Review of Vereen Memorial Gardens, Little River, South Carolina

 

Vereen Memorial Gardens, SC

When our pack (my wife, myself, and our Pomeranian) was researching for a place to visit, that is a place where dogs are allowed, we came upon Vereen Memorial Gardens in Little River, South Carolina.  Vereen Memorial Gardens turned out to be a hidden gem of a place, which all of us really enjoyed.

Vereen Memorial Gardens is located near the border of North Carolina, and it’s about 40 miles from Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, where we were staying.  Named after Jackson Hiram Vereen, a native of Little River, the land was donated in 1972 to Horry County Historical Commission.  The gardens encompasses 114 acres of woodlands and marshes, and offers nature lovers plenty of opportunities to hike, fish, or birdwatch.  

On a beautiful, sunny and warm morning in January, we set about exploring this hidden gem!  

We left our rental in Murrells Inlet around 9 a.m. on a Sunday morning, and proceeded to our destination via Route 707, Route 31, then Highway 17 North.  It was a nice leisurely Sunday drive as traffic was light, and we got to enjoy the stimuli that seem to pass us by oh so fast…

We arrived at the gardens, but mistakenly parked at the South Carolina Visitor Center instead of the garden parking lot.  Realizing our mistake, we proceeded straight into the gardens then parked at the end of the road, at the parking area.

We let Toby out so he can get acclimated to his new environment and stimuli.  He vigorously sniffed the air and the ground all around him, taking his grand time doing so!

We met several fellow visitors to the gardens and we all commented how lucky we were to have a mid 50’s temperature in mid-January!  Counting our blessings, we headed towards the entrance to the hiking trail directly up ahead.

Entrance to the trail/boardwalk, Vereen Memorial Gardens 
Marsh view
One of many beautiful boardwalks


We already loved the place!  We’re all suckers for boardwalks, and this place certainly has plenty of them. We started our hike taking in the boardwalk and loving the natural habitat surrounding us.  Marshland is  always gorgeous anytime we get to visit it.  It is truly a bird watcher’s paradise, as we saw plenty of birds including egrets, herons and seagulls that day.

Toby valiantly kept us with us crossing the boardwalk to get to the other side.  Plenty of visitors were out in full force by that time of the day.  We said our greetings as we passed, and continued on, stopping several times to take in the awesome scenery!

Once we crossed the boardwalk to the other side, we came upon a fork in the road.  We chose to go right first, as there were less people headed that way.  We took yet another boardwalk, again impressed by the marsh views and of birds.

Along the boardwalk trail 
Saw this huge root on the trail

Toby looked tired that day

We made it across the boardwalk and saw the trail branches off to either the Red or the Blue trail, going deep into the woodlands.  We chose not to take those trails, after looking at Toby.  He looked tired, and wasn’t enjoying himself by that time of the day.

We instead chose to backtrack and go back to where we had come from.  On our way back, we checked out several huge oak trees and what looked to be a fallen oak tree, with its roots showing.  There was a bench nearby, so we stood near there for few minutes just taking in the views, and intently listening in on various insects chirping and humming.

We decided to head out towards the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and we were glad we did, as the views really opened up.  We saw harbors of Little River out to our right with boats docked, and we saw restaurants near the harbor area, way out in the distant.

Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway 
Tree with seashells as decorations!
Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, Vereen Memorial Gardens
Boardwalk, Vereen Memorial Gardens 
Vereen Memorial Gardens 

We saw few trees with shells as decorations as we got to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.  Those were really neat!

We stopped to take in the beautiful Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and to enjoy several boats and small ships sailing by.  It was a perfect day to be outdoors…

As I was taking some photos, a couple with 5 dogs came near where we were, then unleashed two of the Labrador Retriever puppies.  Those two were rambunctious little ones!  They would swim in the waters, playfully fight each other, then try to grab the nearest tree branch as trophies!  They were absolutely adorable.

One of them lay down right in front of me as I was kneeling down to take some photos.  He showed his belly, meaning subservience, and he was also being playful.  He wanted me to throw his trophy (the tree branch), so he can retrieve it.  I gladly obliged!

The two were off to the races again, happily chasing after the thrown branch, and to see who can get it first.  Sometimes I wished I can be like dogs, enjoying the moment and living to the fullest.  We can all learn something from them…

Two cute puppies!

We had a good laugh at their fun demeanor and their endless energy.  We lamented how our baby, Toby, used to be like these two puppies long time ago, mindlessly running around and just being happy to be alive…

With those thoughts out of the way, we continued on to the fishing pier out in the distance to the north.  We again took the boardwalk back towards the pier.

There were at least 5-6 people fishing on the pier.  We didn’t want to interrupt them, so we quietly went to the pier to take some quick photos.  What a lovely sight!

View from the fishing pier, Vereen Memorial Gardens 

We started to head back the same way we had come in, and we made it back to the parking lot area.  On our way there, we found a swinging bench, so we decided to sit down to enjoy the day.  We loved the sunlight hitting us providing much needed vitamin D. 

I lifted Toby so he can sit with us on the bench.  He relaxed as he didn’t have to walk anymore.  We each commented on how beautiful the place is, and thanked the heavens we are able to travel and explore all these great places after early retirement…

After enjoying the surroundings for several minutes, we got off the swinging bench to finish our exploration.  We took right from the parking lot and found a great little gazebo, which we had to take advantage of.  Few more minutes of hanging out at the gazebo was all we needed to call it a day…We decided to head back to our car to our temporary ‘home’.

In conclusion:

Vereen Memorial Gardens is a great hidden gem near Myrtle Beach area.  It offers awesome trek through the woodlands, the marshland, and various boardwalks.  The beautiful Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway isn’t too shabby either.  We were so grateful we found this place…

We wished Toby could’ve enjoyed the gardens as much as we did, but we understand he is getting up there in age.  We’re just glad he got to at least experience new stimuli in a brand new environment…

Thank you all for reading!


Jake

Wandering Money Pig 


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