Carolinas, Georgia & South Trips (Lonely Planet, 1st Edition) - Alex Leviton [86]
Though Myrtle Beach features what is possibly the highest concentration of seafood buffets in the known universe, you’ve got to head a little bit out of town to find quality over quantity. The nearby fishing village of Murrells Inlet, about 17 miles to the south, has a row of popular family-run seafood restaurants, some of which have been operating for more than 50 years. At Russell’s Seafood Grill, in a rambling wooden building, locals hang out on the porch sipping beer while a singer-songwriter plays for tips in the corner. Stick with raw offerings and fried and true classics like popcorn shrimp.
Head down the street to sip an Inland Sunset (Smirnoff Orange, orange and grapefruit juices) in the sultry pink dusk at Dead Dog Saloon. Popular with a somewhat older crew of Hawaiian shirt-wearing partiers, the Dead Dog occupies a huge building overlooking the inlet, with a big porch, hammocks and a horseshoe pit. There’s live music nearly every night. Just don’t forget the bug spray - mosquitoes in this neck of the woods are bigger than squirrels.
The next morning, seek refuge in nature at Myrtle Beach State Park. A dim maritime forest of wax myrtles and knobby magnolias gives way to sunny, picnic-worthy fields and a wide sandy beach. Families fish off the long, worn wooden pier with bait bought at the park snack shop and pitch tents at the nearby campground. Hike the mile-long Sculpted Oak and Yaupon Trails for a bit of solitude and bird-watching.
Back to the south, Brookgreen Gardens can only be described as a fairyland. Created by railroad scion Archer Huntington and his wife, sculptor Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington, this 9000-acre preserve sits on four former rice plantations. Wander paths abloom with honeysuckle, azalea and oleander beneath arches of ancient oaks shrouded in Spanish moss. The gardens contain the largest collection of American sculpture in the country, more than 1200 works of stone, marble and metal in all. Many works by Huntington, who specialized in equine statues, are on display. Don’t miss the violent energy of her Fighting Stallions fountain. The on-site Lowcountry Zoo showcases the animals of the Carolina coast, with bald eagles, otters and white-tailed deer. Board a pontoon boat for a guided tour of the marshes, home to gator and waterfowl. With all that, it’s a good thing admission tickets are valid for seven days.
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MYRTLE BEACH BIKE WEEK
Noticing signs on hotels and restaurants saying “Bikers Welcome” or, conversely, “No Bikers”? Warm weather and lack of helmet laws have made Myrtle Beach a mecca for motorcycle enthusiasts. More than 300,000 riders vroom into town each May for Bike Week (www.myrtlebeachbikeweek.com), an orgy of tequila, leather and blondes in bikinis. Take a deep breath and buy a beer for that scowling giant with the skull tattoo - he probably knows where all the best parties are.
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Fifteen minutes down Hwy 17 is Pawleys Island, a narrow four-mile strip of comfortably shabby beach cottages. Once a refuge for 18th-century rice planters who came here to escape the malaria-ridden mainland summers, Pawleys still has the laid-back vibe of an earlier era. Nothing brings you back down to earth after a few days at Myrtle Beach like an afternoon of kayaking through the coffee-colored waters of the salt marsh or climbing onto the rocky jetty to watch a summer storm over the Atlantic. Buy a bunch of chicken necks at the grocery store to use for bait and cast a crabbing line off the dock. The island has a hotel and a B&B, but the ideal way to experience Pawleys is by renting your own cottage. Pawleys Island Realty rents houses and condos large and small, though you often have to book for a whole week during