Ocean Lakes Family Campground -

I am waking this morning to the rhythm of waves pounding onto the sands of Myrtle Beach. It is as spectacular as we had expected. The ocean breeze is whistling through the palm trees causing them to sway like a conductor would orchestrate to the approaching waves of the sea. The sun is glistening across the ripples in the water and reflecting disco ball patterns into the windows of our RV.

Last night the gentle breeze had kicked up a notch. With a storm approaching our RV was actually rocking back and forth as if we were aboard a cruise ship. The rain came down hard and the trees bent over and touched the ground. Today however, is going to be great.

I want to thank Maite at Ocean Lakes in Myrtle Beach for helping us find some great spots close to the ocean when we checked in. Even though we hadn’t made any reservation, she was able to provide us with a couple of front row ocean sites during our stay here. We had to relocate a couple of times, but it was well worth the hassle to be right on the oceanfront.

The campground at Ocean Lakes is just as nice as it was last time we were here. The sites all offer full hookups including: 23/30/50 electric, water, sewer, cable and wifi. This place is always exceptionally clean and well maintained. On this visit we found the golf cart activity to be much more acceptable. Last visit here there was a continuous parade of kids cruising up and down the road in front of us all hours of the day and night. This was most likely due to the time of year that we are here.

We went down the road to check out two nearby state parks. We found Myrtle Beach State Park to be congested with small sites and muddy. We had read in the brochure that you should not wear open toed shoes and to use a flashlight at night due to the possibility of Copperhead Snakes. When my wife saw one of these serpents cross the road right in front of us in broad daylight, I was instructed that we would not be staying here…EVER!

The other state park we saw was Huntington. This park was really nice. It has an abundance of wildlife. We saw birds, fish, deer and even alligators. It is also located on the ocean. The sites are mostly large with electric and water. This would be a real nice place to stay if you can get a reservation. I see why they go so fast.

We took a drive down the boulevard downtown. We stopped in to visit with Cathy from the Sea Horn motel. Before we had our beloved BugSmacker RV, we would stay at the Sea Horn. This place is spectacular and the owners treat you like family. It was really great reminiscing about all the great times we had here.

We headed over to Murrells Inlet for dinner. Murrells Inlet is known as “a quiet little drinking village with a fishing problem”. Terri and I split a plate of Calabash-Style Fried Shrimp at the Dead Dog Saloon which was terrific. Afterward we took a stroll along the Marshwalk.

We returned a couple of days later to Murrells Inlet for dinner. This has become our favorite place to go while in the Myrtle Beach area. Judging by the crowds, we are not alone. We stopped to eat at Drunken Jacks. They had a 45 minute wait, so during our wait we headed over to Creek Ratz. Here we shared a Shrimp basket. As we finished our page came in for Drunken Jacks. We returned to honor our reservation and had a couple of (you guessed it) shrimp plates. This meal also included a salad bar and some of the best Hush Puppies you have ever eaten. We love the creek shrimp they serve in Murrells Inlet. Our favorite was at the Creek Rat, but if you want a complete dinner, you can’t go wrong at Drunken Jacks. Plus the people there were exceptional.

We aren’t much for buffets, but tonight we took the advise from a group of really nice people we met on the beach and tried one. We headed to what is refered to as restaurant row in North Myrle Beach to a place called The Original Benjamin’s Calabash Seafood Buffet. This place had more food than china. The selection was enormous. It wasn’t just the volume that impressed us, the food was delicious. I want to thank our waitress, Catie for making sure we had anything we may desire and making us feel so welcome.