Congaree National Park and Myrtle Beach (Summer 2022)

Congaree National Park

In late July of 2022 we planned a week-long trip to Myrtle Beach to celebrate our anniversary. On the way we planned a stop at Congaree National Park which is the only national park in South Carolina. Congaree National Park contains the largest intact expanse of old growth bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the southeastern United States. Waters from the Congaree and Wateree Rivers sweep through the floodplain making this a very wet national park. Back in the day, we would have called it a swamp. There are several hiking trails, a canoe trail, and a boardwalk. On this trip, we limited ourselves to an hour on the boardwalk.

Myrtle Beach

We have been to Myrtle Beach a number of times but in recent years we have been going during the offseason. This was our first trip to Myrtle Beach in the summer in many years. It was very crowded. We walked the boardwalk and beach, took pictures under several piers, went to North Carolina to walk Sunset Beach and stop at the Kindred Spirits Mailbox, went to a show at the Alabama Theater, went on a kayak tour of the salt marsh at Myrtle Beach State Park, toured Atalaya Castle, home of sculptor Anna Hyatt Hunnington, located in Hunnington Beach State Park, and rode on the Barefoot Queen Riverboat on the Intercoastal Waterway.

One of the highlights of this trip was kayaking on the salt marsh at Myrtle Beach State Park. A salt marsh is a coastal wetland that is flooded and drained each day by tides. They often have access to the ocean which can be cut off during low tide. At the time we were very new to kayaking and had only had about 4 hours of kayaking experience in small lakes. So we were a bit nervous for this first time kayaking around ocean water. We decided on separate kayaks which was probably a mistake. The first half of our tour we were fighting incoming tides which made for quite a strenuous first half of the trip. It was a lot of work but we enjoyed the experience.

Another highlight of this trip was a ride on the Barefoot Queen Riverboat which navigated down the Intercoastal Waterway. We had dinner on board and listened to the tour guide point out some of the houses of famous people and gave some historical background to the area. There was also some live music.

We have always enjoyed the Myrtle Beach area but the summer congestion means it takes forever to drive anywhere. We much prefer the area in the off season.