Myrtle Beach, Part II: 3 other shops at Barefoot Landing

While we were at Barefoot Landing at the Waterfront in North Myrtle Beach, we spent a chunk of time in two stores, Christmas Mouse and Toy Kingdom, and I darted into a third shop quickly to get photos to verify the Purpleologist shop’s boast of being a “Lover of All Things Purple.”

I’ll start with Christmas Mouse, an all-things Christmas shop that I’d mentioned in my 2021 post on Barefoot Landing at the Waterfront, so I won’t devote a lot of pictures in this post about it other than the photo leading off the post, the two that conclude this store’s section of the post ... and a series of photos showing a curious “find” for those in our family who happen to be fans of the late Bob Ross, the painter who hosted the PBS television show The Joy of Painting from 1983-94.

Our “finds” were a figurine (first photo below) and various Christmas ornaments featuring Ross, which appear in photos below the figurine. 

One of the two other non-Bob Ross photos I took this trip at Christmas Mouse that I’ll feature here is interesting yuletide tree decorated in all silver ornaments (first photo below). To the left of the tree, is a display of silver-colored decoration options, available to purchase, to use for doing the same thing with your tree at home ... or to use in any other manner the buyer chooses, of course. A photo of the full wall of those decorations appears below the one of the tree. Click on the images to bring up larger versions of these or any photos in the blog. 

Next up is the Toy Kingdom, which we decided to check out to entertain the toddlers in our group and possibly to come up with kids’ gift ideas for Christmas 2025. The last photo in this section, the one of the stuffed lion, actually sat outside the entrance and greeted visitors. 

Last but not least, is Purpleologist, Lover of All Things Purple. And my quick dart inside — which took no more than a minute — proved that the boast is true to its word. The entirety of my shoot there, all of four photos (one of which is the exterior), appears below. 

Coming tomorrow, Myrtle Beach, Part III: June 7 sunrise

Myrtle Beach, Part I: Crooked Hammock Brewery

Last week, a large number of family met in Myrtle Beach to enjoy some R&R. I’d been to Myrtle Beach numerous times, so I didn’t do much new local photography. 

But I did visit a new eatery, and everyone in the family loved their meals there, so this post will be devoted to that visit. In subsequent posts, I’ll present pictures of a couple shops in the commercial development in which the eatery is located and conclude with a post devoted to photos of a wonderful sunrise on our last morning, just a few hours before heading home.

The eatery is in Crooked Hammock Brewery, which has pretty large quarters compared to many other breweries I’ve visited. It is tucked near the back of a huge cluster of shops situated around a large pond in the Barefoot Landing at the Waterfront shopping mall, which actually is in North Myrtle Beach. 

I’d been to this mall once before, in December 2021, and presented photos of my shoot there in a post here at the time. That’s when I first saw and learned about the brewery. I didn't go into the establishment at that time, but I did take some exterior photos of it and included a couple of those shots in the 2021 post, including — in the spirit of full disclosure — the photo you see leading off the post. 

We were there last week to celebrate a family birthday. There were 14 of us in the group, and the brewery staff set up a large table for us in the rear portion of the indoor section. (There is expansive covered and uncovered seating and recreation space outdoors as well).

Lee Ann and I ordered the Sticky Lager Grilled Chicken, which came sprinkled with garlic pretzel crumbs and was accompanied by Yukon potatoes and green beans. (See photo above.) We both found the entree delightful. A few family members tried the smash burger, Backyard burger (first photo below), or Papa Pig burger (second photo below), and they enjoyed it as well. Still another opted for the Street Corn Shrimp (third photo below); I didn’t get a chance to ask her if she liked it. 

The kids opted invariably for the chicken tenders, hamburger, mini-corn dogs (first photo below) and grilled cheese sandwich, and there were kudos across the board. For appetizers we tried the jumbo hot and salty pretzels (not pictured) and the Hammock sliders (second photo below), which are mini-pretzel rolls stuffed with grilled beef and pork blend patties, grilled onions and American cheese that came with a side of kettle sauce.   

For beverages, I had a pint of the Sand in My Schwarz (first photo below), a dark malty larger (known as a Schwarzbier in Germany, and I enjoyed it. I had sampled this and three other brews and thought this one stood out among them. Two other family members had a Myrtle Peach pale wheat beer (not pictured), and they liked it. Still another elected to try a Peach Mango hard seltzer (second photo below) and found it tasty. 

Crooked Hammock Brewery has a fascinating decor that include mural wall art, bicycles hanging from the ceiling and sundry wooden guitars of various sizes also on the walls. I’ll present a few photos of it below, starting out with a shot that includes the long bar. We took a series of family photos together underneath the big BE/BEER HAPPY sign (ninth photo below). 

The brewery’s outside space, illustrated in the photos below, features a decent-sized covered area with tables undercover as well as an open area with a bean-bag toss game and a couple of crooked hammocks on display. The last photo below greets visitors as they enter the main door. 

Lee Ann, probably the most discriminating among us when it comes to dining because of a sensitivity to foods containing MSG, dairy products and chemically processed foods (which disqualifies a large number of foods), said she experienced no after-dining suffering. Her real stamp of approval, however, came when she added, “I’ll go back there to eat again.”

Coming tomorrow, Myrtle Beach, Part II: 3 other shops at Barefoot Landing

Myrtle Beach, Part VII: Barefoot Landing at the Waterfront

I'm not sure how we came about deciding to check out this shopping center developed around a man-made lake on the far Northside of Myrtle Beach, almost into North Myrtle Beach. I know we had to have passed it several times on previous visits to Myrtle but didn't really notice it. Probably because from the street (U.S. 17/Kings Highway), there is nothing that screams "stop and check me out." 

But Lee Ann was still in need of filling out her Christmas shopping list, and based on what we could determine while perusing out the lineup of stores and eateries while checking out the site online, we figured it was worth a visit. We thought she could score some success stopping there, and at the very worst, we could find at least one agreeable place to grab lunch.

It didn't occur to us that the major reward for going there -- in addition to the very photogenic opportunities beyond the front facade -- would be a small coffee shop, Cafe de Paris, that actually faced the main highway -- so technically, one could argue it should have been hard to have missed when driving by -- but turned out to be our last stop before heading back to the resort. It was a classic case, at least for Lee Ann, of saving the best for last. That's the cafe's exterior in the photo leading off the post. 

Lee Ann raved about her coffee from this cafe. She enjoyed it so much that we made a second trip north to grab another one, although she also had shopping to do at the Disney Store at the nearby Tanger Factory Outlet Center.  

The first five photos below are from inside the cafe. Below them begins an exploration of the rest of the grounds. For the full gallery of images taken at the shopping center, click on the link in this sentence.

The shopping development calls itself Barefront Landing on the Waterfront, so I wanted to try and represent my photo display with some good images reflecting the water aspect of the landscape. Above is an enclosure that I assume is open during warmer weather seasons; it was not open when we were there. Below, a perspective of the seats along the wooden access. 

Above: A look across the lake to the other side of the shopping center, although the foliage on the right does a good job obscuring most of it. Below, a bridge to the other side on the north end of the development. 

Anchor establishments Landshark Bar and Grill (above) and Ron Jon Surf Shop (below). 

Above and next four below: A review of the wild and sea life I came across while at Barefoot Landing. 

Above: If the lake wasn't enough to create atmosphere, there are smaller water areas with fountains at a couple points elsewhere on the grounds. 

Above: This was one of the first photos I took after we arrived and parked. I loved the visual of the tree shadow fitting just inside the street confines. 

Above: The grounds were dressed for the season. This is one example; you'll see others later in the post. 

Above and below: I'm not planning to present a lot of pictures of shops, because there were scores of them at Barefoot Landing. But because I'd never come across a store devoted exclusively to things in the color purple, I made these photos. Unfortunately, I did not make it inside. 

Above: This is one of several open areas sprinkled throughout the grounds. The lake is in the background, and a tall resort is in the far background. 

Above and below: Christmas Mouse? I don't know. I did step inside, but only briefly while looking for Lee Ann. She told me later she'd been inside but left summarily after seeing a tree bedecked with stuff devoted to a repulsive individual whose name I will not mention here. I didn't blame her.   

Above: Another open area that gives you an idea of the shopping center's layout.

 

Above: I presumed that in warmer weather, the carousel above operates to entertain children accompanying their shopping parents. But it wasn't operating the day we were there, even though the temperatures were in the 60s. 

Above and below: One interesting perk (to me, anyway) of Barefoot Landing is the Crooked Hammock brewery, the entrance of which is above and one of the seating areas shown below. Being on a mission to photograph, I did not spend any time there, though. 

These two ladies appeared to be contemplating how to set up a large checkers board in a portion of large green space on the other side of the lake near the brewery. Not far from where they were was this large chess set (below). A perspective shot of what it all looked like appears in the second photo below. 

Above and below: Not far from the green and the brewery and the carousel was this lawn "decoration" on the brewery's property. The trailer in the second photo below also was on brewery propoerty. 

Above and below: Two Christmas tree pictures I can describe only as odd. The tree above sat in the middle of the south access to shops on the opposite side of the lake. If that wasn't peculiar to begin with, the fact that this gentleman decided to pose for me as I began to compose my photo of the tree was. I didn't ask him to, and he didn't seem like he was in a hurry to get out of the way. As for the shot of the two different-sized trees in the middle of the lake below ... well, maybe you could understand why I toss that in the "odd" category. Or perhaps there's a story about them I simply didn't come across while I was there. 

 

While there were quite a few shops on the west side of the lake, there wasn't anything in particular that jumped out at me as photogenic. I present the above shop to represent the whole lot, and the market and grill below to represent the nourishment establishments. 

Above: This massive, oversized chair sat outside the Lankshark Bar and Grill. Note the catch phrase "Let the fin begin" on the lip of the seat. 

Next: TicketReturn.com Ballpark, home of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans Class A Minor League Baseball team

Part I: Sunrises 

Part II: Frank G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum

Part III: Beach at Springmaid Pier

Part IV: Holiday Market at Market Commons

Part V: The small-shop trifecta in Surfside Beach

Part VI: Ocean Boulevard