Myrtle Beach is so not Pigeon Forge

A couple months ago when I found out I was going to Myrtle Beach I did a little research on what there was to do there. Based on the list, I thought it was going to like Pigeon Forge, TN. I was very wrong.

Myrtle Beach is a beach community (shocking, I know) with a lot of condo/time share buildings. There are also a lot of houses and middle class suburban areas. Pigeon Forge was a commercial strip of land with hotels and cheesy activities. I had kinda enjoyed that cheesiness of Pigeon Forge, but after visiting Myrtle Beach with my pre-conceptions I could see why National Geographic Traveler bashed Pigeon Forge for wrecking the Smokey Mountain area.


One of the curious things in Myrtle Beach were the houses, I'm sorry I didn't take pictures. There were quite a few very boxy houses. They looked like tall cubes plopped on a square of land, often 3 stories and narrow with what looked like a basement above land. Then a couple houses down there were be your typical bungalow type of house. Next there would be a large grandiose house with fancy steps leading up to it, something you would picture in Beverly Hills only smaller and with less land.

As for the things to do there, I didn't have much time but it seemed like there was just an entertainment complex with restaruants and recreation stuff to do (Ripley's Aquarium was one). Then in another area there was a massive mall that had some other activities, my nephew did a bungy thing there and LOVED it.

Overall Myrtle Beach was a nice area, a good place for families who like the beach and the availablity of other activities without over stimulation. The downside is that the place has every chain restaurant, but I didn't notice many local types of places.

Twitter took me to see Ripley's Aquarium

Before I went to Myrtle Beach I had heard the recommendation that you should post on Twitter for tips on the location. I wrote a post asking what to do with a 7 and 11 year old (my nephews). The tips I got were to go to some indoor water park, Ripleys Aquarium and something else. The only thing I got to see, which I did with my 7 year old nephew was Ripley's Aquarium, and it was a nice place.

The whole aquarium is indoors, a plus when it's 32 degrees outside. The aquarium isn't terribly big, but it had a large selection of fish and exhibits, enough for a good hour to two for a family that isn't fish obsessed. We also did not see any of the presentations since the schedule didn't match ours. We also didn't buy any additional ticket items - like a movie. In addition to the fish tanks there was also an exhibit about babies and incubators included in the base ticket, which had little to do with fish, but was interesting anyway. It also had a couple funny photo spots, especially with a goofy kid like my nephew.

I'll admit I haven't been to all that many aquariums, the most recent was the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay - this was smaller but just as nice. My sister often takes the kids to a couple different aquariums in NY and when they travel and she really liked this one and my nephew had fun too!