South Carolina's Grand Strand Lives Up to Its Name

By Victor Block

Some visitors to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, take time to drop by museums that house a wide variety of exhibits. One displays more than 150 cars and trucks, another holds vintage pinball machines that are available to play and the Rice Museum depicts the story of when the area was the growing center of that grain for a century, beginning in the 1750s.

Other folks seek fun and fast rides at amusement parks and arcades, or they want to chow down on fresh seafood and take in lavish stage performances. Golfers test their skill at a collection of 90 championship courses, making the biggest challenge deciding on which to play.

Oh, yes, there also is the beach. It comprises 60 miles of magnificent seashore that fronts the Grand Strand, the name given to 14 communities strung out along South Carolina's Atlantic coastline.

Each of these communities has its own intriguing story to tell. Myrtle Beach itself offers the greatest concentration of hotels, restaurants, shopping and nightlife. Much of the action takes place along the bustling 1.2-mile oceanfront boardwalk. Overlooking the scene is the SkyWheel, a giant observation wheel that transports passengers 187 feet into the air and provides a bird's-eye view over the surroundings.

The town of Georgetown was a major seaport for the British Colonies when it was officially founded in 1729. Some of the gracious homes that line oak-canopied streets were built before the American Revolution. Pawley's Island, several miles farther north, became a summer retreat for many of those wealthy planters. A number of their homes still stand and are identified by markers that relate their history.

Nearby Murrells Inlet earns its reputation as the "Seafood Capital of South Carolina." Fresh fish, crabs, oysters and clams are pulled from the surrounding waters. Fishing boats and pleasure craft keep the town's half-mile-long boardwalk bustling. It overlooks saltwater marshes that dominate much of the local landscape.

Perched near the northern end of the Strand, Atlantic Beach in the early 1930s became a popular vacation destination for African American families. Some residents of that community and others nearby are descendants of the Gullah Geechee people, and they retain their unique culture.

When the early plantation owners realized that the area's climate and tidal rivers provide perfect conditions for growing rice, they brought slaves from West African countries, where that crop had been raised for centuries. The Africans' knowledge of rice cultivation was largely responsible for the success of planters in the southeastern United States.

Many of these enslaved people developed a unique language and clung to their African cultural traditions. These included ages-old rituals, arts and crafts, food and other facets of their lifestyle.

Descendants of those slaves still live where their ancestors did, in a narrow band stretching from the coastline of North Carolina to Florida. The people in the northern section of this area are known as Gullah, while those farther south are called Geechee. Visitors are surrounded by reminders of this fascinating story, some in surprising places.

For example, a putting green on the golf course at the Barefoot Resort is nestled against the re-created ruins of a plantation home, and the Willbrook Plantation Golf Club is laid out on land that once comprised rice plantations. Another course was constructed on the site of a former plantation that included an early slave cemetery. That prompted the Gullah woman who pointed it out to me to remark, "My grandfather is buried under the 10th hole."

Brookgreen Gardens, a National Historic Landmark, also has a close connection with Gullah history. It encompasses four former rice-growing estates that include Brookgreen Plantation, which was built by enslaved people during the 18th century. The expansive lawns serve as a showcase of gardens, nature and art, including one of the largest and best collections of American figurative sculpture in the world.

While not as grand as the setting at Brookgreen Gardens, the rice plantation named Hopsewee has other claims to fame. Built between 1735 and 1740, the graceful home is among the oldest preservations in the country that are open to the public. The original owner, Thomas Lynch Sr., was an early leader in the American Revolution, and his son was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Another chapter in the history of slavery is recounted at the Freewoods Farm, which was the center of a community established by freed slaves at the end of the Civil War. The 40-acre spread is the only living-history museum in the United States that reproduces life on farms owned by African Americans during their first decades of freedom. The land is tilled using plows pulled by mules, crops are harvested by hand, and syrup and soap are made the time-consuming way they were more than a century ago.

The sight of farmers toiling in fields is very different from stately plantation homes. The hustle and bustle encountered at some attractions contrast sharply with the laid-back island lifestyle to which many area residents cling with a kind of stubborn pride.

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WHEN YOU GO

For more information: visitmyrtlebeach.com

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Victor Block is a freelance writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.