Brookgreen Gardens {Myrtle Beach, SC}

We spent a little time in Myrtle Beach with my family over the July 4th weekend.  While we were there, we drove down to Brookgreen Gardens to see the gardens and Lego exhibit.

We only saw a small portion of the gardens on our way to the zoo (where most of the Lego sculptures were located).  The portion of the gardens that we did see was absolutely gorgeous!

In addition to the gardens, there is a small zoo, a restaurant, café, gift shop and welcome center. We felt like the kids (all 6 of them) would enjoy the zoo the most and headed that way.  Luckily, that is where the Legos were too.

This section of the zoo had the birds of prey. One of the workers was feeding them while we were there. Evidently the birds get a “treat” on Fridays. A treat in the form of a dead white rat. There are some things you can’t un-see, friends!

The Lego sculptures were amazingly well done!  I can’t imagine how much time went into creating them.

Each Lego Sculpture had a sign next to it that indicated how many bricks were used in that sculpture.  This little turtle took over 23,000 Legos to build!

I think our clan of kiddos probably enjoyed the playground the most of all.  Most of the zoo was shaded but the playground was in more of an open area.  And it was getting hot, hot, hot!

The playground had a misting area and we all took a break under it!

 

We had such a good time at Brookgreen Gardens!  Here are a few things things we learned along the way.

• The tickets were $16 for adults and $8 for kids (3 and under were free).  The tickets are valid for 7 days.  We didn’t even see half of what was there and could have gone back another day if we’d had time.
• We were starving when we got there and briefly looked at the restaurant menu before heading to the café instead.  The restaurant looked a little fancy for our party of 8 (6 of which were ages 9 and under).  The café had several kids meal options which were around $5 each. The café is in a little courtyard with picnic tables.
• The grounds are large so prepare for a lot of walking.  A shuttle runs around the gardens but it wasn’t running the day we were there.  There were lots of benches for resting though.
• There is a Butterfly House on the grounds but admission is an extra $3 for adults and $2 for children.  We opted not to go through it as we were already hot and tired and the kids just wanted to play on the playground.
• Some of the statues were a little risque for my sheltered girls.  I heard “What’s that, Mama?” more than once.
• There is a detective type game for kids to play throughout the gardens although we didn’t do it on this trip.