In search of Kenny Powers in Myrtle Beach

initiald · #1 Posted **Oct 14, 2012, 2:08 AM**

Locals only! Stay off my beach! In my high school and college days when my parents had a place in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, I spend most my free time here. Now it's my first time back in six years. The Pavilion is gone and they have a boardwalk now. Myrtle Beach is trashy but in a fun sort of way. A (NSFW) intro to Myrtle Beach via Eastbound and Down.

Stayed at the Sea Crest. $60 a night for a suite with a kitchen because it's October. Not a bad place to stay, but the dives go for as little as $28 a night. Some hotels you get get for $400 to $600 a month in the off season. The snowbird retirees come down from Canada and NY for the winter months - at 72 degrees it's probably warmer than their summer. You'll notice several Canadian flags on the balconies.

The building on the far left of this photo is the Myrtle Beach Resort condo tour five miles south. It marks the end of Myrtle Beach and the start of Surfside beach:

This area is considered central Myrtle Beach. They have a fairly new skywheel. To the left is where the Pavilion amusement park used to be. Now it's an empty field.

The new boardwalk. With the Pavilion closing, shops wanted something to attract people to this stretch of downtown Myrtle Beach, so the boardwalk was build a couple of years ago. There was originally a boardwalk back in the 1950s but it was destroyed in a hurricane.

Typical low brow establishments you find in the area.

The Yachtsman, the blue glass tower, was one of the tallest in Myrtle Beach at 20 floors when built in 1986. Now there are around 16 other buildings 20 or more floors in Myrtle Beach, the tallest is the 29 floor Margate Tower at 329 feet. It's also the second tallest in the state.

14th Avenue pier. One of the shorter piers in the area.

The Gay Dolphin - one of the most well known gift shops around.

Some of the buildings show their age more than others.

More of the boardwalk:

Our hotel, the Sea Crest, is on the right:

Looking south from the top of the Sea Crest:

Along Ocean Blvd.

The tallest building you see here, behind the blue Landmark hotel, is the Palace Resort. 23 floors and 274 feet tall, it was one of the tallest, along with the Yachtsman, when built in the mid 1980s.

Family Kingdom Amusement Park is a little smaller than what the Pavilion used to be.

The building on the right with the green glass is the Palmetto Tower of the Sandy Beach resort. It's only a couple of years old and I haven't found any height info on it but it's one of the taller buildings around.

Broadway at the Beach, a sort of outdoor mall built around an artificial lake. Jet boat rides on the lake and helicopter rides available.

Time to grab my boogie board and catch some waves. locals only! Stay off my beach!

Buckeye Native 001 · #2 Posted **Oct 14, 2012, 2:21 AM**

Sweet, thanks for posting

I was just in North Myrtle Beach a couple months ago for a family reunion. Stayed on the 12th floor of the Wyndham Ocean Blvd. Went to Charleston for a day, but never ventured into the actual city of Myrtle Beach.

Thanks, however, for explaining what the hell the Gay Dolphin was. I saw signs for it driving into Myrtle Beach from Columbia, but the billboards just said "Visit the Gay Dolphin" never actually explaining what it was...

Danny · #3 Posted **Oct 14, 2012, 2:25 PM**

Thanks for the pictures of Myrtle Beach, initiald! Very nice colorful shots.

I like Myrtle Beach. It looks similar to Miami Beach. It must be a very nice to spend holidays there, even in October. I like that wide and sandy beach. And those sunrise pictures are amazing too!

Congrats and greetings from Madrid, Spain!

ColDayMan · #4 Posted **Oct 14, 2012, 10:08 PM**

Thanks!

hauntedheadnc · #5 Posted **Oct 15, 2012, 2:13 AM**

Myrtle Beach is one of those places that, if you truly love it, you only do so from an interior room with the drapes drawn and the faucet running, lest anyone suspect you're in there loving it. Mostly, everyone just likes to run it down for being a tacky, "beaches of Wal-Mart" case study in the dangers of obesity where the very worst aspects of Southern culture are on display for all the world to marvel at.

And you wouldn't be caught dead enjoying something like that would you?

Turns out you might. Even for its family-friendly corniness, Myrtle Beach is a lot like Vegas: unabashedley tacky, unashamedly sleazy. It is what it is and is not sorry for it, the Honey Boo Boo of beach towns -- and civic honesty on the scale of Myrtle Beach is quite frankly refreshing.

Also, they have damn good seafood, and lots of it.

Private Dick · #6 Posted **Oct 15, 2012, 2:30 AM**

Nice tour of Myrtle. I've been to the "Grand Strand" area numerous times. Never stayed in Myrtle Beach proper... always further south... Surfside, Garden City, Murrels Inlet, Pawley's Island.

Great golf and great seafood and great beaches.

initiald · #7 Posted **Oct 16, 2012, 11:40 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by hauntedheadnc

And you wouldn't be caught dead enjoying something like that would you?

Turns out you might. Even for its family-friendly corniness, Myrtle Beach is a lot like Vegas: unabashedley tacky, unashamedly sleazy. It is what it is and is not sorry for it, the Honey Boo Boo of beach towns -- and civic honesty on the scale of Myrtle Beach is quite frankly refreshing.

Also, they have damn good seafood, and lots of it.

I agree that's a good summery. While there I couldn't help thinking, "Why'd I love this place so much when I was in high school and college?" My wife says she still prefers Holden Beach and Wrightsville Beach in NC. We didn't make our way down to Garden City or Murrell's Inlet this time, but maybe those are more suitable options now. Still, the resort amenities you get for the price makes Myrtle Beach often a better destination.

whatsthepoint13 · #8 Posted **Oct 16, 2012, 9:26 PM**

I've never actually seen Myrtle Beach before. When I was growing up primarily on the East Coast, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE went to Myrtle. I always heard how great it is, how nice the beach is, blah blah blah. It looks a lot like Ocean City, MD or Virginia Beach, just a little on the warmer side. Thanks for the tour!

destroycreate · #9 Posted **Oct 16, 2012, 10:36 PM**

Myrtle Beach is just so charmless. My mother's family who are Southern go here every year, and refuse to vacation anywhere else. Why they don't go some place with more culture and a unique identity is beyond me. There are plenty of cute little coastal towns in the Carolinas to choose from. Sitting at Joe's Crab Shack or Applebee's on the boardwalk just seems too depressing.

initiald · #10 Posted **Oct 16, 2012, 10:45 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatsthepoint13

I've never actually seen Myrtle Beach before. When I was growing up primarily on the East Coast, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE went to Myrtle. I always heard how great it is, how nice the beach is, blah blah blah. It looks a lot like Ocean City, MD or Virginia Beach, just a little on the warmer side. Thanks for the tour!

It's pretty much the biggest oceanfront skyline between Virginia Beach and Daytona Beach. Most of the NC, SC, and GA shorelines are much more underdeveloped and have few towers along them.

Atlguy33 · #11 Posted **Oct 16, 2012, 11:24 PM**

Awesome photos! I was in Myrtle Beach in May, '11 and loved it! Stayed at the Bluegreen Carolina Grande, I wanna go again!

SHOFEAR · #12 Posted **Oct 17, 2012, 9:32 PM**

That eastbound and down intro made my day. thank you.

SHiRO · #13 Posted **Oct 21, 2012, 6:35 AM**

Love E&D. Missed this place when I was in SC. Great shots!

Coldrsx · #14 Posted **Oct 21, 2012, 2:29 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SHOFEAR

That eastbound and down intro made my day. thank you.

Nice thread, even better show.