Ask anyone who has spent a week at Garden City Beach where they ate, and most of the answers will be in Murrells Inlet. The town calls itself the Seafood Capital of South Carolina, and the fishing boats tied up along the creek are the reason. Surf Haven is about a nine-minute drive from the heart of it, so you can spend all day on the sand and still be at a waterside table by sunset.
The MarshWalk
The MarshWalk is a wooden boardwalk that runs for roughly half a mile along the salt marsh, with restaurants and bars on one side and the inlet on the other. It’s the easiest night out in the area: park once, stroll the length of it, and pick whichever spot has the best breeze and the shortest wait. Long-running favorites include Drunken Jack’s, Wicked Tuna, Dead Dog Saloon and Bovine’s. Many have live music on summer evenings, and in the busy months it’s worth arriving early if you’re a big group.
Look for local catch on the menus: flounder, grouper, Carolina shrimp, and oysters in the cooler months. Hours change with the seasons, so check before you head out.
Closer to the house
The Pier at Garden City is three minutes from Surf Haven by car. It’s a classic Grand Strand pier with an arcade, people fishing off the rails and a bar out over the water, and it’s a lovely place to watch the light go at the end of the day. At the southern tip of Garden City Beach, where the inlet meets the ocean, Gulfstream Cafe has been a local go-to for years.
Cooking in
Not every night needs a reservation. Surf Haven’s kitchen was fully remodeled, with an island that seats four and a dining table for eight, and there’s a grill and two picnic tables out back. Pick up fresh shrimp from one of the seafood markets in the inlet, boil it with corn and potatoes, and eat outside while the kids run around on the grass. If you’d rather someone else did the cooking, we can also arrange a private chef for your stay.
Make a day of it
Huntington Beach State Park, just south of town, makes a good morning out before a long lunch. Walk the causeway, look for alligators and wading birds, and tour Atalaya, the Huntingtons’ old winter home. Brookgreen Gardens is right across the highway if you want to keep going.
Planning a trip with a crew? Surf Haven sleeps 12, with the beach on one side and the MarshWalk close by. Check availability at Surf Haven.
Featured photo: Cprintz20 — CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons