A Long Weekend In Myrtle Beach Slideshow

A crate of fresh-picked okra at the gourmet grocery store Lee's Farmer's Market on Murrells Inlet in Myrtle Beach reminds tourists they're still in the South.

The Brentwood Restaurant in Little River, S.C., is situated in a Victorian-style home originally built in 1910.

Brittany-born chef Eric Masson decorates his dining rooms at The Brentwood Restaurant in Little River, S.C., with murals he makes himself from antique and vintage silver cutlery.

Mr. Fish is a classic beach place with an attitude: You can get your fish and shrimp and oysters fried, blackened, grilled, or sautéed, like in any good sea shanty, but you can also get fish tacos, a "tower" of fried green tomatoes with fried shrimp, or a cup of smoky cumin-spiked chili with toothsome chunks of tuna filet.

Southern chef Louis Osteen dips into Italian tradition — and modern restaurant trends — with his veal and ricotta meatball sliders. 

Mr. Fish says he got the idea for this butter pecan cream pie on a crust of sweetened grits when he was laid up with a bum knee watching Paula Deen; "I thought, I can make a pie with a grit cake on the bottom better than hers!"

Dessert at Louis's at Sanford's sometimes consists of the chef's upscale take on the Southern fried pie position: mini "half-moon" fried peach pies with vanilla bean ice cream.

Lee's Farmers Market on Murrells Inlet is indeed a farmers' market, but it's also a gourmet grocery, a topnotch deli, a wine shop, and a joint locals frequent for a good chat'n'chew session with their neighbors.

Lee's Farmers Market is a brick-and-mortar building with a ragtag assortment of gourmet groceries and deli (including imported pastrami and corned beef from Manhattan's Carnegie Deli, a thrilling enticement for both visiting and relocated Yankees); local in-season produce; a truly impressive array of dried beans, imported spices, and condiments; and many, many other products from hither and yon.