The Captain's Blog by PirateLand

Crew Member Feature: Don Blackmon

2012-02-06T18:10:00.000-08:00

If you’ve stayed with us before you may have met Park Patrolman, Don Blackmon. Hopefully it was when you were on your way through the front gate and not because you were running late at check-out time (oops!). Don has worked at PirateLand for about seven years, and he also spends a lot of free time here because he is an annual site resident.

Don Blackmon started camping in Myrtle Beach in the 1960’s. Hailing from Lancaster, SC he remembers camping at PirateLand before we took reservations; seeing campers along the access road of Kings Highway “waiting in line, double file.” One thing hasn’t changed- during the 4th of July, camping at the beach was the place to be! He has stayed at all the Myrtle Beach campgrounds, and liked PirateLand because of the shelters. Once retired, he leased a permanent site at Springmaid for a while, then the Myrtle Beach KOA.

Don (center) with Stan (right) and Melba (left)

After a spending few years in a campground in the Maggie Valley area of the mountains, the beach was calling him back. Don’s daughter, knowing he wanted to return, picked out his place at PirateLand. They put the deposit down for him, called him up, and told him to sell his place at the mountains. Don hadn’t even seen the place here yet. His daughter, Rhonda, knew he would like it and she sure was right!

“I don’t mean to brag, but I got the best view over there because I’m looking down that big lake,” Don said. “I like to sit on the deck and listened to music.”

In addition to being a “fool for music,” Don also enjoys the company of his neighbors. He especially enjoys our Sunday Morning Church Service with resident and friend, Stan Kliemann and Pastor Darryl Brummett. He’s thought about selling his place here, but says the grand kids won’t let him! He has three, all girls, he calls “my heart” and they love the beach!

One of Don’s hobbies is participating in civil war reenactments. About five times a year, Don joins his son, and their company members to reenactment events in Cheraw, Aiken, Florence, Columbia, and North Charleston, South Carolina. Just like our current Army, the South Carolina Palmetto Battalion members have titles and ranks including First and Second Corporals, Sergeants, Lieutenants and Generals. Members come from various professions; lawyers, business men, doctors, retired veterans, teachers, farmers, even a local congressman.

They share strong patriotic spirit and interest in history, developing the “realness” of the reenactments. Event sizes vary, ranging from several hundred to several thousand. Don also goes to a national event in Chickamauga, Georgia, with an attendance ranging from 10,000 to 15,000 people.

“You wouldn’t believe it, when we go to a national event, it actually looks like the real thing,” Don said. “It’s nothing to have 400 to 500 Calvary, now I’m talking horses.”

The men furnish everything themselves; canons (some with barrels dating back to the Civil War), muskets, handmade costumes, and basic supplies. The company “roughs it” with sheet like tents for shelter, and yes, they sleep on the ground.

“We do it as authentic as we possibly can, drink out of tin cups, cook over the open fire, and somewhere, somebody down the line will have a jar of moonshine,” Don laughs. “[Sitting around the campfire] is a lot of fun; we have a great bunch of guys in our company.”

Don’s son, Donny Ray, First Sergeant over the C-Company, recently found out that one of their ancestors, a great, great, grandfather served with General Lee when he surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox. He’s excited about the memorial service they’ve planned for him over Memorial Day Weekend to replace his headstone. Don speaks very proudly of Donny Ray, who just got his Masters Degree in History.

Don has his home in Lancaster, where his wife is close to the children, but stays here as much as possible. He considers his co-workers and neighbors his friends. His motto - “treat others like you want to be treated.”

Don, thank you for all you do! It sure is a pleasure having you on board!

The Traveled Road: Looking Back 45 Years

2011-12-30T17:16:00.000-08:00

The best way to understand the growth and appreciate the challenges of something is to know where it started. So to close out our 45th Anniversary we’re going to tell you a little bit about the beginning.

Camping was fairly new to the area in the 1960’s. Our founders say it was the traffic line going in to Myrtle Beach State Park that gave them the idea to open a campground.

On the south end of Myrtle Beach, the amusement park called PirateLand Adventure Park was looking for some money to build a supper and dance hall. It had 41 acres of adjoining land for lease.

The property was practically baron and possessed merely a small building, “The Seascape Building”, a little house built pre WWII for use by Air Force Officers. Our founders saw an opportunity to build a campground. The lease agreement required the campground be opened using the name “PirateLand” and the two would market together. So the adventure began!

Lane Family 1969

View from a campsite 1976

Paddle Boats 1976

PirateLand opened in July of 1966 with 75 water and electric sites and rates as low as $3 per night. That year, it made only $15,000; not even enough to cover the advanced payment for the lease, let alone any other operating expenses.

In the early 1970’s, PirateLand leased another 80 acres, the northern side of the park. The area is still very low lying, but back then, a lot of it was swampland and muck. The crew dug some areas out, created the lakes, and used debris and sand to build up the sites.

Pool 1985

Paddle Boat Booth 1980s

By the end of 1984, all the campsites had sewers installed, all the roads were paved, and we were offering top of the line amenities including an olympic size pool, mini-golf course, tennis and basketball courts, general store, playgrounds, and a recreation program that spawned traditions still in place, like the July 4th Pageant and our Annual Easter Egg Hunt.

Mini-Golf Course 1984

Canoes 1986

The campground felt the wrath of Hurricane Hugo in 1989. It’s rumored that the day after the storm, the crew came out with five bulldozers and started cleaning up. Sand covered the park road. The crew pushed the sand back and planted beach grass to create a stable, protective dune line.

PirateLand the Amusement Park was temporarily closed in 1972. It changed hands several times over the years, and the tales of tragic accidents that may have happened there, created bad PR. It operated under the name Magic Harbor until the mid 80’s but still did not prosper and was eventually deserted. The property was acquired by the city of Myrtle Beach. By 2003, the campground leased some of that property as well, bringing the total park acreage to 180.

Golf Cart Parade Line-Up 1992

Pageant Contestants 2000

In 2001 PirateLand built one of our greatest additions, the 510 ft. Lazy River, and reconstructed the pool area. Our Lazy River remains the second longest in Myrtle Beach. The new office building was constructed in 2004 with an authentic helm and mast giving guests a pirate ship atmosphere. To incorporate the charm of the old building, some windows were transferred over and the building front was designed to look similar.

Our mascot, Patch, at the Lazy River

Patch in the Office

Long time crew, guests and residents are amazed by what the campground has become today. It’s been a long journey; complete with detours and obstacles, but also exploration, adventure, and thousands of happy campers that make it the wonderful place it is! Happy 45^th Anniversary PirateLand Family and Happy New Year!

5 Things To Do With Your Kids This Holiday Season

2011-12-07T17:33:00.000-08:00

Make something! Whether it’s cooking, making crafts, or building model cars, making something with your kids is a great way to spend time together. Be sure to pick a project that will interest them as well.

See a Holiday Show! Here in Myrtle Beach, there is tons of live entertainment with a Christmas theme. You can have a similar experience without professional theatre groups. Local high schools, colleges, parks, and churches often produce holiday shows. They may lack some of the bright lights and quality acting, but the value here is in the quality time you’re spending together.

Give something together! Maybe your local soup kitchen could use some help, maybe you have some things to donate to a local community service drive, maybe you make crafts to give as Christmas gifts, either way, showing your children a lesson in giving is an invaluable lesson.

Join them in getting messy, destroying something, or freely dancing /singing! We added this strictly for kids’ enjoyment. Remember when you were a kid and you wanted your parents to ‘let loose’ just a little? Please note: with the singing and dancing - skill and appropriate timing are necessary. We wouldn’t want to embarrass the kids, or maybe we would, lol! It is something to consider.

GO CAMPING! Of course we’re a little bias, we’re recreational people and we work at a campground, but that doesn’t change the fact that some of our fondest memories are from times camping with our family.

Great Food + Great People = Great Times!

2011-12-01T16:11:00.000-08:00

Can hardly believe we just finished up another Annual Thanksgiving Celebration at PirateLand. Something you may not know, unless you have worked at this campground during Thanksgiving, every year when it’s all said and done, the crew members look at one another in astonishment and ask “Did we really just have a dinner for 500 people?”

Yes, folks we sure did! And it would not have been possible without some serious hard work and dedication. Our four night camping special helped bring in a big crowd. Have you ever wondered how many turkeys it takes to feed everyone? Well this year we cooked 18 of them. Yep that’s right, and they were cooked and carved right here in our vacation rental ovens by a few long time crew members.

Jo Ann Mayhew, our Housekeeping Manager, has worked at this resort for over 15 years and she heads up most of the cooking – 18 turkeys, 6 hams, 50 pounds of mashed potatoes (NOT instant), 12 pounds of mac and cheese, and enough gravy to go around twice! Can you imagine going from oven to oven to oven ….18 times to check those turkeys? These rentals are about 400 square feet total and have three bedrooms so you know we’re not working in a gourmet kitchen here! Jo Ann has an extensive catering background so she knows how to make it work with what we’ve got! We are so thankful to have Jo Ann and her crew!

If you’ve been to our Thanksgiving Dinner then you know we don’t make all the food, guests bring dishes too! We usually get a variety of sides, and a whole lot of deserts. It’s always iffy with Pot Luck and we’re always worried we won’t have enough food, but our volunteer servers make sure we make it last. Our volunteers are usually campers, residents, and even off-duty crew members. They are so generous to spend their valuable time helping us out and making the dinner possible.

Local businesses also lent a hand by donating goods and prizes. Meritta Bread supplied the dinner rolls, and Coke and Reddy Ice hooked us up with soda and ice! They’ve been helping us out for years and we are so grateful to have their support. We had a prize wheel again for guests to spin for a chance at one of our special prizes. We had over 20 local restaurants, shops, and vendors donate tickets, gift certificates, and promotional merchandise.

2011 marks a special milestone, not only because it’s our 45^th Anniversary, but this year was Patch’s first Thanksgiving Dinner! If you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Patch, our Pirate Mascot, make sure you check out the activities schedule for his appearance time next time you’re camping with us at the beach! He likes to take pictures and the wee little ones think he’s a lot of fun!

We’re so grateful for y’all coming out and sharing Thanksgiving with us! We hope to see you again next year.