The Ultimate Scenic Drive from Charleston to the Hammock Coast

As we pull up to the luxury car-laden porte cochere flanked by a stately fountain with life-size horse sculptures heralding The Charleston Place hotel, we immediately shift into vacation mode.

Last week, I was knee-deep in work and my daughter Angelina was immersed in taking college midterms. But today, as we enter the hotel’s lively lobby—locally known as “Charleston’s living room”—a warm breeze carries the fragrance of fresh blooms mixed with the sweet melody of laughter and conversation, signaling that spring is in the air.

Our plan: put the office and school in the rearview on a whirlwind weekend that would begin in Charleston, one of our favorite cities, and lead us on a round-trip 170-mile drive along the coast to sample a handful of small waterfront towns perfectly poised between Charleston and Myrtle Beach and aptly called the Hammock Coast (more on that later).

   
CHARLESTON CHARMS
Combining luxury and location, The Charleston Place puts us smack-dab in the historic district. Here, a number of guided tours take you through 300 years of history as you ramble down cobblestone streets, passing by historic homes adorned with colorful gardens peeking through wrought-iron gates and beneath live oaks dripping in Spanish moss and church steeples rising to the clouds, a reminder of Charleston’s reputation as the Holy City.

We explore on our own, hopping from one clothing boutique to the next on tony King Street, and meandering through historic City Market, a four-block-long pedestrian market with vendors selling specialty and handmade items. (Check out the market’s sweetgrass baskets; some are woven on-site.)

That evening, we dine at the hotel’s Charleston Grill, a fancy affair where meticulously choreographed service melds with Southern hospitality to create a decidedly unstuffy atmosphere. As we dine with smooth live jazz in the background, we laugh about the proper way to place our knives on our plates and other Emily Post-ish etiquette. But the only care here is that you’re enjoying your dining experience—and that, indeed, the attentive staff ensures we do.
    

HAMMOCK TIME
The next day, we’re off to discover the less-touristed Hammock Coast, named for its unhurried way of life and drawing inspiration from the place where, in 1889, riverboat captain Joshua John Ward crafted a new sort of hammock using the lattice-like cotton-rope design prevalent today.

Angelina picks the playlist, and I plot the route along a section of Highway 17 (aka the Ocean Highway), which runs the length of the state. It’s only 85 miles from Charleston to Garden City, the Hammock Coast’s northernmost town. From there, we’ll leisurely backtrack south to Charleston, wending through island communities, Francis Marion National Forest and the bustling suburb of Mount Pleasant along the way.

 

PAINTING THE TOWNS
You can’t come to the Hammock Coast without getting some sand between your toes, and that’s what we do in Garden City, where visitors ride bikes near the surf and stroll on the beach, and where a 668-foot-long fishing pier invites angling. For those who want to get out on the water, a nearby marina offers fishing charters and parasailing adventures.

Next, we visit Murrells Inlet, a once-sleepy fishing village now known as The Seafood Capital of South Carolina. Our first stop: the MarshWalk, a half-mile wooden boardwalk lined with casual waterfront restaurants and bars, several featuring live music nightly. We enjoy a breakfast of Lobster Home Fries at the Dead Dog Saloon (named for fun-loving—albeit fictitious—canine mascot, Dudley) as we watch boats gear up for fishing charters and various water sports.

Also in the neighborhood is 9,127-acre Brookgreen Gardens, established in 1931 by artist Anna Huntington and her wealthy industrialist husband, Archer Huntington. We roam the grounds, through a live oak alleé, butterfly garden and palmetto garden, perusing some of the 2,000-plus works by Anna and more than 400 other artists that compose the country’s most comprehensive collection of American figurative sculpture.

Next door, 2,500-acre Huntington Beach State Park offers unparalleled birding as well as camping, hiking, biking, surf fishing and beachcombing. But we’ve come to see the park’s castle: Atalaya, the winter home of the Huntingtons and a National Historic Landmark. Though built during the Great Depression, the Moorish-style castle with a 40-foot tower and 30 now-unfurnished rooms arranged around two inner courtyards feels more like an ancient ruin.

From there, we explore the tidy towns of Litchfield Beach and Pawleys Island. Pawleys is one of the oldest seaside resorts in the US, dating to the 1700s. Thanks to the lack of development, this 3-mile-long barrier island recalls a bygone era when families would gather at the still-operating Pelican Inn, built in the 1840s, or the Sea View Inn, opened in 1937, for a laid-back beach getaway.

If we were golfers, we’d tee up in Litchfield or Pawleys for some of the country’s best golfing. But we’re shoppers, so back on the mainland, we swing by Pawleys’ Hammock Shops Village, a collection of two dozen clapboard shops, including the Hammock Weavers Shop. Here, a weaver chats with us about the history of the Original Pawleys Island Hammock as he demonstrates the art of weaving the ropes. Angelina tries out one of the nap-worthy hammock samples outside the shop as we plan our route from the oceanside to the riverside in Georgetown.

Georgetown is a Mayberry of a town, with historic homes with gracious porches lining oak-fringed avenues and a main street with lovely shops, cafés, a hotel and a handful of small cultural museums. It also enjoys an address along the Sampit River, where its four-block-long wooden Harborwalk offers dining and boating.  

After browsing the shops and strolling the Harborwalk, we say goodbye to the Hammock Coast too soon, wishing we had more time to savor life in the slow lane.