Edisto Island - The Ideal Carolina Beach for Families
By Meg Hale Brunton
The coastline of the Carolinas offers a range of different beaches, each with their own style and appeal. Depending on whether you are looking for a beach with a fun nightlife and bar scene, quiet beaches for shell-seeking, or just a good spot for looking at the ocean over the pages of a good book, there is a beach for you.
In my case, I travel with a pack of small children and a dog — a challenge for any beach town. In Edisto Beach, South Carolina, I found something to please everyone in my family. I also found that the perfect time of year for a visit to Edisto is mid-to-late-April (depending on the often unpredictable Carolina weather).
By April, things have generally begun to warm up throughout The South, but have yet to become sweltering as they do in the summertime. Okay, the ocean was still a little cold, but since when has that ever stopped a kid from jumping in? It was absolute heaven, walking on the beach and laying out on the deck. The big perks, of course, were the lack of tourists that flock to the beaches after Memorial Day, and the fact that dogs are permitted to run leash-free on the beaches in Edisto before May.
If the heat does get to you though, the Happie Chick Ice Cream Truck drives around the neighborhoods on Edisto Island on a daily basis, bringing cold ice cream to people in the comfort of their own front yards. Admittedly, I had “Do Your Ears Hang Low” stuck in my head for the entirety of the trip, but I always welcomed the refreshing afternoon treat as well as the joy that chasing the truck brought my kids.
Anyone who spends any amount of time with small children knows that even something as full of fun as the beach can get old after a few days. I was delighted to find that Edisto Island had plenty of other activities to offer. They have quite a few walking trails through the salt marsh, great for spotting snowy egrets and herons. Edisto Watersports and Tackle also offers everything you need to rent for fishing and kayaking. They even offer guided tours through the ocean and inlet areas if you want to spot some dolphins. Hot Tip: If you love fresh oysters, High Tides restaurant is right next to Edisto Watersports and has the biggest and best oysters on the island.
Personally, it is always my goal when I visit the seashore to find the best local fried shrimp in the area. Fried shrimp is one of my favorite foods and I eat them with nearly every meal while on vacation. The best shrimp I found on Edisto were at Whaley’s Restaurant & Bar. No wonder it was voted one of the top 25 dive bars in S.C. Whaley’s is an exceptionally unassuming place run out of an old filling station, with uneven floors and bathrooms you have to go outside to get to. That was an incredible meal, though! They also have a full bar and some fun island cocktails, a super nice staff, as well as the famous Ugly Fish on their wall.
For fried shrimp, I’d also like to bestow an honorable mention to SeaCow Eatery as well as McConkey’s Jungle Shack. SeaCow boasts a gorgeous sunset view of the marsh, and McConkey’s is directly across the street from a public playground, so a wait for a table does not mean the death of your evening out.
If you’re looking to cook your own fish though, the place to go for a great fresh catch is Flowers Seafood Company. It’s a touch further out, but the prices are way better than you’ll find by the beach. They also have a great food truck, serving fried fish trays outside the store. That way, you can purchase whatever you plan to cook for dinner and pick up a fantastic hot lunch while you’re there!
Far and away, the non-beach highlight of our trip was to the Edisto Island Serpentarium. This attraction is way beyond some dark room where you can witness semi-depressed snakes hiding in a tank. The serpentarium is an expansive indoor/outdoor facility with multiple habitats where snakes can slither, swim, climb trees and interact with one another, while audiences look down on them from above. Okay, it looked like a scene out of my nightmares, but my kids went wild for it. They also have alligators, crocodiles, lizards, and turtles. We even got to see a particularly impressive presentation on local snakes, which was both informative and fun, and concluded with the audience being invited to hold a ball python.
In short, I could not have been more pleased with the thought that Edisto Island clearly puts into creating a comfortable environment for families with children. My family and I had a blast this summer and will definitely go back again.