Myrtle Beach's Broadway at the Beach packages fun, but really isn't on the beach

On two previous visits to Myrtle Beach, I hadn't come upon Broadway at the Beach a mile or so from the beach. Broadway at the Beach is a sprawling entertainment center packed around a modest man-made lake. There are chain restaurants (Hard Rock Cafe, Joe's Crab Shack, Paula Deen's Family Kitchen), ice-cream and refreshment kiosks, rides on the water, a 16-screen movie complex and amusements for kids of all ages. A family could be entertained there for a while day.

Lee Ann and I actually drove past the complex on our last visit. We had a finite destination, and while we noticed the attraction along the side of the road, I don't think either of us realized how large it was, or its novelty.

On Sunday, we made a one-day trip to Myrtle Beach. Again, we had a finite objective -- to drop off Lee Ann's daughter at a resort where she was to meet another family member. Because this was not planned to be a real getaway, I didn't bring along my DSLR camera, so all of the photos in this post were taken with my iPhone X. But as we prepared to leave and return home, we decided to hang around for lunch there. We'd heard TV Southern cooking celebrity Paula Deen had a restaurant there, and having enjoyed our three visits to her The Lady and Sons eatery in Savannah, we decided to seek it out.

Our Maps app led us to Broadway at the Beach (which is a misnomer; it's not on a beach), and sure
enough, there was Paula Deen's Family Kitchen and store. This Paula Deen's is monstrous (see lead-off photo) in comparison to the better known restaurant in Savannah. It has two floors; the shop is on the bottom level, and the eatery on the upper.

The Savannah restaurant's big attraction is a buffet spread; at the Myrtle Beach eatery, for the same $18.99 per person, diners eat family style -- they get a choice of two of the entrees (we chose fried chicken and meatloaf) and four sides (we chose coleslaw, mac 'n' cheese, green beans and poppyseed salad (a salad with poppyseed dressing). A photo showing the complete spread appears immediately above.

Servers bring you small portions of everything at the start, but gladly bring you more when you run out. I'll say that our server was extremely attentive -- and didn't make us wait long to refill our chicken, salad, beans and coleslaw portions. I was disappointed when our server told us their eatery's bar doesn't make the Savannah Lemonade cocktail that Deen's original establishment makes. But when I gave him the recipe from a picture I took of the Savannah eatery's recipe, he offered gamely to ask the bartender to replicate it. He brought the beverage you see at the right. It wasn't nearly as good (it was kind of weak) as the one I remember in Savannah. He brought me a shot of vodka to kick it up a notch!

I don't mean to spend too much time on food; there are other photos to present here. But I can't leave Paula's without sharing a picture at left, one of the products on display for purchase in the store portion of the complex.

I'm not even going to even try and explain it ... and no, I didn't bother to ask any of the store employees about it. (OK, feeling guilty, I just went online to see what I could learn, and "Hoecake" is described as a "cornbread made minimalist." So there.

After dining, we decided to check out a little of the rest of Broadway at the Beach; we did not make it around the entire lake.

The first photo below is something ... well, let's just leave it at that. It's something. No, I didn't go inside. But I did check out the store's website, and I found it humorous that the business didn't bother to offer an "about" tab to explain itself like most business web pages. However, it did describe the store as having "novelty products and apparel" and said that the Stupid Factory is "where boys are made!" No elaboration. So your guess as good as mine as to what that's supposed to mean. The store's Facebook page also offers no text to explain it under its "About" tab, but there are ample pictures of products there, and I guess you could say the photos speak a thousand words! If you visit the Facebook link I provided above, you'll see what I mean.

A full gallery of images from this shoot can be found at the link in this sentence.

Elsewhere on the boardwalk, you'll find the popcorn vendor above, with a closeup of the bagged popcorn appearing below.

Having been to Key West, my interest in the Key West Grill was piqued when I saw it (above). Below is a closeup of the statuesque figure in the right of the above photo ... composed to include a slice of more boardwalk storefronts on the right.

I also did not go into Rooster's (above), but I did get close to grab an illustration of the novel idea for plant planters (below). 

Hard Rock Cafe has a key location on the corner of one of the pedestrian intersections (above). After stepping back from my vantage point above, I can include the fountain you see below.

Above: Another kiosk.

Water plays an important role in Broadway at the Beach's aesthetics, as illustrated in the photos above and next six below. I'll provide context in the photos below where I deem it appropriate or necessary.

I don't know for sure, but I'm presuming the large objects floating on the water above are a ride or amusement of some kind. But I didn't anyone in them while I was there. Below, I managed to catch the wake of a motor boat that I'm presuming was taking customers on a ride up and down the lake.

Above: Fish in the lake apparently are accustomed to feedings from visitors standing on the bridge three photos above. I was in awe of how many of the fish gather -- and the visual of all those gaping fish mouths. 

Above and next five below: Shots of the pedestrian mall, including a variation of the fountain (first below) shown previously.