Myrtle Beach, South Carolina plays host to nearly 20 million visitors annually. On par with Las Vegas, sensory overload is a key element with many visitors to Myrtle Beach.
Featuring an average temperature of 73 degrees, this mid-Atlantic coastal town is the centerpiece of arguably the most popular stretch of beach on the Eastern Seaboard, dubbed the Grand Strand. Stretching in a 60-mile arc on either side of Myrtle Beach proper, the Grand Strand offers several quality campgrounds right on the beach.
One of the most popular is the legendary Lakewood Camping Resort, the first family-owned campground on the Grand Strand. Founded by Carl and Marion Perry in the early 1960s, Lakewood Camping Resort is nestled along a half-mile stretch of sandy beach and offers a host of luxurious amenities throughout its 200-acres of prime oceanfront real estate, along with more than 1,300 sites.
The National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds recently named Lakewood Camping Resort its 2019 Park of the Year in the Mega Park category. Photo by Labomb on CampgroundReviews.com
Featuring a plethora of amenities, this is one of the most popular RVing destinations for those visiting the South Carolina coast. Consider some of its offerings: A full-sized water park, a gymnasium, an indoor pool, beachfront playground, beach volleyball courts, beachfront basketball courts, free bike rentals, golf cart rentals, several restaurants and food trucks that can deliver to your site, multiple watercrafts at your disposal, and much more. Technology is also employed for ease of accessing various amenities throughout the park making your entire experience here a cashless one.
Lakewood Camping Resort also includes full hookups at all sites including 20/30/50 amp electrical, free Wi-Fi, free cable with 62 channels, a picnic table, water, sewer, and daily on-site trash removal service. Additional camping amenities include full-service bathhouses, laundry facilities, The Trading Post, which is a full-service store, a coffee house, a dump station, and propane refills.
Spectacular view from atop the water slides – Photo by Carolyn M. (Motorhome Madness on CampgroundReviews.com)
While Lakewood Camping Resort offers plenty to keep you busy for weeks on end, including a half-mile of sandy beach, the city of Myrtle Beach offers excellent shopping and dining opportunities, amusement parks, entertainment, great nightlife, water sports, and lots of golf.
In fact, the area offers more than 1,800 restaurants of all categories and ethnicities. With seafood playing an important role in the area, Myrtle Beach has a longstanding reputation as a major seafood destination. Many visitors enjoy one or more of the 170-item grand seafood buffets. There’s also a variety of fine dining or beach bar seafood restaurants to please every pallet.
Golfing in Myrtle Beach
If golf is your thing, you’ve come to the right place. Myrtle Beach features more than 90 golf courses and about 50 mini-golf options, too. From luxury tracks to municipal courses, there’s a golf option to fit your desire. In Myrtle Beach you can tee it up at courses designed by Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Robert Trent Jones, and Greg Norman, to name a few.
Whispering Pines Golf Course. Photo via website photo gallery
One stellar track that’s located a few miles from Lakewood Camping Resort is Whispering Pines Golf Course. The 18-hole, 6771-yard course is less than a half-mile from the heart of Myrtle Beach. Tree-lined fairways, carefully placed lakes, and undulating greens are what you can expect at Whispering Pines. In 1998, Whispering Pines was designated a “Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary” by Audubon International. To this day, it is the only course in the Myrtle Beach area to earn this honor.
In addition to popular activities like golf and fishing, Myrtle Beach is also known for its variety of amusement parks, which will keep kids of all ages entertained. The first of its kind in the U.S. is the SkyWheel Myrtle Beach. Soaring to 187 feet tall, the SkyWheel offers 42 glass-enclosed, temperature-controlled gondolas, and operates year-round.
Broadway Grand Prix features seven go-cart tracks and two mini-golf courses, and guarantees non-stop family fun!
Myrtle Beach Boardwalk. Photo by Danielle Golon via Flickr Creative Commons
Explore the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk
One of the most happening places in Myrtle Beach is the area’s 1.2 mile-long Oceanfront Boardwalk and Promenade. During the summer months, the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk is continually alive with festivals and events, including Ocean Boulevard’s Hot Summer Nights located at Plyler Park in the heart of the downtown area. A true family favorite, the boardwalk provides oceanfront views of the endless beach, and numerous shops and restaurants to explore along its path.
For a comprehensive overview on things to see and do in the Myrtle Beach area, check out visitmyrtlebeach.com. You can also learn more about Lakewood Camping Resort on CampgroundReviews.com.
Rick Stedman is an avid golfer, RVer, and writer who lives in Olympia, Washington. Rick writes a weekly golf blog, The 19th Hole, for RV LIFE. You can reach him at rstedman@gmail.com.
Rick Stedman is an avid golfer, RVer, and writer who lives in Olympia, Washington. Rick writes a golf column, “The RV Golfer,” which is published every month in rvlife.com. He can be reached at rstedman@gmail.com.
Quotes without comment.
“There’s also a variety of fine dining or beach bar seafood restaurants to please every pallet.”
“How do you spell palette as in taste?
palate / palette / pallet. Your “palate” is the roof of your mouth, and by extension, your sense of taste. A “palette” is the flat board an artist mixes paint on (or by extension, a range of colors). A “pallet” is either a bed (now rare) or a flat platform onto which goods are loaded.”
Thanks for the lesson in homonyms but, is that all you took away from this whole article?
We lived in the Carolinas for 30 years. Myrtle Beach is the Walmart of beaches. It is commonly referred to as ‘the world’s largest ashtray’.
The Myrtle Beach area is a great affordable family destination. Lots of wholesome entertainment, good dining, shopping, and things to do. Note that most campgrounds do not allow motorcycles if you are bringing one along.
Chet,
I agree with you, if going to a beach, I am going to the Outer Banks, or Hilton Head.
As one who stayed at Lakewood several times in the period from approximately 1994-2010, I was quite disappointed that very little was done to upgrade the park. A few sites oceanside were upgraded, however the remainder of the sites looked exactly the same in 2010 as what they did when I first started going there in the early/mid 90’s. The same power pedestals (many damaged), lack of concrete pads for the majority of sites, “grass” full of the incessant burrs that are a dog owner’s constant nightmare. The daily visits by those trying to get you to attend their religious gatherings. Not to mention the curfew placed on you (no vehicle entry after 1 am). The best move I ever made was moving to a neighboring RV park.