OWJ1 & 2 return to Myrtle Beach with 3 & 4

Shamelessly topping my own post....

OWJ, I'm trying to think of playgrounds but with the beach, not sure you'll need one.

Give kids a bucket and a shovel and they are set for hours!

I'll get with my girlfriend who lives in NMB and get some restaurant recs for you!

Hey OWJ! Hope you are having a great time!

I used to stay at the Hampton Inn at NMB and pretty much just ate at K&Ws across the street or grabbed Thai from the restaurant "in town". I heard there's a good Thai restaurant in NMB. I don't travel there for work anymore but the last time I had planned to eat at the Bass Pro shop. Yes. Really.

I LOVE the Islamorada Fish Company in the keys and they have a location next to the store in NMB. At the Keys location, the bar (Zane Grey's) is not a "kid" place but the restaurant on the ground level definitely is. Check out to see how the NMB location looks. www.fishcompany.com

When googling for more info (to see if I could find kids meal items) I found that they are having "Summer Camp" at Bass Pro. The girls may enjoy the fishing in the pond but I bet ALL of you would enjoy the S'mores workshop

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CFPageC?storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&pageID=4766&cm_ven=redirects&cm_cat=mktg&cm_pla=ad&cm_ite=camp&cm_sp=family_summer_camp_2009-_-05_25_09-_-na

Here's a park with playground -
http://www.n-myrtle-beach.sc.us/Page.aspx?ID=5&SubID=7&LinkID=21

And, this looks fun for Thursday night -
Music on Main Concert Series: Thursday, June 04, 2009 : 5:30pm to 7:30pm--Main Street comes alive with the new Music on Main Concert Series. Stroll along Main Street and enjoy LIVE music, shopping, food & drinks. Free concerts take place the first Thursday of the month from 5:30-7:30pm. Click here for concert line up!

http://www.n-myrtle-beach.sc.us/

You're the best, GoT! Thank your friend in advance for me.

Thanks, Starrs! Clearly I should be utilizing google more. I appreciate you looking stuff up for me.

I want to say that the last time we were in NMB 3 yrs ago, we went to Islamorada Fish House. I need to reread my old trip report cuz my memory ain't what it used to be and my comprehension skills at 3am s#ck!

I need to come up with some ideas for rainy day activities, just in case. I figure having a list is like having an umbrella...if you have one, it won't rain and we want sunshine-y days

What about schlepping to Murrel's Inlet (sp?) for dinner one night?? We loved it there last time we visited but that was before the girls were born. Do you think that's a good idea with toddlers? Can anyone think of kid friendly restaurants around there?

I found an indoor playground in MB. Check out the "summer camp" stuff at Bass Pro Shops too.

I ate at a neat restaurant in MI that I loved. Ate out on the patio (which was just steps away from the boardwalk) and the girls would be fine there. Maybe GoT will remember the name or I'll check an old report. I'm beat so I'm going to bed

Y'all have a blast!

OWJ, here's a few restaurant suggestions for you and the little ones. Copied and pasted from another forum. There is also a Duffy's on Main Street in Ocean Drive.

>>Well, I'm down for a week of fun in the sun all by myself! Talk about heaven. When I got here some friends were here and we went to DUFFY'S SEAFOOD SHACK in Cherry Grove. Very good and great atmosphere. Superior service. Food was excellent. Among the table we had 30 cent shrimp, 60 cent oysters, fried green tomatoes and fried shrimp, oysters and flounder.

I have a hard time getting up the nerve to dine in a restaurant by myself so last night I got take out from THE GRILL HOUSE which is beside Tomlinson's in the Lowe's Shopping Center. Had an earlybird hamburger steak with a very good salad and their homemade potato chips.

For lunch today called up HOSKIN'S on main street and for $7.61 had wonderful lunch of Pork roast, dressing, squash casserole, green beans, biscuit and banana pudding. There's so much that I will have the leftovers for supper tonight.

Right now I am at THE ATLANTA BREAD COMPANY using their free WIFI. This place is in front of the new Walmart where the Home Depot is. Very good bakery and soups and sandwiches and salads. I'll be back here in the morning for coffee and bagel.<<



All of the above places are kid friendly. If you want to do your own seafood, Platt's is in Cherry Grove and they usually have some good seafood and will steam your shrimp and crab legs for free. Plus, they do a Low Country Boil for you.

There is also a great seafood counter inside Beaulineau's(grocery store) which is also in Cherry Grove. They also steam your selections. Down at Boulineau's there is an ice cream place, souvenir shops and laundry mat. Boulineaus is a fun place. http://www.boulineaus.com/

A chain restaurant(we have never tried) is Friendly's. That might be good for the kids. Their ice cream sundae pictures look good in the ads!

There is a great park kinda behind Hoskins at Oak Drive and 2nd Avenue South. McLean Park(it's on that website that starrs provided you).

I don't know if the girls are old enough to enjoy it, but you never know, you could take a walk at Heritage Shores.

http://www.n-myrtle-beach.sc.us/Page.aspx?ID=5&SubID=7&LinkID=23

For sure they are now old enough to love Alligator Adventure.
http://www.alligatoradventure.com/

They also might like the LeGrande Cirque Show out at The Palace Theatre...it's not Cirque De Soleil, but it's fun entertainment.....or even better, they might light the Charlotte's Web play.
https://palaceticketstheatremyrtlebeach.com/scripts/max/2000/maxshop.exe?store=TMP1

Hope y'all have an absolute blast. beachdweller doesn't check in here much anymore, so you might want to find an old post of his that has his email address and send him a shout out. They especially know all of the great places to eat.

If you want to check out other travel forums, tripadvisor has a very very active Myrtle Beach forum with tons of good ideas.

You know Murrells Inlet is my stomping ground! I like: Wahoos (outside at Divine Fish House), Creek Ratz, and Russells. They've done such a good job with the Marsh Walk that the kids will be really entertained. With the little ones I think you'd like to sit outside at Creek Ratz. After 9PM they usually have a good band. All ages welcome.

Stop by The Crab Cake Lady and buy some crab cakes to cook at the house. She catches her crab daily and makes the crabcakes. It doesn't get any fresher than that.

Forgot to add, good and cheap is Prossers BBQ in Murrells Inlet. As you drive into the inlet, it is on the right. Buffet only but local shrimp and fish as well as mouth watering southern fare; fried chicken, excellent Q, collards, butter beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, rice, mac and cheese, banana pudding, etc.

Creek Ratz.
I ate at Creek Ratz - thanks to GoT's suggestion
The outdoor patio overlooking the boardwalk will be great for the girls.

HI GoT! Where is the Crab Cake Lady? In Murrell's Inlet?

Ok, Creek Ratz is a definite! We had a great dinner at Divine Fish House 3yrs ago--GoT, I think you were the one who suggested that for us.
How do I find your crab cake lady, GoT??

Icee and Starrs ((Hugs)) from us and a couple of sloppy kisses from the girls for all the helpful suggestions.

The Crab Cake Lady http://www.thecrabcakelady.com/ is in the old Charlie's on 17 Bypass in Murrells Inlet. It's kind of near the Farmers Market.

You can call them for exact directions (you'd think I'd know given they are down the street from me) because I'm having a brain fart on their location.

Those freezing Icy folks are great, aren't they?

Check out all of the restaurants on http://www.VacationMB.com

Thanks, Gary and everyone else! In a little over a week, the kids, OWJ2 and I will be beaching it! Can't wait.

If anyone else has ideas of off-the-beach stuff to do with toddlers or dining options with them, we'll be checking back.

How's the trip, OWJ

Trip is great!

The drive here was less than fun--OWJ4 was not a happy traveller so we had to stop after only 3hrs and continue the next AM...but since we got here: Bliss!

AMs at the beach...lunch back at the beach shack... a swim in a pool til the girls nap (and typically us too!)...dinners out (except tonight when we brought in steamed shrimp and lobster from Platt's seafood store in Cherry Grove)...another walk on the beach...maybe some ice cream...and bedtime...

This is heaven--perhaps a bit hotter and steamier than heaven--but close enough.

Sounds heavenly to me, OWJ! I'm glad you & the family are able to have such a wonderful time. It doesn't get any better that this, right! Everybody needs a little icy in their life!

OSB--
We are so lucky to have some icee in our lives. VERY lucky! I honestly couldn't ask for more from a beach vacation...oh wait, the kids are fighting over a toy...

OWJ et al

Hi there OneWanderingJew, I am so happy you all got to get away! A well needed break I know. I hope the drive home goes well. Sending you four a big hug!

We had a great week of relaxing which was our goal. Since it was a beach vacation, that was about all we did! Each morning, armed with plenty of SPF 50 for the kids (and me, pasty white OWJ) and SPF30 for my husband who turns golden bronze just checking the mail, we threw the girls in the stroller and towed a wagon filled with beach supplies the 4 short blocks from icee's beach house. For the next couple of hours, we chilled while the girl's dug their way to China as they sat at the water's edge. The beaches weren't overly crowded, at least at the hours that we went, and there was some seriously good people watching. If one was ever considering getting a tattoo, this was the place to shop designs because there were lots on display

Our girls are under 3 so we didn't do a whole lot of touristy stuff though we did go to Barefoot Landing one evening and saw the Siberian tigers that they have from 5-9. There was also sloths and a few other smaller animals on display. For those braver than us, you can have your picture taken with a lion cub but I'm a wuz and that wasn't an option for us. Barefoot Landing has stuff for older kids, at least now in the summer...bouncy thing, a bungee bounce...It's a mall that definitely caters to tourists. Based on the license plates in the parking lot, most everyone was from somewhere else.

Another evening we headed over to GoTravel's stomping grounds of Murrell's Inlet but we didn't get to meet her cuz the girl has been working her tail off. Waaa! We had dinner at Creek Ratz. It was good and super kid friendly. We got there around 6ish and were able to be seated right away but it started filling up shortly after that. Afterwards, my husband, kids and I enjoyed the marsh walk. The girls were fascinated by a group of wild(?) goats living on a tiny island in the marsh. We would've stayed longer but a sudden summer t-storm nixed that idea. An aside: It was my husband and I's 2nd time to Murrell's Inlet and we loved it over there as much as the last time. If we were w/o kids, we would've bar hopped and enjoyed drinks and live music at several spots along the marshwalk.

We had a couple of dinners out: Bonefish, which is a chain, but IMO a good one. I forget what we ordered but both entrees were good. We also went to Calabash Seafood Hut. When we arrived, there was a pretty good line and I was concerned the girls wouldn't be able to handle the wait. The people who run the place have their system down to a science, so it moved pretty quickly. Most everything on the menu is fried, which I knew ahead of time, so I stopped counting calories and fat grams and ordered fried shrimp. Mmmm. Seriously Mmmm. It was crispy but not greasy and didn't have inches of breading. The meals came with hush puppies, sweet cole slaw and fries. I got the small platter and OWJ2 got the large, which for $1 more, had almost 2x the shrimp. That said, the small was plenty for me! Our last night we went over to Liberty Tap Room, the same one we met Mr. and Mrs. Beachdweller at 3 yrs earlier. (If you're still on fodors BD, we missed seeing you guys!)

We also brought in dinner twice from Platt's Seafood shop in Cherry Grove. Great store with super friendly staff and really fresh fish. The first night we had steamed lobster (a total treat for me!) and steamed shrimp. They cooked both perfectly. It was so good that the next day, we preordered a small low country boil and picked up right before dinner. My husband and I ate our way into little piggy heaven and I still had lunch for two days. Yum! (A small is a full sized steamer pan filled to the brim with tons of shrimp, crab leg clusters, mussels, clams, potatoes and corn with just the right amount of Old Bay.)

Oh! For those with kids staying in NMB: McLean Park is a good one to go to. It has one playground with smaller equipment for tots that was adequate, but adjacent to it, is a super cool area for the older kids. The older kids have an awesome playstructure that is different than one typically sees in in playground. I wish I had taken a picture of it!


I think that wraps up the highlights of our trip. Icee and the Real Icee--thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

PS Painter's ice cream: a big so what. They say it's homemade but I thought it was pretty tasteless and not worth the calories.

Did you get Vanna's favorite at Painter's? To me, Painter's is hit or miss. Sometimes I like it, sometimes I don't! When you went to Calabash, did you go over to the Calabash Creamery and have their ice cream? Thanks for trying the Low Country Boil at Platt's. I'm excited to order it now! Glad y'all had such a good vacation.

Bookmarking. Thanks!

Hate that I missed y'all because I so want to meet the beautiful twins!

Love Murrells Inlet and I'm really lucky that it is my back yard!

Icee--What's Vanna's flavor? We got strawberry for the girls (Our girly girls insist that even their ice cream has to be pink!) I probably got black cherry and Howie had something chocolate...We missed Calabash Creamery--next time...

Thanks, GoT. And here I thought you wanted to meet us grown ups.

MI is awesome and can see why you like living there.

Siena1--Have a great trip.

LOL....don't remember what her fave is....Her picture is autographed at the order window saying what her favorite is!!

My sister is down at the shack right now and really enjoyed her dinner at TBonz. I remember having dessert at Kaminsky's in Charleston, a sister restaurant, and it was very delicious.

Not to worry OWJ, GoT won't come to see me either!!!

smooches, GoT

We're baaaack! Our 2nd trip with the kids and again the word bliss comes to mind....I need to hit the lottery because having a place at the beach would make me so happy.

GoT--Gonna call you tomorrow and figure things out.

OWJ...this time instead of doing Painter's for ice cream, go to The Calabash Creamery after you go to The Seafood Hut! It's pretty decent! And, if you want something different one night, try ENoodles. M/M beachdweller turned us on to the place and it was enjoyable.

Icee--
So funny you posted right now! OWJ2 and I were literally just talking about this...I think we're going to head to Calabash tomorrow and hit both your suggestions. Tonight, anniversary night, OWJ2 is going to make his amazing grilled shrimp for me, steak for him and then we'll take the kids to Barefoot Landing to see the tigers.

Weather has been fantastic and I feel so at peace here at the beach. It's nice to pretend this is my life all the time!

Where have the beachdwellers been? We had such a great time with them 3 yrs ago and would love to reconnect.

OWJ

Hey--Do you have any idea which put put golf place would be good for the kids?

For mini golfing with preschoolers (somewhere in this thread you mentioned naps so I presume they are preschool age) in Myrtle Beach, I suggest going in the morning when the mini golf places are the least crowded so your kids can take as much time as they would like without a group waiting impatiently behind you (of course, it's polite to let a group play through your hole if you are slow moving, but you can't do that throughout 18 holes and ever finish . The busiest times are the evenings after dinner. Between 4 and 6 is usually a good time if there are no afternoon thunderstorms.

Reading your thread, it appears you are probably staying in North Myrtle Beach. I suggest the Black Pearl in the Cherry Grove area, Tribal Island on Highway 17 in Little River, SC, and the mini golf place (can't recall name) on the road to Calabash, NC. I suggest these places because they are almost never crowded, particularly during the day. Professor Hacker's Lost Treasure in NMB on Hwy 17 is fun because it has a small train the takes you to your first hole. Molten Mountain in NMB and Cancun Lagoon in MB are partially indoors, which can be good if you need to escape the heat and sun. Do not go to either one on a rainy day because everyone else will be there too.

If you are in Myrtle Beach proper, then try Jungle Lagoon on Business 17 or Mount Atlanticus in downtown MB (must go there during the day, too crowded at night).

BTW, there are at least 23 mini golf locations in the greater MB area. My sons (ages 10 and 12 at the time) and I played 16 of them on a single day a couple of summers ago. If you beat our record, let us know.

For non-mini golf activities, take your kids to the Alligator Adventure at Barefoot Landing to see the gators, lemurs, etc. The Ripley's Aquarium at Broadway on the Beach is good (but don't go when it rains, because it will be too crowded). To escape the rain and the crowds, go to the Imax theatre at Broadway on the Beach. Your kids will enjoy the ocean and other nature theme films there.

For restaurants, Joe's Crab Shack (seafood) and River City Cafe (burgers) have multiple locations around MB and play areas for young kids (good distraction while you wait for food). Thorny's, just south of downtown MB, also has a play area in the restaurant and televisions in the booths so your kids can watch the Disney channel while you dine. My kids' favorite restaurant, Overtime Sports Grill on Hwy 17 in NMB has sports memorabilia hanging from the ceiling and is a great place to play I Spy while you dine. It's family friendly with a kids menu.

Have fun. We just came home from 12 days in NMB last night.

PAdams--Your mini golf record is safe with us. Your boys are too hardcore for us wimps

You were right we are staying in NMB and my kids are preschoolers; however, since I started this thread last year, naps have gone by the wayside. (Waaaah, says mom!) Thanks for all great info on the put put courses. Clearly you are THE expert on the subject!

A word of caution for those wanting to go to the Seafood Hut in Calabash, NC on a Monday. You'll have to enjoy it the other 6 days of the week. We pulled up and realized it was closed Mondays and headed across the street to Ella's because it had been suggested to us earlier in the day. Portions were more than ample but thought that Seafood Hut was better. We promised the kids ice cream and drove around the corner to Calabash Creamery--mmmmm. Double Mmmmm!! Much better and half the price of the ice cream we bought at Barefoot Landing...

Speaking of Barefoot Landing, I encountered a really rude employee at Hats Galore (think that's the name) OWJ2 and I were looking for beach hats and as we were doing that, the kids started trying on one too. They weren't being bad, loud or anything like that but a sales person came up and loudly and aggressively snatched the hat off one of my kids and asked me if he, "Should ring that up right now for you??" Before I could even answer, he kept repeating that same question 2-3 more times. Could I have had that dumbfounded look on my face for a couple of seconds? I can tell you I was so shocked at the tone he took. This guy was just so rude and aggressive from the start. Not that this clerk would know us, but we work really hard to keep our kids from running wild in public or mess up stores and have removed our children from a situation if they're not behaving. As I grabbed the kids and walked out, I explained I didn't have a problem with him asking the kids not to touch the hats but had a major issue with how he spoke to me. He ended up losing 2 sales. The store, though IMO somewhat overpriced, had a great selection and I had already found the hat I wanted. As it turned out, I found a cheaper and perfectly adequate sun hat at the Totes store of all places.

If you are thinking of heading to Murrell's Inlet for dinner, consider taking your children to either Myrtle Beach State Park (in South Myrtle Beach) or Huntington Beach State Park (below Murrell's Inlet). Both have lovely natural beaches with picnic areas. Huntington Beach State Park has a couple of nature trails, birdwatching boardwalks and two lagoons where there may be alligators for them to see. A nice break from the hustle and bustle of Myrtle Beach.

Thanks, NCPat!