Grand Strand Area
Sometimes I’ve gone to visit the coastal border of North Carolina and South Carolina. In this area there are a lot of small coastal towns like Litchfield, Ocean Isle, Holden Beach and a small, little known town called Myrtle Beach. Now Myrtle Beach isn’t really my type of beach town. I prefer the smaller, lower key coastal towns. Litchfield, Ocean Isle and Holden Beach are more of the smaller, residential beach towns where you go to get away from everything.
But while you’re there, you might want to go out to eat or find something other to do than spend your days on the beach. A few places that I would recommend checking out for dining would be:
The Purple Onion Cafe in Shallotte http://www.purpleonioncafe.com/. I’ve heard good things about this place. It’s inland, between Ocean Isle and Holden Beach and they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner (it says dinner is seasonal which I’m assuming is summer).
On Holden Beach there are a couple places that look interesting (I haven’t been to either but they look like good beach restaurants):
Paradise Cafe is across the street from the beach http://www.saltaireliving.com/salt-aire-dining/paradise-cafe/. It looks like a good place for lunch and dinner (the website says breakfast is coming soon) and a place to hang out and have a drink. It looks like there aren’t a lot of bar/restaurants in the Holden Beach area so this place may get crowded but I’m not sure. It looks like a good beach hangout where you don’t have to dress up to be there.
Also there’s Provision Company http://www.provisioncompany.com/provision-company-holden-beach.html. This looks like a shack from the pictures but sometimes those places can surprise you. It looks like a good place to get a good, fresh seafood dinner. I hope that it is a good place.
For activities in the area, one of my favorite is playing mini golf and pretending I’m a kid again. There are a lot of miniature golf courses in the area with themes and other fun attractions. A couple of other attractions I found in the area are:
The Museum of Coastal Carolina and Planetarium http://museumplanetarium.org/ on Ocean Isle. I haven’t been here but it looks like a neat places for anyone interested in outdoor activities. They have all kinds of activities like fishing, ‘sky watching’ and educational classes. Some are during the day and some are in the evening so there are lots of options.
Also on Oak Island is a motel that offers sunset cruises. These depart from the Blue Water Point Motel and last 2 hours. It costs $25 for adults and $12 from children. You can find out info from this website: http://www.bluewaterpointmotel.com/html/cruise_schedule.html. If you’re going to Oak Island for the cruise, a couple of restaurants I would check out for a pre-cruise dinner would be, Shagger Jacks http://shaggerjacksoki.com/ which features a laid back atmosphere and dancing. They also serve brunch on Sundays (doesn’t everybody these days??).
Another restaurant is Bella Cucina http://belladiningnc.com/. If you’re tired of seafood and the typical “beach food”, this looks like a good Italian option. Everything from pasta to pizza and even seafood.
If these don’t appeal to you, you can also visit Myrtle Beach http://www.visitmyrtlebeach.com/ or Wilmington http://www.capefearcoast.com/. Wilmington has a riverfront area with shops and restaurants. It’s a smaller town that is trying to build up their tourism industry and has tours and cruises that depart from the riverfront. (Now I should say it's been probably 5+ years since I've been there.) Wilmington is about an hour or more north of Myrtle Beach. It can be difficult to get around from place to place in this area since roads are spread apart and I-95 is over 30 minutes west of the coast.
If you’re planning on when to go, I would recommend checking out local festivals, like the North Carolina Oyster Festival http://www.ncoysterfestival.com/ and the Dixon Chapel Oyster Festival http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dixon-Chapel-United-Methodist-Church/347823730456. Myrtle Beach has a Beach Boogie & BBQ Festival in September http://www.grandstrandevents.com/BeachBoogieBBQ/.
Happy travels!
But while you’re there, you might want to go out to eat or find something other to do than spend your days on the beach. A few places that I would recommend checking out for dining would be:
The Purple Onion Cafe in Shallotte http://www.purpleonioncafe.com/. I’ve heard good things about this place. It’s inland, between Ocean Isle and Holden Beach and they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner (it says dinner is seasonal which I’m assuming is summer).
On Holden Beach there are a couple places that look interesting (I haven’t been to either but they look like good beach restaurants):
Paradise Cafe is across the street from the beach http://www.saltaireliving.com/salt-aire-dining/paradise-cafe/. It looks like a good place for lunch and dinner (the website says breakfast is coming soon) and a place to hang out and have a drink. It looks like there aren’t a lot of bar/restaurants in the Holden Beach area so this place may get crowded but I’m not sure. It looks like a good beach hangout where you don’t have to dress up to be there.
Also there’s Provision Company http://www.provisioncompany.com/provision-company-holden-beach.html. This looks like a shack from the pictures but sometimes those places can surprise you. It looks like a good place to get a good, fresh seafood dinner. I hope that it is a good place.
For activities in the area, one of my favorite is playing mini golf and pretending I’m a kid again. There are a lot of miniature golf courses in the area with themes and other fun attractions. A couple of other attractions I found in the area are:
The Museum of Coastal Carolina and Planetarium http://museumplanetarium.org/ on Ocean Isle. I haven’t been here but it looks like a neat places for anyone interested in outdoor activities. They have all kinds of activities like fishing, ‘sky watching’ and educational classes. Some are during the day and some are in the evening so there are lots of options.
Also on Oak Island is a motel that offers sunset cruises. These depart from the Blue Water Point Motel and last 2 hours. It costs $25 for adults and $12 from children. You can find out info from this website: http://www.bluewaterpointmotel.com/html/cruise_schedule.html. If you’re going to Oak Island for the cruise, a couple of restaurants I would check out for a pre-cruise dinner would be, Shagger Jacks http://shaggerjacksoki.com/ which features a laid back atmosphere and dancing. They also serve brunch on Sundays (doesn’t everybody these days??).
Another restaurant is Bella Cucina http://belladiningnc.com/. If you’re tired of seafood and the typical “beach food”, this looks like a good Italian option. Everything from pasta to pizza and even seafood.
If these don’t appeal to you, you can also visit Myrtle Beach http://www.visitmyrtlebeach.com/ or Wilmington http://www.capefearcoast.com/. Wilmington has a riverfront area with shops and restaurants. It’s a smaller town that is trying to build up their tourism industry and has tours and cruises that depart from the riverfront. (Now I should say it's been probably 5+ years since I've been there.) Wilmington is about an hour or more north of Myrtle Beach. It can be difficult to get around from place to place in this area since roads are spread apart and I-95 is over 30 minutes west of the coast.
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| Wrightsville Beach, NC, off the coast of Wilmington |
If you’re planning on when to go, I would recommend checking out local festivals, like the North Carolina Oyster Festival http://www.ncoysterfestival.com/ and the Dixon Chapel Oyster Festival http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dixon-Chapel-United-Methodist-Church/347823730456. Myrtle Beach has a Beach Boogie & BBQ Festival in September http://www.grandstrandevents.com/BeachBoogieBBQ/.
Happy travels!
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