Enjoy a long weekend with plenty of time to relax and explore the Hammock Coast
Just as the sun drops below the rice field horizon, I emerge from a surreal forest of glowing vines, my children’s hands in mine. The sky lights up, purple and pink, and the sound of “Joy to the World” drifts through the trees from a faraway choir. I breathe deep. Some years, Christmas flies by, but this moment will last.
Brookgreen Gardens debuted its Nights of a Thousand Candles holiday display in 1999. In fewer than three decades, it’s grown into one of the South’s premier Christmas celebrations, far exceeding its initial thousand candles. On each evening that it’s open from the day after Thanksgiving through January 4, volunteers light more than 3,000 wicks. Those flames are outnumbered by millions of electric lights that illuminate the country’s largest sculpture garden, about 80 miles north of Charleston in Murrells Inlet.
(Clockwise from top left) Stratton and his children gaze across a reflection pond just after sunset; daughter Tade takes in a few of the thousands of candles; chicken bog and hot chocolate are on offer at the food truck corral; a “cranberry bog” framed by white poinsettias makes a striking impression.
The secret’s out. A visit requires reservations, and the most popular nights book months in advance. After years of wishful thinking, we’ve finally committed to a family trip, building a long weekend around a night at Brookgreen Gardens, with plenty of time to relax and explore the Hammock Coast—from Garden City and Murrells Inlet down to historic Georgetown—on either end of our visit.
Georgetown’s Front Street experienced a stunning revival in the last decade, capped by The George, a 56-room, waterfront hotel that opened in 2024. Stylish, woodsy interiors give the feeling of historical weight to the new building, while décor choices, like lampshades crafted from overturned baskets and a large-scale painting of an alligator and a mermaid by Charleston artist David Boatwright, set a relaxed, whimsical tone that nods to the Lowcountry.
(Clockwise from top left) A mural by Charleston artist David Boatwright welcomes guests down a hallway at The George; Tade twirls outside the boutique hotel in Georgetown that opened in 2024; the cozy lobby, decked out for the holidays; the rooms at The George are relaxed yet refined.
We arrive in time to watch the sun set over the Sampit River, relaxing around a fire as the first nip of a cold front rolls in. We toss a few rounds of cornhole before stepping inside for dinner at The Independent. The upscale seafood-centric spot is a dinner destination for Pawleys Island residents, representing the change underway in Georgetown, where at least 16 restaurants now line Front Street alongside more outfitters and boutiques.
Downtown Georgetown is enjoying a rebirth with new restaurants, boutiques, and a charming hotel; The Harborwalk (right) accesses restaurants and watering holes on the Sampit River.
The demise of Georgetown’s paper and steel mills has necessitated economic shifts in South Carolina’s third-oldest city, paving the way for a new future built on tourism. Waterfront restaurants like River Room and Between the Antlers are thriving, as the area mirrors Beaufort’s growth.
At The Independent, we order deviled eggs bedecked with fried oysters, a platter of diver scallops, and a bowl of she-crab soup liberal in its dollop of sherry. Our server, in her mid-20s, grew up here and returned home after college. “Ten years ago, there was nothing to do in Georgetown but party in a field,” she laughs. “Now, there are so many good places to eat.”
After a restful night’s sleep, we stroll Front Street for some last-minute Christmas shopping before heading to Pawleys Island for a lunch reservation at Bistro 217. Chef Adam Kirby opened the restaurant 20 years ago with a sea-to-table ethos that preceded the trend, now almost an expectation. Heading north on Highway 17, Bistro 217 and Rustic Table, Kirby’s more Southern-focused spot next door, feel like a last stand of thoughtful menus before entering Myrtle Beach’s gauntlet of all-you-can-eat buffets farther north.
Bistro 217 chef-owner Adam Kirby delivers a plate of bang-bang shrimp tacos; his flounder filet over local greens.
During a break from the kitchen, Kirby shows us the scars on his arm from harvesting stone crabs by hand, a coastal take on catfish “noodling” with potentially even more serious ramifications. The stone crabs are for personal consumption, but the flounder filet atop a bed of microgreens was caught by one of his commercial fisherman buddies. The thin-sliced mini cucumbers atop the bang-bang shrimp tacos are grown on Kirby’s farm, 30 miles inland.
It’s lunch, but we spoil the kids with a scoop of house-made roasted banana ice cream for dessert. It’s a winner. Beyond satiated, we head across the street to the Hammock Shops Village. A multigenerational family band is playing Christmas tunes in the central gazebo as we stroll through a gem shop and a kitchen-goods store, before trying out the town’s signature hammocks strung up around the complex.
The Hammock Shops Village is a great spot for last-minute holiday shopping or lounging after a hearty lunch; the holidays never end at the Christmas Mouse store.
In the Christmas Mouse, a year-round holiday store, we run into old friends from Mount Pleasant, also in town for Nights of a Thousand Candles. They visit every year and recommend that we hurry over to arrive before sunset.
At 4 p.m., we’re greeted by the impressive Fighting Stallions sculpture welcoming us to Brookgreen Gardens. It’s a grandiose setting, and there’s anticipatory energy in the parking lot as families ready their strollers. Within the first minutes of our walk through the sculptures and light displays, I’m taken aback, realizing this is certainly worth the effort of a day trip in future years, if that’s what time allows. It’s so much more than I expected.
We enter a scene of illuminated vines, draped high in the canopy. There are elegant worlds of white light, as well as playful zones decked out in blue and red hues around the Poetry Garden. In an already serenely beautiful place, the coming dusk, illuminated with thousands of candles, creates a calming hush. I love our drive through the holiday lights at James Island County Park each year, but the display at Brookgreen is something entirely different. It’s like living inside A Charlie Brown Christmas.
After a blissful walk through a candelabra-lit path, we hear a bagpipe playing a medley of Christmas tunes. The piper’s eyes glow as she smiles at our daughter, breaking into a Scottish-hued take on “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” It’s a moment of magic among many, rivaled by the wonder of 500 pounds of cranberries floating amid white poinsettias in the reflecting pool and a colorful tunnel of lights to run through in the Children’s Garden. There are crowds to patiently move through, but everywhere there’s an aura of quiet elegance.
(From left) Brookgreen Gardens’ soaring China fir is one of the Southeast’s grandest Christmas trees; Stratton’s son, McRae, takes in the array of LED vines overhead; Tade poses with her new bagpiper friend during a quick break from Scottish-tinged carols.
Once darkness fully arrives, a towering China fir to rival the one in New York’s Rockefeller Plaza comes to life. We take in the spectacle before a final stop at the food truck corral, filling up on chicken bog and syrupy-rich hot chocolate. After loading sleepy, wonder-filled kids into the car, it’s an easy 20-minute drive back to our cozy room at The George. Tonight’s bedtime routine is a snap—whatever the modern equivalent of sugar plum fairies are, they’re soon dancing in precious heads.
The next morning, a Sunday, we let the kids sleep in, allowing me time for a sunrise jog through Georgetown. I’m left breathless by the cold air and another light show, this one fully natural. The sun’s morning beams find cracks in the dense canopy of Spanish moss and live oak limbs, sculpting an ethereal scene across the town’s quiet avenues. Church bells ring at nearby Prince George Winyah Parish Church, a brick-and-tabby sanctuary that held its first service in 1747. I wish I’d built in time for us to attend on this final Sunday of Advent, but we have a brunch reservation at the Caledonia Golf & Fish Club.
The MarshWalk in Murrells Inlet at sunset
We arrive at a quintessential Lowcountry holiday scene—a roaring fireplace, a towering Christmas tree, and sweeping views of egrets and herons soaring over the marsh, a former rice field that abuts the golf course. It’s an experience capped by a simple, perfect grouper sandwich that fuels an afternoon at Huntington Beach State Park, where we eagerly explore the abandoned halls of Atalaya Castle, the Southern beach escape of industrialist Archer M. Huntington and his wife, sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington, who also founded Brookgreen Gardens.
Christmas is a special (and uncrowded) time to visit Atalaya Castle at Huntington Beach State Park; a Segway tour rolls past
The state park sees light visitation this time of year—children ride bikes around the nearly car-free road and trails, and despite the brisk air, it feels like an idyllic time to visit. After a short hike on the Sandpiper Trail, we extend our walk to the beach and encounter only one other family enjoying the wide expanse.
It’s been years since I’ve stopped at the MarshWalk in Murrells Inlet, so we’ve added a third night to our trip to take in the holiday display. We opt for a stay in the family cottage at the recently renovated Brookwood Inn, a classic motor lodge on the National Register of Historic Places. Julie and Rob Perez bought the roadside motel in 2022, rehabilitating it into a charming but unassuming retreat that feels miles away from the bustle of Highway 17. It puts us within five minutes of the MarshWalk, arriving in time to take in the sunset from the Christmas tree over the water at the end of the long dock.
On this Sunday evening, there’s no line to meet Santa in his sleigh, so the kids take turns sharing their updated lists before dinner. Among the similar seafood restaurants along the MarshWalk, we choose Wicked Tuna for its scenic vantage over the water and its sushi program, a welcome transition back to healthier eating after a weekend of indulgences. Over dinner, the kids excitedly share their trip highlights—exploring the maritime forest and the hot chocolate at Brookgreen Gardens. It’s a parenting success, and we’ve enjoyed every moment.
In the morning, I feel at peace, grounded by a change of scenery just a short drive up the road. Heading south back toward Georgetown, the woods lining the highway still feel like a forgotten stretch of coast. Many travelers breeze past the Hammock Coast on their way to Myrtle Beach or beyond. That’s to the benefit of those who take the time to stop, even for a short wintertime walk on a beach that’s short on crowds but abundant in natural beauty and holiday cheer.
