We stayed at the Sea Watch Resort in North Myrtle Beach.
The 11th floor was our home for a week. Not a bad place to call home at all. The kitchen was big, bigger than the one in my apartment. There was one master bedroom that had one king bed with an extravagant bathroom and a shower bigger than the kitchen in my apartment. The other bedroom had two twin beds, good sized closet space, and a dresser. Every room, the living and both bedrooms, each had a flat screen tv wired for cable. That’s more than I can say for my apartment. There was also a balcony that looked miles out into the heart of the Atlantic and down miles upon miles of pristine coastline lined with various resorts, hotels, and rv parks. The room even had a tropical pineapple theme that got you in the beach mood. Basically, the resort room outdid the square footage of my two story apartment. It was a nice place.
And, if water is what you’re looking for, then the multiple lazy rivers, seven or so indoor and outdoor pools, and Jacuzzis in the double digits will surely satisfy your moisture lust. Not to mention, the Atlantic itself. Private Beach even. The only bummer was that two of the hot tubs were closed. I mean, you didn’t have a problem finding one during the day, but it was a different story at night. This is when people came out with 24 packs, mixed drinks, and frozen margaritas. So ,if you do happen to see an open jacuzzi that’s open during prime time, then run and claim it because, chances are, that there is another group running for the same one. Anyway, we had are own little breakdown of all the different pool areas and what kind of action they got. It goes as such:
The south tower had two outdoor pools, one indoor pool, one indoor jacuzzi, and three outdoor jacuzzi (one of which was out of commission). Now, this might seem like prime territory, but it depends on what you are interested in. If buzzed conversation and social interaction are your thing, then the South tower may not be for you. The south is more of a chill, family zone. Then, we have the villas, which is where we were staying. At the villas, there was one pool, which I never saw a single person at. However, there was another pool and a neutral ground hot tub right smack dab in the middle of all the towers. Most of the time, this jacuzzi was open for use. It was in an awkward location, situated between many balconies from every building that put you on the foot path of guests traveling to the beach, north, or south tower. Also, this hot tub was always extremely HOT. The hottest of them all. 15 minutes and you were burning just to get out of it. However, it’s biggest downfall, the location, was also its greatest strength. A perfect vantage and stakeout point to spot people traveling in all directions, people that you may be interested in meeting. Last but not least, you have the north tower. This is where it went down. There were two outside jacuzzis, one outdoor pool, one indoor pool, and an enormous, quite lengthy indoor jacuzzi. This was the place to be social. During the day, flocks of elderly people congregated in the hot bubbling pools,scantily clad girls laid out in the hot sun, and the foot traffic to the beach was never ending. At night, the younger crowd typically overpowered the scene. Hot tubs were filled with the blurred and steamy silhouettes of slightly inebriated college students. The north tower at night was the time and place to gather with your fellow generation and run full speed through the sand into the dark ocean waves. It was the place to be, at least until 11. That is when security comes by and tells everyone to get out because the pool is closed. Still, no worries. If you are truly dedicated to the steamy goodness of the jacuzzi, security gets off at 2 and the cleaning crews come in at 4. That’s a good two hours extra.
One might wonder why the layout of the various pools, beach access paths, and jacuzzis was so important to a group of young college travelers. Well, there is one word to answer that: Canadians. We happened to be spending our spring break in Myrtle Beach during the same time of Canadian-American Days, some sort of convention or celebration. I never fully figured it out. Anywhere you went around town, license plates read Ontario, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Montreal. They came in packs to escape the frigid winter weather of the north and enjoy the sultry suns rays of South Carolina. It also happens to be that the Canadians are quite attractive. I know this is a predetermined stereotype, considering that my contact with our neighbors from the north has been limited to political parodies, South Park satire, and The Next Generation of Degrassi, but it is no better or worse than my previously held stereotypes. I’m pretty sure that Americans have always been considered an aesthetically pleasing people, but I would give Canadians the advantage over us. Most were also way more tan than me, and I’m from Texas.
Let me throw out my previously help Canadian stereotypes as influenced by television and politics. First, the lingo. “Eh”, “Soory”, and the pronunciation of the word “bar” as a mix of “Bower” and “bear”. These still remain true. Second, Canadians are too nice. Judging by how many times I heard the word “pardon” instead of “huh”, I would have to say that they are well mannered. Not too nice, but extremely friendly and polite. Third, Canadians are only reference din the butt of a joke. I can not see why this is so. Their Public polices make more sense to me than our own. They are liberal and accepting of many cultures (not that we aren’t). These are randomly thrown together stats, but I must say that my view of Canada has changed, for the better.
So, the beach and the resort were a great place to soak up the sun, but Myrtle Beach did have some nightlife to attend to. The only place that we really checked out, and enjoyed thoroughly, was Club Kryptonite, right next to Planet Hollywood. It is this huge, freestanding dome of a building lit up with fluorescent green and a huge K on the inside of the superman symbol. Don’t judge the place by its looks. On Monday night, Flo Rida was performing there, but that made the cover $20. Instead, we went on Wednesday, College night, $10 cover. Also, it is good to know that they charge everyone here. Whether you are a minor, a guy, a girl, you will be charged from what I could tell. Still, it is totally worth it to check out. I am used to the clubs in Austin, but this was something completely different. Two floors, holds almost 4000 people, a dance floor that also dwarfed the square footage of my apartment. It seems like a club you might find in LA. The parking lot is filled with cops of all sorts, but most won’t just turn a blind eye to the guy trying to relieve himself in the hotel parking lot across the street. There are many bouncers, but don’t be intimidated. They seemed like decent guys. Anyway, check this place out if you are bored one night. This seems to be the place that everyone gathered.
Broadway at the Beach is also another popular spot at Myrtle Beach. They’ve got shopping, food, Ripley’s Aquarium, an IMAX, and plenty of bars. This place makes for a great family spot during the day, but we weren’t too interested. In fact, the evening scene there wasn’t very impressing either. We were a group of four guys who ran into many groups of four guys, that also converged into other groups of guys. It was a bro-fest.
Most of my spring break was spent staking out the hot tubs. There were countless nights that we all gathered on the balcony to congregate about the game plan and use it as a bird’s nest to scope out the intriguing foot traffic below. We got lost in exploring the hypotheticals of opening lines and possibilities of rejection and humiliation in front of an older crowd. In theory, we picked up countless girls and played it cool as cool could be. In reality, we spent a lot of time thinking. Overall though, it was a fantastic trip.
The weather was a bit off when we went, apparently cooler than it normally was. The median ages of the town’s inhabitants and vacationers were probably three times our own, kind of what I pictured the retirement communities in Florida looking like. There also weren’t as many college students as we were expecting or hoping for. However, college students are known for their notoriously low budgets, and considering that South Carolina has the highest unemployment rate in the US, I can’t say that I’m surprised that the place wasn’t bubbling over with younger visitors.
Just a small and overall unimportant observation. The tax on food in SC is greater than in Texas. There is probably a good economic reason behind this that I do not know about.
