Pirates Meet Ghosts of the Swamps: Pirates Voyage and Myrtle Beach Ghost Walk

Even though we've only done so twice, we've decided we have a new tradition: a Myrtle Beach date for our anniversary treat.  We had a stunning experience again this year at Pirates' Voyage, a dinner show that is pure fun.  The pirates better fit the beach than the Dixie Stampede formerly on the site, and this year, the show was even more impressive to us.  We had excellent front row seats without paying for preferred seating (our best explanation is that we booked early).  This year, however, there was no American Express discount.  We continue recommend being there when the doors open, enjoying the preshow and taking time in the gift shop before the show when it is substantially less crowded.  

The presentation of the Pirates' Voyage show is so dynamic that our thoughts always turn into "How'd they do that?" questions.  How'd they find a cast that could do acrobatics and swimming?  How'd they figure out how they were going to make all this food service happen simultaneously?  It's all very fun to think about, in large part because the show is so seamless.  Don't go looking for plot or the same kind of fun you'd have seeing a great work of literature on stage--but do go looking for all-out enjoyment and spectacle.  We go as a couple, and we're confident the show's tons of fun for most elementary-aged kids. 

We've also developed a preference for the earliest show, affording us an opportunity to enjoy Barefoot Landing at night afterwards, a throwback to Kim's childhood.  This year, Justin surprised Kim with ghost walk tickets to the Myrtle Beach Ghost Walk with Ghosts and Legends.  We'd always said we'd go sometime--and Justin, seeing a sign in the window indicating "last season," rightly felt we'd better step on it.  Our tour was a charming walk with a fabulously knowledgeable, passionate, and confident guide in Penelope the Pirate, one of the best guides we've seen on any ghost tour.  There was an unexpected and pleasant side trip to the House of Blues, and a good bit of North Myrtle Beach-area history was included.  If you follow this blog, you know we do ghost tours to hear local stories and get a flavor for local cultures--and this tour definitely delivered!   We also recommend the Ghosts and Legends show (presented every 30 minutes in their building) and suggest anyone who likes books of local legends stop in their gift shop. 

More good news: the business is for sale. We're among the hopefuls that it's not really the last season! For info, give them a call or try a google search for the listing.  We wish the original owners good luck as they drive their DeLorean cross country raising funds for health research. 

For more of our recommendations in Myrtle, see another Myrtle Date here and a family spring break trip here.  We did not go to Alligator Adventure as we'd initially planned, largely because we had a very unresponsive customer service experience with them ordering tickets as gifts this spring.  We'll think about it for next time but did not have good success purchasing tickets through their online interface or trying to contact the business via email, social media, or phone.