The South Carolina coastal waters were especially productive for pirates, and the coves and inlets along the Grand Strand provided great hiding places for these marauders. Pirates who became local legends include: Edward Teach, called Blackbeard because of his coal-black beard, and Drunken Jack, who was left behind on an island with a huge stash of stolen rum (and died with a smile on his face.)

We love our ghosts - especially the good ones, which most of them are. The most enduring ghost stories are of Alice Flagg, ghost of the Hermitage, and the Gray Man. Alice roams beside the waters of Murrells Inlet, searching for a ring she received from a young man her family did not approve of. As she lay in bed ill with a fever, her brother discovered the ring on a ribbon around her neck, being enraged, and flung it into the inlet. The story of the Gray Man also involves a tragic love story, as a soldier returns home to marry his sweetheart. Riding on horseback, he has an accident and is killed. His spirit, however, lives on, and he is able to warm his lover of an approaching hurricane and save her life. Since that time, many people have reported seeing the Gray Man before a hurricane and heeded his ghostly warning to seek safety.