatre company in the Myrtle Beach area.

Alabama Theatre is a very popular entertainment venue. In addition to their show, ONE, guest concerts include a wide variety of performers. In July, the line-up includes The Temptations and The Four Tops.  Later in the year,  Bill Cosby will bring his famous wit to the stage.

Restaurants & Places to Eat

Eventually, after all that fun is done, you and yours will be hungry. And while there’s nothing wrong with a burger or pizza, we are at the beach, after all, where seafood reigns supreme. Consider a visit to  The Original Mr. Fish, located on 34th Avenue North in Myrtle Beach. It’s a small restaurant and seafood market. Their seafood is justifiably famous, and if you’re lucky, you’ll meet the owner, Ted Hammerman, a character who just happens to know more about critters from the deep than anyone else.

Want a bit more atmosphere? We recently tried Brentwood Restaurant in Little River and were so impressed we returned the next night – unheard of in an area with literally thousands of good restaurants! Chef Eric Masson is French-born and French-trained and the food is sublime. The crab cake is a work of art, but my husband says the she-crab soup is even better. You be the judge.

Another possibility is The Cypress Room at Island Vista. This four-star restaurant has floor-to-ceiling views of the ocean and a menu that offers European-inspired Lowcountry cuisine. Grouper with herb butter sauce, perhaps, or maybe a New York Strip steak with Horseradish cream sauce?

And then there’s City Bar Metropolitan Cuisine, with its menu inspired from the great culinary cities of the world. Can you picture yourself dining on an otherworldly shrimp and scallop pasta while listening to jazz and sipping a “Wine Spectator” award winning sauvignon blanc? We thought you could.

There are other fine restaurants, including Sea Blue and Villa Tuscana, at North Myrtle Beach, Cagney’s, a perennial favorite with staying power, and Bistro 217 in Pawley’s Island, which gets top comments on Trip Advisor. One reviewer waxes eloquent over the 217 Eggplant Treasure Chest (filled with shrimp, scallops and grouper in a Parmesan sauce over fried eggplant).

Of course, if you’ve got a beach house and want to dine on your just-caught fresh trigger fish, consider stopping by Myrtle’s Farmers Market in Downtown Myrtle Beach for fresh fruits, veggies and seasonal items. Open three days a week in season on Mr. Joe White Avenue. Call them first, at 843.457.5618.

Need to walk off that last meal? The new downtown Boardwalk is a mile-long Oceanfront Boardwalk and Promenade that starts at First Avenue. You’ll be people-watching as you get your exercise.
 

Water Activities & Rentals

Day two (or three or ten): Explore new territory by renting a boat or jet ski and touring parts of the Intracoastal Waterway. There are lots of reputable boat rental companies, but we chose Barefoot Resort Watersports as the closest to our house, located in the marina across from the Barefoot Landing shopping complex.

Chris helped us board our pontoon boat and we puttered away for several hours. I was amazed at the perspective from the water – exclusive resorts you’d never find from the road, beautiful homes for sale, and more trees than you’d believe possible just 100 feet from the highway (which you can’t see from the water). As we cruised north, we passed jet skis and then a tugboat from New York, chugging up the waterway towing a massive chunk of steel.

We loved the pontoon, but their most popular rental is the two-hour dolphin tour, on jet skis! Next time, we’ll keep the boat for half a day and go the other way, where we’ll pass by Billionaire’s Row.
 

Golf Courses & Shopping

Are you a golfer? If so, you already know that it would take months to play all the courses in the area. One to consider is Sandpiper Bay Golf and Country Club, at Sunset Beach, named the 2010 Golf Course of the year by the Myrtle Beach Area Golf Course Owner’s Association. This Dan Maples design is sure to please the most discriminating golfer. Check out a list of courses.  

We haven’t even mentioned the shopping, which is legendary along the Grand Strand. You’ll find excellent malls, starting with Coastal Grand Mall, South Carolina’s largest and one of its newest shopping attractions. There’s also Tanger Outlet malls, Market Commons, Broadway at the Beach and Barefoot Landing, plus lots of Mom and Pop one-of-a-kind stores that feature resort and beachy attire and accessories.

Clearly, you’ll need more than 36 hours. But what a grand way to enjoy a vacation, or second home getaway.
 

Related Reading

Myrtle Beach, SC

Day Trips Directory

Katherine O. Pettit has worked as a writer, magazine editor, printer and public relations consultant. The Columbia resident has published more than 250 articles in magazines and newspapers. Her writing explores a variety of subjects including travel, lifestyles, business and management.