Sunday, August 20, 2006
Myrtle Beach Pavilion memories
One evening during our vacation week we would walk down to the Pavilion. My husband had been to Myrtle Beach in the late 1940s and knew the “entertainment” was at the south end of the beach. After WWII, he was attending “V.P.I.” and spent summers at Myrtle renting floats and umbrellas. At that time he said there was a bowling alley, Jukebox and Darts (which you would throw at balloons) and maybe a ride.
In the sixties, when our three children enjoyed going to the Pavilion, we’d give them two dollars to buy 10-cent tickets. Some rides cost one ticket and some took two. I remember the bumper cars, merry-go-round ferris wheel and games where you throw baseballs at a stack of milk bottles. Our two boys liked to ride; our daughter liked to win prizes. I liked listening to the old broken-down organ. It was away from the rides and you had to stand close to hear it. The front was missing parts and didn’t move. The paint was faded and chipped and my husband teased me for wanting to hear it. Later the organ, restored, was a big attraction. We have a 1991 postcard showing the Pavilion’s 1900 organ.
In the early seventies, we started going to Ocean Isle and rented a cottage on the beach. For several years we drove the thirty minutes to visit the Pavilion, having dinner first at the Captain’s House or Rice Planters. But too soon the traffic made it an hour+ drive and impossible to find a parking place. We gave up after one member of our family got sick from riding one of those dizzying rides.
But we have good memories.
Sincerely,
Betty and Rea Low
Roanoke
When I attended college in 1958-1962, I spent the summers working at Myrtle Beach. At that time it was just a small town where I knew most of the locals and a lot of the visitors who returned each year. The hub of most of the action was the Pavilion. Bands entertained upstairs with everyone doing the “Myrtle Beach,” which of course included the “belly roll” and also the “twist.” I remember the “Hot Nuts” as a being a favorite band.
Beside the Pavilion was a small parking area that filled with police cars at night. As people came out of The Bowery they were promptly picked up and hustled off to jail. (You couldn’t stay in The Bowery if you turned down the half-filled mugs of beer they kept quickly putting in front of you.) Upon supporting the local police department by paying a $50 fine they were free to leave.
Across the street was Sloppy Joes that had a few stools on the sidewalk. We would sit there in our raggedy shoes and “local dress” and make fun of (quietly) the tourists dressed in their matching outfits. Another night we would sit there in our matching attire and make fun of (quietly of course) the tourists dressed in “want-a-be local” attire. (Not nice but quite entertaining!)
Back in those days there was a mass exodus on Labor Day afternoon, leaving a sparsely populated beach and town. The Pavilion was boarded up for the winter only to be waiting for the next fun-filled summer.
I would like to add that in 1962 I was walking with my roommate to the Pavilion, minding my own business, when I got a “whistle.” This led to meeting my “true love.” On July 23 this year, we celebrated our 44th anniversary.
It has been many years since I have visited there and I have been told of the many changes that have taken place. I’m not sure if maybe I’d rather keep my memories how it was!
Leeta Gae Sink
My name is Bridget Ensor. I am responding to your ad about most favorable memories of the Myrtle Beach Pavilion. I was an employee at the Pavilion for 8 years. I started on February 11, 1997. I was hired as a painter. My job was to paint rides, ticket booths, concession stands, games, restrooms and etc. The Pavilion got a new paint job at the beginning of every season. At the end of every season everything was broken down to get repairs and ready for new paint jobs. There was always something to do at the Pavilion.
There will always be many, many memories of the M.B. Pavilion, from boarding up for hurricanes, cleaning up after tornados, tearing down and building up new rides and preparing for sun fun. But the most favorable memory was meeting my husband at the Myrtle Beach Pavilion in October of 2000. It is very sad to see the Pavilion broken down for the last time. It breaks my heart to know my son will no longer get to grow up with the Pavilion. I left the Pavilion in May 2004 and moved to Virginia with my family. I hope to have one more memory of the Pavilion before it is tore down. My family and I will make one more trip to ride the rides one last time.
Thank you,
Mrs. Ensor
Roanoke
The first time I visited the Myrtle Beach Pavilion, I was 9 years old (early 60s). I enjoyed riding the rides and listening to the musical organ with the dancing angels. It holds precious childhood memories of days long past.
Sincerely,
Melanie Ramsey
Vinton
I was horrified when I learned they were tearing down the Myrtle Beach Pavilion. It will most likely become another Wings store that torments parents with the dreaded free hermit crab when you purchase a beach towel. Thank goodnesss I have pictures and videos to preserve the memories of not only my childhood, but my own children as well.
My parents bravely took their four children to the pavilion every summer and we would spend all day riding and eating until we felt sick. In 1986 most of my graduating class at Cave Spring High School spent a chaperone-free week at Myrtle Beach for the senior class trip (something that haunts me now that I have my own two kids). As soon as the sun went down we would hit the pavilion and ride a little bit and boy-watch a lot.
The picture is of my daughter Kendall taken in 1997 when she was 15 months old. This was her first trip to the pavilion and although we bought an all-day ride wrist band she would only get on the little boats that went around at a snails pace. Today this little scaredy cat is 10 years old and will ride anything that threatens bodily harm and requires a parental permission slip.
Last summer we returned to the pavilion and she asked me to ride the roller coaster with her. Did I want to? No! Was I scared? Definitely! So why did I agree to ride this two-minute monster with her? Because I know that just around the corner is the day when my daughter will want to be with her friends and not be seen with me. So until then, I will gladly spend each minute with her. As we climbed the hill getting ready to plummet down the rickety first drop, I could see my eight-year-old son Connor waving from below and the toddlers riding the little boats. I wanted to tell their parents not to even blink because tomorrow they will wake up and their children will be grown. Just as we went down the hill, Kendall reached over and held my hand. This was the best two-minute ride of my life!
Andrea Bayne
Roanoke
I saw the clip in the paper about stories for the Pavilion — I can’t believe it’s closing. I’ve been going there for over 30 years. As a kid we would walk to the Pavilion two to three nights the week we were there. We would stop at the footlong hotdog stand or Marvin’s Tacos for dinner and then go play games and ride most all the rides. The Rainbow is cool because you get to see most of downtown and see out over the ocean. My sister and I rode the Hurricane a couple of weeks ago — fun ride but it will beat you up going around the curves!
I’m glad my 8-year-old daughter got to experience the Pavilion for a few years. She has enjoyed going from the kiddie rides to some of the bigger rides like the Tilt-a-Whirl and the Scrambler. We don’t quite stay within walking distance anymore but we still make it downtown two or three nights.
The Pavilion will be highly missed throughout our family— so many old and new memories have been made there. Well I guess we can always stop to get a footlong hotdog and talk about the good ol’ days.
Gregg Flora
Roanoke
Dear Extra,
Thank you for asking us to remember the Myrtle Beach Pavilion! My family vacationed at Myrtle Beach almost every summer as I was growing up in the sixties and my memories are wonderful. We usually stayed at a beautiful old hotel one block from the Pavilion called the Chesterfield Inn. It was owned and operated by the Brittain family (later the proprietors of the Sea Island). The Chesterfield had a large front porch with rockers facing the ocean and a full service dining room that provided a hearty breakfast and scrumptious dinner everyday.
Being one block from the Pavilion meant that we visited daily, sometimes more than once. The amusements weren’t as big and splashy, but they surely were fun! I remember trampolines that we jumped on for 30 minutes and the swinging cages. You had to stand in the cage and pump to get it to swing and if you “worked” hard enough it would go all the way around. Of course, who can forget the Wild Mouse? At that time it was on the beach side of Ocean Drive and when you were at the top the view was great. But it was just momentary as the roller coaster soon began its series of plunges and hairpin turns. My dad loved that coaster, but it was a while before I got up the nerve to ride it!
One of the first places we went was to see the beautiful old German organ in the middle of the amusements. I loved the spinning figurines and the vibrant colors. The music added a carnival air to the park. I surely hope the organ will be preserved and displayed for future children and families to enjoy!
We loved to souvenir shop at the Gay Dolphin and the air condition was a welcome relief from the afternoon heat. I remember being amazed at the dripping fountain when that was added. We also played bingo across the street in hopes of winning a puppy. Secretly I felt so sorry for those puppies being cooped up in the cages on the sidewalk.
Myrtle Beach was a wonderful place to vacation and I will always remember the good times there! Thanks again for asking.
Kitty Mortara
Hi, I’m Leland Doyle and I live in Roanoke County. In the summer of 1972 soon after I graduated from high school, myself and 2 of my friends decided to take a road trip to Myrtle Beach. I had never been to South Carolina so this was a real adventure for an old country boy from Salem.
We left after one of our compadres finished his shift at McDonalds and headed down 220 S. about midnight. Back then 220 was 4 lanes in Virginia and immediately narrowed to 2 lanes in North Carolina (boy what a change in roads now). After an all night trip, thru old Business 220, there was no bypass in NC then, 74 thru Rockingham, then to Rt.38 to Bennettsville and onto Rt.576 then to Rt.501, all through every little town in both states, we arrived in Myrtle Beach at about daylight. After we settled in to a tent in Myrtle Beach State park campground, we headed out to see the sights, of which the Pavilion then was the heart and soul of Myrtle Beach.
We were overwhelmed by the lights and sounds. Back then there were no video games in the arcade, but it was chock full of pinball machines and the old baseball games that you tuned a knob to swing a small bat and hit a ball about the size of a grape into ports that were either hits or outs. These machines cost a dime to play, so we would change a dollar and play the night away. The old amusement park had the first steel roller coaster we had seen. It had a couple of loops in it and was state of the art for its time. (A real exciting ride for a boy who had grown up on Lakeside’s old wooden roller coaster). We thought it was amazing to go upside down on a roller coaster (it was pretty much setting where the Hurricane coaster sits now.
The Magic Attic was rocking til midnight to Lynard Skynard, ZZ Top and other 70’s and 60’s music. Back then you bought individual tickets to rides at the amusement park, much like the fair in Salem. Alabama was playing that summer at the Bowery, but we were far from worldly enough to go into the Bowery. My first trip down as a naive 18-year-old so impressed me that I have been down over a 100 times since, my children growing up from the kiddie rides to the roller coasters to my son going down this summer on a beach week of his own after graduating from Glenvar High in June. I realize progress at the beach must go on ,but I’ll never forget that summer in 1972, I first laid eyes on the bright lights of the Myrtle Beach Pavillion.
Leland Doyle
Salem
Whenever we go to an amusement park, my husband, Mike, and I always try to pose different ways for those cameras on the roller coasters.
A couple years ago, while visiting the Pavilion at Myrtle Beach, we were happy to see that the flume ride had a camera pointed at the first drop. Before we got on the ride, we decided that, in our picture, I would be behind Mike, “choking” him.
Coming up to the first drop, we got in position. Mike had to lean back into me, so that I could really get my hands around his neck. A Pavillion worker happened to be up on the ride, doing some maintenance work, and he saw him practically lying down as we headed toward the drop. He laughed and said, “Looks like you’re relaxed!”
Jen Wright
I would like to briefly tell me about my memories of the Pavilion.
My parents David and Ginny Trout are both from Roanoke. After graduation, as is custom, they went to Myrtle Beach in the summer of 1961. They met and started dating there! They were smitten and decided to get married — they dropped out of college much to their parents’ disappointment. They married in Jan ’62 and I came along in Oct 1962. I have wonderful memories of spending vacations at Myrtle Beach. It was always a treat to go to the pavilion for cotton candy, rides and oh those FUNNY MIRRORS!!! I always loved to watch the old German organ with its twirling figurines.
My sister, Terryee, was born in 1971 and my brother Jason in 1972. Being the older sister, I can remember watching them ride in the little boats and car rides with all the buzzers and bells clanging.
I, too, spent the senior week at Myrtle, twenty years later, Summer of 1981. No summer was complete without a trip to Myrtle. Years later I took my girls and let them ride the same rides as I remember my sister and brother riding.
This past Easter, my parents and sister and her husband went to the Pavilion for one last visit. This time they had to push my Dad in a wheelchair to see the sights. We have a photo to remember it by.
Thanks for the journey down memory lane.
Melinda Kantor
Since I was 15 months old, I have been taking annual family vacations to Myrtle Beach.
As soon as you arrive in Myrtle Beach, one of the first attractions seen is the Pavilion. No matter how many times you have been to “the beach,” it is always nostalgic to go by the Pavilion see the lights, hear the organ music playing from the carousel, feel the gentle ocean breeze on your face and smell the salt in the air!
When I was a child, I can remember going to ride the hobby horses, drive the cars and steer the boats. As I grew older, my friends and I would still walk through the Pavilion and often would ride the rides (probably as a reminder of our childhood!). However, we then found more excitement from the Magic Attic. It too, will be involved in the closure of the Pavilion. As time has passed, I have married and my husband and I are expecting our first child. I have to say that reflecting upon the Pavilion’s closing has made me very sad. It is just a time honored tradition and landmark that will be missed; no high rise hotel will be the same and hold the same anticipation as you pull into the beach area. I also am sad to say that my child will never have the same experiences I had at Myrtle Beach because this landmark will not be in existence for him/her. That means no hobby horses, no log flume and definitely no little boats with the alarming bells to ring! Let us always remember the good times had at the Pavilion, but also think ahead that bigger and newer is not always better.
Vivian Ann (Rash) Shaver
Spartanburg, S.C.
Eighth grade year my “advanced” chorus class went to Myrtle Beach to sing at Myrtle Beach high school in a competition. Our prize for singing; a trophy and a trip to The Pavilion. My 3 best friends and I all roamed around but, the sun was so hot, all we did was ride the roller coaster twice and eat cookie dough ice cream. That trip was a memory I won’t forget.
— India Fizer
11th grade
Christiansburg High School
I can remember the first time I visited the Pavilion like it was yesterday. I rode the “wild mouse” ride with my older brother. It was quite the entertaining experience and has left me with wonderful memories. I was afraid of the ride but with ample coaxing I was laughing and screaming around tight turns and sudden drops. The Pavilion has been a milestone for my family each time we visit Myrtle Beach. I won’t know how to react to not seeing it when I go to the beach every summer. I never feel like I’ve arrived at Myrtle Beach until I round the corner and see that enormous wooden roller coaster I’ve grown attached to. Now there will be this empty space. I don’t understand why it’s being torn down, but all I am certain of is I will still have memories of an unforgettable childhood at the park.
Goodbye Pavilion, I will miss you!
Sincerely
Mary Beth Webb
Roanoke
My parents took me to Myrtle Beach the first time in 1968. It became our family vacation spot. Through the years, we have been there with many family members and friends and wonderful memories have been made!!
My father loved Myrtle Beach and even though he is no longer with us, the memories will live forever.
When we began going to Myrtle Beach, I was 10. We went to the Pavilion one night of our vacation and we always looked forward to that night. This continued through my teenage years, although I went to the Pavilion most nights we were there. After my daughter was born, my husband would carry her on his shoulders in a backpack. She loved the lights and rides, especially the boats!! As she grew, the Pavilion was always a special time for us and this continued for her until today. She now lives in South Carolina. When she found out the Pavilion was closing, she called and asked, “Where is my baby going to ride the boats”? That just lets you know how special this place was to her.
My parents were extras in the movie “Shag,” as was my daughter.
Thanks so much,
Mary Rash
Dublin
Sometime in the mid ’50s, my daddy agreed to take us on a vacation to Myrtle Beach. Money was scarce then — we lived out of my grandmother’s garden — so this was a real treat. By the time we reached the beach, Daddy was worn down — there weren’t four-lane highways then, and we two girls undoubtedly had repeated the usual mantra “Are we there yet?” more than he could take.
Anyway, we had no reservations, and Daddy wasn’t about to drive up and down the beach looking for a suitable and reasonably-priced motel. Therefore, as we reached the “main drag,” he pulled into the Pavilion parking lot, where he checked us in to the first place he saw with a blinking neon sign that said “Vacancy.”
Mother was mortified that we were staying in a tiny “hotel” room above a Greek beer joint (She called it a “dive”), and it turned out that our “ocean view” was of the side of the Pavilion. I’ll never forget the smell of the hotel soap and the frying onions as we sat by the window watching to see if we could get a glimpse of Doris Day, who was making an appearance at the Pavilion that night. I’ve always thought that this less-than-ideal trip was the reason Daddy invested in a camping trailer so that he wouldn’t have to deal with hotels and could avoid complaints about bright lights, carnival music, and greasy smells. The next time we went to Myrtle, we only had to battle the mosquitoes.
Shirley Calhoun
Vinton
The MB Pavilion has been part of my life for over 50 years. I first recall riding the little boats with the real water trough, which my two kids also got to enjoy in the eighties. There was also that crazy organ thing from Germany or somewhere that you couldn’t forget. And who can forget the oceanfront arcades. Before we had kids my wife and I always kicked off the first night at MB with a corn dog and ice cold beer at the almost outside corner restaurant bar. In my fifty five years, I have had annual pavilion visits for about 45 years, first with my family growing up and then with our two kids. When our kids became teenagers, we kept hauling them “downtown” with their friends even after mom and dad decided that a relaxing evening on the beach was more fun for us. Things change. For many years MB was almost all two-three story mom and pop run motels. I recall staying at the six story Yachtsman, one of the first “high rises” which was centrally located between the pavilion and the night clubs (no kids yet). So just as MB has grown to high rises and Broadway at the Beach, I guess it’s time for the pavilion to give way to a mega-resort or something. I don’t have grandkids yet but it’s a shame that they won’t be able to ride the little boats with the real water trough one day.
Jeff Powell
Salem
My fondest memory of the Myrtle Beach Pavilion was when I was a girl of 12 or so. I was on the Ferris Wheel with just a few other people, and the operator of the ride wanted to go to eat. After asking all of us if it was OK, he started the ride, left, and didn’t return for an hour or so.
Carolyn Nelson
I have such fond memories of riding rides as a child. Back in the 70s some of the ride operators would even jump on and off of the speeding car ledges as the DJ shouted, “do you want to go faster!” and “do you want to go backwards?” Hard to believe the Hurricane is only 6 years old. Perhaps some will remember the double looping steel coaster called the Corkscrew with its two loops. It was opened in 1978 and closed and relocated in 1999. Now that was the coaster many of us will remember enjoying.
Rev. Caroline Kramer
Radford
Yes, Yes, Yes.
My first trip was in 1949 or 1950, 55 or 56 years ago. We waited in the park across from the school, which is now the Kmart, to get our room at the Tarrymore, one-half block below the Pavilion. The first thing I remember was the little stand where the rides are and selling “Pronto pups” which are known today as corndogs, eating several and going to the Pavilion and spending hours and hours playing the games (remember the Baseball Machine), looking and laughing at the mirrors, there was always a breeze and cool in the Pavilion, coming back at night and watching everyone dance, that was a “biggie” back then, and watching the Bumping Cars for hours. On the opposite corner was Sloppy Joes... Have many, many stories about the beach and great memories. I have four children, they enjoyed the Pavilion every year and now have six grandchildren and they have all been several times to the Pavilion and Park and enjoyed.
We always go to the Pavilion when we do go down 1-3 times a year and it’s not going to be the same and sad for it not to be there anymore. I guess the Pavilion is like me, ready or not it’s time to retire.
If I still drank, I would go to the Bowery in September and have a farewell or going away party.
Tommy Morton
Independence, Va.
I have visited the Pavilion almost every summer for the last 27 years. The park was completely packed when we were there [in July]. I really don’t understand why they would want to close something that is obviously still so popular.
Alison Witt
Bedford
Please save this treasured landmark!
Lindsey Carr
Roanoke
