Are you driving to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina from Rochester, NY and want to make it into a fun road trip, this article is for you! Today we are sharing unique roadside attractions and places to eat while driving to Myrtle Beach from NY.
Our road trip to Myrtle Beach from Rochester, New York was full of many surprises and all the stops we added really made the trip fun and exciting.
We love spending a week at the beach but for this trip we wanted to add a few stops along the way to make the family road trip part of our adventure.
We live in Rochester, New York and we usually drive the 13 hours to get to Myrtle Beach. We save on costs of flight and rental car by making the drive.
The fly time is around 3 hours and can take you right into Myrtle Beach International Airport but we prefer having our car and saving money on flight and car rental.
For this trip we wanted to take our time and enjoy a classic American road trip. We’ve become more and more interested in taking road trips and seeing everything the United States has to offer.
So instead of starting the vacation when we arrive, we decided to start it early and make the road trip part of the fun.
Planning a family road trip can be a fun way to explore new places and really connect as a family. Even when things get chaotic, which they will, we always appreciate the adventure and create lasting memories.
This drive to Myrtle Beach can be tailored any way you want. On our way home we have stopped in Washington D.C. for the night to see the sites.
We have also driven the entire trip straight through. It depends what kind of road trip you are looking for. We prefer to do a bit more at the start of our trip and drive through at the end.
After planning your road trip to Myrtle Beach be sure to check out these Myrtle Beach articles to plan your best family vacation.
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Our Road Trip to Myrtle Beach Stops:
- Leave Thursday afternoon, Stop at Sheetz for dinner.
- Hershey Chocolate World Thursday evening.
- First Overnight Stop: Springhill Suites-Hershey, Pennsylvania
- Dinosaur Land in Virginia
- Parker’s BBQ
- Whiligig Park
- Second Overnight Stop: Comfort Inn-Wilson, North Carolina
- South of the Border
- Myrtle Beach
Day 1: Leave early and Stop at Hershey Chocolate World
Our rental in Myrtle Beach started on Saturday so we decided to take our time and leave Thursday afternoon. This was actually a last minute decision and we booked our hotel that day.
We surprised the kids, grabbed our bags and got on the road!
The one thing about leaving last minute is that I was completely unprepared with food. Usually I pack a cooler with sandwiches and snacks but this time I only had dry goods like pretzels and granola bars.
We decided to just wing it and eat on the road.
Drive: Rochester to Sheetz, Lewisburg, PA (200 miles)
Our first stop was about 3 hours in at a Sheetz in Lewisburg, PA. Sheetz offers lots of little snacks and also bigger food like subs and chicken fingers.
We ate dinner here. You may be thinking dinner at a gas station sounds crazy but Sheetz is so much more! It is a great stop while on the road.
I got ham and cheese on a pretzel roll. It was very good. My husband got a sub and the kids picked a snack pack from the huge assortment of choices. Next: Hershey, PA!
Drive: Sheetz to Hershey Chocolate World(77.3 miles)
This was not our first visit to Hershey. We have spent time at the Hersheypark and at Hershey Chocolate World. This time we decided to stop at Hershey Chocolate World because we only had a few hours.
Hershey Chocolate World is the largest Hershey store in the world. It has a few attractions and a food court. Check out my full review of Our Visit to Hershey Chocolate World.
Drive: Hershey Chocolate World to Springhill Suites (2.2 miles)
In Hershey, we stayed at the Springhill Suites. It was a five minute drive from Hershey. When we arrived check in was easy and the room was nice and clean.
They only had King Bed rooms with a sleeper sofa and we had booked 2 double bed room but they were very kind and accommodated us with a discount on our room rate.
Overall we were happy with the stay and the continental breakfast in the morning. Update: This was a hotel stay from 2016. Please do your research on accommodations to determine if it is a good fit for your family.
Day 2: Roadside Attractions on the Way to Myrtle Beach
Drive: Springhill Suites to Dinosaur Land (138 miles)
We got on the road around 8:30am on Friday and made our 2 hour drive to Dinosaur Land in Virginia.
Dinosaur Land is a perfect road side attraction. It has been open for 50 years and offers a self-guided trail view of over 50 different dinosaurs. It even boasts a shark and King Kong.
There are many photo-ops here. My favorite being King-Kong.
A lot of the dinosaurs are very weathered and there are signs cautioning people of touching them. At the end of the trail there is a large gift shop. We enjoyed walking through the dinosaurs.
My daughter was a little freaked out by the “realistic blood” on some of the dinosaurs but it was really more fun and silly then scary.
We walked for about 30 minutes and enjoyed the fresh air, stretch of our legs, and had fun seeing this great road side attraction.
Drive: Dinosaur Land to Parker’s BBQ-Wilson, NC (278 miles)
After we left Dinosaur Land it was about a 30-45 minute drive to get on the highway. We were also ready for lunch. There were a few different food choices and a Target right before we got on the interstate.
We ended up going with Checkers because we wanted to keep moving. It wasn’t the best but it wasn’t the worst.
Next time I would have tried somewhere else but it filled us up. From there we continued our drive to Parker’s BBQ in Wilson, North Carolina where we would stop for the night.
We picked Wilson, NC to stop because my husband had done some research and found a BBQ place called Parker’s. We love finding different places along the road and it was a nice change to the fast food stops.
Parker’s is family style and has a welcoming feel. Our favorites were the hush puppies!!
Drive: Parker’s BBQ to Whirligig Park (2.4 miles)
After dinner we wanted to check out Whirligig Park. The park features artwork form Vollis Simpson. He used scrap metal to create these intricate pieces.
It was about 15 minutes out of our way and since our visit has become a nice park to walk around.
Drive: Whirligig Park to Comfort Suites (6.8 miles)
Next stop was the Comfort Suites in Wilson, NC. This is at an exit off I-95. There are many other hotels in this area.
Next time we might try a different one because there were a few issues with our room. First the refrigerator was defrosted and full of water. Second, the shower was broken.
Both issues were taken care of immediately and we were happy with the room and beds. They cleaned up the refrigerator and we showered in a room next door.
We had the option of switching rooms but the kids were settled and we were exhausted.
As a side note, I really liked that the pull out sofa was in the same room as the beds. Being a family of five it can be a challenge to find a room that fits us well.
My kids are still little and they prefer being in the same room as us during hotel stays. The continental breakfast was typical of a quick hotel stay and we ate and were on our way.
Update: This was a hotel stay from 2016. Please do your research on accommodations to determine if it is a good fit for your family.
Day 3: Myrtle Beach Here We Come
Drive: Comfort Suites to South of the Border (122 miles)
Saturday morning we left for our final day of our Myrtle Beach road trip. If you’ve ever driven through North Carolina I am sure you have seen a Pedro sign at some point.
Our road trip would not be complete without a quick stop at South of the Border. It is a roadside attraction that has gift shops, gas, food, even rides and mini-golf.
We walked around for a few minutes looking around, took some pictures, and got back on the road. South of the Border is not a place we would visit again. Driving by it is typically enough for me!
Drive: South of the Border to Myrtle Beach (82.3 miles)
We finally made it to the beach! I am so glad we decided to take our time to get to Myrtle Beach. The stops we made along the way were some of our favorite memories.
It made the time in the car more fun and we can’t wait to plan our next Myrtle Beach road trip.
