If you read my recent post about planning for retirement, you know that we had a trip to the coast of northern South Carolina and the outer Banks of North Carolina planned. That trip officially began!
Our first day was spent on the road traveling through the beautiful state of Virginia and down through North Carolina to the South Carolina coast.
Beautiful Virginia! This is just a little north of Charlottesville.
Pawleys Island
The next morning we made the drive to our first official destination, Pawley’s Island, South Carolina. Pawley’s Island lies 25 miles south of Myrtle Beach; it was founded in the early 1700’s making it one of the oldest resort areas along the east coast.
We took a leisurely stroll along the beach and then stopped in at the Island Bar and Grill before driving along the coast through Surfside Beach to Murrells Inlet. Murrells Inlet wasn’t new to us and we knew exactly where our destination was….the MarshWalk!
Murrells Inlet
The MarshWalk is a 1/2 mile long wooden boardwalk along a marsh, as the name implies. Pubs and restaurants line the boardwalk. Music can be heard wafting through the air as visitors sit in the open air restaurants taking in the view and enjoying both the food and spirits. Kayakers, boaters and fishermen are abundant in the marsh, but the marsh isn’t home to them alone, but other crazy things such as a paddle boat called the BrewBoat! This is a paddle-boat filled with vacationers paddling like crazy as they enjoy their brew!
From our perch at Drunken Jack’s (where we were enjoying a delicious crab dip) we watched people taking a seadoo tour of the marsh, kayakers paddling by and boats with anglers trying their luck. I think the anglers should have been angling closer to shore. As I sat and watched them off in the distance, I caught glimpses of several fish jumping from the water just beyond the boardwalk! Murrells Inlet also has it’s fair share of beautiful beach houses, which are visible across the marsh.
Visiting Pawleys Island, Murrells Inlet and Myrtle Beach. Vacation spots along the South Carolina coast! #vacation #SouthCarolina Click To TweetMyrtle Beach
From Murrells Inlet we drove further up the coast to Myrtle Beach and spent the night at the SeaCrest Resort in Myrtle Beach. If you travel on a budget as we do, you can save a lot of money by being willing to give up the ocean front room with the balcony. We opted for a room on the 2nd floor, side of the building and only paid $60 for the night. Of course it will go up in peak season, but that is also why we travel in the off season! The motel sat beachfront so it wasn’t hard for us to give up the ocean view balcony room. We could walk and be on the ocean in a couple minutes, getting some exercise in at the same time.
Myrtle Beach is a favorite South Carolina coast vacation destination, but for Paul and I it’s a little too commercialized. We prefer more of an easy going atmosphere.
The South Carolina portion of our trip ended when we passed over the border into North Carolina. Next stop the USS North Carolina battleship tour and then on to the Outer Banks!
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