Myrtle Beach Escape

We decided to extend summer just a little longer this weekend with an escape to Myrtle Beach for a few nights. Meg found us a lovely room on the fifth floor with a view of the ocean and a balcony.

It was quite chilly in the evenings, but warm enough during the day for Emma and Harrison to force me (somewhat grudgingly) to join them in the “lazy river”.


The hot tub to one side appealed A LOT more, and I think the photo of Meg and Harrison demonstrates that he too was quite a fan.

Myrtle Beach was hosting a Biker's Festival this weekend and most of them rode Harley’s that were pretty loud. While fun to look at, they did add to the traffic a little so it took us quite a while to get to Brookgreen Gardens on Saturday. Not many bikers chose the same destination! It used to be a series of rice plantations and is opposite Huntington State Park.

We spent the morning in the sculpture gardens, ate an outside lunch in their café, and spent part of the afternoon walking around more of the grounds looking at owls, hawks, eagles, foxes, deer, river otters and horses.

Many of the sculptures captured scenes from Greek mythology. Obscured by me, this one realistically depicts a hunter getting torn up by his own hunting dogs after he spies Diana bathing in a pool. For his indiscretion, she turned him into a stag.

Emma hoped very much to catch a butterfly

These may look like sculptures but they are real and were far further away than the photo suggests. A generous soul allowed me to swap out my lens (temporarily) for her $600 one with a 300 something or rather zoom!

Emma may look like she is losing the battle against the alligator but that wiley six year old keeps a few tricks up her sleeve for just this sort of emergency ...

The weather was sunny and warm, but cool in the shade and a gentle breeze made it an ideal day to visit this vast plantation. Enormous live oaks were draped in Spanish Moss and we walked down a broad raised path to a river. On either side, tall natural marsh reeds stood in water where once slaves would have cultivated rice.
The plantation house burned down long ago, but today the grounds are dedicated to the display of sculptures - some in bronze, some in marble, some in stone. Intricate water systems feed a variety of fountains. Thick foliage and old brick walls reveal numerous formal gardens.

Bravo to Meg for finding this gem of a place ... who would have thought such exquisite art could be found within the garish neon lights of Myrtle Beach. In fact we even found inspiring landscaping when we squeezed in a quick game of put-put around a "volcano" on the way home. All in all, we realize Myrtle Beach has much more to offer than seafood restaurants and outlet malls.

I must conclude this blog with my favorite photo of the ballet dancer and a beautiful image called "Boy with Chicken, that my photo does not do justice to. It is not hard to guess why the children were drawn to these works of art.