A Ramble From Myrtle Beach to Charleston
In 1967, a clever developer named George "Buster" Bryan built two golf courses on what had been, up to then, an enormous cypress-filled swamp in his hometown of Myrtle Beach. The sleepy town had been a popular beach destination for locals since the 1920s, but Bryan envisioned a premier golf resort to rival nearby Pinehurst and Southern Pines. This 60-mile stretch of coastline, also known as the Grand Strand, had no major rivers entering the Atlantic but the construction of the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway in the 1940s had started to bring more boaters to the area. Bryan then created a novel marketing campaign to attract Northerners -"golf weekend packages." These became hugely popular, especially after the 1970s gasoline shortages curtailed that long drive to Florida for springtime sun.Today, Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand have more than 100 golf courses, the largest concentration in the nation. Some are built on what were once rice and cotton plantations carved out of the wetlands by British colonists and their slaves in the 1700s. Myrtle Beach also developed scores of family-friendly motels, time-shares and retirement communities to accommodate migrating snowbirds and, soon after, the ubiquitous outlet malls and boardwalk souvenir shops that go hand in hand with development. But not far south of these Grand Strand golf courses are astonishingly preserved colonial-era jewels of American history. For "golf widows" who travel to Myrtle Beach with mates who simply must golf as long as there's daylight, a ramble south on Route 17 might be just the tonic for an overdose of the sport. Georgetown, Charleston and the sprawling Revolutionary-era river plantations along your route are incredibly well-preserved. The journey south is also interspersed with quiet beach towns still largely uncrowded by freeways or glitzy malls. You can take this adventure alone, or be waiting at the 18th hole to spirit your partner off on a "low country" tour that will explore the haunting landmarks of this region's past.
Head south on Highway 17, which was once the coastal route to Florida in the days before Interstate 95. You could spend a whole day visiting Brookgreen Gardens, just 10 miles away, and have lunch at one of many seafood shacks on nearby Murrells Inlet or Pawley's Island. Pawley's still largely resembles the casual beach community from a century ago: peeling cottages on stilts rise through the sand dunes to overlook the beach sunrise. Many of these homes were destroyed by Hurricane Hugo in 1989, and the town has been careful to prevent oversized new development to rise in their place. Louis Osteen's Fish Camp on Highway 17 features great food from a chef who has won several James Beard awards, but locals dine on fresh seafood and pork tenderloin at Frank's, just down the road, or in Frank's back room where they find lively local music and dance a two-step jitterbug known as the "Shag." A few miles south of Pawley's, the business route of Highway 17 brings you into Georgetown, a modest village whose buildings date back to 1737. Stop in at the Visitors Center on Front Street to get a self-guided walking map and audio tour, or join one of the many riveting tour guides on a small tram that will whisk you to well-preserved rice mills and mansions. Hair-raising tales of Revolutionary War battles between Lord Cornwallis and "Swamp Fox" patriot guerilla Francis Marion illustrate that this area was as pivotal as Boston Harbor during the war for independence. Front Street has a nice collection of antiques shops and a superb restaurant called the Rice Paddy where locals congregate for crab cakes or shrimp and grits.
Georgetown is an hour's drive south of Myrtle Beach. Continuing south for an additional hour, past the meticulously-restored Hampton Plantation, Highway 17 sails next over an elegant new suspension bridge (due to open later this year) and into downtown Charleston. The fourth largest port on the east coast, Charleston has an unparalleled collection of cobblestone streets, grand mansions, and sea island artillery batteries that date back to 1670. A pivotal center of the Revolutionary War as well as the Civil War, Charleston deserves a visit all its own, since you can spend several days exploring its river plantations, museum homes and magnificent gardens.
Plan to spend the night at one of the many bed & breakfasts in town, such as the Rutledge House Inn on Broad Street or a smart little hotel such as the Planters Inn on North Market. Dine at the award-winning Peninsula Grill or at Magnolia's Restaurant. You can hop on a horse-drawn surrey at the City Market to spend an hour clopping through neighborhoods and listening to tales of pirates, patriots, confederates and slave rebellions while perusing the romantic architecture. You can spend an entire day wandering though the residential streets of antebellum homes, many of which contain plaques describing the history of each house and its residents. You can peek into the jewel-like walled gardens out back, where camellias and creeping fig might embrace a small fountain or sculpture. In March and April, and again in the fall, the Historic Charleston Society sponsors tours of many private homes and gardens. "The Holy City" is a nickname Charleston derived from the wedding-cake spires of churches such as St. Michael's and St. Philip's, where you'll also find the graves of the four Charlestonians who signed the Declaration of Independence. Many Americans forget that this was the site for many skirmishes during the Revolutionary War, since Charleston became better known as the place where the Civil War began. Fort Sumter still guards Charleston harbor, as it did back in 1861 when Confederates fired upon the federal soldiers there. You can see the fort from the second floor library of the Edmonston-Alston museum house on East Battery, and imagine what the residents saw as they watched the naval battles right outside the windows of their stately homes.
The Charleston suburbs have several superb plantation museums that are open to the public: Drayton Hall contains the only plantation home to survive the Civil War (it was used as a hospital) and nearby Middleton Place has magnificent gardens that include thousands of azaleas, camellias, rice paddies, and terraced lawns leading to butterfly-shaped reflecting pools. You'll see roaming sheep and strutting peacocks. Both are located on Route 61 seven miles north of downtown Charleston, on the peaceful Ashley River. After a day or two of exploring the city, you need only return to trusty, old Route 17 for a two-hour trip back to "golf city." We wonder if you golf-playing partner will even notice that you've been gone.
