Myrtle Beach resident promote city’s culture, history with YouTube videos
Jordan Farrar stands in his Myrtle Beach driveway on a sunny Monday dressed in a classic Hawaiian button-up shirt, slacks and boat shoes.
Just beyond where his 1963 Chevy Corvair sits under the carport is a small closet that has been transformed into a mini tiki bar, filled with ‘50s and ‘60s kitsch.
Farrar named it The Golden Pterodactyl after a scene from the 1960s cartoon “The Flintstones,” one of his favorite shows as a kid.
The tiki bar goes along with his ‘50s and ‘60s persona when dads of that era were dapper dressers, joined lodges, smoked pipes and drove around in classic vehicles.
Farrar has replicated much of that in his life - creating a local version of the Loyal Order of the Water Buffaloes (another nod to “The Flintstones”), smoking from his pipe collection and of course, driving his 1963 classic car.
“I love that old-school culture,” Farrar said. “Nobody does that stuff anymore.”
The 40-year-old shows off his vintage style as the Retro Myrtle Beach Guy on YouTube. The videos he posts often show him puttering around the Myrtle Beach area in his convertible, visiting local restaurants, events and giving viewers a peek at the city’s history and culture.
The tiki bar’s construction is one of those videos. It also includes a behind-the-scenes tour of the well-known Gay Dolphin Gift Cove downtown.
Others include a visit to the Boardwalk where he grabs a beer and hot dog at Peaches Corner on Ocean Boulevard, Nye’s Pharmacy and Soda Fountain in Conway, the Piggly Wiggly on North Kings Highway and why he and his wife, Kat, decided to live in their mid-century ranch home in Seagate Village.
The home was built in 1957, Farrar said. The neighborhood was used as housing for married and noncommisioned officers as part of the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base before it closed in the early 1990s.
Farrar picked the neighborhood because it fits into his love for mid-century.
“(I’m) trying to preserve that” Myrtle Beach culture, Farrar said about his videos.
Some of that history, such as a few of the Myrtle Beach motels that have been torn down, has already disappeared since Farrar began filming.
He and his family had vacationed in Myrtle Beach for years before he decided to move here permanently 11 years ago. Now, he enjoys showing off the city and what it has to offer for other newcomers.
But even after all these years, Farrar still gets mistaken as a tourist.
Because he only dresses in vintage clothing, many people assume he’s a visitor when he is out and about filming.
“This is just how I dress,” he laughs.
He describes his look as someone who belongs in a do-wop street gang, complete with a tattoo of brass knuckles across his chest. But “it’s not as gangster as it looks,” Farrar said. Instead, it goes along with the ‘50s symbolism.
For his videos, Farrar often receives tips from locals about where to go. “They’ve been really embracing,” he said.
He is afforded the opportunity to spend time filming his videos during the day while his wife, who is an online teacher, is working. Because his wife is the primary breadwinner, Farrar left his position to take care of the home.
The couple are expecting their first child, which is due in October. That’s also when they will celebrate their first year of marriage.
And while his wife does embrace some of the mid-century look, Farrar said, “I work harder at it.”
