The Grand Strand

Greetings from South Carolina!

The next assignment begins in Myrtle Beach. Arriving just after a storm swept through the Carolinas, there were partly sunny skies as the big thunderheads moved further north. Though expecting something more similar in appearance to Daytona Beach, Panama City Beach or any party city on the beach, I was pleasantly surprised. This place felt every bit ‘the south’ and it helped that main stretch was not as packed with cars or crowds.

Myrtle Beach is the most popular city along the beach strip known as the Grand Strand. This strip of beaches descends from North to South Carolina. You pay premium prices for ocean front rooms in hotels you would pay $80 for elsewhere. It has that hotel towers that are characteristic of party beaches but the southern geography and culture does well in dampening the obnoxiousness. Highway 17 runs up and down the strand and Ocean Front Blvd. parallel to it, next to the ocean. But all you need do to escape partyville is turn off these stretches. Even the two blocks between these two roads is nothing but quiet, residential neighborhoods. Most houses are simple ramblers with quaint mown lawns, magnolias and live oaks. You will also see grand, stately houses, of historic brick or wood, in colonial Georgian or Federalist design.

One of the grandest things in being in the Grand Strand is the grand food. The southern cuisine… well, I’ll never cease in paying homage to it. And there continues to be gems hiding everywhere. I’ve already devoured some killer hushpuppies, lightly fried little balls with an onion flavor, and I had some the best pink lemonade ever! Those items were just the sides of a shrimp-scallop dinner that I had the previous evening, but they made an everlasting impression! This evening it was the Calabash buffet. These areas are known for buffets and if you don’t like the wide range of fried food, you have many more options available. Trying to not over-do it, but still doing the job right, I had a few plates of seafood - mussels, oysters, clams, two types of crab, mahi mahi and salmon. There were southern offerings of soul food and a whole range of desserts, which were calling. I’m doing segments on some of this stuff but will still try to cut back on consumption. These have been one meal days, with bread and peanut butter as a good fill.

It might be important to mention that it is Bike Week here. The streets and establishments are full of Harley-Davidsons in all their slap fart glory. The rumble is constant but has become easy to ignore. It some ways, it’s pretty cool.

One highlight of today’s shooting was being escorted around by a former New Yorker and Carolinian. He, the guy originally from the Bronx and she, who lived in the south ever since ten years old, drove me to the shooting sites. He had a very humorous Click and Clack demeanor and she was every bit the fun southern lady. We all exchanged our blessing on the south and humorous exchanges. The lady did mention that she thought Yankees had tighter family bonds than southerners do. Being she had a lot of living experience in both realms I at least took this into an ‘hmm’ consideration.

The main highlight was a tour of Willbrook Plantation golf course to get some shots. I was escorted by one of the club house managers, a chaw-munchin Virginian from Roanoke. This was no ordinary golf course and was set on former plantation grounds. It had live oaks in moss and swamplands and gators in addition to the manicured golf course. When I inquired into its history he lit up in excitement and began to point all around. Here was a plaque about the former plantation owners, there was an archeological site, here was the chimney of a former house and there were the remnants of the rice docks. He then offered to give me a real historic tour in his fishing boat this week. There is a lot of history in these here parts.

My internet service is sporadic and phone get poor coverage at me place, so I'll communicate ever so often.

The tour of the Grand Strand continues…