Roofer in Myrtle Beach, SC

We’ve reached the semifinals of the 2025 S.C. High School League football playoffs. The winners of the games below advance to next week’s state championship games.

Class 5A Division I

Upper State

Dutch Fork 30, Dorman 10

Lower State

Summerville 45, James Island 16

Next week: State championship game

Summerville vs. Dutch Fork, 7:36 p.m. Saturday (Dec. 6)

Class 5A Division II

Upper State

Northwestern 51, Indian Land 19

Lower State

Irmo 44, Berkeley 6

Next week: State championship game

Irmo vs. Northwestern, 7:36 p.m. Friday (Dec. 5)

Class 4A

Upper State

South Pointe 40, Westside 0

Lower State

South Florence 55, Gray Collegiate 14

Next week: State championship game

South Florence vs. South Pointe, 12:06 p.m. Saturday (Dec. 6)

Class 3A

Upper State

Belton-Honea Path 35, Powdersville 7

Lower State

Oceanside Collegiate 38, Loris 7

Next week: State championship game

Oceanside Collegiate vs. Belton-Honea Path, 12:06 p.m. Friday (Dec. 5)

Class 2A

Upper State

Strom Thurmond 15, Fairfield Central 13

Lower State

Hampton County 43, Central 22

Next week: State championship game

Hampton County vs. Strom Thurmond, 4:06 p.m. Saturday (Dec. 6)

Class A

Upper State

Lamar 48, Lewisville 27

Lower State

Bamberg-Ehrhardt 29, Cross 26

Next week: State championship game

Bamberg-Ehrhardt vs. Lamar, 4:06 p.m. Friday (Dec. 5)

A beloved East Coast convenience store and popular fast food burger chain are set to open new North Carolina locations less than a mile from Horry County.

They will join two other major retail chains that also announced new stores in the same area.

Philadelphia-based store chain Wawa and Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers are building new locations in Carolina Shores, North Carolina, near Calabash.

Wawa has spread across the East Coast with more than 1,100 stores. Currently, the Wawa store nearest the Grand Strand is in Lumberton, about 90 miles away from Myrtle Beach.

But the planned Carolina Shores location will be less than 30 miles from Myrtle Beach, just over the North Carolina state line.

Publix announced in 2023 a new location opening on the northwest coroner of Calabash Road and Highway 17, The Sun News previously reported. A new Walmart also will be built in the same area. Construction has already begun for those stores.

The Brunswick Planning Department approved site plans to build a Wawa and Freddy’s in September, according to the Wilmington StarNews.

Although there are no plans to expand into South Carolina, the Calabash-area Wawa isn’t the only new location opening closer to Horry County. Over the summer, Wawa broke ground on a new store at South 17th St. and Wellington Avenue in Wilmington.

While there are Freddy’s restaurants in the Palmetto State, the closest location is out in Florence. Like the name suggests, the vintage-inspired chain is known for its frozen treats and hamburgers.

However, there are currently at least two Freddy’s that are planned for the Myrtle Beach area, The Sun News previously reported. One will be along S.C. 544 and the other along U.S. 501.

Wawa sells a variety of snacks and drinks, but devotees especially love the coffee and sandwiches. Other prepared food options include soups, salads and pizzas.

While opening dates haven’t yet been announced, fans will have to wait a while to visit. The Sun News has reached out to Wawa and Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers for comment.

The Myrtle Beach area has seen several renovations and closures of its golf courses over the last few years.

However, it still remains one of the top golf destinations in the country with more than 90 courses across the Grand Strand.

Many of those courses were named among Golf Digest’s “America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses.” The golf magazine also named its top 25 Myrtle Beach courses, both private and public, to play.

While the magazine listed courses outside Myrtle Beach, such as in Pawleys Island and Sunset Beach in North Carolina, we focused on the ones located in Horry County.

The Dunes Golf & Beach Club

The private course at 9000 N. Ocean Blvd. in Myrtle Beach has oceanside dunes and was built in the 1940s. It was the only one to make Golf Digest’s top 100 courses, coming in at No. 79. It also made the magazine’s top 25 Myrtle Beach course list.

It’s dotted with lagoons, which pose a dangerous problem of alligators for golfers, especially on the 11th through 13th holes that is dubbed Alligator Alley. It has been the site for the PGA Tour’s Myrtle Beach Classic for the past two years.

TPC Myrtle Beach

It once was the host of the Senior PGA Tour Championship, but now hosts the Dustin Johnson’s annual World Junior Golf Championship.

Located at 1199 TPC Blvd. in Murrells Inlet, the public course is designed to challenge even the pros, the magazine said.

Barefoot Resort & Golf

Known as the “Fantastic Four,” three of Barefoot Resort’s four courses made the top list. The public Dye Course is the highest-ranked of the four courses at Barefoot Resort, 4980 Barefoot Resort Bridge Road in North Myrtle Beach. It’s Love Course and Fazio Course also made the list. The Love Course is Love Golf Design’s only work in Myrtle Beach, according to the magazine, and features recreated ruins of an old plantation home on holes 3 through 7.

Tidewater Golf Club

This public golf course is nestled between the Intracoastal Waterway and Cherry Grove Inlet in North Myrtle Beach. Located at 1400 Tidewater Drive, it offers golfers a scenic view and a high-ranking layout.

Grande Dunes Resort Course

Grande Dunes, located at 8700 Golf Village Lane in Myrtle Beach, reopened in September 2022 after a complete greens and bunker renovation over the summer.

Myrtle Beach National: King’s North

This golf course along U.S. 501 near downtown Myrtle Beach is home to three Arnold Palmer designed courses. King’s North previously has been on Golf Digest’s 100 greatest public courses list.

The Legends Golf Resort

Three of this golf resorts’ courses made the list, Heathland, Parkland and Moorland. Heathland is designed in a Scottish links-style, with open, rolling terrain, the magazine said. The public golf course is located at 1500 Legends Road in the Myrtle Beach area.

Arcadian Shores Golf Club

This Myrtle Beach public golf course opened in 1974 at 701 Hilton Road. It was designed by renowned golf course architect Rees Jones.

Prestwick Country Club

Prestwick, 1001 Links Road, boasts that it has the look and feel of a private club but is open to the public. It’s located just a few miles from the Myrtle Beach International Airport.

Pine Lakes Country Club

Known as “The Granddaddy,” this is the first golf course in Myrtle Beach, opening in 1927. The course at 5603 Granddaddy Drive underwent an extensive renovation in 2021.

Glen Dornoch Waterway Golf Links

Situated on the Intracoastal Waterway, the magazine describes Glen Dornoch as having “terrific views and captivating design variety.” The public course is located at 4840 Glen Dornoch Way in Little River.

Arrowhead Country Club

The Myrtle Beach golf course has three distinct nine-hole courses. The 27-hole golf course is located at 3433 Parkside Drive.

Man O’ War Golf Club

Water is a factor on nearly every hole at this Myrtle Beach area course, according to the magazine. The course that opened in 1995 is located at 5601 Leeshire Blvd.

Thomas Gordon has dreamed of being an author since he was 5 years old.

Over the years, he could see the story he wanted to write forming in his mind. A lover of the ocean, his family’s trips to North Myrtle Beach, and an eventual relocation to the coastal city, helped solidify the book’s plot and its characters.

But getting the book written, as well as published, became a challenge for the now 21-year-old. In 2014, he was diagnosed with the mitochondrial disease Kearns-Sayre syndrome, a rare neuromuscular condition in which symptoms usually appear before the age of 20. Gordon was 12 when he diagnosed. There is no cure for the disease, but it can be treated.

The disease has robbed Gordon of his eyesight, and he relies on hearing aids. He can’t walk, hold a pen or type. But his mind remains sharp, and he maintains a clever wit whenever he speaks.

Writing ‘Pearl Tides and the Search for the Pahunas’

He managed writing the story through his mother, who became his ghostwriter of sorts. But every word and idea in “Pearl Tides and the Search for the Pahunas” is Gordon’s, his mother Missy Gibbons-Gordon said.

“I got inspired by the ocean,” Thomas Gordon said. The idea for the book actually started while Thomas and his mother were sitting on the shoreline in Crescent Beach, where they live.

Thomas would dictate to mom, and she would write it down. Gibbons-Gordon would try to make suggestions or give advice, and her son would shut it down, she said, laughing.

“It was a lesson in patience,” Gibbons-Gordon said.

“My wife tried to stick her 2 cents in there, and it wasn’t happening,” Thomas’ father, Neil Gordon, said.

A lesson in protecting the ocean

It took about 10 years for the book to be finished and then published. The family chose to self-publish the book, which is available on Amazon and bookstores Beach Bookshop and Video, 225 Sea Mountain Highway, and Bookends, 753 Main St., in North Myrtle Beach.

“It was the best moment of my life,” Thomas said of his book being published.

The book is a children’s chapter adventure book that is set under the ocean. Four 12-year-olds are invited to attend the exclusive underwater school Pearl Tides Academy, where there are crabs, mermaids, dolphins and other sea creatures who are able to speak and interact with the students.

The four children eventually find themselves taking part in a mission of protecting an endangered species of oyster from a greedy entrepreneur who wants the oysters for himself. The kids soon learn that the oysters are important to the health of the ocean.

The book allows readers to learn about the ocean, as well as protecting the environment, something that is close to Thomas Gordon’s heart.

Pahunas are rare oysters that hold an exclusive pearl inside, called the infinity pearl, Gibbons-Gordon said. They also have the ability to filter more water than any other oyster in the world.

“If the oyster would die, all the sea creatures would die,” she said.

Body giving out, but ‘his imagination has not’

Thomas has named many of the characters in his book after family members and pets.

“I wanted to be a mermaid,” his mother said. But instead of Missy, Thomas chose the name Diana.

His father said that while Thomas’ body is giving out, his imagination has not. “He’s smart,” his father said.

Thomas graduated from high school by attending cyber school. He’s considering taking some college classes.

When he’s not writing, he listens to books on tape.

He’s currently working on a second book. And he might include his brother, who lives in Pittsburgh. If he does, he already knows what creature he will be. “A sea cucumber,” Thomas deadpans.

With Thanksgiving behind us, it’s time to focus on Christmas – although we know that many of you decked your halls and started shopping before that turkey was in the oven.

The holiday also may be a time for you to take a break and get away from the hustle and bustle that comes with it.

Myrtle Beach was ranked by Southern Living as one of the top Christmas-loving cities in the South with Southern hospitality that’s perfect for a holiday getaway. It also made the list of Only in Your State, a national online travel publication that highlights off-the-beaten path attractions and places across the country, for its Christmas charm.

Myrtle Beach was named among Southern Living’s list of 30 small town getaways for its coastal charm at Christmastime. The city has its month-long holiday festival, Winter Wonderland at the Beach, which features an oceanfront lights display along Myrtle Beach’s famed boardwalk. It begins Nov. 28 and ends Jan. 4, 2026.

Downtown is transformed into a festive retreat, drawing more than 100,000 visitors each year.

Southern Living also describes the many Christmas shows at Myrtle Beach’s theaters, such as Carolina Opry’s “The Christmas Show of the South.”

The article mentions “The Night of a Thousand Candles” at Brookgreen Gardens; however, the botanical park is located in Murrells Inlet, which is in neighboring Georgetown County, about 40 minutes from Myrtle Beach.

Myrtle Beach also was recognized for its holiday spirit at Broadway at the Beach, as well as the Christmas activities on the boardwalk.

Other South Carolina towns that made the list were Rock Hill, Greenville, Newberry, Greenwood, Charleston, Aiken, Spartanburg, Columbia and Anderson.