Georgetown to Myrtle Beach

The wind and rain finally settled down in Georgetown and allowed us to have a restful night before departing for Myrtle Beach.  This 45-mile stretch of the ICW is considered by many to be one of the prettiest stretches of the waterway.  The waterway is narrow and lined with lots of cypress trees.  Even though there is a lot of residential and commercial development in this area, you see very little of it from the water for long stretches at a time.  Here are the first of the cypress trees right after leaving Georgetown.

We have never seen such extensive root systems for cypress trees as these had.  No idea about the sign!

Most of the developments along the waterway are referred to as "plantations."

Lots of flowers like those above are scattered and growing wild along the waterway.

We probably saw more large bird nests on this stretch than any others on the trip.  Rhonda liked this one with the "nester" barely showing above the nest.

There were several small islands along the way.

As I mentioned already, it was definitely narrow compared to most that we have traveled.

We've seen lots of trees along the shoreline with slanted sides from constant sea breeze but not many flat-topped like these, we assume for the same reason.

And another first - dressed mannequins on the docks and shoreline at 2 different locations.

We ran most of the day with "Tapestry" from Solomons, MD and 4 of us went through a swing bridge area together.

Needless to say, the road traffic was backed up as far as we could see.

As we got closer to Myrtle Beach, there were lots of homes along the waterway and this group reminded me of the ones we took a picture of leaving Orange Beach, AL with each one in the row a different color.

Myrtle Beach is known for a lot of things like the beach and attractions, but golf courses are a big deal also - over 100 in the area.  Much of the waterway is lined with these, one after the other.

We docked at Barefoot Landing and there was constant traffic along the waterway, especially since we were there on Saturday and Sunday.  The restaurant across from us is a Greg Norman restaurant, The Australian Grille.

Speaking of golf, The Masters was playing today and one of the restaurants on this side of the ICW, Dirty Don's, had a huge big screen TV on a truck showing the tournament for the outside diners.  Never seen a TV display this big before.

And the highlight of our visit to Myrtle Beach was a visit from some of my relatives - my sister Linda, niece-in-law Ann, and great niece/nephews, Spencer, Sydney, and Seth.  

They arrived on Saturday afternoon and we visited awhile before heading to River City for every kind of hamburger you could think of.  Then Ann showed us some areas of Myrtle Beach we had not seen before, followed by a shopping visit to one of the Tanger Outlet malls.  I had not planned on buying anything but decided to check out the Fossil store.  I lost my last watch about 8 months ago and never could find one I liked so I quit looking.  Walked into the Fossil store and found exactly what I wanted in about 10 minutes.  Several others found things they wanted also.  Then on Sunday, we all went for a short cruise down the Waccamaw River. Here's Ann, Linda, and Spencer up front.

And Sydney and Seth up in the flybridge.

A good time was had by all and we really appreciate them making the trip to visit with us.  As a kid, my family spent most of our vacations at Myrtle Beach or the Appalachian Mountains so I have lots of fond memories in this town.

Tomorrow (if the weather permits), we will be leaving South Carolina and moving up the coast into North Carolina which is Rhonda's home state.  We are planning to stop in Southport or at Bald Head Island.  See you there.