NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — JUNE 24, 2026

BY THOMAS BEACH VACATIONS

The City of North Myrtle Beach will hold a grand opening ceremony for Cypress Nook Disc Golf Course on Friday, June 26, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. at the North Myrtle Beach Park & Sports Complex — giving players their first official look at an 18-hole wooded course that rewards precision over power and rewards patience with some of the most scenic terrain the Sports Complex has to offer.

The North Myrtle Beach Park & Sports Complex at 150 Citizens Circle has long drawn athletes and families to its 160-acre campus of baseball and softball diamonds, soccer and lacrosse fields, walking trails, batting cages, playgrounds, and a cable waterpark. What it has never had, until now, is a disc golf course. Cypress Nook changes that — and it does not arrive as an afterthought tucked into a spare corner of the property. The course was threaded through a wooded section of the complex specifically chosen for the character of its natural environment: towering cypress trees, stands of slender slash pines, and terrain that rises and falls enough to change the math on nearly every throw.

Parks and Recreation Director Matt Gibbons described the course as a unique addition to the recreational opportunities available in North Myrtle Beach. The natural terrain and wooded environment, he said, create a playing experience that is expected to draw both local players and visitors to the area. Gibbons has overseen a period of significant expansion at the Sports Complex — most recently a $36 million, 90-acre expansion that doubled the baseball and softball capacity and drew 70 teams from 14 states for its inaugural tournament in February 2026. Cypress Nook is a different kind of addition: quieter, more contemplative, and built for a sport that has been growing steadily across the Grand Strand for years.

What the Course Plays Like

Cypress Nook is an 18-hole course built around the idea that placement matters more than distance. The fairways wind through dense tree coverage — cypress canopy overhead, pines pressing in from the sides — and the margins for error are consistently narrow. This is not a course that forgives the big, reckless throw. It asks players to read the gaps, choose the right disc, and commit to a line. Elevation changes add a vertical dimension to shot selection that is unusual for this part of South Carolina’s coastal plain, where most terrain runs flat to the horizon.

The course features dual tee layouts throughout: Main Tee Boxes for experienced players seeking the full technical challenge, and Beginner/Jr. Tee Boxes that shorten the layout and open it up for newer players and younger participants. That dual-tee structure is one of Cypress Nook’s most practical design decisions — it allows the same 18 holes to serve a seasoned player grinding through a precision round and a family out for an afternoon walk through the trees, often at the same time without either group getting in the other’s way.

Course signage follows standard disc golf conventions. Mando markers on the fairway indicate a mandatory direction of play. OB markers denote out-of-bounds areas where a throw leaves the course. Drop Zone markers identify alternate throw points for situations where a player goes OB or misses a Mando. Cart Drop signs indicate where golf carts may not proceed — the course is navigated on foot from those points forward. The course is available on the UDisc app, the standard platform for disc golfers to track scores, find layouts, and navigate unfamiliar courses. Official PDGA game rules apply throughout.

Getting There and What to Expect

The North Myrtle Beach Park & Sports Complex is located at 150 Citizens Circle, Little River, SC 29566. Parking and access to Hole No. 1 are available from the soccer parking lot near the Segway Building. A restroom facility and a picnic shelter are located on the course. Summer hours for the grounds run from 6:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Questions about the course or the complex can be directed to the Park Office at (843) 281-3800 or the Park Phone at (843) 582-4870. Additional rules and facility information are available at Parks.NMB.us.

The course is free and open to the public, consistent with the broader philosophy of the Sports Complex as a community recreation resource. Players are asked to follow posted course etiquette: do not throw until the fairway is clear, stay on the paths rather than walking the fairways themselves, allow faster groups to play through, and carry out all trash. No alcohol, glass containers, tobacco products, or motorized vehicles are permitted on the course. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

Disc Golf on the Grand Strand

Cypress Nook arrives into a disc golf scene along the Grand Strand that has been quietly growing for several years. Courses at Withers Swash Park in Myrtle Beach, Splinter City near the former Air Force base, Warrior Run, and several others have established disc golf as a legitimate recreational draw in the area — one that attracts a mix of serious competitive players and casual participants looking for something to do outdoors that doesn’t require tee times or green fees. The addition of a wooded technical course at the Sports Complex gives the Grand Strand a layout unlike anything currently available: genuine tree coverage, significant elevation change, and a setting that feels removed from the coastal commercial strip even though it sits just a few miles from the Ocean Drive and Crescent Beach neighborhoods of North Myrtle Beach.

For visitors staying in Cherry Grove, Windy Hill, or anywhere else along the North Myrtle Beach shoreline, Cypress Nook represents the kind of half-day excursion that fits naturally into a beach week — a morning round through the trees before the afternoon sun sends everyone back to the water. The Sports Complex already functions as a destination in its own right, with enough amenities to occupy a full family for hours. The disc golf course is one more reason to make the drive inland.

Cypress Nook Disc Golf Course — At a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

The Ice Cream King Is Back: Original Painter’s Homemade Ice Cream Reopens in North Myrtle Beach

Some places on the Grand Strand you visit once and remember forever. Original Painter’s Homemade Ice Cream is one of them. It sits on Highway 17 South in North Myrtle Beach the way it always has — red roof catching the summer light, walk-up windows open to the salt air, picnic tables full of families working through cones before the ice cream wins the race with the heat. It opened in 1952 and has been part of the fabric of this stretch of coast ever since, surviving seven decades of beach town change through the simple and inexhaustible power of making something good from scratch and serving it with genuine care.

After a difficult stretch that saw the business change hands, struggle under new ownership, and temporarily close, Original Painter’s is coming back — and it is coming back the right way. The Munafo family has reacquired the shop, and Dominic Anthony Munafo, the man North Myrtle Beach has known for years as the Ice Cream King, is returning to the counter he has spent most of his adult life behind. The kitchen is being gutted and rebuilt with modern equipment. The made-from-scratch ice cream is coming back. And the man who once delivered butter pecan backstage to B.B. King is ready to make sure nobody leaves unhappy.

For anyone staying in Ocean Drive or along Crescent Beach this summer, this is the news you have been waiting for.

A North Myrtle Beach Institution Comes Home

The story of Original Painter’s over the past few years is one that the North Myrtle Beach community has watched with both affection and anxiety. Dominic Munafo had worked in his father James Mantzanas’s shop for more than 24 years — making ice cream, building relationships with customers who came back season after season, delivering cones to performers backstage at the House of Blues — before taking formal ownership himself. When the family sold the business in late 2023, it marked a genuine transition for a shop that had been part of the Munafo family’s identity for the better part of three decades.

The transition did not go smoothly. The new ownership struggled to maintain the shop’s standards, according to accounts shared by longtime customers and regulars on social media, and Original Painter’s eventually closed earlier in 2026. For a stretch of time, Google Maps listed it as permanently closed — a designation that felt wrong to anyone who had spent a North Myrtle Beach summer eating their way through a lineup of flavors made on-site since before the interstate existed.

Then the Munafo family moved to get it back. By June 2026, the reacquisition was complete, and Dominic was already at work on the kitchen renovation that will define this next chapter of the shop. He told reporters he missed the work and missed the people — a sentiment that, for anyone who has watched him work a summer crowd on Highway 17, rings entirely true.

Seventy-Four Years on Highway 17

Original Painter’s Homemade Ice Cream was founded in 1952 by Mr. and Mrs. Painter, a couple who believed that North Myrtle Beach needed a place where ice cream was taken seriously — made from real ingredients, on-site, by people who understood that the difference between mass-produced and handmade is not a marketing distinction but a sensory one. The Painters started with a vision of being the place to go for ice cream on the Grand Strand, and for more than seven decades, that is exactly what they built.

The exterior of the shop has barely changed since those early years. The red roof is still there. The walk-up service windows are still there. The outdoor picnic tables where families have been eating ice cream in the North Myrtle Beach heat since the Eisenhower administration are still there. That deliberate preservation of the 1950s aesthetic is part of what makes Original Painter’s feel like something beyond a business — it is a piece of institutional memory for the Grand Strand, the kind of place that people drive past and feel something before they even stop, because they have been stopping here their whole lives.

Inside, the kitchen is where the real identity of the shop has always lived. Dominic Munafo has described making ice cream as a matter of feel and instinct as much as recipe — the way the mixture is whipped, the temperature at which it is stored, the particular attention paid to texture and taste that comes from decades of doing the same thing with the same care. At the height of the summer season, Munafo has made as many as 85 tubs of ice cream in a single session, keeping upwards of 180 buckets in the freezer ahead of the spring break and summer crowds. That level of production, done by hand and from scratch, is what Original Painter’s has always meant when it says homemade.

The Making of the Ice Cream King

Dominic Anthony Munafo did not give himself the title of Ice Cream King. It was given to him by someone who knew something about royalty. The late B.B. King — the King of the Blues himself — was a regular customer and a devotee of Original Painter’s butter pecan, a flavor he loved despite the dietary complications that came with being diabetic. Munafo had developed the habit of making special backstage deliveries to performers at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, and on one of those visits, when he brought the butter pecan to B.B. King’s dressing room, the blues legend looked at the man who had made the ice cream and gave him the name that has defined his reputation on the Grand Strand ever since.

Munafo has always worn the title with a specific sense of purpose. He has said that the Ice Cream King’s sole purpose is to make sure nobody leaves the shop unhappy — a standard that sounds simple and is, in practice, the hardest standard there is. It requires not just good ice cream but the kind of attentiveness to customers that makes a transaction feel like a relationship. For the families who have been coming to Original Painter’s for generations, that is precisely what Munafo represents: continuity, quality, and the particular pleasure of being remembered.

Munafo, originally from Baltimore, Maryland, brought to the shop the work ethic of a man raised in the family business tradition. His father James Mantzanas modeled a business philosophy centered on quality, client care, and the kind of pride in craft that does not bend to shortcuts. After more than two decades learning that philosophy from the inside, Munafo internalized it completely. Now, at the age of 74 and with the keys back in his hands, he is applying it again from scratch — literally.

Vanna White, B.B. King, and a Wall Full of Stories

Walk into Original Painter’s and one of the first things you notice is the walls. They are covered in photographs, signed memorabilia, and the accumulated visual record of a business that has spent seventy-four years at the intersection of North Myrtle Beach community life and a touring circuit that has brought some of the most recognizable names in American entertainment through this stretch of the South Carolina coast.

Among the most prominent is a signed photograph from Vanna White, the Wheel of Fortune host and proud Conway, South Carolina native who has been coming to Painter’s long enough to have a menu item named after her. On a 2020 episode of Wheel of Fortune, White told host Pat Sajak that in her hometown of North Myrtle Beach, there was a Vanna Banana Split at Painter’s Ice Cream — and that she had been going there for, she paused, a very long time. White’s connection to the shop is not ceremonial. It is the kind of relationship that develops between a local institution and the people who grew up considering it a fixed point of summer.

Beyond Vanna White and B.B. King, the list of performers who have eaten Munafo’s ice cream during House of Blues runs reads like a broad and eclectic survey of American music: Eric Clapton, Hootie and the Blowfish, Outkast, Disturbed, Puddle of Mudd, Weezer, Mac Miller, and Marilyn Manson, among many others. Munafo has said that one of his favorite things about the work is never knowing who might come through the door or be waiting backstage — a sentiment that speaks to the particular pleasure of running a business that genuinely serves everyone, from the family on their first North Myrtle Beach vacation to the rock star looking for something real before the show.

What’s Changing — and What Isn’t

The exterior of Original Painter’s is staying exactly as it is. The red roof, the walk-up windows, the outdoor seating, the 1950s-era silhouette that signals to returning visitors — from the road, from memory, from years of habit — that they have arrived at the right place. That is not changing. What is changing is everything inside the production side of the shop.

Munafo is overseeing a complete renovation of the kitchen, replacing old equipment with modern machinery capable of supporting the from-scratch production that is Original Painter’s signature. The goal is simple and unambiguous: everything will be made the way it always was, by hand and on-site, with no shortcuts taken on ingredients or process. The flavors that regulars have been ordering for decades — butter pecan, maple nut, pistachio almond, banana pudding, strawberry cheesecake, the classics — will return. New additions are planned as well, though Munafo has not yet detailed the full updated menu. What he has made clear is that the commitment to quality that defined the shop’s first seven decades will define its next chapter.

The shop made ice cream in a volume that would surprise most people unfamiliar with what demand looks like on the Grand Strand in peak summer — dozens of tubs per session, more than a hundred buckets staged and ready as spring break arrived and the seasonal crowds began their annual pilgrimage to Highway 17. Getting that production infrastructure back online with new equipment, and doing it right rather than fast, is the work Munafo is focused on as the shop prepares to reopen. He has been doing this long enough to know that the ice cream has to be right before the doors open, not after.

Where to Find It This Summer

Original Painter’s Homemade Ice Cream is located at 2408 Highway 17 South, North Myrtle Beach, SC 29582. The red roof and classic facade make it unmistakable from the road. It is worth noting that a separate, entirely independent business called Painter’s Homemade Ice Cream operates in Murrells Inlet — the two shops have no affiliation, and Original Painter’s on Highway 17 South is the one with the 74-year history, the celebrity wall, and the Ice Cream King behind the counter.

For visitors staying in Cherry Grove Beach or along the Windy Hill section of the beach, Original Painter’s is a short drive south on Highway 17. It has always functioned best as the kind of stop you make on the way back from somewhere — from dinner, from a day on the water, from whatever the Grand Strand offered that afternoon. An evening cone from Painter’s is one of those small rituals that beach vacations are quietly built around, the kind of thing that ends up in the family photograph and gets talked about on the drive home.

For those renting oceanfront homes or oceanfront condos in Ocean Drive or Crescent Beach, a trip to Painter’s is exactly the kind of spontaneous, unscheduled evening that North Myrtle Beach does better than anywhere. You park on Highway 17, walk up to the window, order something you probably haven’t had in a year and have been thinking about since the last time you left, and stand there in the summer night eating it at a picnic table while the kids argue about whose flavor is better. That is Original Painter’s. It has been that for 74 years. And now, with the Ice Cream King back behind the counter, it is going to keep being that for a long time to come.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources: MyHorryNews.com; WMBF News; Yahoo News / AOL News (reporting by Chase Karacostas); MyrtleBeach.com; Tripadvisor; Yelp. Reopening date and operational details as reported June 9, 2026. Confirm current hours directly with Original Painter’s Homemade Ice Cream at (843) 272-6934 before visiting.

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Ocean Drive  |
Crescent Beach  |
Windy Hill  |
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North Myrtle Beach Turns Green for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade & Festival

Every spring, North Myrtle Beach wakes up to the sound of bagpipes, laughter, and the unmistakable color green spreading across Main Street. Chairs line the sidewalks early in the morning, families gather with blankets and coffee, and golf carts roll into place as the city prepares for one of its most beloved traditions.

The North Myrtle Beach St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival is the largest St. Patrick’s Day celebration on the Grand Strand. With more than 100 parade entries and a long history spanning over three decades, this festive day brings thousands of visitors together to celebrate Irish heritage, community spirit, and the simple joy of being by the beach.

If you’re planning to explore local events during your stay, our North Myrtle Beach Concierge Guide highlights festivals, attractions, and things to do throughout the year.

A Sea of Green: The Famous North Myrtle Beach Parade

The celebration begins bright and early on Saturday, March 14, when Main Street transforms into a festive parade route filled with decorated floats, marching groups, performers, and community organizations.

The parade officially begins at 9:00 AM, but seasoned attendees know the best viewing spots fill quickly. Locals begin setting up chairs and blankets by 8:30 AM to secure the perfect vantage point.

This two-hour spectacle is televised live and draws spectators from across the Grand Strand who come to experience the colorful floats, music, costumes, and Irish-themed fun.

Parade Route and Viewing Tips

The parade begins on Ocean Boulevard at 2nd Avenue North and travels south toward 1st Avenue South. From there, it winds through the heart of North Myrtle Beach:

• Ocean Boulevard
• 1st Avenue South
• Hillside Drive
• Main Street
• Ending at Ye Olde Kings Highway

One of the most exciting viewing locations is the Horseshoe on Main Street, where judges evaluate the parade entries and an emcee announces the participants. This area is also one of the most energetic sections of the route.

Local television personalities from WPDE will broadcast the parade live from the Community Stage for those who cannot attend in person.

The Street Festival on Main Street

Once the parade concludes, the celebration continues with the 36th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Festival from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

Main Street becomes a lively street festival with more than 120 craft vendors, dozens of food vendors, and three stages of live entertainment.

Visitors can expect:

• Irish pipe bands and dancers
• Handmade crafts from regional artisans
• Irish-inspired foods and festival favorites
• Street performers and roaming leprechauns
• A children’s area with rides and games

The atmosphere is festive, family-friendly, and unmistakably North Myrtle Beach.

Fun Contests and Family Activities

One of the most entertaining traditions of the festival is the lineup of friendly competitions that invite visitors to join the fun.

The Leprechaun Contest and Jr. Leprechaun Contest reward the most creative and spirited Irish outfits. Judges evaluate participants based on originality, enthusiasm, and overall appearance.

For those with a competitive appetite, the Shepherd’s Pie Eating Contest challenges participants to clear their plates without using their hands. The winner earns bragging rights and a plaque.

Both contests take place at the Irish Stage at 1:30 PM.

Live Entertainment All Day

The festival features three stages of live music and performances throughout the day.

Irish Stage

• 11:00 – 12:00 | Brendan O’Connor
• 12:00 | Coastal Carolina Shield Pipes and Drums
• 12:30 – 1:15 | Brendan O’Connor
• 1:30 | Leprechaun & Shepherd’s Pie Contests
• 2:00 – 4:00 | The Muckers

Community Stage

• 9:00 – 11:00 | Parade Broadcast – WPDE
• 11:00 – 11:45 | Triple Toe Cloggers
• 12:00 – 1:30 | Radio Revolver
• 1:30 | Coastal Carolina Shields Pipes and Drums
• 2:00 – 4:00 | Bailey Road Band

Ocean Stage

• 11:00 – 1:00 | Painted Man
• 1:00 – 2:00 | Drake Irish Dance Group
• 2:00 – 4:00 | The Mighty Kicks

Parking and Shuttle Information

Several parking locations are available throughout the event area.

• 2nd Avenue North and Ocean Boulevard
• 1st Avenue South and Ocean Boulevard
• McLean Park – 93 Oak Drive

A free shuttle service runs from 8 AM to 5 PM from Ocean Drive Elementary School, making it easy to travel to the festival area without worrying about traffic.

Make It a North Myrtle Beach Getaway

Events like the St. Patrick’s Day Parade are one of the reasons visitors fall in love with North Myrtle Beach. The city blends small-town charm with coastal beauty, creating a welcoming atmosphere for festivals, concerts, and community celebrations.

If you’re planning a spring getaway, explore our North Myrtle Beach Concierge Guide to discover more events, restaurants, and attractions throughout the area.

And when you’re ready to plan your stay, Thomas Beach Vacations offers a wide selection of oceanfront properties.

Browse available rentals:

• View All Condo Rentals
• View All Beach House Rentals

Vacation Starts Here – North Myrtle Beach.

Call (866) 249-2100 to plan your beach vacation with Thomas Beach Vacations.

New Restaurants and Shops Coming Near North Myrtle Beach and Little River

The northern end of the Grand Strand continues to grow, and visitors staying in North Myrtle Beach are about to see even more dining and shopping options appear just minutes away.

A new shopping plaza called Calabash Commons is under construction just across the North Carolina border near Little River. Located at the northwest corner of Calabash Road and Highway 17 in Carolina Shores, the development sits less than a mile from Horry County and only a short drive from the Cherry Grove and Ocean Drive sections of North Myrtle Beach.

For both residents and vacationers, the new plaza will add convenient restaurants, shopping, and services close to the northern Grand Strand.

A New Publix Grocery Store Near North Myrtle Beach

The anchor tenant for the Calabash Commons development will be a new Publix grocery store, one of the most popular supermarket chains in the Southeast. Construction on the store has already begun.

For travelers staying in North Myrtle Beach vacation rentals, the new Publix will offer another nearby grocery option for stocking up on beach snacks, fresh seafood, and everything needed for a week along the coast.

Developments anchored by Publix often attract restaurants and service businesses, and Calabash Commons is already shaping up to become a busy commercial hub for the northern Grand Strand.

Restaurants and Businesses Planned for the Plaza

According to the retail site map for the development, several restaurants and businesses are expected to open in the shopping center.

• Dunkin’ Donuts
• Eggs Up Grill
• Firehouse Subs
• McDonald’s
• River Oaks Pizzeria
• CVS Pharmacy
• Chase Bank

River Oaks Pizzeria, a well-known local restaurant with locations around the Myrtle Beach area and Surfside Beach, will bring a familiar local favorite to the development.

Another local restaurant, Cutty’s Pizza in Little River, has announced that it plans to relocate to the Calabash Commons plaza later this year. Approximately seven additional retail spaces remain available in the plaza, which means more businesses may soon be announced.

More Businesses Coming to the North Myrtle Beach Area

The development around the North Myrtle Beach and Little River area is not slowing down.

Additional projects planned nearby include:

• A new Walmart store
• A Wawa convenience store and gas station
• Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

These additions reflect the steady growth of the northern Grand Strand as more visitors and new residents discover the quieter coastal communities surrounding North Myrtle Beach.

Exploring the Northern Grand Strand

Many visitors staying in North Myrtle Beach enjoy exploring nearby coastal towns like Little River and Calabash. The area is known for its waterfront restaurants, seafood houses, fishing charters, and relaxed coastal atmosphere.

It’s also one of the reasons North Myrtle Beach has become a favorite destination for travelers looking for a beach vacation that offers both peaceful oceanfront neighborhoods and easy access to restaurants, shops, and attractions.

If you’re planning your trip, you can explore even more activities and local attractions in our guide to  Things to Do in North Myrtle Beach.

From Cherry Grove to Ocean Drive and beyond, the northern Grand Strand offers countless places to explore during your stay.

Plan Your North Myrtle Beach Vacation

Whether you’re planning a family beach trip, a golf getaway, or a relaxing oceanfront retreat, North Myrtle Beach offers some of the most beautiful beaches along the Carolina coast.

Thomas Beach Vacations offers a wide selection of oceanfront condos and beach houses throughout North Myrtle Beach, including Cherry Grove, Ocean Drive, Crescent Beach, and Windy Hill.

Vacation Starts Here – North Myrtle Beach!

Call (866) 249-2100 or browse available vacation rentals at www.northmyrtlebeachvacations.com.