According to Travel and Leisure Magazine, Christmas lights just don’t get any better than this in South Carolina. USA Today says that the light show is in the TOP 10 of the Best Botanical Garden Holiday light shows in the entire country!

It’s that time of year again, when Brookgreen Gardens comes alive for the annual “Nights of a Thousand Candles.”
The annual event kicks off on November 25.

It’s quite an endeavor. The staff has been working 10-hour shifts since Labor Day.  The show includes millions of lights, and of course, plenty of candles. Over 3,000 candles are lit every night, and each of those candles is switched out every day, according to show organizers.
Many think that the time and attention spent lighting the candles is what sets this show apart.

Since 1999, people have come to the “Lowcountry” from all over the world to see the lights.

The facility conducted a zip code study in 2022 and learned they had visitors from every state in the country, including Alaska. The ONLY state missing was Hawaii.  More than 80,000 people attended last year, and Brookgreen Gardens is prepping for just as many to enter the gates and experience the event this year.

Tickets went on sale during the summer and they have been going fast. As of Thursday morning, they are completely sold out except for New Year’s Eve.

Photo Credit: Eric Alter, Facebook

How glorious that SIX different Photographers captured the sunrise this morning! Now, let's go out and see it with or own eyes!

Left to Right Top Row:

• Chad Lefevre - Garden City, SC
• Keith Green Sr. - Southport, SC
• Travis Huffstetler - Myrtle Beach, SC

Left to Right Bottom Row:

• Jim Arnold - Murrells Inlet, SC
• Kathy Dowling - Murrells Inlet, SC
• Deron Wilkes - Surfside Beach, SC

Living near the beach often comes with a high price tag, but there are still plenty of towns that you can call home without breaking the bank too much. GOBankingRates compiled a list of the 35 most affordable beach towns you can afford to living in right now, and one in South Carolina made the list:

MYRTLE  BEACH!

Myrtle Beach is one of the cheapest beach towns that you can afford to call home. According to the site, the median cost for a home in this coastal town is $299,700, while the overall cost of living index is 87.4.

Here is how the list was compiled:

"To find the cheapest beach towns you can afford to live in, GOBankingRates gathered a list of beach towns from across the United States, and for each city, a number of factors were found from Sperlings BestPlaces, including cost of living indexes for groceries, healthcare, housing, utilities, transportation and miscellaneous expenses. Each index was multiplied by its respective national average expenditure cost from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey for all consumers. GOBankingRates calculated the total annual expenditure cost for each city, sorting them to show the cheapest beach towns you can afford to live in."

Check out GOBankingRate 's full report to see more of the most affordable beach towns to live in around the U.S.

Story Credits:
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​GobankingRate

​Photo Credit: Robbie Bischoff

El Niño is a climate pattern in the Pacific Ocean that often stirs changes in global weather patterns. 
In South Carolina, some of these impacts may be favorable, while others... not so much! Changes can vary in precipitation levels, temperature fluctuations, and sometimes storm chances. It all depends how much cold air is around when  a particular storm visits the southeast.
El Niño can lead to wet conditions in South Carolina.
​Even though a rainy season may not be pleasant, rainfall is much needed right now.