Our Koffee Trail: Benjamin's Bakery & Cafe

Date of Visit: February 15, 2026

Location: Benjamin's Bakery & Cafe, Surfside Beach, SC

Rating: ❤️ (Love)

After Dad got back from church, he picked Mik and I up to get coffee. We decided to go to Benjamin's Bakery & Cafe as it was the next on our list that of places we want to go that was open on Sunday.

They had a variety of syrup flavors and several different flavor combination recommendations on the menu by the register, which I wish I had noticed before ordering, but I did still like trying their house special latte, the Carmella, which I think was vanilla, caramel, and hazelnut. Mik a Cake Batter Mocha (cake batter was on of their featured flavors of the week), which he liked other than it was very hot so he waited until we were almost home to drink it. Dad had a dark roast coffee. We got a Carmella Latte to take home to Mom.

As he was hungry, Mik got the Ricky Bobby bagel sandwich, which has sirloin, egg, and cheese. He enjoyed it, although it was kind of messy.

I did not plan to get anything because I already had breakfast, but I forgot about their paczki, which I used to get regularly at their farmer's market booth. With Paczki Day coming up, we also preordered some to pick up on Tuesday.

See full list of Our Koffee Trail stops here and Our Koffee Trail Google Maps list here.

Check out some of our other Myrtle Beach area posts:

• C3 Coffee Co. 👍
• Grand Strand Coffee ❤️
• Rustic Roast ❤️
• Tidal Creek Brewhouse (and Coffeehouse) ❤️

Our Koffee Trail: Coastal Coffee Fest 2026

Date of Visit: February 14, 2026

Location: Coastal Coffee Fest, Myrtle Beach, SC

Rating: ❤️ (Love)

Dad and I went to the Coastal Coffee Fest this morning. It was fun to learn about some of the coffee roasters in the area and try their coffee. I only tasted a few as most did not have decaf, but Dad had at least the hot coffee at each booth and the cold brew at a few as both of us are not much into cold brew.

At the end, you voted with tickets for the best booth, best hot, and best cold. Dad and I individually voted, but ended up picking the same places. We choose Benjamin's Bakery as the best booth. Our favorite hot coffee was from Be Known Coffee. It was an unique blend of Kenyan and Brazilian beans. Our favorite cold brew was from Liberty Brew, although we only tried one other.

Benjamin's Bakery was my favorite booth because they had a decaf to try. Also, their decaf is different from others I have had because they use a sugarcane decaf process. It has been on our list to visit Benjamin's and now that I know about their decaf, definitely plan to go there sometime soon.

The final booth was Knowledge Perk Coffee outside. Here you could order from their menu and I got a decaf Tiramisu Latte.

See full list of Our Koffee Trail stops here and Our Koffee Trail Google Maps list here.

Check out some of our other Myrtle Beach area posts:

• C3 Coffee Co. 👍
• Grand Strand Coffee ❤️
• Rustic Roast ❤️
• Tidal Creek Brewhouse (and Coffeehouse) ❤️

Our Koffee Trail: Knowledge Perk Coffee Company

Date of Visit: February 14, 2026

Location: Knowledge Perk Coffee Company, Myrtle Beach, SC

Rating: ❤️ (Love)

At the Coastal Coffee Fest, I enjoyed getting a decaf Tiramisu Latte from Knowledge Perk Coffee Company.

See full list of Our Koffee Trail stops here and Our Koffee Trail Google Maps list here.

Check out some of our other Myrtle Beach area posts:

• C3 Coffee Co. 👍
• Grand Strand Coffee ❤️
• Rustic Roast ❤️
• Tidal Creek Brewhouse (and Coffeehouse) ❤️

Ranger Dan: 109.1 Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park

 

Date of Visit: December 7, 2025

We had a few days between Grandpa's funeral in Illinois and our planned trip to Florida, so we decided to make it a leisurely three-day drive and include a stop at Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park. Dad decided that leisurely meant he could take time for a car wash after church before we left the hotel that morning and we only got to the park around 3:30pm, so we didn't end up with much time to explore past the visitor center.

Exhibit in Visitor Center

Pottery Exhibit in Visitor Center

Earth Lodge

Inside Earth Lodge

Inside Earth Lodge

Inside Earth Lodge

See full list of Ranger Dan's National Parks Visited here.

Our Koffee Trail: Grand Strand Coffee - Winter Seasonals

Date of Visit: January 12, 2026

Location: Grand Strand Coffee (13th Ave location), Myrtle Beach, SC

Rating: ❤️ (Love)

This morning Dad didn't make coffee because we went to Starbucks for Pistachio Lattes. Later in the morning he asked if I wanted him to make coffee so I could have a second cup and I told him, "No, because we were about to go do errands." After our first stop, he asked if I wanted to get coffee and was going to go to Grand Strand Coffee in Market Common, but I told him we should finally go to the other location on Business 17 because that was actually on the way to the library and we have never been to that location.

We both got drinks from the Winter seasonal menu. Dad got the Chocolate Covered Cherry and I got the Gingerbread Latte (best version I've had of this as you can really taste the gingerbread spices).

See full list of Our Koffee Trail stops here and Our Koffee Trail Google Maps list here.

Check out some of our other Myrtle Beach area posts:

• C3 Coffee Co. 👍
• Grand Strand Coffee ❤️
• Rustic Roast ❤️
• Tidal Creek Brewhouse (and Coffeehouse) ❤️

Our Koffee Trail: Clockwise Coffee at Carolina Cider Company

Date: January 3, 2026

Location: Clockwise Coffee, Yemassee, SC 

Rating: ❤️ (Love)

We discovered Carolina Cider Company when we went down to Hilton Head in 2021. Since then we've stopped a couple other times on our way to Florida, but we don't remember ever getting coffee here. The last few times we knew they had a coffeeshop, but we passed by when it was closed.

This trip we didn't plan on doing an Our Koffee Trail stop because for time sake we started with Starbucks when we left Myrtle Beach. However, we ended up at the Carolina Cider Company as a bathroom stop and Mik wanted a jug of Peach Cider, so with Dad ordering while I was getting the cider, the stop only a few minutes longer to also end up with coffee.

Mom had a White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha and I had a Brown Butter Rosemary Latte. I told Dad he should start using rosemary from our garden in the coffee at home.

See full list of Our Koffee Trail stops here and Our Koffee Trail Google Maps list here.