Two Early Morning Outings on The Grand Strand

The Grand Strand is fun 24 hours a day but I prefer visiting the beaches and marshes either at sunset or early in the morning. I recommend two places in particular on the Grand Strand for early morning visits. I love going to both the Pawleys Island Hammock Shops and Murrells Inlet fishing marina in the very early morning and walking along with a cup of coffee to take in the sights. Murrells Inlet is the fishing capitol of the Grand Strand if not the world. Come here early in the morning to see the shrimp boats leave the docks as well as the folks with yachts, sailboats and motor boats preparing to journey thru the marsh to see all the wildlife in the water and in the air.

Murrells Inlet is protected on three sides so it historically has always attracted waterman looking for a safe place to dock. Supposedly pirates from the Caribbean used to use Murrells Inlet and Blackbeard, the most famous pirate, came into this inlet. Oh, if this marsh could talk it would have great stories to tell. Now notice all the birds sunning themselves on the poles in the early morning light.

I took these pics on the Murrells Inlet Veterans Pier that was just built in 2005 for all U.S. Veterans. As you walk along the pier you can read memorial placks dedicated to the memory of veterans that used to come to enjoy this inlet. Many of the memorial placks that I read were for World War II, Korean and Vietnam vets. The sidewalk leading to the pier has seashells embedded in the cement which makes for some interesting walking, especially when you are leading a two year old down the sidewalk.

Here is the memorial on the pier.

Now check out this large shore bird. He was standing like this when we started down the long pier and when we came back twenty minutes later he was still standing like this. Jack thinks that he was drying off his wings.

Have you heard of the Pawleys Islands Hammocks? They are made right here at the Pawleys Islands Hammock Shops. You can watch a demonstration here of how they are made and you can lie down in a Pawleys Island Hammock to see if you like lying in a hammock. We have watched the demos and we have tried out the hammocks but haven't bought a hammock yet. (Probably need to get approval from our Piedmont Homeowners Assoc. to hang it on two trees in our backyard.) The red store above is the Little Mouse Christmas Shop and we all enjoyed window shopping there, especially little Jack. Lot to see and grab! But what I like best about these shops is that they are in a nature preserve with tall trees that protect you from the sun, especially in the summertime. Soon as we got out of our car we could hear hundreds of birds chirping. What a delightful sound.

When you have finished enjoying the nature preserve and all the shops you can then stop at Island Dogs for a quick bite. There is also a couple of fancy sit down restaurants that feature low country seafood if that is your preference. But since we had little Jack with us we thought island dogs would be our choice for the day.

And the little island dogs were so good! Yum, yum. Of course, the two Jacks had to share their meal while my daughters watched and I snapped a memory pic of our morning outing.

Hotdog all gone, Grandma!

But here comes dessert Big Jack and Little Jack.

Freshly baked gingerbread with real whipped cream. Yum, yum!