Isle of Palms Magazine Summer 2017

13 www.IsleOfPalmsMagazine.com | www.ILoveIOP.com | www.IOPmag.com P ricey, upscale homes haven’t always towered above the Isle of Palms beach, and there was a time when the island’s reputation as a vacation destination had not yet spread throughout the civilized world. The IOP Connector was no more than an idea, so the only land route to the small, tightknit beach town was through Sullivan’s Island. It was, in the words of one of only two mailmen serving the island in the 1970s and ’80s, “like Mayberry with alcohol.” “In those days, if you got drunk, you could call the police and they’d drive you home,” said Ricky Myatt, who delivered mail to Isle of Palms residents for 25 years, and, for a good chunk of that time, was co-owner of Malibu East, a beachfront bar he described with undisguised pride as “a dive.” It’s been years since Myatt sported long hair and a beard, his bar is a distant but distinct memory, he’s been married for 25 years and retired from the U.S. Postal Service for 14 years. Now he is part-owner of a business that evokes childhood memories for anyone who grew up in a Northeastern inner city neighborhood playing a game related to baseball. His bar is long gone and he no longer delivers mail to Isle of Palms residents, but Ricky Myatt still likes to hang out at the beach. Photo by Jess Wood Photography.