Snowbirds starting to trickle in to Myrtle Beach

Up until five years ago, Kenneth and Susan McAdoo of Ohio spent their winters in Florida. Then a neighbor told them about Myrtle Beach.

“There’s so much more to do here,” Susan McAdoo said one morning last week before heading to The Market Common to see the movie “J. Edgar” and grab lunch. “In the winter months, [businesses] cater to the snowbirds.”

The McAdoos, who arrived in November and will stay at Myrtle Beach Resort until the end of March, are among the early snowbirds who have started trickling into Myrtle Beach for their three- to six-month stays, trading the harsh winters in the Northeast and Canada for the Grand Strand’s usually tamer temperatures.

Most say they come here because it is affordable, there’s lots to do, the weather is nice – temperatures in the 70s last week, for example – and they get to reconnect with other snowbirds.

Most will arrive in early January and stay through March or April, and experts say the beach should have a snowbird season similar to last year, though some businesses say they already are seeing signs that it could be a bit better. And a good dollar exchange rate for Canadians could give the Grand Strand a boost by prompting more snowbirds to head this way, or spend more when they get here.

“We’ve had more customers the past few days compared to last year,” Mike Weathers, an assistant manager at the K&W Cafeteria at 20th Avenue South in Myrtle Beach – a popular eating spot for snowbirds – said a week ago. “Hopefully, it’s a good sign. It keeps us going through the winter. It’s crucial for everybody, really.”

Other businesses aren’t as optimistic. Affordable Family Resort in Myrtle Beach expects about the same number of snowbirds as last year, with most of them coming from Canada and arriving in January, general manager Glenda Ammons said.

Snowbirds have filled about five rooms since October, but that will swell to 20 or more come January, she said.

“The economy – I can’t tell that it is picking up much,” Ammons said.

All the regulars and a few more are expected at Jonathan Harbour on Myrtle Beach’s oceanfront, though most are waiting until January to arrive, general manager Glenn Deringer said. The season has gotten off to a slow start, he said, adding that he’s expecting the rush next month.

“Even some of the regulars pushed it back,” Deringer said of the snowbirds’ arrivals. “It seems like everybody is just waiting until after the new year to come down.”

But the Grand Strand, as well as other popular spots for snowbirds from Canada, stands to get a boost this winter because the Canadian dollar is at par in the United States, making their money go further this winter, said Michael MacKenzie, executive director of the Canadian Snowbird Association.

“That drives everything,” he said. “The bottom line is Canadians will go, stay longer. … They’ve got more discretionary income than they did last year.”

South Carolina is the fifth most-popular winter destination for Canadian snowbirds, behind top-ranked Florida, Arizona, Texas and California, MacKenzie said.

Grand Strand hotels, restaurants, theaters and other businesses rely on the snowbirds from Canada and the Northeast to help make ends meet during the slow winter season, and some lodging properties said they would have to close this time of year without them.

“Without them, we wouldn’t have an offseason,” said Joy MacBay, front office and reservations manager for Myrtle Beach Resort Vacations. “It would be a no season.”

That dependence prompts many to pull out all the stops for these customers, setting aside hospitality suites, coordinating activities, calling snowbirds who haven’t arrived trying to entice them to come down a bit early for a New Year’s Eve party and even cleaning snow off their cars if the Grand Strand gets a winter storm.

“We want to make them feel like family,” said Mary Thomas, a building manager at Myrtle Beach Resort, where snowbirds are expected to fill about 60 to 65 percent of the 267 rooms in one of the resort’s buildings this winter.

“I’m just happy that they come here. We want to make them feel like family.”

It’s a sentiment heard from lodging properties up and down the Grand Strand, with each trying their own ways to make sure these winter visitors return.

A few snowbirds have checked in at the 54-room Jonathan Harbour, where room 103 has been converted to a snowbird hospitality suite. Winter guests gather there daily about 3:30 p.m. for happy hour with a glass of wine and snacks and again about 7 p.m. for card games.

A half-finished puzzle sits on one table, a stack of games on another and small U.S. and Canadian flags atop the fridge.

For this bunch, the affordability of the Grand Strand, the activities and the friends they’ve made through the years keep them coming back every winter.

“To me it’s like being in high school again,” said Judy Turbedski of Pennsylvania, who has visited the Grand Strand during the winter for 12 years and regularly stops by Jonathan Harbour’s hospitality suite to visit with other snowbirds. “You know, the carefree days. Friends call you and say, ‘Let’s go.’ It’s a nice connection.”

With the baby boomers reaching retirement age, the Grand Strand could get an even bigger rush of snowbirds in the coming years, MacKenzie said.

That’s welcome news for area lodging properties, which will set up more bingo, adjust reservation policies or call snowbirds with get-well wishes to snag a piece of that business.

“It keeps us going in the winter months,” Ammons said. “We look forward to them, and hope we get more.”