My first read of the morning was Myrtle Beach Hotels see slow 
start , a blog about the Myrtle Beach Rental Market being severely depressed. Good morning to you too!!!
I re-blogged the post and started getting comments from my fellow Readers. Someone asked about Biker Week and how it wasn’t happening this year. What do you mean? Biker Week is a Myrtle Beach tradition as ingrained in the public psyche as grits and fried okra.
People live for Bike Week. Doctors, Lawyers and CEO’s have their plans for the Myrtle Beach Bike Week prominently featured on their yearly calendars, right there with the family’s trip to St. Barts. Bike week is not a flight by night event; Bike week is a Myrtle Beach Institution.
Apparently, Myrtle Beach officials have elected to end this tradition by adopting harsh regulation designed to keep Bikers away from the city of Myrtle Beach. A long list of tough new rules has replaced the liberal policies extant for the past several decades. Here is a mere sample of the new ordinance:
•· No loud mufflers. No straight pipes. No revving of engines or excessive noise.
•· Everyone on a motorcycle must wear a safety helmet and protective eye wear (glasses, goggles, face shield, etc.) at all times while the cycle is moving.
•· No more than two motorcycles allowed in a public parking space.
•· No use of parking lots or landscaped areas of any business next to road or street for chairs, coolers, parties, drinking or food service.
•· Parties responsible for permitted or unpermitted special events that require an extraordinary public response may be held financially responsible for the cost of that response.
•· No alcohol consumption or open container possession allowed in parking lots and garages of any business.
Here is a quick lesson in Myrtle Beach: take a map of the Myrtle Beach COASTAL AREA. It is a 60 mile stretch of Beach known as the Grand Strand, extending from Calabash NC to Georgetown SC. To the South you’ll find Surfside, Garden City, Murrells Inlet, Pawleys Island and Georgetown. To the North lies the sprawling City of North Myrtle Beach. Study the map carefully and you’ll realize just how little of that coastal area is taken up by the City of Myrtle Beach – only 9.5 miles of that 60 mile stretch, to be exact. The rest of our beautiful coast is part of Horry County (pronounced “Ohry” NOT “Whorey”). Neither Horry County, nor SC have a helmet law (for riders over 21). Murrells Inlet and North Myrtle Beach have made it clear they would gladly step in and accommodate the Bikers.
Conclusion: Bike Week – May 8 through May 17 – is still going on. You can enjoy the Beautiful Myrtle Beach Area and just stay away from the City of Myrtle Beach, unless you don’t mind silencing your Harley muffler, wearing a helmet, parking no more than two motorcycles per space, staying off the grass, and being quiet and proper – raise your pinkie now, like a good little Hog!
