Twenty minutes inland from the beach sits one of South Carolina's oldest towns — Conway, a historic river town on the Waccamaw that the Retro Myrtle Beach Guy compares, affectionately, to Mayberry. It is the Grand Strand's easiest change of pace.
The walking tour
The anchor film is the definitive downtown walk: historic sites and hidden details, live-oak streets, and the Riverwalk along the Waccamaw River. The CVB's portrait adds the essentials — moss-draped oaks, brick-lined streets, a preserved downtown of boutiques, cafes and public art. (One short CVB segment on this page is watch content only; its caption track is a non-English auto-translation, so no transcript stands behind it.)
Riverfest
Two films catch Conway's signature festival, which kicks off Fourth of July week and has run for more than four decades: Carmen and Brian tour downtown mid-festival, and the Boones work the vendor rows — local makers, farm produce, food stalls — along the riverfront in 2026.
The City of Halloween
Each October Conway does something no other Strand town attempts: it officially renames itself the City of Halloween. Two films tour the transformation — decorated streets and storefronts throughout the historic district — with the Smoke on the Waccamaw barbecue festival running alongside on the riverfront.
Sources: the 7 videos on this page. Conway is a short drive west of Myrtle Beach — Highway 544 is the busy route, as the films note.