Well since everyone of us has that, why don't you live like that right now? And that's what we're doing right now," Neal says. And when that time is up and done, the last thing you want to think of in the last days or weeks or minutes is why didn't I do this, why didn't I do that. "Every one of us has a certain amount of time here. But for Neal, it's all about the journey, about seeing others contribute to a project that will always be bigger than one man, and about offering the kind of adventure you can find in only one place. He still works full-time as a software sales engineer in Charlotte. Many say this 47-year-old will be lucky to have time to ever complete the renovations and repairs to this tower. Neal admits, there's no time for any of that. Rick Stoker spent years fishing around the tower, admiring it as most from a distance during its days of active service. Many guest choose one of the deck's hammocks to let the constant breeze whisper them to sleep, and every morning rewards an early riser with a sunrise that seems to go on forever.ĭespite the current condition of the tower, guests become fans very quickly. The flight deck becomes the perfect skeet range or driving range by day, and a star gazer's wonderland by night. The sky's the limit on how you can occupy your short time there. But once you do, You realize you've found one for the most unique places on earth. It'll take you an hour or two just to take it all in before you realize what you're doing there and why. With all the rust, all the peeling paint, all the popping floor tiles, this bed and breakfast is like nothing you've ever experienced before. Their $500 a piece weekend includes, well, pretty much your room, and one heck of a view. On this weekend, two families are staying in six of the tower's 8 rooms. His $85,000 bid bought him something most would consider little more than a fantasy.Īnd there lies the interest in this amazing piece of history, and its appeal as a destination for the real adventurer. After half a century of service, the feds wanted to sell it or drop the rusty platform into the sea. He grew up in Oklahoma and had no passion for the sea, until the tower showed up on a government auction website. You see, this software sales engineer doesn't even own a boat. He hires captains like Jeff Reid to get him and a half-ton of gear out there every other weekend. Instead, David and Ian hitched a ride with the tower's new owner, Richard Neal. That's the easiest way to get 30 miles out to sea. The journey to the tower could have taken flight from Myrtle Beach on board a chartered helicopter. It has become a life's commitment for one man, and a once-in-a-lifetime adventure for those lucky enough to experience it. But now, the Frying Pan Shoals Tower is turning a page and becoming a new kind of destination. ![]() As a fishing spot, it is a Mecca - home to a billion bait fish and Black Sea Bass, and barracuda they attract. As a dive spot, it's given scuba enthusiasts across the Carolinas a spear fishing and sight-seeing anchorage like no other. WMBF News Anchor David Klugh, and photojournalist Ian Dorety took a ride out to one of the most unusual bed and breakfasts in the world.Īs a warning beacon, the Frying Pan Shoals Light Tower likely saved 10,000 ships from slamming into the shallow rock ledge that lines the outflow of the Cape Fear River. ![]() ![]() Today, The Frying Pan Lighthouse is almost completely booked with those looking to fill their bucket lists. MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - As 14 million tourists tuck themselves into bed at one of the Grand Strand's towering hotels, a handful of Carolina coast visitors are settling into more rustic digs: a half-century-old lighthouse stuck 30-miles off our coast.Īn unlikely Carolina businessman bought the old tower at a government auction just four years ago.
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