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and let me say right off the bat that I know that crime is everywhere and that it definitely isn't confined to Myrtle Beach, and that what happened to us could happen anywhere, I just want to warn anyone planning a trip to MB in the near future to really watch your belongings and keep your eyes open for who may be lurking around. I wish we had.
We just returned from a week's stay in our condo, which is in what is considered a luxury resort in the quiet, residential section of MB where you find places like the Island Vista, Marriott, and multi-million dollar oceanfront homes. IOW, the quieter, safer end of the beach, which I still believe it generally is. However, against my better judgment, I let my mother-in-law talk us into loading our suitcases into the trunk of our car the evening before we left, to save time in the morning. We were parked in a well-lighted parking garage in this great resort, didn't notice anyone out of the ordinary who looked like they shouldn't be there lurking around, locked up the car, and didn't give it a second thought. However, when we went down in the morning and went to put the rest of our stuff in the trunk, guess what? We had been robbed of our suitcases. Strangely enough, the car was completely undamaged, all doors and the trunk were locked, and the only thing that appeared to be amiss was that the hood was popped. They also stole our GPS unit that was inside the console between the front seats. Fortunately, we never keep any valuables in our suitcases, so all they got were some items of clothing, my Bible ("Thou shalt not steal"...how ironic, lol) and a few pairs of shoes. Still, it could have been so much worse--if we had had money or jewelry in our suitcases, or if they had damaged the car, or worse yet, even stolen the car completely, but it was still a terrible feeling, and that's why I want to warn all of you to heed this warning: it doesn't matter what part of the beach you are staying at, always, ALWAYS, protect your belongings. Never put anything in your trunk and leave it, even if you think you are in a safe place and no one is watching. PLEASE practice caution everywhere you go and be very watchful of your belongings, especially any valuables. My mother-in-law is quite naive, and she also wanted to open the trunk and put her purse in, in broad daylight and surrounded by people, at MB State Park, but I talked her out of that one. It concerns me that elderly people are so trusting!
Again, this is not a reflection on MB. I love MB. It is a reflection on our society as a whole, but I just want to help others avoid experiencing what we did and having an otherwise great vacation end on a sour note.
God bless and be safe.
Last edited by canudigit; 04-07-2012 at 10:43 AM..
I remember being in California and our hubcaps were in a neat pile by the car, but off the car.
I imagine someone caught the robbers and told them to leave them there. Otherwise, why piled up
next to the car.
One time in NJ we kind of told a group of kids to stay off the van as they were leaning and pushing on it. Well, going home the van chugged. We found out after getting the gas tank removed it was "full of sand." So they got their revenge.....and it hurt!
Like you said, this kind of thing happens all over. We always have to be prepared for it and think about what we leave in the car.
Your hubcaps were piled up next to the car? How polite, lol.
That's what we couldn't believe--that this person (or people) decided to steal our possessions, yet they left the car in perfect condition and even locked it back up...wouldn't want anyone getting in and stealing anything, right? We checked under the hood and everything appeared to be fine as well, and we drove it home yesterday, all 800+ miles, and it was perfect all the way, so we figure that the reason the hood was popped was that they probably gained entry with a slim jim and accidentally popped the hood while fumbling around for the trunk release button.
This was our fifth trip to MB, and we have never had a bad experience of any kind there (unless you count the unfortunate price of the buffet at Benjamin's, lol) and may never have anything like this happen again. What we have experienced is meeting some of the nicest people we have ever met and making wonderful family memories. We don't plan to let this incident spoil MB for us at all, we will just be more careful in the future.
What an awful thing you had to endure. I am really sorry that this happened to you and as you said, it can and does happen just about everywhere. I have had my car broken into three times in the past. Not here in the MB area, but other places -NY, PA, and NJ - so I know the feeling of violation that follows such an unwanted intrusion into what should be a safe and private place. It's just such a horrible and sickening feeling.
We live in Surfside Beach and several months ago someone stole all of our golf cart batteries and someone opened up and did who knows what () in our hot tub. We had changed the key on our golf cart a few years ago, because unless you do that all golf carts have a "common" key and we thought that was protecting us from theft. It never occurred to us that someone would steal the batteries!
It also never occurred to us that some stranger would come into our back yard and use our hot tub. We didn't know that we could put locks on the lid to the hot tub, but we have them now.
Surfside Beach is also a supposedly safe neighborhood and we made the mistake of also being a bit naive like your MIL. We felt safe here because we know and are friends with all our neighbors and there is hardly any traffic on our street other than bicycles and golf carts with the occasional car. We moved here from a very high crime area and I guess that made us feel like we had moved to a place without much crime in comparison, which is true, but it doesn't matter. You can't compare like that and we learned the hard way.
We also have a security alarm system on our house, which we use all the time, but that did not help with the outdoor crimes. Since then we have installed CCTV security cameras all around our house and a special security device on our golf cart. Thanks for reminding me not to fall into a false sense of safety! I am really considering getting a very big, but very nice German Shepherd Dog. I would not want an aggressive or mean dog, but just one that would dissuade any intruders and allow me to feel a bit safer when I am home alone or out taking a walk by myself. The little sweet dog I have now would welcome anyone and if she could, she would fix them a snack while they robbed our house!
Anyway, again, thanks so much for the reminder to always be on the alert. How sad that this is the way life is now.
The other thing, which I imagine you must have looked into, is were there security cameras in the garage where your car was parked at the time of the robbery?
Summering - looks like we were responding to this at the same time! Too funny. Also, I found out that our reservation tomorrow is earlier than I told you. We are there at 1:15, so maybe we will overlap a bit after all.
Wow, stole the golf cart batteries! Did think of protecting that Thank you for sharing that important story.
This is what happened to me.... While staying at the Hampton Inn in MB last year I did a stupid thing! I never feel comfortable leaving my wallet/pocketbook in my room when traveling so I bring it with me everywhere. Well, after having breakfast in the lobby at the hotel, I brought a tea and some danish back to my room and guess what I did?? My purse was light, slipped off my shoulder at breakfast, never noticed I left it behind where I was sitting until about 20 minutes later of which I was already back in my room, on one of the upper floors. I literally RAN down the stairs back to the outside area where we were sitting and my purse was tucked under a chair and my wallet was gone. Yes I'm old fashioned and still carry cash (doh!) and got bit for a little over $200 bucks. In a supposedly nice hotel with lots of friendly looking people around. I know it was my mistake but it stills speaks for our society that no one brought it to the front desk in a higher end hotel. Oh well.
After that I found an awesome product online called "Wallets2Wear" and invested in 3 of them I won't make that mistake again.
Location: Lakewood NJ/Murrells Inlet SC/ N. Naples FL/Swainton NJ
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I spend time in Murrells Inlet and Naples Fl. While I have had no problems in SC, I have good things to report about Naples. Twice I dropped/left my wallet. Once in the Naples Costco and once in the Naples Target. Both times I was chased to the parking lot by a Costco customer and a Target employee to return my wallet to me. Nice.....
Unfortunately, crime happens just about everywhere. Sorry to hear of your loss & inconvenience. Pawleys Island had a minor crime wave last year with many cars being broken into over the summer months. Several local teens were arrested for the break ins & it seemed to stop. Hopefully, the quiet will continue.
Just about all the cars that were entered were unlocked... and it is surprising what valuables people leave in an unlocked car! I suggest making sure the car is locked, alarm is activated & car is parked in a lighted area, if possible.
This makes me realize I should not leave my valuables in my car as I have in the past.
Sometimes we get a bit lax in thinking that " it couldn't happen to me." But, yes it could.
We do love this area but all these hints are nice to know.
Even in our wintering community we would hear of golf carts getting stolen. Now, this is in a
community where only those with passes can get in. Everyone is checked. Still someone was able
to steal in broad daylight carts parked by homes.
I'm pretty sure they finally found the person. It really made one worry about how to protect the cart.
I guess we need to try to be safe with our belonging everywhere we go. These stories are all to frequent.
Summering - looks like we were responding to this at the same time! Too funny. Also, I found out that our reservation tomorrow is earlier than I told you. We are there at 1:15, so maybe we will overlap a bit after all.
We were on the road by 12:50 ( a bit before) It was really beautiful and the family loved the entire meal and scenery. The boys "best meal"...
Except their "best meal" was also at the Pirates Voyage.LOL
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We checked under the hood and everything appeared to be fine as well, and we drove it home yesterday, all 800+ miles, and it was perfect all the way, so we figure that the reason the hood was popped was that they probably gained entry with a slim jim and accidentally popped the hood while fumbling around for the trunk release button. 
) in our hot tub. We had changed the key on our golf cart a few years ago, because unless you do that all golf carts have a "common" key and we thought that was protecting us from theft. It never occurred to us that someone would steal the batteries! 
Thank you for sharing that important story.
