Headed to Myrtle Beach -- suggestions?

[Homerboy]

Going to Myrtle Beach next week for my son's baseball tournament but will have lots of downtime between games so looking for some fun things to do with wife and kids (15 and 13 years old). We actually have a house right on the beach (and it has a pool?!) so I'm sure that will keep us occupied for a while.

Places to eat? Things to see?

Thanks in advance.

 

[purbeast0]

i was going to say they have great strip clubs until i saw the family part. masters is great, although it's been like 5-6 years since i've been there.

 

[vi edit]

Which part of Myrtle? I just got back from there last week. We were in "Myrtle" proper. Just north of the boardwalk/ferris wheel thing.

 

[Homerboy]

Which part of Myrtle? I just got back from there last week. We were in "Myrtle" proper. Just north of the boardwalk/ferris wheel thing.

Right on South Ocean Blvd literally on the beach. Water is 100 yards from the back door.

 

[Fritzo]

The south end of the beach is classier than the north side. Some of the neighborhoods a few blocks from the beach can be seedy, so don't go wandering with the kids. The pier area has a lot of attractions (carnival type stuff). Watch out for jellyfish on the beach.

If you like seafood, there's a lot of Cailbash buffets around that let you pig out. I think Crabby Mike's and Benjamin's are the most popular. A lot of times they have blue crab on the buffets (which you never see). They're fun to eat

 

[Homerboy]

The south end of the beach is classier than the north side. Some of the neighborhoods a few blocks from the beach can be seedy, so don't go wandering with the kids. The pier area has a lot of attractions (carnival type stuff). Watch out for jellyfish on the beach

I'll make sure to keep my bladder full in case of emergency!

 

[SearchMaster]

I have some friends who are there for a 12U tournament now - have fun. It'll be hot - hopefully you'll get a lot of early morning games.

I don't have any specific suggestions...it's a touristy beach town so there are tons of touristy beachy things to do. If you like water sports, rent a boat or jet skis or parasail. We did the Wonder Works amusement park a few years ago, it was pretty cool with a wide variety of things to do but your kids might be a little old to be "wowed" by it. Really there's not much you WON'T find there, other than snow skiing It really depends on what your family enjoys.

Some of it might be a little hard to plan because the games are either mid-day which eats up the whole afternoon or you don't find out until the day before what the game time is - that might impact planning for deep sea fishing, for example. I have found in the past that my players don't even want to do anything because they're resting for or recovering from their games.

 

[Homerboy]

I have some friends who are there for a 12U tournament now - have fun. It'll be hot - hopefully you'll get a lot of early morning games.

I don't have any specific suggestions...it's a touristy beach town so there are tons of touristy beachy things to do. If you like water sports, rent a boat or jet skis or parasail. We did the Wonder Works amusement park a few years ago, it was pretty cool with a wide variety of things to do but your kids might be a little old to be "wowed" by it. Really there's not much you WON'T find there, other than snow skiing It really depends on what your family enjoys.

Some of it might be a little hard to plan because the games are either mid-day which eats up the whole afternoon or you don't find out until the day before what the game time is - that might impact planning for deep sea fishing, for example. I have found in the past that my players don't even want to do anything because they're resting for or recovering from their games.

Well, it's more for things for my wife and daughter to do. There's no way my daughter is going to agree to sit through 7+ games of baseball while on "vacation". Sadly, my son isn't actually playing (he's been shelved for the season as I think you and I discussed in PMs earlier) so he'll have some energy though I am trying to get him to play some 1st base just for the fun of it. Sadly, from what I can scout, the competition doesn't look too stiff for us so some of our games might be quick. Weather looks like it might cooperate and not be TOO hot.

 

[vi edit]

Couple observations...

Most of the "main myrtle" and south myrtle beach are a dump. It's old, it's run down, it's trashy. I didn't really know what to expect having never been there. But that area is about 40 years past it's prime. The beach itself was nice and the water temp was almost perfect. But the rest of it....meh. Think of the old part of Vegas and sad looking hotels and psuedo-high rise buildings.

It's got most of the touristy trap stuff...boat tours, a billion advertisements for the "Pirates" dinner and some for Medieval times. Shows, ripleys museum, ect. We were there for a week. I've got a 4 and 8 year old. We have a timeshare through Hilton and our property got us access to the water park south of town. It was fun. Several slides, a tide pool, lazy river, and you can upgrade to the go-cart pass. Might be worth it for a day. Crappy part was the go-carts didn't start until 1PM.

We also went to the Brookgreen gardens in Conway. It's something for either very young kids, or adults with no kids. Your teenagers will find it lame. Went once, won't go back again.

A big suggestion to me by someone was Broadway at the Beach. It's off Kings highway on the south part of Myrtle. We dove past it, saw about a billion cars and said NOOOOOPE. If you have older kids it might be worth checking out. Didn't want to take a 4 year old through there who hadn't had a nap that day.

Dinner wise, depending on where you are, keep heading south to Murrells Inlet. There's about 10 restaurant places staggered along there that you can walk through and look at. There's little island there called goat island that actually has goats on it It's super busy so either get reservations or be prepared to wait. We stopped by one place at 6:00PM and it was a 2 hour wait for a party of 6. Booo.

If you get a chance out for "Mom and Dad" there was an amazing place we ate at on the northern end of Myrtle called Fire and Smoke.

http://fireandsmokegastropub.com/

One of the best meals I've *ever* had. We did a series of the small plates. The scallops were amazing.

 

[Homerboy]

Excellent thanks for the info.

We're just on the south side of the Myrtle Beach State Park so there will be some good paths for walks and strolls through the woods literally outside our doorstep. Away from all the tourist traps and busy beaches further up north.

 

[zinfamous]

80% alcohol and bleach.

With vigorous application of both, you should be clean after about 3 days.

 

[Homerboy]

80% alcohol and bleach.

With vigorous application of both, you should be clean after about 3 days.

HEYO!

Admittedly it wouldn't be my first choice for a family vacation (nor my 100th choice either) but they have this big baseball tournament there and that is where the team is headed -- killing two birds with 1 stone this summer

 

[vi edit]

Excellent thanks for the info.

We're just on the south side of the Myrtle Beach State Park so there will be some good paths for walks and strolls through the woods literally outside our doorstep. Away from all the tourist traps and busy beaches further up north.

Ok, that area is a lot quieter and more residential than the places further north. Some locals suggested we check out surfside beach which is right next to you. They said it's nice and quiet. It's also very close to Murrels Inlet.

The water park is also right next to where you are staying. There's a sweet looking ropes course a bit north of you. No clue on the cost. We drove past it a dozen times and it looks fun.

 

[vi edit]

Oh and be prepared to see more mini-golf courses in a square mile than you've ever seen.

 

[Homerboy]

Ok, that area is a lot quieter and more residential than the places further north. Some locals suggested we check out surfside beach which is right next to you. They said it's nice and quiet. It's also very close to Murrels Inlet.

The water park is also right next to where you are staying. There's a sweet looking ropes course a bit north of you. No clue on the cost. We drove past it a dozen times and it looks fun.

Yeah, the waterpark is intriguing -- though with an ocean right there (we're from the midwest) it seems silly to go do something we can do right by our house.

Oh and be prepared to see more mini-golf courses in a square mile than you've ever seen.

As for Mini-golf and the whole "tourist trap " thing, there's a place in city/tourist destination in central WI called Wisconsin Dells. I'm guessing it could easily give Myrtle a run for it's money if not easily beat it. Wwe avoid it like the plague but we enjoy all the Illinois folk traveling north and spending their money there!

 

[zinfamous]

Yeah, the waterpark is intriguing -- though with an ocean right there (we're from the midwest) it seems silly to go do something we can do right by our house.



As for Mini-golf and the whole "tourist trap " thing, there's a place in city/tourist destination in central WI called Wisconsin Dells. I'm guessing it could easily give Myrtle a run for it's money if not easily beat it. Wwe avoid it like the plague but we enjoy all the Illinois folk traveling north and spending their money there!

While living in Chicago, I seem to recall an ad on most network stations about every 15 minutes or so about Wisconsin Dells. And on the radio.

Never knew what it was, but I assumed that with the marketing saturation it had to be a terrible place.

 

[Homerboy]

While living in Chicago, I seem to recall an ad on most network stations about every 15 minutes or so about Wisconsin Dells. And on the radio.

Never knew what it was, but I assumed that with the marketing saturation it had to be a terrible place.

It's terrible. Great waterparks (indoor and out) though if you're into that sort of thing. Most Wisconsinites go there as a "kitschy cool" thing or just a traditional "my dad brought his family here, and his dad before him, so I will do the same" type of mentality.

 

[MongGrel]

Wisconsin Dells bring back memories of a trip in the 60's They used to have those Army ducks is what sticks in the memory. It is kind of a traditional thing from the past I would imagine.

Myrtle is a bit north for me I guess, not somewhere I've hung out near, just had to comment on the Dells.

 

[vi edit]

Actually the Dells is probably the perfect example. It can't compare to Myrtle in size though. Dells get about 4 million visitors. Myrtle gets close to 20 million.

 

[Exterous]

Subscribed since we'll be there in Sept although a bit north (By 76th st)

 

[zinfamous]

Actually the Dells is probably the perfect example. It can't compare to Myrtle though. Dells get about 4 million visitors. Myrtle gets close to 20 million.

*24 million if you count the motorcycles.

 

[Homerboy]

Wisconsin Dells bring back memories of a trip in the 60's They used to have those Army ducks is what sticks in the memory. It is kind of a traditional thing from the past I would imagine.

Myrtle is a bit north for me I guess, not somewhere I've hung out near, just had to comment on the Dells.

Oh, the Ducks are still there. I admit it's something I've actually wanted to do. There's about 3-4 different services that run out of there.

https://www.dellsducks.com/

 

[Homerboy]

FYI the trip was a success. We really didn't do much beside the beach, the pool and baseball -- those took up all our time. They won the tournament so that was the cherry on top of it all.

 

[SearchMaster]

FYI the trip was a success. We really didn't do much beside the beach, the pool and baseball -- those took up all our time. They won the tournament so that was the cherry on top of it all.

Very nice - it's not often one of your midwest teams comes down to the South and takes home the big prize

It's too bad you don't get the opportunity to play LakePoint here in GA. It's a fantastic, $1B facility. My son played there the other night and there were no less than 30 college scouts watching just his game, and there are 15 other fields at the complex.

 

[Homerboy]

Very nice - it's not often one of your midwest teams comes down to the South and takes home the big prize

It's too bad you don't get the opportunity to play LakePoint here in GA. It's a fantastic, $1B facility. My son played there the other night and there were no less than 30 college scouts watching just his game, and there are 15 other fields at the complex.

We're not your average Midwest Team

In all honesty, the competition was decent, but nothing to write home about. We run roughshod over pretty much everyone. I think we outscored them 89-9 over the 8 games and 4 runs were given up due to us pitching a non-pitcher kid. One team was coached by Phil Neikro, so that was cool (his grandson pitched on the team and we chased him off the mound by the 3rd inning ) He tossed BP in the cages -- a strike every.freaking.time.

There's some talk of keeping this team together for next season... maybe we'll check out that facility you mentioned. Usually around here, at U15 kids will roll into "academies" and they will start consistent travel to showcases and scouted tournaments.