Living, Working and Writing in Myrtle Beach: Why Grand Strand "at the beach"

(Published in the magazine "Living Here".) We'll probably never know exactly why Claude Dunnagan decided to use the term "Grand Strand" in the title of his regular column in the Myrtle Beach News back in late 1949. It's just likely that it was just an opportune rhyme for an area already promoted by local boosters as "America's Finest Strand." But whatever the reason, the name stuck. A week after it first appeared in print, it was already being used in other headlines to refer to our local area.
     A decade later, the General Assembly made it official in a legislative resolution: "The Name "The Grand Strand," the resolution said, "vividly blends fun and ideal living with this excellent seashore resort area." In 2012, 63 years after the term was coined, it's still true. The beaches are as attractive as ever, the climate lends itself to sandals and t-shirts 11.5 months of the year and it's one of the few places where you can get some finger-lickin' chicken bog for lunch and then indulge in some classic French cuisine for dinner. It's a place where you can hop in your golf cart on a brisk fall day, take your dog to the beach and throw a line in the water, all before you go to work.
     With a varied populace of locals and transplants, we're a melting pot in the middle of the South and our friendly shores (and relatively inexpensive cost of living) continue to bring in new residents, not to mention the millions of visitors who enter our lives each year.

     There seems to be a festival on every cornor this weekend: The 21st annual St. John's Greek Festival, The 22nd annual Pawleys Island Festival of Music & Art, The Market Common's fifth annual Oktoberfest, The 37th annual Atalaya Arts & Crafts Festival, The Ninth annual Irish Italian International Festival and several more. My lovely bride wants to attend all of the above but she forgot one thing, The Ryder Cup and football.
     Kasey Kahne, NASCAR driver was in town to meet the public and sign autographs at the Grand Opening of Ollie's Bargin Outlet in Carolina Forest this past week.
     In real estate news, sales of single-family homes along the Grand Strand are up over last year, but prices have dropped $63,000 since they spiked in 2007 because of foreclosures and short sales. The median price of a SF home peaked in 2007 at $223,650 and it has declined each year since with todays price estimated at near 2007 levels at $161,000. The mediam price of a SF home along the Grand Strand rose 3% in August from the same month last year. That's 4 straight months the housing market has shown an increase. Local inventories of SF homes have dropped from 5,718 to 5,489 and condo inventories have dropped from 5,039 to 4,487. The median price of a condo dropped 2% in August from the same period last year. Sales of SF homes rose 16% in August and condo sales jumped 25% from the same month last year.
     In book news, my book MURDER ON THE FRONT NINE got a very good review in the local paper, The Sun News. I knew it was going to be reviewed and one always wonders if the reviewer will give it a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down". Thank goodness, the book recieved a "thumbs up".
     My lovely bride spent a week in Washington DC visiting Thomas Alan, Melissa and Aunt Susie. I have enclosed pictures.