Recs for coastal S Carolina

Check out Murrells Inlet

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- Doing a road trip again this summer with my daughter.
- four days in Myrtle Beach
- We’d like to do some adventuring

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What route is your road trip to MB? Don't know how you define adventuring but here are some ideas about SC.

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As others posted, Brookgreen Gardens and Huntington Beach State Park are just south of Murrells Inlet, which is south of Myrtle Beach.
Google Anna Hyatt Huntington to learn about her, her work and her home/studio Atalaya Castle which is in Huntington Beach State Park. Cliff notes, her step-father-in-law (Collis Potter Huntington) was a railroad magnate in the late 1800's and she was a famous sculptress. Many of her sculptures are in BG. She and her husband moved to SC because of an illness she had and they bought some old rice farms.

You can just walk around BG or take some tours. Same with Atalaya.

There is a marsh walk at Murrells Inlet; it's a boardwalk along the marsh with about a dozen restaurants opposite the marsh. Some of them have live music especially on the weekends.

There is an Alligator Adventure park in MB if you want to see a lot of gators from a raised board walk. There is The Carolina Opry Theater that puts on a lively show. One is called Time Warp and they sing songs from the 50's through the 80's and do a lot of dancing. We haven't been in years though. And there are a lot of touristy things; putt putt golfs, Ripley's believe it or not, bunch of outlet stores, an amusement park.

Some restaurants in MB we like are:
- Toffino's Italian Bakery Deli Pizza, it's on Farrow Pkwy which is part of the old US Air Force base.
- Toscana Italian Kitchen, a little more upscale.
- Sea Captain's House - it's on the Atlantic
But, there are many places to eat.

South of Murrells Inlet is Pawley's Island and a restaurant called Rustic Table that was really good at one time, then it changed hands and wasn't so good, but a few years ago a SC poster said it was good again. It's next to a group of stores called Island Shops and behind those, kinda hidden in the woods, is another restaurant/bar that I've been told has great crab cakes. IDK about that but you have to know it's there to find it. We ate lunch there once and it seemed like it was more of a night time place; maybe more bar than restaurant. My wife said the crab cakes were good. All that is on the mainland, to get to the island you have to drive across a bridge. The island is an outer bank with a lot of private homes; some are old.

If you go farther south, almost to Charleston, there is Awendaw. There is The Center for Birds of Prey there, the Sewee Visitor & Environmental Ed. Center (they had red wolves at one time, and they may still) and you can take a boat tour to Bull Island which is part of the Cape Romaine Nat. Wildlife Refuge. Just google those if that interest you.

If you drive to MB from the Columbia, SC area you will be near Congaree National Park. Not at the beach but maybe worth a short visit.

If you like to try different types of BBQ SC has 4 different varieties of saucers that are more or less in different geographical areas. The sauces are vinegar-pepper, light tomato, heavy tomato, and mustard. You can download a BBQ trail map.