Myrtle Beach Golf and Surf

Living in Western Pennsylvania, an Eastcoast vacation has always been appealing. There’s just something about the beach, and as we get older, the magic of a sunset or moon rise over gentle waves, sitting on a blanket on still warm sand, with gentle wind rustling the dune grass and the waves gently lapping the shore is about as close to heaven as one can get on earth. Or maybe at least in the Eastern USA. Myrtle Beach is easily accessible and has so many accomodations.

There’s so many choices, and we’ve experienced many of them... Cape Cod, The Jersey Shore around Cape May; farther south to Charleston and Kiawah Island; of course Myrtle Beach and Area; Hilton Head, the Jacksonville area; Melbourne Fla, McArthur State Park Beach in the West Palm Beach area, Miami Beach, and even down to some remote beaches whose names we can hardly remember in the keys.

Elsewhere I wrote about early years.. when we were first married and the beach vacation was a camper; then an off beach older house, and now as we’ve grown and been blessed by a bit of prosperity, condos with a view or adjacent golf course.

Our activity interests have changed, and we’re recycling our family experiences as we now sometimes take with us one of our married "kids" and of course the grandkids, and so it was in the Summer of 2006. Just this June, to be specific.

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To set this up, this past winter our extended family talked about their ideal summer vacation, and it covered the waterfront, pardon the pun. Oldest grandchild is a college "sophomore to be" and sorta a typical action wanting teenage girl with all the things going for her college girls have.. a great bod and want to show it off on the beach; interest in up beat music, and friends. #2 Grandchild is also a teenage girl.. but of totally different interests. Hiking, exercise, nature. #3 is a 15 year old grandson. All boy. Happy with the beach, amusement parks, electronic games, TV, and sports as he is on his school’s lacrosse team and has played baseball. And bringing up the tail is #4, a very enthusiastic grandson who about anything in life.. including big waves and lots of good food.. is his "turn on". As to Son In Law... he’s an avid golfer. Loves the sport.. and good at it. He’d been to the Myrtle Beach area in his college days, but not since. And our daughter... well, with kids and a busy work schedule, she’s just hoping for a nice quiet beach where she could get a tan, read a book, swim a little and relax.

Myrtle Beach has Hundreds of Lodging Choices from Luxury Condos to Hotels to Cabins

        East Coast Vacations offer an infinite variety of activies from whale watching at Cape Cod to Golfing at Myrtle Beach to watching space launches in Florida. Opportunities for various eastcoast vacation trips and vacation experiences are shared as are some of our personal Eastern coast vacations we've taken by car, camper, motor home, time share or even boat.

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We chose Myrtle Beach.. or at least the area... because of a variety of factors. First we might say was "economic availability". We knew our choices had to be within a day’s drive; the family had been to NJ a couple of years ago and we didn’t want that. Bob, the golfer was sorta set on Myrtle or Hilton Head and Myrtle was closer. As it was, we literally stumbled across a resort (condo resort) that had about everything except a beach location. That was a 10-20 minute drive, depending on what beach one chose. The resort had two pools.. one indoor (good, because the first couple days were rain days from and early season Hurricane) and one outdoor, along with all the other typical resort amenities.. hot tub, exercise room, high speed interconnections (important to your writer as I had to stay in touch); an adjacent golf course and a "deal" where green fees were included in 25 top golf courses in the area for the week with the golfer(s) paying only cart fees.

The location: Calabash, NC!

Calabash is a small town that sits on the NC/SC border, and is a quaint, old fishing town. For us "grandparents" it fit the bill nicely. It was two towns, or 20 minutes north, of all the tourist traffic of Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle beach proper, yet nothing was more than 30 minutes away on "17".

First couple days were a challenge. Rain, rain, and more rain from the Hurricane. Not to worry. Plenty to do. Head into Myrtle and the grand shopping complex of Broadway at the Beach which had a Ripleys Aquarium (that’s good for 3 hours or so), and Omni Max (another 3 hours with 2 shows), plenty of great restaurants and other attractions and enough shops with awnings to stay dry while the girls did their thing. Not a boring day at all.

Actually that was Day 2. Getting there, by car at least (we had 2 cars, including one large mini van) is NOT half the fun! In fact, from our area, it’s a solid 12 hours, and getting across NC from where you enter the state on I-77 is a real bummer. Not all the interstate is completed, it it’s a real drag with many 2 lane roads and wonderfully advertised speed traps just looking for Northern plates. Yankee, ya’d better drive within the law.

Day 1... chill out from the drive; hang out at the pools, and as the rain let up in the evening, explore one of the great local restaurants on the Intercoastal at Calabash. Sat on the deck overlooking the water and watching ships pass. Frozen margaritas and other treats. That’s relaxing!

By day 3, the kids were chomping to go to the beach, and our oldest grand daughter had been in the area a couple of years ago on her high school senior trip and she "knew" one of the Myrtle Beach proper beaches. So off we go. Nice beach... better maybe a "fair" beach but lots of people, lots of hustle and bustle. Fit her great, but watching our youngest was a task. Girl #2 wanted to rent a bike or something, but nothing available in that area.. but we survived.

That evening, Dau and Son in law got a lead on a beach just to the North of Calabash and checked it out. In a little town. Quiet, but not isolated. You could still get a cold drink, hot dot, find a bathroom, walk out on a fishing pier.. .and really great beach with lots of sea shells to collect, and such a gentle slope you could walk out 100 feet or more. This is Ocean Isle. You could also rent bikes there.

After two days at the beach and some sunburn, we decided time for a little sight seeing, and off we went to Bald Head Island. You take a ferry out to the island ($15 person, round trip) and it’s worth it because of the old light house to see and all the homes and resorts. You can rent bikes there or get around on foot or rent a golf cart. Nice restaurants, plenty to see and do.. although you might feel you are on the set of "The Rich and The Famous". It’s where Bill Cower, our esteemed Steelers head coach, is building his retirement home.

Back again to the condo; another beach day, then we split up.. More Golf for Bob, but off to nearby Wilmington (about 45 miles) to the new Aquarium and also a well known Battleship to tour for Grandpa and grandsons. This is on the south side of Wilmington and so you don’t have to go into town... although if we had another day, touring of some of the open and historic residences and parks of Wilimington looked like something we’d like to do.

Related Pages and topics

East Coast Vacation featuring Myrtle Beach

Planning your Myrtle Beach Vacation

myrtle beach golf bargains

North Carolina Beach houses

Hilton Head Island Vacation

Speaking of battleships segway’s to "military" and for any military readers of the article, you should be aware that there’s a nice military recreation area right there complete with beaches, rental cottages (more like trailers). Check your military resources for availability and pricing.

June is a generally good time to go, particularly early June before it gets too hot and ALL the kids are out of school. There’s really 3 "high seasons" in the Myrtle Beach area. Mar-Apr-May is one of the 3 for golf. It’s warming up, but not too hot. Jul-Aug is beach time for the families who want that.. and it IS hot then. The next season is Sep-Oct-Nov for fall golf. It’s gotten cool and comfortable; most kids and families are back in school.

Our re-visit, this time as Grandparents with the extended family was worth while. Our personal hilites.. Bald Head and some great seafood. Calabash bills itself as the Seafood Capital of the East Coast. In Calabash there’s some really neat boutique shopping including one Christmas decoration store that will knock your socks off.

Never ran out of things to do.. and this article is getting too long to talk about all the great MINIATURE golf.

Hope this article has been helpful to anyone thinking about an Eastcoast vacation in this area.

Ruth Ann, Joe, and family

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