Myrtle Beach and area

Myrtle Beach

A great idea and place for those wanting a day drive or less from about any place on or near the east coast.. including inland as far as Pittsburgh. We know, because we have done it!  And we discovered it almost by accident. (tell you about that near the end after you read what you want to know for a great east coast vacation!)

 

Calabash NC 

 If you don't want the commercial aspects of Myrtle Beach, but you  do want the beaches; you'd like to save on some of the costs, think of Clabash.

The surprise great east coast vacation destination is (drum roll please).......... CALABASH, N.C.

With a name like that, what can your expectations be? ? ?

Well, they can be first for a laid back, economical, not great crowds location central to

• Terrific beaches
• Wonderful golf
• Fantastic seafood
• Deep Sea fishing
• Major tourist things to do like Riplely Theater, Dolly Parton adventure, more, more more
• Navy base and battleship tour

OK... let's set some ground rules for the selection of Calabash. Essentially these rules or expectations would define a location that would offer diversity in things to do.  If one wants an very focused single point such as beach or boardwalk, then one might want to move a bit farther south to Myrtle Beach

 Visit our companion Web Site, East Coast Vacations HERE 

We chose Calabash because we did NOT want the high rises, etc, but instead, we wanted a bit more quiet and seclusion and lower costs. We found this here. You really need to visit their web site to get a feel for this small town. First, there ARE nice beaches locally.  There ARE some great smaller, family owned restaurants. There IS some nice shopping, with a focus in one area a "county type store, a Christmas oriented store" and other  small town places like this. And as to hotels, why stay at a hotel in the area when you can have an entire condo such as the condos available at Calabash.  Actually, that's how we came to find this. We have "points" with a major time share company and we started out really wanting Myrtle Beach, but we found that no accommodations were available.  Being ex military, we knew about Armed Forces Vacation Club offerings, and we turned to this resource.  If you are active or retired military and don't know about it, it's worth while checking out. We did, and while no accommodations were available in Myrtle for the time we wanted them, they suggested Calabash. We reluctantly accepted. And as we got there and stayed, we were totally pleased.

So.. other than having a nice condo which includes pool and the local things, what's the big deal? How do you plan a nice vacation on the North Carolina and South Carolina state line?

First, if you like to golf, you have local golfing right there are Calabash without much of the waiting and  costs of Myrtle Beach, but if your heart is set on Myrtle Beach, your concierge can arrange tee times, transportation, and virtually anything else having to do with golf.

But your family is intent on the beach. You know that you want a place where you might be easily able to change clothes, get into shade, get a cold drink, etc.  You must plan for this unless you have a beach side hotel. This is nice, but expensive and hard to come by, but there are public beaches in the area that offer these amenities. In fact, there's a whole lot of them.  Myrtle Beach per se has few, and if you are a public beach goer, you'll need to do a little research. You can start at this blog site and use the links to Myrtle, or you can use  your favorite search engine. Locally, if you are staying at a Condo resort, your concierge person can guide you. The point is that you have many choices if you are willing to get into your car and travel 15 minutes or so. Ask about parking when you go. This is NOT uncommon along the East Coast. In our area where we live near world famous Cocoa Beach, unless you are staying at a high rise right on the shore, you'll be driving to your beach. Daytona Beach is a fine example.

So, Calabash gives you access to great golf and great beaches. But you want more, so again, from Calabash you are mere minutes drive away from the many Myrtle Beach attractions. One is a  "semin amusement park" that has theatres such as Ripleys, an Imax, and many other attractions. If you are tired of being outdoors and being beat down on by hot sun, or if you have a rainy day, you have these choices. We liked the Dolly Parton Dinner Theater and found it to be a blast.

Wilmington, NC 

Time again for a change, and this time looking north and spending about an hour or so in the car, as we head to Wilmington, NC. Again, so much to do in a short day trip or two. History buff? Check out Cape Fear.

Your writer is sorta a military nut and has a fascination for large military ships. Wilmington has one of the few surviving battleships you can tour and you can read about it here.

While there's all kind of military history and aviation history in NC starting with Kitty Hawk, we wanted to limit this posting to a day trip, "out and back" for Calabash, so that's  why you are not being given more links.

But here is one more for this awesome battleship.

Again, in the area of Myrtle Beach...

The Bald Head Island Lighthouse.. Open To Public and you CAN climb to the Top

Another day trip, or a destination that could be the place to stay by itself for a more focused (but probably more expensive vacation) is Bald Head Island, NC.  This is truly a great place to visit, and the highlite of our visit to Bald Head Island, NC is the visit to the Bald Head Island Lighthouse. Clicking HERE will take you to a virtual tour of "Old Baldy".   As you drive up from Calabash, you'll get there and park your car, then purchase your tickets for the round trip ferry boat ride.. a pleasant 15 minute or so jaunt. While you can buy food at the marina and other places on Bald Head Island, you can also take a cooler with your own sandwiches.  It's easier to buy.   Head for the light house and plan on taking the steps to the top if your endurance and physical condition allows. Be sure and have your camera with either plenty of film or memory space in your digital camera. If you have a telephoto lens, take it.

When you come back down,  you can rent a bike (or bikes) for an island tour. Most of the beaches are on private property, so you don't really come to Bald Head Island for your beach experience.  While touring the island, you may run into a celebrity as many own these million dollar plus homes. Our last interest was to see the vacation home of Bill Cowher as we were Pittsburghers and had heard he was building here. We don't know for sure and "locals" protect the privacy of the owners, so don't have overly high expectations.

Well, this post has gone on long enough, and hopefully if you found this via a search for East Coast Vacations  near Myrtle Beach, you have been happy with the content. If you go, we hope you are even happier with your experiences and invite you to return to this blog and leave comments.