Myrtle Beach - Beyond the Beach and Golf

Locally, there's a lot to do. There are indoor and outdoor malls. When it comes to shopping, you have to go to Broadway at the Beach, an outdoor mall. Plan to spend all day there. There are plenty of places to sit if you need to take a load off, and quite a few restaurants in the shopping complex. There's also a Ripley's Aquarium in the complex.

There seemed to be restaurants everywhere and quite a few dinner shows, like the Dixie Stampede and Medieval Times. You can also find the usual tourist stops, like Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood. There are tons of buffets. Look for restaurant coupons before trying someplace new.

Live shows can be seen at the local Palace Theatre.

We ventured out into surrounding areas no more than 20 minutes away, like Brookgreen Gardens. It's in Murrells Inlet, about 20 minutes from Myrtle Beach, and reported to be the seafood capital of the state. Be prepared to spend a whole day at Brookgreen Gardens and have dinner in the area. Your ticket to the Gardens is good for 7 days, so you can come back.

We also enjoyed the Dolphin Shrimping Adventure Tour by the Hurricane Fleet out of Calabash, NC. Calabash is also only 20 minutes from Myrtle Beach. They take you by boat out into the Atlantic Ocean. The ride can get quite bumpy, but it's worth it. There are a lot of dolphins, and it is quite educational.

We also went up to Charleston, SC, for the day. It's about 2 hours from Myrtle Beach.

Quick Tips:

We stopped by the Myrtle Beach Visitors Bureau and found maps and some great coupons for some of the activities we had planned for our stay. They also sell a VIP card that provides discounts for many local attractions. They also have a great website at www.myrtlebeachinfo.com where you can print coupons online.

Best Way To Get Around:

We rented a car so that we could explore surrounding areas like Calabash, NC (20 minutes from Myrtle Beach); Pawleys Island, SC; and Murrells Inlet, SC.

Best Things Nearby:
It is right behind Medieval Times and a 10-minute drive from the beach. There is plenty of shopping and restaurants in the area.

Best Things About the Resort:
It is in a great location and very clean, modern, and spacious. We didn't use the resort amenities, like the pool or resort activities. There were too many other things to do in the area.

Resort Experience:
We stayed in the two-bedroom unit in one of the new buildings off a lagoon. The unit is 1,150 square feet, so it was quite spacious and decorated in a nautical theme with blues and tans.

There's a TV and DVD player in the living room and in the master bedroom, which also has a Jacuzzi.

The guest bedroom has two double beds, its own TV, and an entrance to the second bathroom directly from the bedroom. There was also an entrance to the second bathroom from the living room. The patio is screened in to keep out the bugs.

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Not Available
• Amenities: Very Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Very Good

The Jasmine Porch is located inside a new resort called The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island. The resort opened in September, 2004, and is very beautiful. Kiawah Island is about 2 hours from Myrtle Beach and about 20 minutes from Charleston, SC.

Be prepared to be questioned by security before entering the island. Reservations at the restaurant are strongly recommended. The decor is upscale but casual, with a hard-wood floor, wicker furniture, and view of the ocean.

We arrived around 6pm, and the restaurant was not crowded. Most meals come with a vegetable. The service and food were excellent. Unfortunately, none of us had any room for dessert. After dinner, we took a walk on the beach. We had a wonderful dining experience!

The show was held in a dinner theatre/lounge. Drinks were served at the bar during the show. They are not currently serving anything other than beer and wine.

The variety show consisted of celebrity impersonators representing Dean Martin, Cher, Barbara Eden, Liza Minelli, and more. The celebrity impersonator guest list varies each night. It is very funny and entertaining. Expect some audience participation.

On Sunday, we had afternoon tea at The Cypress Inn in Conway, SC, about 20 minutes away from our resort in Myrtle Beach. The Cypress Inn is a quaint, local B&B off a small waterway. The owners are very warm and welcoming.

We had to prepay for the tea and one-act play before our arrival, and they had our names on a list when we arrived. After tea, a local playwright presented a one-act murder/mystery/comedy play titled: Murder In The Tea Room. It was quite funny and a perfect ending to the tea.

They took us out into the Atlantic Ocean, where we caught up with a working shrimp boat. While they explained to us how a shrimping operation works, we watched about three dolphin pods approach and start feeding from the nets of the boat, not to mention the tons of birds flying around the boat and fighting for food.

Anything brought up in their nets that they cannot use they return to the sea. They bagged some things of interest and tossed it to our boat, and our guide displayed and explained what they were, things like sand dollars, stingrays and butterfly rays, starfish etc. There was even a blue crab they caught with a fish on its claw. It was returned to the sea. It was very informative and great for kids and adults alike.

We went the day before thinking that we could see the gardens in a few hours. After we watched the introductory film about the gardens at the welcome center, we realized we needed a whole day. Our tickets to the gardens were good for 7 days, so we decided to come back the next day.

It is really worth spending the whole day there. The gardens are a combination of plantations purchased later by an American sculptor and her husband and converted into the sculpture garden we see today. The gardens are laid out in the shape of a butterfly. It’s a beautiful place full of flowers, sculptures, pools, and fountains. All of the sculptures were done by American artists.

In addition to the gardens, there is a restaurant; gift shop; animal reserve, including bird aviaries; and rice field. There’s a boat tour of the waterway that was used to flood the rice fields. Our tour guide explained how the rice plantation would have been worked during the times of slavery. All in all, it was not only beautiful, but also very informative, relaxing, and a day well spent.

We spent a morning exploring North and South Myrtle Beach to get our bearings. We did a little shopping at the (South) Myrtle Beach Pavilion.

That afternoon we spent at Broadway at the Beach, a shopping complex surrounding a manmade lake. It’s huge, but there are lots of places to sit and wait for others in your group. You can take a gondola ride for $12. There are free boat rides that will take you from one end of the complex to the next, and there are many bridges you can use to cross the lake. They even have fish-food dispensers so that you can feed the many fish in the lake. There are also quite a few restaurants in the complex, including Plant Hollywood, Joe’s Crab Shack, Hard Rock Café, The Key West Grill, and many more. There’s also the Ripley’s Aquarium, a must-see for children and adults alike! You could literally spend all day here. We broke it up into two afternoons.

We tried to see BB King at the House of Blues, but even though we got there 2 hours before the show to buy tickets, the line was wrapped around the building. This particular concert we found out was general admission and standing-room only. This would have been helpful to know in advance, but could not be determined from the website. Standing the whole time was not an option for some in our group.

There’s the Palace Theatre, where we saw Spirit of the Dance. We went there one other evening for Dean Martin’s Variety Show with celebrity impersonators. This show was held in one of The Palace’s smaller theatres, which was set up like a lounge with small tables and a bar so that you could have drinks during the show. For the older ones in our group, they really enjoyed this.

On Sunday, we had afternoon tea at The Cypress Inn in Conway, SC, about 20 minutes away from our resort in Myrtle Beach. The Cypress Inn is a quaint, local bed-and-breakfast off a small waterway. The owners are very warm and welcoming. We had to prepay for the tea and one-act play, and they had our names on a list when we arrived. After tea, a local playwright presented a one-act murder/mystery/comedy play titled: Murder In The Tea Room. It was quite funny and a perfect ending to the tea.

One day we drove up to Calabash, NC, only 20 minutes from Myrtle Beach for the Hurricane Fleet’s Shrimping & Dolphin Adventure Cruise. It was great!! They took us out into the Atlantic Ocean, where we caught up with a working shrimp boat. While they explained to us how a shrimping operation works, we watched about three dolphin pods approach and start feeding from the nets of the boat, not to mention the tons of birds flying around the boat and fighting for food. Anything brought up in their nets that they cannot use they return to the sea. They bagged some things of interest and tossed it to our boat, and our guide displayed and explained what they were, things like sand dollars, stingrays and butterfly rays, starfish, etc. There was even a blue crab they caught with a fish on its claw. It was fishing also and was returned to the sea. It was very informative and great for kids and adults alike. After the tour, we were hungry for some of the local seafood, so we had dinner at one of the many local calabash restaurants, Captain Nance’s Calabash.

We also spent a day at Brookgreen Gardens, which is a sculpture garden. We went the day before thinking that we could see the gardens in a few hours. After we watched the introductory film about the gardens at the welcome center, we realized we needed a whole day. Our tickets to the gardens were good for 7 days. So we decided to come back the next day. It is really worth spending the whole day. The gardens are a combination of plantations, purchased later by an American sculptor and her husband and converted into the sculptor garden we see today. The garden is laid out in the shape of a butterfly. I cannot begin to describe all of the flowers and sculptures we saw. It’s a beautiful place full of flowers, sculptures, pools, and fountains. All of the sculptures were done by American artists. In addition to the gardens, there is a restaurant, a gift shop, and an animal reserve including bird aviaries and a rice field. There’s a boat tour of the waterway that was used to flood the rice fields. Our tour guide explained how the rice plantation would have been worked during the times of slavery. After spending the day in the gardens, we had dinner off of the water at Murrells Inlet, which is only minutes away. It was a day well spent.

We also did a day trip to Charleston, SC, which is about 2 hours from Myrtle Beach, to do some sightseeing and have dinner at The Sanctuary Hotel on Kiawah Island. The hotel reminded me more of a resort than a hotel. It just opened in September of 2004. It is very beautiful and right on the beach.

While exploring North and South Myrtle Beach, we did spend a couple of hours at the beach with the full intention of coming back for a day. But, as you can see, there are so many other things to do that we never made it back. There is literally something to do for all ages.