- Continued -

Introduction

This trip was another of our brief ones to Myrtle Beach, from April 24 through April 27, 2009.  The primary purpose was to catch the last few days of the SOS (Society of Stranders) Spring Migration and in particular participate in the big parade on Main Street in the Ocean Drive section of North Myrtle Beach.

It occurred during what surely will be remembered by many for a long while as the time of the Myrtle Beach Spring '09 Wildfires.  During this awful tragedy nearly 20,000 acres of woodland burned and over 70 homes were destroyed with many more damaged.  We didn't know what to expect in terms of how we might personally be affected as the time for our trip drew near though we never expected we would be in any direct danger.  Two of the areas that we knew were impacted were near Grand Dunes Golf Club and in Barefoot Landing Resort which are shown on this map in relation to where we were staying at the Royale Palms:  Fire Locations.  The major effect we experienced was noting from the 12th floor of our hotel the heavy smoke hugging the ground in the direction of the intracoastal waterway like a very impenetrable fog which completely obscured everything below tree top level as far as the eye could see - very eerie.  There were also the occasional large wisps of smoke that could be seen passing by our balcony and, of course, the smell of wood burning.  Each day the really heavy, low lying smoke would clear for the most part by noon.  Beyond that the only other noticeable personal direct impact was irritated throats and a detour we'll cover later.  Needless to say, our hearts went out to those who experienced losses and those who worked so hard to control and stop the devastation, all of which was to the landside of the intracoastal - away from the beach areas.  It's not something we'll easily forget.

Now let's move ahead with the specifics of our trip which are presented in two major sections.  You can go directly to either one by clicking on the links below and if you choose the first you'll find at its conclusion an easy way to move directly to the second section.  We hope you'll enjoy what we have to share.

Table of Contents