Accents
Longing for Boracay at Myrtle Beach
Myrtle Beach, one of USA’s popular beach resorts, is in South Carolina, the home state of my daughter Randy’s family. From their residence in Bluffton, it was some four-hour drive in the freeway. Without traffic frenzy, ours was a joy ride, passing long miles of evergreens whose greenness remains unfazed by winter. Myrtle Beach was on schedule to celebrate the 8th Birthday of our granddaughter Danika, and to provide the family respite from the grindstone.
Monday, Jan. 19, a national holiday in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., was off from the workaday world, hence the long weekend. In the Philippines we’ve started the idea of having long weekends, too, by transferring holidays on a Monday or on a Friday, and for working people, that’s a bonus for a getaway-from-it-all. No school for Danika, and well, for the grandparents, the Camelot By The Sea where we stayed was waiting to do the usual domestic chores.
Myrtle Beach is a highly urbanized beach resort. The Official Visitors Guide lists 215 summer days in the area, more than you can say of other parts of the United States; 1,900 full-service restaurants spread in the county; 11,400 seats in live entertainment theaters; and 3.87 million rounds of golf played annually. Amusement parks cater to all ages—from the adrenaline-charged roller coaster rides, drops and loops to a leisurely stroll on the boardwalk. For the “shopaholic,” the shop-till-you-drop visitor, there’s a factory outlet nearby, and complexes of bargain stores with a cornucopia of souvenir items on display.
Outside of Orlando (in Florida where Disney World is), Myrtle Beach’s Family Kingdom boasts its 5th ranking in the “Top 10 Amusement Parks in the Nation.” Ferris wheel, Log Flume, Slingshot Drop Zone, bumper cars, go-kart tracks, get the picture. Myrtle Beach has Ripley’s Aquarium, a must-see where we brought grandkids Jet-Jet and In-In in 2005 for a face-off with a giant shark and a stingray across a glass pane. This year, Danika the Birthday Girl, spent long hours at the MagiQuest Kingdom as she tried to unlock its secrets with her Magic Wand.
Buffet at the Captain George’s Seafood Restaurant (said to offer a hundred tempting dishes from make-your-own salad to the last gulp of choice drink) was fitting for a birthday celebration. Despite the flowing crab legs and the freshly steamed shrimps and crayfish, Breakthrough and Tatoy's are still tops in our list of culinary hangouts. The Pinoy taste buds long for the kinilaw and the kilawin, that Captain George’s doesn’t serve nor does it have the know-how as to preparation and ingredients, or so I think. Desserts were plentiful. Coconut was only one in the variety of deliciously prepared puddings, but it was a disappointment because it didn’t have the soft slices of young coconut meat we are used to in the Philippines. The Pinoy won’t settle for hard coconut shavings that stateside recipes use as replacement.
Myrtle Beach with all its attractions, shopping, entertaining, dining come-ons and high-rises is no match to Boracay, the pride of our country, and I say that without bias because it is the truth. Rudy, my significant other, confirms this. So far, five sojourns to Boracay haven’t sated me from coming back. For me, Boracay is still the world’s most beautiful, and I’ve been to the Caribbean’s Cozumel, Texas’ South Padre Island, and Italy’s Capri. I was so disappointed not to see Boracay featured in TV’s Travel Channel, nor read about it in Conde Nast and Outside travel magazines. I think our Dept. of Tourism has work to do. Let me pitch a little:
Sun, sea, sand and sky—Boracay has them all. Where else can you find powdery white sand that remains cool to the feet even at high noon? Only in Boracay! At neck-deep, you can see your legs in its crystal-clear water. With P150.00 excluding tip (roughly $5.00 or thereabouts), one can enjoy a massage under a seaside shade. Trained masseurs with their oil concoctions do the works—relaxation no Jacuzzi in a 5-star hotel can equal.
Seafood? Fresh catch of the day is not a misnomer in Boracay. Fishers ply the day’s catch daily, some fish still wriggling. Fresh air? Take a slow ride in a sailboat (the beloved banca) or a motorboat around the island, and inhale and exhale all you want. Then enjoy the vast expanse of sea and sky—no high-rises that mar the hills of Boracay. Boracay has 5-star hotels, too, but I doubt if there are those that go beyond four-story high unlike the towering edifices that jag the Myrtle Beach skyline. Camelot, for instance, has nineteen stories.
We came in the midst of winter, and wading in the water was a no-no else you get a frostbite or blue toes. Thank goodness, Camelot has a heated indoor pool and a Jacuzzi as well. On the other hand, Boracay—being in the tropics—is for all seasons. Reasonable prices, too. Easy on the pocket, whether you’re earning in dollars or pesos.
A big pay-off at Myrtle Beach was the magnificent sunrise as viewed from the Camelot verandah. The Saturday we visited was cloudless and the sea was calm. The sun rose in majestic glory while we sipped morning coffee — its magical splendor ever undiminished whether you’re watching it from Myrtle Beach, Boracay, or from Oton, my hometown by the sea. (Email: lagoc@hargray.com)