Myrtle Beach--a family vacation

"SOUTH CAROLINA???? What’s in South Carolina?" "I’m embarrassed to tell my friends we’re going to South Carolina for summer vacation!" "Just so you know, I’m not really looking forward to this family vacation." These were some of the comments I received from my apparently spoiled rotten kids when I told them where I’d chosen to go for our family trip in July 2003. I’d never been there either, but I was well aware what a true vacation destination Myrtle Beach is. Having lived on the west coast their entire lives, my kids had no clue.

After days at the beach, a lovely condo to stay in, a side trip to Charleston, and hanging out with seldom-visited grandparents, they agreed it was a very fine vacation. Would we do it again? In a heartbeat.

Quick Tips:

Having a condo where you can do laundry was very handy, especially since sweating is a way of life in the summer, and it's no fun having wet, sandy towels hanging around.

Best Way To Get Around:

If you want to do any exploring at all, a rental car is a must.

(This review is posted in 2 parts)

The resort is nicely situated very near shopping, dining, and entertainment at Broadway at the Beach. The shopping center might be considered walking distance in the winter, but in the humid southern heat, we dry-heat Arizonans wouldn’t consider it.

Promptly at the 4pm check-in time, we were given our suite assignments. My family of 5 was assigned to Building 1, suites 137 and 138. My in-laws were assigned to Building 2, suite 214. We had requested a ground-floor unit for them, an upstairs unit for us. The resort was not able to honor those requests in the same building; however, staff seemed to go to great effort to get us in nearby buildings, and we were happy with the arrangement.

My first impression of the unit was that it was very much like Harborside Resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. The décor was nearly identical. Our 2-bedroom lock-off was roomy, with a decently sized kitchen, dining area adjoining the living room, and a separate master suite with king-sized bed. The smaller side of the lock-off had a utility kitchen with a small dining table, a small living area and a separate bedroom with a Queen-size bed. My in-laws had a smaller 1-bedroom unit, which was sufficient for their needs.

Apparently, housekeeping rushed to get our unit ready for delivery, as the master bath was not completely stocked. Missing were the complimentary bottles of shampoo & lotion, soap, Kleenex and extra toilet paper. I later noticed that the glass dining table hadn’t been thoroughly cleaned and the mirrors had tiny handprints on them. Since I had no small children with me, I had to assume they were from the previous tenants.

The unit had lots of closet space. There was plenty of room to store larger items such as our suitcases, a kite and any other beach toys. However, each bedroom had only 3 drawers for clothes. That was especially difficult on my 2 teenage daughters.

The mattress was sufficiently comfortable, but it was time for the now-flat pillows to be replaced. My biggest gripe with the bed was that the bottom sheet was not a fitted sheet. Using a flat sheet on the bottom is a practice I detest. It doesn’t stay tucked in, and you end up on the mattress pad. On this bed, the mattress pad was too small for the mattress, and the strap holding it on the mattress was broken, so I often ended up on the mattress. Yuk! I don’t know why I never complained, and I certainly would next time.

The kitchen was stocked well enough, except there was no salt and pepper. It seems to me that should just be standard. There was a charge for mid-week cleaning or towel exchange. The washer and dryer are small, but for the most part sufficient. It did take 2 loads to wash 5 beach towels after each trip to the beach.

We made little use of the pool. It was usually crowded, and we preferred the beach anyway. It’s a nice pool, though, and those with small children seemed to use it a lot. The pool is partly indoors, so you can choose to get out of the sun if you wish. I taught my daughters to play shuffleboard one night, and we spent an hour or so on the courts. Teens made great use of the basketball courts, and tennis was most popular after sundown. The exercise room was small, but since I rarely saw anyone use it, it must have been big enough.

One of our favorite things to do while hanging out at the resort was feeding the ducks and turtles in the ponds. Each pond has at least one water fountain in the center and is surrounded by weeping willows. Ducks hang out under the willows, or paddle around in the murky water. If you watch closely as you feed the ducks in the water, you’ll begin to see tiny turtle heads pop up, trying to get their share of the snack! The screened-in porch attached to each unit is a great place to hang out for breakfast and watch the children feed the wildlife.

The resort offers discounts at local golf courses, and we chose a day at Indigo Creek. For $35 per person, we had 18 holes of golf, a cart and lunch of a hot dog, chips and a drink. My husband even received complimentary rental clubs. We rented my clubs at Martin’s Golf and Tennis, just around the corner from the resort, for $12 for the day. Golfing in the South Carolina July humidity is not for the weak. We enjoyed it, but it was a sweaty, exhausting day.

Pier 14 We wanted to eat, just once, at a nice restaurant on the water. This fit the bill. Located behind The Yachtsman Resort on Ocean Boulevard, Pier 14 is right over the ocean. You certainly can’t beat the view!

It’s a popular place, and we arrived just after 5pm in hopes of getting a seat fairly quickly. We were told that we’d be seated in an hour, and we settled in for the wait. A few of us wandered off now and again to explore the area. After an hour and a half, we were grumbling and my father-in-law loudly complained. Finally seated after a 2-hour wait, a complaint to the manager brought profuse apologies and free appetizers all around.

The clam chowder was outstanding, as was my prime rib. I hadn’t had a cut of meat that tender in a long while. My husband had the chicken crustacean and he was absolutely blown away. He talked about that meal for days afterward. My in-laws said their lobster was superb. One daughter had the ravioli and liked it very much. The other daughter had the Monterey chicken and was unimpressed. As for sides, the salad was nothing special, but the garlic mashed potatoes were delicious!

The sandy beaches of Myrtle Beach are only a 5-minute drive from the Broadway Plantation Resort. There is free parking in small lots between homes on the beach. You might have to scout out a few before you find a free spot, but we generally had no problems.

This is what this vacation was really about. Spending time at the beach with our family. Never having spent time on an East Coast beach, we didn’t know what to expect. We were a little taken aback by the brown/green seawater. And though the air was hot and muggy, the heavy clouds gave the appearance of a cold ocean we weren’t sure we wanted to step into. Fortunately for us, we hadn’t come all this way just to look at the Atlantic Ocean; we barreled in.

What a blast! We rode our boogie boards, body surfed, jumped over waves, dived through waves, and tumbled to shore with the surf. When we’d had enough, we got out the kite, laid in the sun, or built sand castles. When the humidity got to us, back into the warm ocean we’d go. Beach umbrellas are available inexpensively at any of the numerous beach supply stores in town. I highly recommend getting one. We also bought boogie boards, a skim board, and a kite. The boogie boards and umbrella are cheap enough that leaving them behind at the end of the vacation is not too painful. We managed to fit the kite into our luggage, and took the skim board home as carry-on. At the end of each beach trip, we were all pleasantly tired, lightly sunburned, and happy to have shared more great vacation memories.

A one-day trip to Charleston for a bit of American history was a nice diversion from lazy days at Myrtle Beach. After stopping at the Visitor’s Center for maps and brochures, we went directly to the South Carolina Aquarium, for which I have completed a separate journal entry. The highlight of this visit to Charleston was to be a tour of Fort Sumter National Monument , followed by a carriage ride through the historical streets of this town.

The 3-mile ferry ride out to the island where Fort Sumter is located passed quickly as the story of the historic battle of Fort Sumter was given via a recording over loudspeakers. As we disembarked, the humidity was stifling. Most of us from the ferry gathered our shiny faces around a tour guide who would go into more detail about the history of this incredible fortress. I personally found it fascinating to envision the (what seems now) crude military of 140 years ago defending this fort, President Abraham Lincoln, and the Union against secession, slavery and small-mindedness. My favorite item in the museum area was a tattered, original flag that flew over the fort before it was surrendered to the Confederate Army.

To finish off our day in lovely Charleston, a carriage ride seemed appropriately historical. On the Palmetto Carriage Tour, we learned about architecture, and how doors and windows were strategically placed to allow for the most cooling cross-breezes. The gas-lit cobblestone streets awed us. We learned that these stones arrived as ballast in sailing ships that came into the Charleston harbor from Europe. We learned about some of the oldest families, and how they made their fortunes. The carriage tour cost $16 per person, with a free parking coupon. It meets at the big red barn downtown on Guignard St.

Our family loves aquariums. We have a 300-gallon saltwater tank in our living room, and every family vacation must include a visit to the local aquarium. The South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston was quite impressive. The highlight for us was the two-story Great Ocean Exhibit. One of the viewing windows into the 300,000-gallon aquarium is over 20 feet tall and 18 inches thick!

The Discovery Lab, where you can hold and examine a horseshoe crab, is fun for all ages. We spent several minutes holding these prehistoric creatures and others. Piranha, turtles, river fish, birds, seahorses, and many other creatures can be seen in varying exhibits.

After thoroughly perusing all of the brochures for the big boat ocean cruises, we ultimately chose Sea Thunder simply because it was the only one with an awning. We were a little sunburned, and didn’t want to spend the day out in the sun with no relief. Ok, yeah, we’re wimps sometimes.

A 30-minute car ride north to the North Carolina border, Sea Thunder leaves from a dock next to Capt. Nance’s restaurant near Calabash. As we waited in line, we were reminded many times, "You WILL get wet. We highly recommend you place all valuables, especially cameras, in your car." After several such warnings, my husband got sufficiently spooked and decided to heed the advice.

The Captain explained to us that he would take us either north or south, whichever direction we desired. However, one direction would be considerably rougher than the other. Dolphins were more likely to be seen heading north this time of day, and it would be an easier ride to begin with, but coming back in two hours it would be very rough. He said he’d take us for a sample ride and we could make a determination. He headed north for a brief while to give us an idea of an easy drive. When the test ride was over, we were all gasping for breath, saltwater-soaked hair plastered to our heads and saturated clothes clinging to our bodies. Dolphins or no, we opted to go south to get the rough stuff over with now and have an easier trip back.

Sea Thunder is a 100,000-pound vessel that at high speeds goes THROUGH the waves, not over them. Fortunately, most of us were wearing our swimsuits under our clothes, which had been recommended to us when we phoned them earlier that morning. The awning we had been seeking for shade turned out to be an issue, but not the one we expected. We wanted desperately to be out from under it so we could warm up in the sun! Plus, it constantly dripped seawater onto our heads.

Would we do this again? Probably not. My husband and 12-year-old son enjoyed it much more than us girls. We did get to see dolphins for several minutes, and that’s always a thrill. The captain admitted in a private conversation with my husband that this was about as rough as it gets. If it had been any rougher, he likely wouldn’t have taken the boat out that day. This ride is not for the faint of heart, especially when the sea is at all rough. As I commented in the car on the way back to Myrtle Beach, it was certainly an adventure!