When the first weekend of the unofficial start to summer rolls around, locals have to decide if they want to join the thousands of visitors who will flock to the city or hide from the crowds.
Memorial Day weekend acts as a kick-off for summer, as well as the start of a long-standing motorcycle rally which will head into town.
While Myrtle Beach locals are accustomed to the millions of tourists coming to the Grand Strand each year, the combination of a holiday weekend and Black Bike Week can bring more people than usual. Black Bike Week runs from May 24 through 27.
The Sun News posed the question of whether locals prefer to stay or leave the Myrtle Beach area during this time in a popular Facebook group. Many said they prefer to hunker down at home.
Joy Mettee, a Socastee resident, said she gets her grocery shopping done before the weekend and then stays at home. She said she feels like everyone driving is in a rush and she prefers to have an easy weekend.
Many others agreed with her, saying the influx in traffic makes them avoid town. Although there is an increase in motorcycles from Atlantic Beach Bike Week, Mettee said the motorcycles don’t solely make traffic worse.
Many also complained of the way the city of Myrtle Beach handles traffic during Memorial Day weekend.
The city will use its traffic congestion method of making traffic run through a single southbound lane along Ocean Boulevard, with northbound lanes reserved for emergency response vehicles
“Younger days I liked to see the bikes and cars and how (Myrtle Beach) was open arms about it. Now (Myrtle Beach and locals) just purposely make everyone’s life miserable for it,” said Pierre Martin.
People who do go out of town leave to see family or go on a trip, not just to get away from traffic. Steve Gerlich said in a comment he heads to Indianapolis to see his kids and watch the Indy 500 over Memorial Day weekend.
Inflation could also impact if people decide to have a staycation this summer. Twenty-three percent of people are traveling less and the same amount are choosing less expensive destinations, according to Bankrate.
For those that stick around, they enjoy riding their motorcycles around town or seeing what bikes other people are riding.
“I live on the beach near the boardwalk and love it! We go to Atlantic Beach to get a great plate of food,” Karen Snell Gouz commented.
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