Head east or south from Augusta on almost any route and in about three hours you will find yourself

Head east or south from Augusta on almost any route and in about three hours you will find yourself pulling up to a beautiful beach. The challenge of vacationing or spending a day along the Georgia-South Carolina used travel trailers california coast lies neither in getting there nor in finding a lovely spot to kick off your shoes and dig your toes in the sand. It lies in deciding which of the varied possibilities suits you best. Family fun, great golf, elegant resorts, history lessons, wildlife refuges used travel trailers california and quiet retreats dot the coast in multiple shapes and sizes. Even if you have already discovered your destinations and activities of choice, a few changes along these shores just might be worth checking out.
The iconic beachfront Pavilion Amusement Park is gone, but some of the pavilion’s classic rides, including the Herschell-Spillman Carousel, Wave Rider and the Caterpillar, were moved a couple used travel trailers california of miles inland. They have taken up residence at the Pavilion Nostalgia Park at Broadway used travel trailers california at the Beach, a shopping and entertainment complex. The historic German Baden Band Organ, five skill games from the old midway and a Pavilion Museum found a home there as well.
About six miles off the beach, where Hard Rock Park opened and closed in six months used travel trailers california last year, the Freestyle Music Park continues to feature rock and roll. However, the park has expanded its reach to include country, reggae, beach music, pop, R B, alternative, Christian and disco. The 55-acre theme park offers more than 50 attractions including roller coasters, shows, children’s play areas, restaurants, cafés and retail stores, a multi-purpose live music amphitheatre and an ultra-modern sound system. Only time will tell if this new park can replace the beloved pavilion as the site of vacationland memory making and draw the crowds it needs to survive. Owners hope a more family friendly atmosphere and better relationships with the Myrtle Beach community will prove the secrets of their success.
The beauty of Myrtle Beach itself and the generous used travel trailers california array of places to stay remain unchanged. Resorts, hotels, motels and condos stretch densely back from the beach to offer accommodations to about 500,000 sun and fun seekers during the summer. The strip along Ocean Boulevard still offers its wax museum, museum of oddities and endless T-shirt and gift shops. The NASCAR Speed Park remains the place for speed demons young and old to test their skills on multiple tracks. More than 100 golf courses – many with championship layouts – await the golfer, and nightlife offers live music at places like Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede, Le Grande Cirque at the Palace Theater and the House of Blues. Great outlet shopping rounds out the area’s offerings. (800) 356-3016; myrtlebeachinfo.com
This quieter northern neighbor offers a lower key alternative to Myrtle Beach. Condos, cottages and small motels are the primary accommodations, and nightlife leans toward well-weathered dance spots known for beach music and shagging. North Myrtle Beach – Windy Hill, Crescent Beach, Cherry Grove, used travel trailers california and Ocean Drive – may be most like Myrtle Beach in its abundant golfing possibilities. Most of its 100-plus golf courses are open to the public. (877) 332-2662; northmyrtlebeachchamber.com
Just south of Myrtle Beach, these getaways may be the best-kept secrets used travel trailers california on Highway 17. Called “the family beach,” Surfside has an active residential community along with rental houses, hotels and condominiums that make it a thriving vacation destination as well. The Surfside Pier is a favorite fishing spot, boasting the likes of amber jack, bluefish, cobia, flounder, king mackerel, pompano, tarpon and whiting/southern kingfish species.
The 668-foot pier at Garden City Beach also offers fishing and a more family-oriented experience with a rain shelter and a variety of eateries and taverns in the ocean village. Worth finding is the Gulf Stream Café, which stands at the end of a residential road. Sure to serve a delicious meal of fresh seafood used travel trailers california and traditional cuisine, the two-story restaurant also promises the best view of the best sunsets you’ve ever seen over the Atlantic Ocean and Murrells Inlet. dunes.com
Tucked along the winding shores of the Waccamaw Neck, this beach boasts a colorful, pirate-filled history. Today’s boat captains offer fishing charters every day for those interested in reeling in a fresh meal. If that’s not your style, this little fishing village has waterfront seafood used travel trailers california markets and more than 30 restaurants. Two of the most highly recommended are Southern Supper, with a menu ranging from fresh seafood to Southern-fried favorites, used travel trailers california and the Hot Fish Club, which has a new chef and management this year. This restaurant offers a great view, fresh seafood dishes and pork chops and steaks worthy of comment. Outback, the Gazebo at the Hot Fish Club, is one of the hottest spots in the area for live entertainment. (843) 357-2007; murrellsinletsc.com
Here you get to feel “away from it all,” but still have easy access to golf, shopping, bird watching, sightseeing used travel trailers california and just about anything else that comes to mind. Wildlife sanctuaries border Litchfield on the north and south; the beautiful Brookgreen used travel trailers california Gardens are just three miles away, and Myrtle Beach is a 15-minute drive away. Made up of Litchfield, North Litchfield and Litchfield by the Sea, the area spreads between the Waccamaw River and the ocean, offering oceanfront rooms, poolside condos and lovely homes with terraces on the marsh. Litchfield by the Sea has its own water park, and Litchfield Plantation offers the experience of waking up in an 18th-century manor house on the river. (888) 766-4633; litchfieldbeach.com
Although residents and regulars lovingly refer to the place as “arrogantly shabby,” this beach island has been home to the Pawley’s Plantation Golf and Country Club for more than 20 years. The resort offers decidedly unshabby one-, two-, and three-bedroom villas that overlook the Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course and the surrounding wildlife refuge. Not to worry though. used travel trailers california The laid-back atmosphere continues used travel trailers california to thrive just down the road. Tucked into the dunes, the Pelican Inn, a nine-room bed and breakfast, and the Sea View Inn, a 20-room inn, still provide wonderful experiences wrapped in salty ocean breezes and the smell of southern cooking. There are also condominiums used travel trailers california and homes to rent along this barrier island that is less than four miles long and mostly one house wide. Originally an 18th- and 19th-century retreat for wealthy rice growers, the island now draws people across the salt marsh for activities like crabbing in the local creeks and strolling barefoot used travel trailers california along the shore. The island’s main export used travel trailers california – hammocks, which were designed in the 1880s by an area riverboat used travel trailers california captain – offers all the insight required to understand the area mentality. (843) 273-4698; townofpawleysisland.com
After World War II, attorney J.C. Long developed this 7-mile-long, 1-mile-wide used travel trailers california island as a place where service people could afford to buy homes and raise a family. Some of those original families and their descendents still live here, and the island maintains a wide range of accommodation used travel trailers california and recreation options. Before you begin to explore, though, you may want to turn down J.C. Long Boulevard and find the Sea Biscuit Café. Here you can mix with locals and visitors used travel trailers california over great dishes like shrimp with gravy and crab-filled omelets. Later in the day you may also want to check out the burgers and crab cakes at Long Island Café on Palm Boulevard. For a place to lay your head, the possibilities include small beachfront condos that rent by the night. Heading north, huge new houses, which were built to replace what Hurricane Hugo destroyed, line the public access beach. Wild Dunes Resort offers used travel trailers california golf, tennis and 300-plus vacation rentals including the brand new Village at Wild Dunes and the family friendly Boardwalk Inn. The Inn’s beachfront pavilion has two pools, a food concession and a bar. Plus, it provides welcome cover from rain or heat. The surf is just right for wave jumping and body surfing, used travel trailers california and the beautiful dunes invite late afternoon returns for kite flying. (888) 778-1876; wildddunes.com
Named for Captain Florence used travel trailers california O’Sullivan, who was stationed at the island’s lighthouse in the late 17th century, this island guards the entrance of Charleston Harbor. Its streets boast quintessential beach houses with screened porches, porch swings and ceiling fans. Ocean breezes keep bike riding pleasant almost all day for trips to the beach or down to Fort Moultrie to look back at 200 years of history that includes the first decisive defeat of the British in the Revolutionary War and the initial shots on Fort Sumter. In July the island also became the site of the first “bench by the road” to be placed and dedicated by the Toni Morrison Society, a non-profit group dedicated to examining the author’s work. This project grew out of a comment she made that no memorial existed to commemorate slaves and their history – “There’s no 300-foot tower; there’s no small bench by the road.” This first bench of many to be placed used travel trailers california at significant sites in black history, used travel trailers california along with Morrison’s novels that honor that history, gives all who visit a place to sit for reflection or discussion. Sullivan’s Island was chosen because it was the point of entry for more than 40 percent of the slaves who entered this country.
In March the Fort Moultrie Visitors Center unveiled its new African Passages exhibit that includes artifacts of the slave trade as well as haunting Middle Passage charcoal works of Thomas Feelings and the exuberant Gullah art of Jonathan Green. (843) 883-3198; sullivansislandsc.com; nps.gov/fosu/parknews/african-passages-museum-exhibit.htm
Just 16 miles north of Charleston, this retreat in the Cape Roman National Wildlife Refuge is utterly used travel trailers california isolated and convenient to visit for a day of hiking and wildlife watching. Its 62,000 acres is the longest stretch of pristine wilderness and protected coastline on the East Coast. The 30-minut