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America's #1 Family Beach (Travel Channel - 2003), Myrtle Beach is among the nation's most popular resorts for entertainment, shopping, golf and family attractions. Sixty miles of wide, white sand beaches comprise The Grand Strand.  The weather is fantastic: average high in January is  a comfortable 57; by mid-spring, it's the 70s & 80s; ocean breezes will cool you off even during the dog days of summer.  Our new highways make getting here and getting around a breeze, too (see map at left).  Enjoy your visit to Myrtle Beach - we're here to make your real visit here the best ever!

SUN FUN CAPITAL OF AMERICA.  The problem in Myrtle Beach is not whether the area offers enough, it's choosing from among a remarkable selection of accommodations, activities, shopping, events and more.  The Myrtle Beach area today bears little resemblance even to the Myrtle Beach of the early '90s. Now America's most popular seaside resort and ranked by Southern Living as second only to Orlando among overall vacation spots, the Grand Strand benefits from an ideal location.  A 60-mile stretch of wide, white sandy beaches, meandering rivers, graceful Palmettos, stately Live Oaks and good-old southern hospitality, Myrtle Beach offers literally something for everyone - and plenty of space to handle the growth. Current statistics are enlightening: 13 million visitors annually, more than 100 family attractions and amusements and more than 500 hotels/motels.

IDEAL CLIMATE/BEAUTIFUL ENVIRONMENT.  Situated along the northeast coast of South Carolina, the Myrtle Beach area offers easy access from the Midwest and Northeast and its moderate climate has attracted sun worshipers and golfers for decades. The sun shines two out of three days, with average high temperatures from Spring through Fall range from the low 70s to the mid 80s. Even in the dead of winter the average high almost 60 degrees - a key reason why so many Canadians have their annual love affair with the Beach in February.

VARIETY IS OUR SPICE OF LIFE.  Since 1994, the keyword for Myrtle Beach tourism has become variety - expanding the number and quality of facilities, services and activities so that even families and individuals with a relatively narrow interest focus can not only satisfy their primary vacation appetite, but round out their visit with an array of memorable experiences. This same concept was used successfully in the 70s and 80s to make Myrtle Beach America's #1 golf vacation destination...entertaining some 4.5 million rounds of golf a year on over 120 courses. Today, the good news for group leaders and operators is inventory...and plenty of it, too. Hotel and motel rooms abound - all in all 65,000 of them in more than 500 properties offering everything and anything from luxury to pure economy, from popular locally-owned stand-byes to international chains.

ACCOMMODATING ACCOMMODATIONS.  Just as groups have discovered Myrtle Beach (and in large measure because they have), so, too have national and international hotel and motel chains.  Today, virtually every nationally-recognized operator has at least one property along the Grand Strand, from the spectacular new Marriott Resort to Hampton Inns, Comfort Inns, Days Inns, Best Westerns, Holiday Inns and more. So, individuals uncomfortable with venturing into uncharted local establishments - of which Myrtle Beach is known for both quality and quantity - will find comfort in reserving rooms at establishments they deal with every day.

GREAT LIVE STAGE SHOWS.  Live entertainment has had a major influence on the type and amount of growth of the area - especially during the so-called shoulder seasons.  Other than the constant flow of golfers, Myrtle Beach was a quiet Oceanside town between Labor Day and Memorial Day less than a decade ago.  Only such spots as Fat Harold's Beach Club in North Myrtle Beach, often called the home of beach music and the "shag" - the official state dance - remained busy all year.

Today, the Grand Strand ranks as one of America's premier live entertainment centers, with more than a dozen outstanding venues. To be sure, country music served as the foundation of this new reason to visit the beach and Calvin Gilmore's super-popular The Carolina Opry remains a flagship of local entertainment - still going strong after 17 years.

A wide variety of venues serves up everything from country music to Broadway-style productions to the super-stars of music, comedy and stage.  Bill Cosby, Kenny Rogers, Peter Paul & Mary, Aretha Franklin, Wynona Judd are just a few of the big names that can be found performing here all year long.

Fantasy Harbor, just across the Intracoastal Waterway next to the ever-popular and newly remodeled Waccamaw Factory Shoppes, has become a new center of entertainment, including the internationally renown Medieval Times dinner and show.

The aptly named Broadway at the Beach is a shopping, dining and entertainment center anchored by The Palace Theater - home of Spirit of The Dance and also a who's who of award-winning productions from Tony Bennett to The Four Tops, from Cats to the Rockettes.  On the south end, Legends in Concert featuring look- and sound-alikes from the greatest names in entertainment continues to draw rave reviews and happy crowds. Slightly to the north are more significant crowd-pleasers - Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede (dinner and a fabulous show) and the Alabama Theatre at Barefoot Landing featuring popular shows throughout the year and appearances by the super-group Alabama.

FUN FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES.  If you're searching for something different and unique, you'll be pleasantly surprised to learn that visitor attractions have not taken a back seat to accommodations and entertainment.  To be sure, the Myrtle Beach Pavilion on the Ocean remains a must-stop for all vacationers.  But most Americans are fascinated with reptiles and Myrtle Beach golfers have been seeing their share of alligators lounging on greens and fairways for years. Today's visitor needn't carry a set of woods and irons to enjoy a much closer (and safer) view at Alligator Adventure, which has taken its place among the most sought-after tour stops.  Thrills and chills abound, too at two of America's top-rated amusement parks - Wild Water & Wheels in Surfside Beach and the Grand Prix in North Myrtle Beach. Frequent Myrtle Beach visitors have toured Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not next to the Pavilion Amusement Park along the ocean...but most are now making Ripley's Aquarium a must-see with every visit...and with good reason.  The Aquarium, conveniently located at Broadway at the Beach, is among the finest in the entire nation and the moving walkway that takes guests quietly along just inches from sharks and stingrays and other creatures of the sea is perfect for groups of all ages.

ECOTOURS ABOUND.  If nature and the environment are of interest, there's no shortage of unique attractions. The park system features two exceptional seaside retreats perfect for sunning, relaxing or shell seeking. Myrtle Beach State Park and Huntington Beach State Park offer exceptional guest services and have captured the beauty of South Carolina's beaches and tidal swamps for eternity. Huntington Beach is also the location of Atalaya "castle," the unique oceanfront home of sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington in the early 20th Century. Just west of this park lies the ever popular, ever-changing Brookgreen Gardens - the largest outdoor sculpture garden outside of Paris, France.

Brookgreen, listed as one of America's finest gardens, has dramatically expanded its guest services program. New facilities from a film theatre, gift shop and restaurant now grace the property among Live Oak trees that remember the earliest days of the American Revolution and the indigo and rice plantations that prospered here. An all-new boat tour of the low-country waterways and swamps is a grand way to see undisturbed nature in the area - among the largest concentrations of endangered species in the Southeast. Opening in May 2000 at Broadway at the Beach is the Butterfly Pavilion.

SHOP 'TIL YOU DROP.  Bargain hunters have made the trek to Myrtle Beach and the home of great shopping for decades.  Waccamaw Factory Stores have been completely remodeled and expanded. Just west along Route 501 lies the Myrtle Beach Factory Stores, which now ranks among the largest of its kind in the East. The all-new Tanger Outlet Mall is located just north of Restaurant Row and at the terminus of Route 22, Veterans Highway...just a few minutes from everywhere.  Specialty shoppers will delight in more than 100 stores and boutiques each at Broadway at the Beach and Barefoot Landing...both having been recently named South Carolina's top visitor attractions of the year.  Flea Markets & Antique Malls abound.

DINING FOR EVERY TASTE & BUDGET.  As if hotel, attraction, entertainment and shopping variety and inventory were not enough, the Myrtle Beach area is likely to be branded with yet another award in the "best of" category:  restaurants.  The ongoing argument about the actual count of dining establishments varies from 1,500 to 2,000, but there is no argument today about variety, quality and service.  Always popular among groups is the plentiful   assortment of Calabash restaurants serving up unique seafood delicacies brought-in fresh daily from the docks of the quaint fishing villages of Little River to the north and Murrells Inlet on the sound end. But today, the assortment of great places to host group meals may be the largest on the East Coast.

Themed restaurants now abound. Although popular throughout the world for their array of logo products, the local edition of the Hard Rock Cafe at Broadway at the Beach is an architectural marvel - a pyramid of food and fun that has earned a superior reputation for its handling of groups.  Across the street, Planet Hollywood and the All-Star Cafe are equally unique structures with varied menus and one is never surprised to catch a glimpse of a superstar of sports, stage or screen. Yet another new establishment opened in 1998 called "Bullwinkles" after the TV cartoon character popular with boomers in the sixties, and now popular for their children and kids of all ages.  Easily the biggest hit was the opening last year of the NASCAR Cafe - a restaurant dedicated to the most popular spectator sport in America, it's drivers, teams and fans. Inside, what now will be the first of many similar venues is a veritable museum of stock car racing from it's earliest days to the present...and diners often find themselves elbow-to-elbow with the biggest names in the sport.

Perhaps most noteworthy, especially if you're looking for at least one top-quality dining experience, is the rapid growth of four-star restaurants. From the North Carolina border to Georgetown, fine restaurants now dot the landscape, luring customers fond of everything from New York style steak houses to New Orleans style fish houses...and all manner of palate pleasing menus in between.

Even the most ardent supporters and frequent visitors admit that the Myrtle Beach area is not perfect - yet. What it is, unquestionably, is a destination that offers a remarkable array of truly unique vacation opportunities - and offers group leaders a sure-fire way to guarantee satisfied customers.