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The Sea Captain's House: A Myrtle Beach Landmark
With beautifully prepared local seafood, a beautiful oceanfront view, and the charm of a worn, Southern beach house, the Sea Captain’s House is a rare treat among the chaos of Ocean Boulevard’s towers and neon lights. But the history and local significance of the old home is what makes this Myrtle Beach fixture a timeless treasure.
Originally built in 1930, the home was one of many boarding houses that lined the Grand Strand through the mid-20th Century and was known to annual guests as Howard’s Manor, after owner Nellie Howard. The house contained nine bedrooms for visitors who spent long days on the beach, only taking breaks to enjoy Howard’s three daily home-cooked meals. As the tourist industry along the Grand Strand began its rapid expansion in the early 1960’s the house was sold and was turned into a restaurant temporarily, as the new owners had plans to tear it down and build a high-rise hotel in it’s place within a couple years. Two years turned into ten, then twenty, and soon the house was the last of its kind on Ocean Boulevard’s more developed district.
Now, almost five decades later, the restaurant is still open daily, serving quality breakfasts, lunches, and dinners within its cozy rooms and offering the same tradition of hospitality the home has been known for during the last 50 years.
Dinner is easily the most popular time to visit the Sea Captain’s House and with good reason. The sprawling menu includes amazing presentations of fresh local seafood and always features a Chef’s Special Catch of the Day. While the restaurant prides itself on creating an atmosphere of familiar home furnishings and cuisine, the selection is anything but your average homestyle cooking. The entrée repertoire boasts a wide variety of culinary styles, ranging from a spicy seafood Jambalaya to a deep South-style Seafood Muddle, that involves sautéed shrimp, scallops, fish, mussels, and clams in a saffron tomato broth with bacon, potatoes, celery and carefully selected herbs. Fantastic complements to every meal include soups, salads, freshly made desserts and excellent selections of rare wines.
The lunch menu varies only slightly from dinner but doesn’t hold back on quality and presentation. Dinner entrées are offered in smaller portions and prices but patrons are also given the option for creative twists on lunchtime classics such as the Crab Cake Sandwich on a fresh Baked Herb Roll and the Chef’s Favorite Roast Beef Sandwich with roast beef, horseradish sauce, red onion, lettuce and tomato on pumpernickel.
With a little humor the breakfast menu is presented with two options: the Captain’s Breakfast and the Crew’s Breakfast. While the Crew’s Breakfast offers breakfast basics like eggs, grits, sausage and toast a la carte, the Captain’s Breakfast presents entrées with the same ingredients, only with a little more flair. Most notably are the Crab Cakes Benedict as well as the exclusive Seafarer’s Omelet that comes stuffed with shrimp, lump crabmeat, mushrooms and Monterey Jack cheese.
Surprisingly, the children’s menu is also notable as it doesn’t resort to cheap, predictable entrées but, instead, offers a little variety. With children’s portions of Crab Cakes, seafood platters, and a special Penne Pasta with shrimp, marinara sauce, and parmesan cheese, kids are given the same star treatment as their parents.
Desserts are also worth mentioning as they are an ideal ending for a perfect meal at the Sea Captain’s House. Homemade Hummingbird Cake and Cheesecake of the Day are tempting treats but it is the exquisite Southern Pecan Pie served with vanilla ice cream that takes the cake (no pun intended) for the most mouth-watering of the menu.
The Sea Captain’s House is open daily from 6 a.m-10 p.m. and is located at 3002 N Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach. For full menus and more information, visit their website at www.SeaCaptains.com. The number at the restaurant is (843) 448-8082.
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