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

Nature preserve compact, a quick visit

When we checked into our hotel at North Myrtle Beach on March 20, I had my Canon 6D slung around my shoulder. I'd made a point to carry it with me as much as possible when I was out of the car, to protect against theft but also so I wouldn't miss unexpected shots.

The concierge noticed the camera and asked if I was a photography enthusiast. When I said yes, he mentioned a place up the highway (U.S. 17) that he thought I'd like to check out for pictures. His description of the place was vague -- he said something about it being scenic, but never mentioned that the area actually had a formal name. When I looked on the map and saw the place he was talking about was near a point where House Creek funnels into the Atlantic Ocean. I figured it could be worth exploring. So, the next day, Lee Ann and I checked it out.

It turned out that the the area does have a name -- the Heritage Shores Nature Preserve -- and that it's almost adjacent to the Cherry Grove Boat Landing. In fact, you have to drive into the boat landing area (and parking lot) to get to the preserve, then walk about two blocks to reach the entrance to the preserve. If I had to quibble about the attraction, I had two beefs: 1) It's very compact (you can walk the circular trail -- and see most everything designed to be seen -- in less than an hour), and there were few moments when you weren't reminded that civilization was not very far away; 2) the boat landing signage is almost entirely devoted to the boat landing. There is very little to inform and/or help visitors who come just to tour the nature preserve.

It also turned out that you aren't able to get close to the confluence of House Creek and the Atlantic Ocean from the preserve as I had hoped. I could see the confluence from afar at the eastern-most point of the preserve, but none of my photos of the confluence -- even using the maximum 300 millimeters of my zoom lens -- did it justice. The photo leading off the post is one the best (in my opinion) of showing the confluence, which -- if you can't tell for sure -- is in the center of the photo where sky meets water.

What photos I did get you see in this post. As usual, to view a larger, sharper version of a photo, just click on the image. To see a full gallery of my photos from the nature preserve, visit the gallery at my site at SmugMug.com.

Photo geek stuff: I shot everything you see here with a Canon 6D equipped with a Tamron 28-300 f/3.5-6.3 Di VZD VC lens using a polarizing filter. I bracketed all shots for three exposures, melding a good number of all three for each composition in post-processing using Photomatix high-dynamic range (HDR) software, using a fixed aperture (8.0) and adjusting my ISO and shutter speed where needed, which only happened in very dense shade.

The most significant "find" we came across in the preserve were these cactus plants, which I did not expect to see anywhere on the East Coast. The one below was obvious to me, but Lee Ann told me that the small ones above are red and orange because they are new (as if all green ones start off in these odd colors). I'm no cactus expert, and I couldn't confirm that what she said is true (i.e., that green cactus plants start out as red or orange). What I did find out when I went hunting around on the Internet is that there are red and orange colored cactus plants, and I did see starts of green cactus plants that were, indeed, green. So perhaps Lee Ann was trying to pull a fast one on me. I suppose I'll hear about that when she reads this post. Hey, we're always looking to find new things to talk about ... 

The preserve's size is so compact, we were always reminded that civilization was close at hand. If it wasn't the large, noisy water vessel (above) chugging past the nearby neighborhoods, then it was a couple work crews on House Creek (below) hauling large pipes in the direction of the ocean, "destination unknown," to quote Conrad Aiken, who I mentioned in a previous travel post about Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah.

Above: The preserve has lots of ponds and streams, so there are ample bridges along the trail system. This is the longest, and it is near the entrance, which from this view is on the far end.

Above and next three below: Composing images using water as the focal point was a logical strategy in the limited-acreage preserve. 

Above: A portion of the path we followed and some of the wooded area along it.  

Above: This water fowl was one of the few species we saw in our whole time in the preserve, but the preserve is such a contained, modest-sized area, we weren't there for very long -- doing a leisurely stroll, we spent perhaps an hour and a half, possibly two, there.

Above: I suppose I was getting desperate for something creative when I thought to take this picture, but ... the branches caught my eye momentarily, and I pressed the shutter, and ....

Above and below: We had exited the preserve and were walking back to our car in the boat landing parking when I came upon these people fishing off the piers along House Creek.  

Above: A moment of reflection while following the trails in the preserve.

Next Up: The East Coast trip reviewed in food and beverage

Previous posts in this series:

Part I: Savannah's Forsyth Square

Part II: Savannah's old-city neighborhoods 

Part III: Savannah's Riverwalk

Part IV: Savannah's Bonaventure Cemetery

Part V: Tybee Island, Ga.

Part VI: Revisiting Charleston, SC, and its charms

Part VII: Nature's splendor can be found at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in Charleston

Part VIII: Magnolia Plantation and Gardens' swamp preserve a photographer's delight

Part IX: North Myrtle Beach: Chills along the water