wecamp

HI everyone.. we are a camping family and the other family traveling is not so we decided to give a "condo" vacation a try.. there will be 7 of us.. 4 adults 2 teenagers and a 7 yr old.. have a 3 bedroom place..

we are arriving on Oct7 and staying for a week. I did read that biker week is until the 7th.... Will I need to bring chairs/umbrella for the beach? Rental places still open in Oct? Are we crazy driving straight thru from St.Louis? If so.. suggestions for a night stopover are welcome.. we usually vacation at disney in October but decided we needed a break.. yes the kids whined but oh well lol I have told them there will be plenty to do besides being near the beach...

thanks for your help and again any suggestions welcome as for places to eat, see etc..

thanks
Trish

palmettoprincess

Weather in MB will probablly be cooler than Florida. I've seen people swimming in the surf in October (those Canadians..), but you stand a chance of cold weather.

beach_dweller

You've picked the best time of year to come here!

You will need chairs, etc. for the beach; the condo is unlikley to supply them. You can bring some or do what most visitors do--buy them at one of the many, many beachwear stores when you get here (e.g., Wings, Eagle, Pacific).

Rental places and nearly everything I can think of (except a handful of restaurants, the waterparks, and one amusement park) is open year-round now in Myrtle.

I hate to disagree with PalmettoPrincess, but you stand virtually NO chance of cold weather in early October. Our seasonal averages (high/low) are mid-70s, mid-to-upper 50s for the first half of October. Also, the ocean water will be very warm, by far warm enough for even non-Canadians to swim in. Unless we get truly unusual weather, you should be able to lay out on the beach if you want.

There's a ton of information on this site about myrtle beach. Just do a search using "myrtle" and you'll find probably hundreds of threads. If I can help answer any specific questions, just ask.

iceeu2

wecamp, a couple of years ago, we spent the 2nd week of October in Myrtle Beach. The weather was glorious! Not too hot, not too cold, but just right. No crowds on the beach either. It was just perfect in every way.

Have fun....we always go to Calabash, NC, for a fried seafood fix!!

wecamp

Thanks everyone... I am hoping that the kids like it soo much they will not want to return to WDW for fall vacations. Plus I'm sure we will be saving $$ even with staying in the condo (compared to WDW)

I have read the threads here till I've gone goo goo eyed
we love to eat at the local places.. the smaller the place the better. My 16yr old daughter wants to see the KISS coffee house,and eat seafood until she bursts.. Are there local seafood shops? OR do we just buy at the grocery stores? IE price chopper/piggly wiggly? WE are bring down the lobster pot for shrimp boils..
Beach_dweller...
Where is the Shrimp festival compared to our condo? we are checking in saturday so I'm hoping for some shrimp for dinner

Thanks again

Trish

iceeu2

wecamp, if you are talking about The Little River Shrimp and Jazz Fest, it is north of where you are staying. That sounds like fun.

beach_dweller

wecamp,

iceeu2 is right about the Shrimp & Jazz festival--a lot of fun. Little River is perhaps a 20-30 munite drive north up 17 from where you're staying.

Don't buy at the grocery stores unless the sign says "local." Sometimes Kroger or Bi-Lo or Piggly Wiggly will have local shrimp, but not often. Heading a little north of you is where you'll find your closest local seafood places. They are in Cherry Grove, on Sea Mountain Hwy, which you can access either from Hwy 17 or Ocean Blvd. One is Platt's Seafood, the other is Berry's (make sure you ask what is local--the shrimp will definitely be local). Another reliable source is Phillips Seafood. The restaurant opened a neat little lunch & seafood counter. It's across the street from Broadway at the Beach, an attraction south of you that you'll definitely hit. The fried oysters there are very good at lunch too. If you go much, much further south, to Georgetown, Independent Seafood in the historic district (on Front St.) is as local as it gets. You'll see the boats they bring it in on.

KISS coffee house? It's pretty neat, perhaps not the best for coffee (although it certainly is not bad, probably as good or better than the local starbucks). And go ahead and indulge: deep-fried twinkie. Aaahhhh.

Now that you've got me really hungry . . . here's a tip. Don't boil the shrimp. Steam them. Buy one of those round fold-up thingies that fits into the bottom of the pot, put a little water in, a LOT of Old Bay seasoning, turn the burner on high, put a lid on it (after you put the unpeeled shrimp in of course), depending on how much shrimp you're cooking at a time, they're done 3-8 minutes after the water comes to a boil. Then you can chill them a little or eat them hot. Yummmm!

iceeu2

beachdweller, you are a great deal of help even to those of us that are not the OP....

What is a round fold up thingie??????

And, where is KISS?

And, what is the name Thai or Chinese or Noodles place that has a location in North Myrtle now...and where is it?

wecamp, when we go down we like Platt's better than Berry's. And, they are great to tell you what is local and what is fresh...and even how to prepare.

wecamp

beach_dweller and iceu2u. thanks for the info... you can also use this technique to steam lobsters.. (learned this up in Maine earlier this summer)where we purchased the "steam rack"for the lobster pot. call us silly but we steamed a lobster w old bay and it was wayy yummy.. being landlocked here in MO makes us real hungry for seafood.

I will have hubby lock in those places on the garmin ..gotta love the techno stuff..

and deep fried twinkies? umm ok.. do ya have the kool-aid pickels we saw on food channeldown there? my daughters love the fried pickles w ranch dressing.. ok we have eclectic tastes.. why not we are on vacation..

counting the days..

thanks again
t

palmettoprincess

Rather than using a fold-up thinging (a.k.a. steamer basket) we use a metal colander than fits inside our stock pot to steam crab legs. You can steam a bunch at once.

beach_dweller

Steamer Basket! That's it (I think); it opens/unfolds to make basically a round, flat surface with holes to let the steam up through--like a colander. And it fits almost exactly the circumference of our stock pot (8 or 10 quart I think). Thanks PalmettoPrincess.

iceeu2: KISS coffee house is at Broadway at the Beach. From 17 By-Pass it is on the north side of the lake, near Celebrity Square.

And the great asian noodle house you're thinking of in NMB is E-Noodles. It's the second location (the original is down south near the airport just off Business 17 near the K&W).

wecamp, I haven't seen the kool-aid pickles. We just have the fried so far as I know. But if you like kool-aid pickles, there is NO way you can miss with the deep fried twinkies.

wecamp

beach_dweller, my bad the koolaid pickles are from MS. My 16yr old coonfirmed it from watching Riding on Asphalt 2... seems alton brown found them on the road in MS.. The kids asked if they were like fried snickers bars? lol

now I have a question about lighthouses,do we have to wander down to Charleston to go on a boat lighthouse tour? also any ideas for shelling and sand dollars?
I am waiting on our SC visitors guide

thanks again
T

wanderluster

Not sure about lighthouses, but Savanah is only an hour or so away, and a really cool town to visit. We do prefer Charleston of the two, but its a bit too far for a day trip, IMO.

Just curious, and I hope you don't mind me asking, but we've often thought a trip to MB would be nice in October -- but we have youngish children in school. Just wondered if yours are on a fall break then, or are they home schooled?

As others said, the weather should be perfect. Hope you have a great time.

iceeu2

wecamp, you might want to consider a day's outing to Georgetown if you don't want to make the 1 1/2 hr to 2 hr trek to Charleston. Google Georgetown and see what you find about lighthouses and shelling.

And, I'm not sure which route wanderluster takes to get to Savannah in order to get there in an hour, but it takes us more like 3 1/2 to 4 hrs.

wanderluster

OMG whoops,I meant just the opposite, sorry!
It takes a little over an hour to Charleston and 3 or more to Savannah!
Although we seem to be in the minority, we do prefer Savannah to Charleston.
(I must have been really tired when posting last night

beach_dweller

wecamp,

I wouldn't recommend that you spend any time looking for lighthouses in this area. If they're here, they're not accessible like they are on the Outer Banks of NC (you may be thinking of that).

As far as shelling, you should see the collection of whelks (often mistakenly called conchs, which they resemble), lettered olives, sea pens, etc. we found walking the same beaches you'll be at. Sand dollars are really hit or miss--we haven't seen any for over a year. However, I have heard that Pawleys Island has lots of them (it's about 45 minutes south of you on Hwy 17).

wecamp

Wanderluster,
Yes we are on fall break, the K to 5 kids go year round where we live,(School starts in July for the 7r old..9 weeks then off 3 weeks . my 16yr old started Aug15)the district finally got smart a few years ago to give us a fall break for the middle school and HS kids. Since there were ALOT of parents taking their other children out for a week at a time in the fall it only made sense..

We are picking up part of our gang in Charleston on Sunday.(flyn in on airtran) Which gives me a nite and part of a day to visit the area.

Pawleys island is on the list of things MOM wants to do Dad and the uncle historic forts etc.. we will do Savannah on the way back to St.Louis.. all depends on the weather too I suppose.. most trips we just wing it.. kinda strange not having the camper but there's always next time...

thanks again beach_dweller.. it's really great to have locals post.. I try and read tripadvisor too,fodorites seem more friendly...

T