Myrtle Beach is a resort city in the center of a continuous 60-mile stretch of beaches known as the Grand Strand. While its year-round population is only about 35,000 (metro area is about400,000), it attracts over 20 million visitors every year. It was named after the local Wax Myrtle shrubs.
Bob and I have been avoiding going into Myrtle Beach proper until after Labor Day on the advice of our homeowners. We drove about 10 miles today to the beachfront to walk the 1.3 mile boardwalk, look at the beach, and check out stores along Ocean Boulevard, the main road that parallels the shore.
Another beautiful day for a walkabout. The photos below capture what we saw. The boardwalk is wide and paved in some areas, wide and wooden near the SkyWheel, and then narrow and wooden at one end. While not pictured, there are shows that you can go to, 18 real golf courses, and quite a few miniature golf courses as well.
Bob and I had stopped at a Visitors Center on our way to our housesit and picked up some information on the area. Some of this included local events like farmers markets, art shows, etc. Today, we drove 6 miles to the community of Surfside Beach for their weekly Farmers Market.
The Farmers Market was relatively small, maybe about 20 booths, but it offered a range of items from produce to baked goods, prepared food and coffee, as well as crafted decor and jewelry.
You don’t go anywhere here without seeing signs for boiled peanuts.The market is held in a park across from the library.
Surfside Beach is a town of about 4,000 northeast of Murrells Inlet. It is part of the Grand Strand, which is an arc of beach land on the Atlantic Ocean in South Carolina which extends for more than 60 miles. After we had looked around the market, we walked a few blocks to the beach. The houses (on stilts) were cute, it had a small restaurant area, and the beach was gorgeous. Lovely, high 70 degree F, low humidity day to be outside.
Some homes a block off of the beachThe elevated fishing pierA restaurant on the left and houses along the beachLooking out to the end of the pierLooking towards houses south of the pierOne view of the beachLooking northA Mexican restaurant on the left and a barbecue restaurant on the right More cute homesLots of people driving golf carts in this community
If you are somewhere where Labor Day is celebrated, happy Labor Day! It’s an early one this year, and already the beginning of another month.
When Bob and I were meeting our homeowners, they mentioned that they acted and stage managed at a theater in the nearby city of Georgetown, South Carolina. We looked up Georgetown and decided that perusing their Historic District and Harborwalk might be a good plan for today when the masses might be enjoying Labor Day at one of the beaches.
The city of Georgetown (population of about 9,000) is about 30 miles from the house.
Crossing the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway
During our walk we learned that Georgetown was formally founded in 1729, making it South Carolina’s 3rd oldest city after Charleston and Beaufort. Its economy was at one time heavily based on the labor intensive crop of rice, and the slave population was about 85% of the total population during the 1800s. The Civil War and social/political changes as well as a few hurricanes put an end to rice as a major agricultural product.
A map of the small historic district along Front Street, which parallels the Sampit River
One of the first structures we saw was a clock tower. It is located atop a Greek Revival market and town hall built in 1842 after a fire destroyed most of the buildings on Front Street. An open air market was on the 1st floor and the town hall was on the 2nd. The clock tower and belfry were added in 1845.
The clock towerThe Strand Theater which keeps our homeowners busyA fountain and some shops at the start of our walkA pocket park between storesSome fun art along one building More of the buildings on Front Street. The backs of them also face the River, so we saw them on our Harborwalk as well.The Robert Stewart House, built between 1740 and 1770. President Washington spent the night in this house on his southern tour in 1791.The Kaminski House, built sometime between 1750 and 1800. It was home for many years for Harold Kaminski (and his family), who was a local County Commissioner, Mayor, and US Navy Officer.
A park connecting Front Street to one end of the Harborwalk displayed a few items of local and national history.
A memorial for the 1st African American to serve in the US House of Representatives, beginning in 1870.These brick display cases show copies of the three Charters of Freedom — The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.A fountain at the end of the small parkLooking down the Sampit RiverLooking the other direction towards the shops, restaurants, and marinaSome of the restaurants and housing facing the riverFinding a tower of heads along the Harborwalk. This is “Generations” by Roy Smith.A small, independent hotel called The George back on Front Street.Peeking into its restaurant
We walked a little bit into a local neighborhood, which unsurprisingly, was very Carolina-esque — lots of big homes with porches. We also loved the big trees that provided a nice amount of shade.
Peckish Travels 