The sun, the warmth, the beaches, the trees…Myrtle Beach was pretty much the best first travel nursing contract Dan could have gotten in our opinion. We spent April-July there and while the contract itself was quite difficult in a few ways, our time in Myrtle Beach was a blast.

One of the first things we did was buy a membership to Brookgreen Gardens, which I would recommend anyone staying in the area for a few months or more to do (especially in the summertime). More on that to come in another blog post specifically about Brookgreen Gardens. Another favourite spot of ours to bask in the sun and take in the lush nature of South Carolina was Huntington Beach State Park. There you’ll find birds, alligators, and other wildlife to spot as well as beautiful white sand beaches and Atalaya Castle. Check out the slideshow for a few pictures of the castle.

Myrtle Beach is a great place to get outside and spend time at the beach, in a boat, or walking around. When my dad’s side visited, we were able to charter a sailboat and explore the coast that way. We had the best time and even spotted a sea turtle and some dolphins! My friend Sophie visited us for the 4th of July and we were able to take another boat ride, this time a booze cruise out of the Marshwalk in Murrell’s Inlet which was so much fun.

For the actual night of the 4th, we made our way over to Surfside beach to watch the fireworks…and set off a few of our own. It was a free for all with anyone and everyone allowed to buy and then set off their own fireworks right there on the beach. Maybe not the safest setup, but it was incredible to see and be a part of. We even met some fellow New-Englanders who gave us their lighter when ours wasn’t working well. In general, Surfside wasn’t our favourite beach, but for the 4th of July we wouldn’t go anywhere else.

Most of the time we spent at the beach was at Springmaid beach & pier, right by the resort my family stayed at when they visited. The pier is the longest in Myrtle Beach and once you pay a small fee to access it you can get a great view of the beach, city, and ocean. It’s also a fishing pier so you can watch people fish and even spot sharks from time to time who wait below the pier to pick up the scraps.

There’s so much to do in Myrtle Beach from mini-golf, to shopping, to eating out, to museums and the aquarium. It’s a major tourist destination and spring into summer is the busiest time of the year. We didn’t spend much time at the actual boardwalk downtown as it was quite busy, but when we did we had a lot of fun. When my brother visited, we went downtown and checked out a few of the Ripley’s museums and attractions which was a great time.

I spent a lot of my free time (while Dan was sleeping as he worked nights) doing DoorDash which turned out to be a good way to get to know the area. There are SO many restaurants (according to the guide we got for the city, more than 1,800) to choose from and events going on everywhere all through the year as the weather stays quite temperate year round. You’ll never be bored or run out of things to do and places to see.

Myrtle Beach is a great starting off point to explore other cities in the South as well. We visited Charleston (two hours away), Savannah (four hours away), and Highlands (six hours away). If you’re there for a travel nursing contract, we’d definitely recommend taking the opportunity to check out these other beautiful cities too!