Brookgreen Gardens | Don't Blink

Four years ago, I ripped off a standard content hog of every newspaper you will find in this country. Do you know what I am talking about? Every publication has a “Best of (insert city here)” where readers are polled and asked to vote on their top choice of restaurant, bar, news personality, realtor, ice cream shop, etc. etc. Well, in 2012 I used this blog and published my “Brent’s Best of the Zoo” post. For those not familiar with Montana slang terms, “Zoo” is a nickname for Missoula.

As I have lived in Myrtle Beach for over two years now, I decided to take a stab at naming some of my favorite places and activities in town. In order to keep this blog post from getting out of control, I decided to limit it to 15 categories. Speaking of categories, I tried to choose ones that are relevant to this area and ones that I can actually speak on (i.e. I have never ate sushi before so “Best Sushi in Myrtle Beach” is not a category). So enough with the explanations, let’s get to the winners!

Best All-Around Restaurant: Drunken Jack’s

Although it is on the Marshwalk in Murrells Inlet, I am counting Drunken Jack’s in Brent’s Best of the Beach. In my option, Drunken Jack’s boasts the best salad bar, the best hush puppies, and the best seafood/steaks in the area. Not only is it the best when it comes to food, it is also tops in atmosphere as well. Built to give the illusion that you are eating on a pirate ship, the place feels cozy. While you wait for your table you can enjoy complimentary popcorn while taking in the beautiful views of the water. If you want the best in scenery, personality, and food, Drunken Jack’s is for you.

This is a collage of my brother, Sidney, and I enjoying an evening at Drunken Jack’s.

Best Bar: Remedies

I enjoy Remedies not just because it is a locals bar. I count it as my favorite because it is covered in televisions and because it is non-smoking. Throughout the past couple years I have gone to Remedies on numerous occasions to watch my western teams play as their TV package allows them to bring up pretty much any game. The food is excellent and the drink prices are very good. The bartenders are welcoming and treat you well the whole time you are there.

This is Sidney and I at in 2014 when we went to Remedies to watch the Montana football team play.

Best Miniature Golf Course: Mt. Atlanticus

Talk about the category with the stiffest competition! Myrtle Beach is covered with “Happy Gilmore” style putt putt courses. I made the tough decision choosing Mt. Atlanticus as my favorite because of how the course makes you ascend up. The holes are creative, especially the 19th ball return one, but it is the gradual climb of the course I like the most. When you conclude your 18th hole, you are high above in a tiki hut type structure looking over the whole course. Other courses might have dinosaurs, exotic animals, and pirates but Mt. Atlanticus has a view.

Sidney and I at Mt. Atlanticus in September of 2015.

Best Ice Cream Place: Meyer’s Ice Cream Parlor

This is another category with extremely tough competition. Ice cream parlors dot every corner in the Grand Strand area. But my favorite is clear cut. Meyer’s Ice Cream Parlor is an inviting place with the BEST ice cream. The exterior is covered in different colors and ice cream cut outs and the inside takes on a New York Yankees theme but it is the ice cream that stands out. All flavors are fresh and the sundaes are fun and huge. You will feel nostalgia and happiness when you eat inside Meyer’s. I can’t recommend it enough.

This is me at Meyer’s Ice Cream Parlor (notice the Yankees memorabilia and pink walls in the background) enjoying one of their classic sundaes.

Best Signature Activity: Nights of a Thousand Candles at Brookgreen Gardens

In Myrtle Beach you have a hundreds things to do with top entertainment options, the ocean, and numerous golf courses. However, if there is an event that stands out from the Myrtle Beach mainstays, it would be Nights of a Thousand Candles. Every December for a few weeks, the big sculpture garden in Myrtle Beach, Brookgreen Gardens, becomes a Christmas cheer destination. The event will make you forget about the fact that Myrtle Beach doesn’t get snow. Event organizers set up thousands of candles and lights throughout the gardens. You walk on paths and admire the beauty as talented people perform Christmas carols. It is a peaceful and warm way to get into the holiday spirit.

Sidney and I at Night of a Thousand Candles in 2014.

Best Movie Theater: Coastal Grand Mall (Cinemark)

A couple months ago I would have given this nod to the Grand 14 at Market Common (Stone Theaters) but the cinema at Coastal Grand Mall is now tops. The theater recently replaced all seats with electronic recliners. Now, each auditorium just has a capacity of 50 people but if you get a seat it is well worth it. The theater is always clean and you can’t beat the location considering it is attached to the best mall in Myrtle Beach.

Best Sit Down Pizza Place: Mellow Mushroom

When I was home for the holidays in Spokane I found myself at the casino. I was at a blackjack table sitting next to a woman. She asked me where I lived and I told her Myrtle Beach. She remarked that she visited there for a short time several years back. I asked her what she remembered most. Her response? Mellow Mushroom.

Yes, the pizza is that good. I highly recommend it.

Best Delivery Pizza Place: Marco’s Pizza

I like nothing more than enjoying a low key Friday night in with Marco’s Pizza. Much better than the national delivery chains (you will have to pay a little extra), you can count on fresh toppings and plenty of grease. Make sure to order their garlic sauce and you will feel like you made the best choice ever.

Best Grocery Store: Publix

The hype is real. When Publix came to Myrtle Beach I didn’t know if it would be a game changer for the grocery habits of Sidney and I. But it is. Although we will usually still go to Lowe’s which is just two minutes away from our house, we will frequent Publix if we want an out of the ordinary shopping experience. Where else can you go to get a loaded ice cream cone as a sample? Where else can you go where the baggers still insist on taking your groceries out for you? Where else can you go where the store brand is legitimately better than the premium brand? There isn’t a better supermarket option in Myrtle Beach than Publix.

Publix has a terrific line of products. Check out this ice cream flavor.

Best Sandwich Place: Which Wich

When I tried Which Wich for the first time I immediately fell in love with the concept. You walk in and fill out your order on a brown paper sack. Your sandwich comes out exactly how you wanted it. The food is as perfect as the ordering process. The submarine sandwiches are unique in both build and taste. You will want it again and again.

Best Place to Take Visitors: Broadway at the Beach

Although Broadway at the Beach is undergoing an evolution of sorts right now, it is still a great place to take visitors. You can enjoy sports bars, frozen drink bars, Mexican bars, live music bars, and clubs. And that is just the adult portion of it. Broadway at the Beach also has numerous restaurants, specialty shops, carnival rides, putt putt, kiosks, surf shops, a movie theater, and more. Did I mention that the place is built around a man made body of water that is stocked with ferocious-looking hungry fish? Broadway at the Beach earns my designation as the “best place to take visitors” because there is something for everyone.

Sidney and I enjoying a moment at Broadway at the Beach.

Best Place for a Date: Market Common

As Myrtle Beach is a destination city, it is filled with tourist traps and gimmicky entertainment centers. The Market Common was built as a classy lifestyle center with locals in mind. With several unique restaurants, upscale bars, designer shops, and a nice movie theater all built on a strategically designed and well landscaped property, a relaxing night out at Market Common is easy to enjoy for any couple. I can’t count all the dates Sidney and I have enjoyed out at the area.

Best Beach Area: Springmaid

The Springmaid Pier is away from all the avenue beaches that bring in hoards of tourists. But don’t think Springmaid is full of locals either. Whenever we go, the beach is never full but it is always very well maintained. With plenty of free parking available, it is the most convenient place to go to take full advantage of the beautiful beach. Don’t pass it up.

This is Glen and I at Springmaid Pier

Best Breakfast: Johnny D’s Waffles

Go up and down Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach and you will see probably around 30 different pancake houses. Many of them taste the same but Johnny D’s Waffles is in a league of its own. From their red velvet waffle to their cinnastax pancakes to their filling skillets, nothing matches Johnny D’s in terms of unique variety and freshness. The restaurant isn’t huge and there is usually a wait but it is definitely worth it.

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So there you have Brent’s Best of the Beach. Perhaps next year or in a couple years I will do a second version with other categories included. If you aren’t one of my Myrtle Beach readers, I apologize for boring you. If you are a Myrtle Beach reader, please let me know what you think of my list. Have a great week, everyone! Don’t Blink.

Last night Sidney and I decided to get in the Christmas spirit by doing a fun holiday activity. In Myrtle Beach, if you ask where you can do such a thing, everyone will give you the exact same answer: Night of a Thousand Candles. Hosted at Brookgreen Gardens, a magnificent sculpture park spanning 9,100 acres located a couple miles from a nearby community called Murrels Inlet, it is allegedly the premiere destination to get your Yuletide cheer on.

For three weekends in December, the gardens are transformed at night to a holiday wonderland. The grounds are overtaken by Christmas lights, and, like the name suggests, candles. According to the event program, the area is covered by close to a million Christmas lights and each evening over 5,000 candles are lit. If you need spectacular lights to “make your season bright” there is no better option than Night of a Thousand Candles.

This is the program for Night of a Thousand Candles.

Yesterday morning I conveniently purchased tickets online and then around 6:45 p.m. Sidney and I got in my car to make the 20 minute drive to Brookgreen Gardens…only we didn’t go through the gates until 8:30 p.m. Because the event is so popular, traffic is absolutely horrendous. The last two miles of the drive took us over an hour to complete. Cars were at a standstill. It was a little frustrating because we didn’t realize how much of a cluster it would be to enter. I started substituting the last word in “Night of a Thousand Candles” with other descriptions, much to the chagrin of Sidney. I think my most fitting one was “Night of a Thousand Cars.”

Once we parked and stretched our legs we were ready to tour the gardens. As you can imagine, candles line all the walkways. They say it takes 40 staff members to light all the candles each evening. Besides just directing people where to go, you can find the candles floating in the numerous ponds throughout the premises. Enclosed in circle-shaped orbs, they provided a pretty cool effect.

A look at the candles floating in the water.

The candles were cool and all but I was much more a fan of the lights. As I said above, Night of a Thousand Candles boasts just shy of seven digits when it comes to the number of Christmas lights they have on site. The bright white decorations adorned entire parts of trees, made ceilings across the ponds, and hung vertically from branches (my favorite part).

Some of the photos I took of the lights at Night of a Thousand Candles.

The most impressive lighting aspect of the whole display though was a giant fir tree covered every inch in dazzling lights. I thought it looked spectacular and I had to wonder how they were able to get all those lights strung.

This tree was pretty spectacular.

If the event was just the candles and the lights though, I think I would walk away disappointed. The price of $18 per ticket insists that there must be more to it. Don’t fret, there is. While enjoying your evening you can check out several holiday toy trains that are spinning around on their tracks. You can also admire a pond that doesn’t really even look like a pond. Why doesn’t it look like a pond? Because its surface is completely covered with cranberries. That’s right, the water is completely hidden with some 100,000 cranberries (information from Sidney). It really is a sight to see.

This is the pond filled with cranberries at Brookgreen Gardens.

But for me, the best part of the entire evening was the entertainment. Throughout the gardens they have a few different tents housing musical acts. Sidney and I got to sit in on a duo called the Thistledown Tinkers. Wearing kilts the musicians played Irish-inspired Christmas tunes with their fiddles. Much to my enjoyment, they also had a couple of performers walking around playing bagpipes. I absolutely love bagpipes. Sidney and I could hear them far off and we did our best to track them down as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, once they became within eyesight they were concluding for the evening. It was still cool to hear the powerful sounds out in the distance though.

Sidney and I at Night of a Thousand Candles.

The entertainment hit a peak at the end of the evening. We found a larger heated tent that was housing a band playing a variety of Christmas songs. Outside of the tent was a snack and beverage station. Sidney ordered a hot apple cider and I got myself a winter Sad Adams beer and we went inside, sat down in a couple of chairs, and just enjoyed ourselves. That probably got me in the Christmas spirit more than anything else.

I really enjoyed listening to this band. They are called the Ross Holmes Band.

You have one more weekend to experience Night of a Thousand Candles. I recommend you go early because as I painfully detailed, you will be waiting in traffic. I feel it is a unique holiday outing so if you don’t mind spending $18 then take a journey out to Brookgreen Gardens. Don’t Blink.

Don't Blink

By Brent Reser

Tag Archives: Brookgreen Gardens

Brent’s Best of the Beach

Night of a Thousand Candles