Grand Strand play in Myrtle Beach

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- At 7:45, the rising sun had barely cleared the gray Atlantic horizon, but the thermometer on our condo balcony registered a balmy 68 degrees.

Looking down from six stories above the wide white beach that extended miles in either direction, I spotted a school of maybe 20 wet-suited surfers circling slowly beyond the break line, waiting for the next long wave to come rolling in. Feeling a surge, seven started stroking to the beach. Finding sufficient momentum, three popped to their feet and mounted the breaking swell. One caught the curl perfectly and got a 15-second thrill ride all the way to the beach for her trouble.

Not too shabby for mid-December.

North America's Atlantic coastline from the North Carolina-South Carolina border south to Winyah Bay is collectively known as the Grand Strand, a broad, largely unbroken crescent of white sand stretching some 60 miles.

The earliest Europeans to arrive were Spaniards from Hispaniola, who landed about 50 miles north of Myrtle Beach in 1526. They established a settlement, San Miguel de Cauldape, but abandoned it the following year. The English who arrived in the late 17th century named it Long Bay and quickly supplanted the native Wiccamaw and Winyah peoples.

If you go:
Myrtle Beach, S.C.

For a complete listing of courses and tee reservations: myrtlebeachgolfdirectors.com. For Myrtle Beach Visitor Bureau: visitmyrtlebeach.com. For the Island Vista Resort: the-island-vista.net.

But though lengthy, the bay offered no deep anchorage, and its broad, sandy coastal plains did not prove particularly fertile. Sweltering summers and devastating hurricanes also were deterrents. After the Civil War many plantations were more or less abandoned until the late 1800s, when the Conway Lumber Co. began buying up vast tracts. Conway established a town for its workers several miles inland and laid a rail line to haul logs cut from its coastal forests. On summer weekends, the empty flat cars would be used to ferry sawmill workers down to the seaside. Cabins and cottages sprang along the railhead, over time so many that a "new" town evolved, in contrast to Conway, the old town.

In 1900, Conway Lumber built the Seaside Inn and held a contest to name its growing resort enclave. Myrtle Beach was the decision, chosen to honor the fragrant shrub that grew so abundantly along the coast. Soon after, summer tourists began arriving by the trainload. In 1938, the town was incorporated, and shortly after it got both an airport and US Route 17, the first paved highway to connect it with the rest of the country.

Since then, its sunny charms and real estate development have transformed Myrtle Beach and subsequent resort enclaves that took root along the Grand Strand into one of America's primary beach vacation destinations, attracting some 15 million visitors last year.

The annual tide that peaks each summer comes from across the United States and Canada -- Western Pennsylvania constitutes the fourth-largest pool of visitors -- has spawned more than 500 hotels, motels, resorts and condo developments, most situated along Ocean Boulevard, the coastal road that parallels US Route 17 through much of the Myrtle Beach area. That doesn't even count the dozens of oceanfront housing communities that evolved. Some are year-round residences, but many can also be rented by the week or month.

No question about it. The Grand Strand can be very accommodating.

During peak summer months, Myrtle Beach is no longer a tranquil ocean escape. But, as I discovered on a recent quick visit, it offers charms aplenty in the time of year described as the "off season."

Other than the big winter holiday weeks, almost everything is deeply discounted mid-October through mid-March, with some prices a third of what is charged in August and September.

For example, a plush, three-bedroom, ocean-front condo at the new Island Vista where we stayed runs $460 a night in high summer but as little as $165 in mid-December. Driving along Ocean Boulevard, we passed hotel after motel, many advertising nightly room rates starting at $29.

And it's not just cheap sleeps. Discounts and dollars-off coupons seem to be readily available from everything from dining to driving ranges and deep sea fishing any time of year. Indeed, the first thing waitstaff asked at every place we ate was whether we had any coupons.

That's also true when it comes to the area's main off-beach activity.

As impressive as the huge number of places to stay along the Grand Strand are the abundance of golf courses that have been carved from the coastal flatlands since its first 18, Pine Lakes Country Club, opened in 1927. Pine Lakes is closed for renovations until next fall, but no worry. In the rectangle along the Grand Strand and 20 miles inland, are more than 100 public and private courses, giving the area some bragging rights as America's top golf destination, in terms of courses per capita.

That total is actually down from a high of 132 courses a decade ago, evidence of the effects of competition and the allure of land development for residential purposes.

Still, the roster of golfing possibilities runs the gamut from the most basic to championship caliber, including a dozen signature courses and three of Golf Magazine's "Top 100 You Can Play for 2007" (Caledonia No. 25, Dunes Club No. 46, Barefoot No. 95). A wide range of packages are offered including accommodations, greens fees, some meals and even air fare, and they can dramatically cut the per person cost of a golfing vacation.

For golfers who can manage only a putter, the Grand Strand also boasts an amazing array of some 50 miniature golf courses. They range from simple carpet links to extravagantly exotic constructions, complete with fire-breathing dragons and fire-spewing volcanoes, mythical creatures and animated pirates. Top-rated courses have such names as Molten Mountain, Jurassic Golf and Shipwreck Island. Indeed each fall, Myrtle Beach hosts the Master National Championship of the U.S. ProMiniGolf Association.

Other than the beach and the golf, the area's other attractions tend to have a midway, boardwalk feel to them, even through they're scattered along the main road rather than sully the beach itself, which was open for business even though there were no sun bathers around.

Many of the newest developments, particularly big box shopping malls, factory outlets and themed attractions, have sprung along the Route 17 bypass that skirts Myrtle Beach a few miles to the west. These include diversions such as Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede, the NASCAR Speed Park and Waves Water Park. Judging from their number and size, "all you can eat" seafood buffets must be very popular.

The biggest of these new developments, "Broadway at the Beach," is not on a beach at all. The 350-acre entertainment complex is situated around a meandering lagoon several miles inland along the new Route 17. It features attractions ranging from MagiQuest and Ripley's Aquarium to an IMAX Theater and 16-screen cineplex, with a selection of curio shops, beachy boutiques and several big-name chain eateries, including a Blarney Stone, a Senior Frogs and a Hard Rock Cafe.

It's sort of a cross between Epcot and Station Square on steroids, and we saw more people milling around this Broadway's boardwalks than we saw anywhere else in Myrtle Beach.

For us, however, the off-season, laid-back feel of the beach was more than enough, a taste of summer-like serenity in the middle of winter.