Conway, SC, Part I: The Riverwalk

I passed through Conway, S.C., six years ago or so on a trip to Myrtle Beach. I was in the town — which has a population of 25,000+ — only briefly, but it caught my photographic eye. I told myself I’d like to spend time there doing a profile.

I got that chance on Tuesday, stopping in Conway on a return trip to Raleigh from a short R&R trip to Myrtle Beach. 

I was aware the city had a Riverwalk for some time, and I’d even watched some YouTube videos of people who had spent time in the city and included snippets of the Riverwalk. When I walked the 1.45-mile Riverwalk on Tuesday, it was much nicer and more enjoyable than I expected.

Maybe a lot of that had to do with the timing; we hit Conway at peak autumn colors season, so it was glorious to behold so much color while strolling the walkway, which is predominantly boardwalk, as depicted in the photo leading off the post. 

This shot was taken from the top of a modest (in height and length) stairway on the walk, and the different perspective quickly made it my favorite composition of the day. You get not only the walk path and a person using tge walk, but also the Waccamaw River and those autumn colors all in one scene. 

The time of day also figured into the Riverwalk photos because when I got to the walkway, the sun had moved into a position in the sky that was complementary to photos of the river and colorful trees along the way. 

I wasn’t as fortunate earlier in the day, when I started my shoot there, resulting in me struggling to work around a mid-day sun that was frustrating me at every turn while trying to capture churches and landscapes in the downtown area. But I’ll complain in more detail about that in one of the future installments focused on those parts of the shoot. 

The early-shoot lighting was one of two major frustrations I encountered in Conway. The other was unclear or misleading directions I received on the location of two landmarks that I wanted to photograph. In the end, I left town without getting those pictures because I couldn’t find the landmarks. 

The Riverwalk was clearly the highlight of the shoot, which is why I devote Part I to it. 

The Riverwalk’s primary origin point is at a parking lot adjacent to Kingston Presbyterian Church at Kingston Street and Highway 905, although you can hop onto the path at other points much farther down the route. The walk has a modest loop at the farther point, enabling walkers to double back all the way ... or dropping off before that and venturing elsewhere into the city. 

A reminder that you can pull up a larger, and sharper, version of a photo simply by clicking on it. To view a full gallery of the shoot along the Riverwalk, follow the link in this sentence. 

Most of the images in this post don’t need captions, but if and when I feel some elaboration is needed, I’ll drop in a caption. 

Above: This is the modest stairway on top of which I stood to get the lead-off photo.

There is a restaurant (above) positioned at a place almost halfway along the 1.45-mile route in case walkers needed nourishment. Walkers also have access to a marina and a bed and breakfast (the Cypress Inn), pictured several photos below here. It's the big white building adjacent to the marina. Hugh Archer, a gentleman who assisted us at the Visitors Center when we pulled into town, said he used to own and run the bed and breakfast.  

Above and below: Views of both sides of an overpass along the Riverwalk. 

Above: An interesting observation while in Conway. The city's water tower is visible from a lot of places in the community, including in a reflection against a large glass-front entrance to the new Horry County Courthouse. You'll probably see the tower a few more times in the subsequent installments. 

Another of my favorite shots (above) from the Riverwalk, along with a composition (below) in which that small but tall grassy patch in the center was isolated by a splash of sunlight in an otherwise shady area. 

I made two compositions of this tree. This one, in which a woman walked into the picture without me realizing it, and another after she was out of the frame to the right. I decided to use this one in the post since she seemed hell bent on getting in the photo.

I'm guessing the skeleton in the photo above is a remnant of Halloween decorations. The photo below, with loads of shadows and lines as well as pretty colors and water, is another of my faves.  

Above: This was one of two bronze animal figurines we came across during our time in Conway. They apparently were part of a project called Conway Critters, a form of public art nod to wild animals native to the area. 

An amphitheater-type elevated stage (above) is located near the top of the Riverwalk loop. Holiday decorations were being installed at several points in the area, and the white deer you see below was across from the stage closer to where I was standing when I took both photos. 

The tree above, not far from the end of the Riverwalk loop, holds several decorative pouches that appeared to be part of the holiday decorations. Below, the loop start and finish. River Light is the name of the light sensory celebration during the holidays, a feature available to enjoy by everyone but especially designed for families with children on the autism spectrum or those with neurodiversity needs. 

Coming tomorrow: 

Part II — Conway, SC: Horry County Courthouses