Beach Bizarre: The Grand Strand’s Quirkiest Stops

The Grand Strand is dotted with lots of attention-grabbing attractions and sights. While some are easy to spot, others are not so obvious. From wacky to weird to wonderful, the following stops add up to one unforgettable, visual scavenger hunt. The only requirements are gas in the tank, time for tooling around and a penchant for peculiarities and fascinating facts. Have a camera on hand or your friends back home might not believe you.

Windy Hill Trinket Wall

4502 South Ocean Blvd
North Myrtle Beach

Talk about curb appeal. This little beach rental distinguishes itself by what’s on the outside: a wall embedded with a mind-boggling mosaic of curiosities. The property owners created this whimsical work of art purely for the pleasure of the community. Come study the arrangement, which is studded with petrified wood, coral, statues, stone and more, and try to identify the hidden treasure boxes therein. Inside each is a tiny trinket you are invited to keep. It’s not an easy feat, but worth the sleuthing.

Apollo Moon Prints

2101 N. Oak Street
Myrtle Beach

It’s true—Myrtle Beach has a connection to outer space. Spot the evidence underfoot in the plaza at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. In the walkway, you’ll find the historical marker and moon boot prints of South Carolina native and former NASA astronaut, Charles M. Duke, Jr. In 1972, at age 36, he was the Apollo 16 lunar module pilot and the youngest person to ever walk on the moon. Sporting spacey footwear, Duke followed the cue of Hollywood stars and cemented his achievement as the first inductee into the South Carolina Hall of Fame. It’s a little-known but impressive morsel of SC trivia.

Parking Lot Dummies

1059 Withers Drive
Myrtle Beach

Parking in Myrtle Beach is not normally considered fun, though it can deliver a few laughs. From Mr. Joe White Avenue, turn on to Withers Drive and look for two parking lots across from one another. (You’ll see the SkyWheel looming in the distance.) Fully outfitted, lifelike mannequins—one a woman and one a man—are installed in their respective attendant booths in what seems to be an epic faceoff. What’s going on with these two? Theories abound from romantically involved couple to dueling ex-spouses. Whatever their backstory, being opposing parking lot attendants seems a pretty smart career choice for a couple of dummies, don’t you think?

Birthplace of Sports Illustrated

Pine Lakes Golf Club
5603 Granddaddy Drive
Myrtle Beach

The granddaddy of all sports magazines was born at the granddaddy of Myrtle Beach golf clubs. It all went down in 1954 when a group of Time Inc. staffers met up to hash out plans for a new sports magazine. Pine Lakes Country Club was the setting, and the magazine, Sports Illustrated, remains one of the most recognized publications in the nation. In tribute to its origins, a plaque was installed in the Hall of Fame Garden near the Pine Lakes Clubhouse. Sports fans come from far and wide to tip their caps to the popular mag and its iconic birthplace.

Tommy, the World’s Biggest Crab

Giant Crab Gourmet Seafood Restaurant
9597 N. Kings Highway
Myrtle Beach

Giant Crab Gourmet Seafood Restaurant is as well known for its massive buffet as for the grinning gargantuan crab perched atop the entrance. Tommy (as he is affectionately known) is the restaurant’s official greeter, tipping his cap in fixed, perpetual welcome to the hungry hoards of beach-goers. At 35 feet wide, 25 feet tall, and weighing 4½ tons, this mammoth kooky crab figure is said to be the world’s largest. On the way in, be sure to wave to the cheeky fella, who seems blissfully unaware that you’re there to eat your weight in crab legs.

UFO House

1566 S. Waccamaw Drive
Murrells Inlet

Set your GPS to 1566 S. Waccamaw Drive to behold what locals call the “UFO house.” The futuristic, spaceship-like home can only be viewed from the sidewalk as it is private property. Still, plenty of folks are inspired to hit the public pavement for a chance to ogle this beloved oddity. Though the squat, disc-shape gives it a futuristic look, the home was built around 1976 to withstand hurricane-force winds, which it has admirably done many times. The design of this UFO house was conceived, not by aliens, but by a Miami architect named Peter Vander Klout. Still, no one will judge you for imagining George Jetson taking off from the deck in his flying car.