The City of Folly Beach, located in the Lowcountry Charleston, SC area, is a great, quaint little place. When my family and friends always visit around the Interstate 26 area when they are visiting from Upstate South Carolina, we always drive to Folly Beach. You could find this beach area location going down Interstate 26 east, which merges with South Carolina Highway 30 west, when you continue straight on State Highway 171.
Right up with the Isle of Palms beach of Charleston, Folly Beach is a unique beach in the Charleston area. When you drive up to Folly Beach from the Charleston main area that's near the Medical University of South Carolina and The Citadel area, it is a dream that is beyond compare. When you get to the small city of Folly Beach, it's truly worth your while.
There are wonderful little shops near Center Street that my family and friends always shop at and visit, such as MC Kevlin's surf shop, Beachwear and Gifts, Ocean Surf Shop, and Palms. These little stores are the first things you see coming into the Folly Beach area.
There are many great restaurants on Folly Beach that I found enjoyable, reasonable, and relaxing after a long day in the sun. These include Black Magic Cafe, St. James Gate, Loggerhead's Beach Grill, Rita's Seafood Grill, Lost Dog Cafe, and Jack of Cups. So if you want to listen to some good beach music while you eat your lunch but not pay too much, just like the true beach bum you are, make sure you dine at these fine restaurants in Folly Beach.
Going into Folly Beach, my family always notices the Tides Folly Beach hotel, but we never stay there. There are two little funky hotels that are at Folly Beach Center Street that I want to stay at one day. Those two hotels are Water's Edge Inn and Holliday Inn. I might want to stay there with a young lady one day, but you never know.
I also noticed in the Folly Beach area the place is not full of too many hotels or motels, but they have many timeshares and family vacation homes. I always said if I had money one day, I would love to own one of those vacation houses. And that would be nice, but not in a million years!
But after my family passes those vacation homes, we many times stop at the Folly Beach Public Beach venue where we park our car and go walk the beach. When I was younger, I and my friends one time had a swim at the beach, and my sister Debbie would collect seashells. This place truly is full of life, and it is a place of natural and seasonal beauty. Sometimes during the summer there would even be a couple of vendors that would sell liquor and beer near the boardwalk.
I and my family always used to visit Folly Beach during the summertime when it is warm, and it's nice for putting your foot in the water and swimming. It is one of the Charleston area's best-kept secrets. And it is a place in the Charleston area my family and I want to keep on through the future years, visiting over and over again. It is also a place with many great hotels and restaurants. And I maybe even stay at the Tides Folly Beach hotel one day. Folly Beach truly is a gem of the South Carolina Lowcountry.
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Steven Hawkins is a freelance writer from Greenville, SC. Since the year 2014, he has written more than 140 letters to the editor and guest columns in over 50 newspapers and magazines, mainly in South Carolina, North Carolina, and around the country. And in 2019 he compiled his earlier editorials and writings in a book published by AuthorHouse publishers entitled "Letters from South Carolina.