Travel Review: Myrtle Beach, SC Area

I thought I'd do something a little different today and do a "Travel Review".

This one will contain photos with map coordinates (when possible) of good photo spots in and around Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Some photos will just be random grab shots without locations, but I'll do my best to provide locations and tips for truck and train-spotting.

This is the first and test thread for this type post, so here goes.

Myrtle Beach (and the surrounding areas of North Myrtle Beach, Georgetown, Conway, and Murrells Inlet) is of course an extremely popular vacation destination for folks from all over the place, and my family is no exception. As I have no particular interest in sitting on the beach for hours or going shopping all day (though I will detail some nice shops and restaurants to hit while in the area), my main interest was riding around the industrial areas and looking for trucks and trains.

To begin with, a good spot to eat and photograph: the Zaxby's on 544 in MB, https://goo.gl/maps/8fky8fWEuM6E7GAc9

A few shots from there:

A Freightliner Cascadia for Go To Logistics, who're headquartered in River Grove, Illinois.

A rare Mack Midliner.

A Freightliner Cascadia for Eagle Transport from Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

A tired looking Kenworth T600 for Sharp Transit from Salisbury, North Carolina.

A cool International Durastar for Dunbar Armored, who are headquartered in Cockeysville, Maryland.

And a nice Kenworth T800 for Reliable Tank Line, whose headquarters are in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Moving on, another good spot for photography is the Lowe's Home Improvement off of Highway 17, https://goo.gl/maps/JBMuGdqkKnYkcUsu7

One of their delivery rigs, a nice Sterling.

A cool Peterbilt 365 or 367 for Dana Transport, who are headquartered in Avenel, New Jersey.

And a gaggle of geese.

A nice little Kenworth T880 for Merchants Foodservice, whose headquarters are in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

This is the first and only single axle T880 I've seen in person.

A very cool Peterbilt 330.

And a cool Freightliner 114SD crane.

Playing off those last shots is another good spot, the closed/abandoned Ryan's Restaurant that you see in the background of those shots. It's turned into quite the parking lot for trucks. https://goo.gl/maps/ohw2SQGktR9tTXcD6

Here's a couple from there:

A Freightliner Classic can hauler for Evans Delivery Company, who're headquartered in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.

And the entire fleet for Bledi Express from Myrtle Beach, 2 nice Volvo VNLs.

Another good photo spot is the Food Lion on 544 in Conway. https://goo.gl/maps/Pz4xYa3b5jZhSQkg9

Here's several from there:

A couple Kenworth T880 dumps for Blue Max from Charlotte, North Carolina. There are LOTS of their rigs running around in the area, pretty much all the time.

A couple Mack Pinnacles, one a SBA for ABF, who are headquartered in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and one SFA for RL Causey from Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.

A cool old Ford LTL9000.

Following the LTL was this ol' Mack R.

Georgetown, South Carolina is also an interesting area, containing a huge International Paper mill and various other industries. https://goo.gl/maps/wjbBYRnS3yXsuxi2A

A view from a bridge of the paper mill.

Another view.

A cool Freightliner FLD120 passing the cool town mural.

And a couple Internationals:

A Transtar 8600.

And a 4900.

An empty lot we ran across that seems to be an impromptu parking area. https://goo.gl/maps/1Jpz6bJPgjgoAU8u5

A really sharp Freightliner Classic.

And a nice Kenworth T680 for Millis Transfer, whose headquarters are in Black River Falls, Wisconsin.

And an honorable mention for a side trip: the Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve.https://goo.gl/maps/zXxE1CwCGmLveGqY9

Not really a good spot for watching for trucks and trains (or anything else, really), but we stumbled across it (and drove across it, only to find a locked gate and have to backtrack all the way back to where we entered), but a nice nature preserve that you can drive through and see some interesting flora and fauna.

4 wheel drive vehicle recommended! Just in case...

And now just some various randoms from the Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle, Conway, Surfside Beach, and Murrells Inlet areas.

A super awesome Peterbilt 352 that pulled up beside us at a stoplight, so we had to follow and take some shots and tell the driver/owner how awesome his truck is. Yes, it is still a working rig, and had just came back from a trip.

A cool Kenworth W900L.

A nice little Volvo VNL.

A sharp Peterbilt 389.

A nice Western Star 4700.

Another Blue Max KW, taken during an absolute downpour.

An International 9000 Series. Unusual application for this model.

A Ford L8000 that appears to be in good condition.

A nice Kenworth T800. Quite a load there.

A sharp Mack Pinnacle picking up what appears to be a broken down GMC (surprise).

This one had perfect timing.

A Ford F something-or-other that appears to be at the end of the line.

A super sharp International HX520.

A really nice Ford F-450.

And a very nice Sterling wrecker.

I said I'd detail some good restaurants, so here goes.

1. Bob Evans - great country style food with good portions and a nice atmosphere. There are a few locations around the area, though our regular one is this one. one:https://goo.gl/maps/7mRf7i9CFdj8VSjF6

2. California Dreaming - ribs. Ribs, ribs, ribs! They're excellent, but almost everything they have is, particularly the Knob Hill Chicken, the chili, potato soup, and rolls. https://g.page/CaliforniaDreamingSurfside?share

3. Omega Pancake House - good quality food, really nice folks, and basically everything on the menu is awesome. The sweet tea is #1! Country ham, the pancakes, and the patty melts are particular highlights. https://goo.gl/maps/iopCYQWs62KM5b7J7

4. Bar-B-Que House - Carolina style barbecue; smoked pulled pork. They also have great ribs, along with awesome homemade chips and fries. Great banana pudding, too! https://goo.gl/maps/CL4zx15REYqF5Xm86

5. River City Cafe - ocean front burger joint, with great burgers and fries, and a wonderful view.https://goo.gl/maps/fW7BiYc843aCm2BKA

There are of course several other good restaurants (I purposely excluded big chains), but these are the ones we hit every time we're there, and they're always great.

I hope you enjoyed this "review", and I'll try to post more for some other destinations soon!