Murrell's Inlet (Charleston, Greenville, Myrtle Beach: sales, home owners insurance, home)

[Tupperpatr]

My husband and I are empty nesters and ready to move to South Carolina. Our daughter is living in Jacksonville, Florida and our youngest son is at Clemson. By being in South Carolina we can be closer to both. We had thought we were going to Greenville then we spent some time in Murrell's Inlet at Wachewsaw Plantation over the holidays.

I would love to hear from folks who live in Murrell's Inlet what you love about the area. I am curious how active the community is. Also, I know the spring is tourist season in Myrtle Beach, how does it affect Murrells?

Empoyment is not an issue. My husband works from home and I am in direct sales so this move is purely a lifestyle choice.

I love the outdoors and my husband is an avid golfer. I already know the area is a golfer's heaven. The ocean is a big draw for me, but I also love to road bike and wonder how safe the area is for that.

Any other place in the lowcountry that you would recommend over Murrell's Inlet?

Thanks for the advice!

[Rapture]

Everyone I know that has moved to Murrells Inlet loves it there. Other towns you can research nearby are Garden City & Surfside. Keep in mind the closer to the ocean you are, higher your home owners insurance will be (if that's an issue). The community is very active and it does get a lot more traffic in the summer but it's what you're used to will determine if that will bother you or not. Obviously if your husband likes to golf this is a great place to live.

[baylovers]

Wachesaw is a really nice community, but certainly not the only one! If you had a chance to travel down to Pawleys Island, there are many really nice residential communities also. Some gated, some not... several have golf courses/clubs.

Areas of Garden City & surfside are nice too but then you are getting closer to the Myrtle Beach crowd. In Murrells you really only have to deal with summer crowds along Business 17 where the restaurants are. Obviously, there will be increased traffic along Hwy 17 but never gets really congested... except during the May & October biker weeks.

Here is a link for the Bike The Neck that can give you some ideas about the bike trails. The one in Huntington Beach State Park is new within the past year and pretty nice and they are scheduled to do road improvements along Kings River Road to expand a bike lane. The plan is to have a continual bike path all the way down to Charleston... who knows how long that will take!

Beach access at the state park is very nice and usually doesn't get too crowded. You can get a Georgetown Co. residents annual pass at the county's parks & recreation center ( Ithink it was $35) well worth it. We also bought an annual pass to Brookgreen Gardens. There are 6 small parking areas on Pawleys Island and the county lot on the south end for beach access there. There are some public accesses in Garden City, too.

Temperatures made their way to about 71 today and we went for along walk along the beach, it was absolutely gorgeous especially after the cold week.

[Coasters]

The areas around Charleston are very liveable. The areas around Hilton Head and Beufort are true lowcountry. There are so many websites that it may be easier to just google them as well as look at them on google maps.
Some topics to google: Waccamaw Neck, Marshwalk, Lowcountry,SCDNR, Sciway,Mt pleasant, IOP, Isle of Palms, Edisto. Gorp South carolina,SC state parks,

[creekgirl4life]

Murrells Inlet is a great place to live and has several active community groups, not to mention all the recreational opportunities in the area. The marshwalk along the creek, Veteran's Pier, and Bike Lanes (Bike the Neck)are all projects that have been completed thanks to the leadership of MI2007 and citizens in the community. There are opportunities for boating in the river, inlet or ocean within minutes and of course many choices for golf lovers. The close proximity of Brookgreen Gardens and Huntington Beach State Park make Murrells Inlet a great choice for outdoor activities.
In the spring and summer the increase in visitors is a factor in all areas along the coast, including Murrells Inlet. Hope this helps.

[soontoretire]

I need to find a place in SC this summer so that I can retire there next year. What did you like about Murrells Inlet that convinced you to move to that particular area?