The Best of North Carolina, South Carolina and Beyond.

by Travel Editor Renee Wright   Top Tourist Destination...Broadway at the Beach www.broadwayatthebeach.com With some 100 stores, 17 restaurants, an IMAX theater, Ripley's Aquarium, The Palace and a nightlife zone, B'way @ the Beach combines shopping, entertainment, dining and accommodations into a single destination. Named the state's Top Tourist Attraction in 1997, the entertainment complex surrounds a 23-acre lake. The Hard Rock Café pyramid, Planet Hollywood's globe, the world's first NASCAR Café and NASCAR SpeedPark, plus a new baseball stadium and many hotels, surround it on every side. You can take a boat ride, play miniature golf, or just shop, shop, shop at the many specialty shops-guaranteed to offer the whole family something they'll enjoy. And parking is not a problem. Most Beautiful Shopping Destination ...Barefoot Landing www.bflanding.com Located in North Myrtle Beach, Barefoot represents the new trend of "nature-based tourism." Built on boardwalks over marshlands bordering the Intracoastal Waterway, around a 27-acre freshwater lake, the complex is home to herons, turtles and alligators, as well as over 100 shops, 15 waterfront restaurants, the House of Blues and the Alabama Theater. A frequent winner of Most Popular Tourist Attraction and Best Place to Take Out-of-Towners awards, Barefoot's blend of waterfront options is much imitated. But this is the original. Best Gator Fix... Alligator Adventure www.alligatoradventure.com I've been to Florida (a lot), but never have I seen so many gators, or so many kinds of gators, all in one place. Occupying a corner of Barefoot Landing's marshland, Alligator Adventure is home to over 1,000 gators, including a very rare albino gator, several endangered species, even a Komodo dragon, plus prize specimens of anacondas, boas, cobras and any number of lizards, turtles and other reptiles. Don't miss feeding time, especially if turkey is on the menu. Best Culture Fix...Brookgreen Gardens Bring your camera for a visit to the loveliest spot on the Grand Strand. This 300-acre garden houses over 800 works of American sculpture amid formal gardens in the European mold. Highlights include an alley of 250-year-old, moss-draped live oaks, Carl Milles' Fountain of the Muses (formerly in NYC's Metropolitan Museum of Art), a Sculpture Court, and an area designed especially for children. Tickets to the gardens are good for a week, so come back another day for a pontoon boat tour of the abandoned ricefields that surround the gardens, and the old plantations along the Waccamaw River. Spookiest Ruin... Atalaya Across from the gates of Brookgreen, Huntington Beach State Park preserves eerie Atalaya, home of the Garden's founders, Anna and Archer Huntington. Now a crumbling ruin, the huge house still conveys the Huntington's obsession with Spain and lavish lifestyle. The palm court, centered on a ruined minaret, is guaranteed to give you a shiver. Best Rainy Day Activity & Best Place for a Private Party ...Ripley's Aquarium www.ripleysaquarium.com Selected as South Carolina's top tourist attraction in 1999, this $40 million facility at Broadway at the Beach houses thousands of fish in huge aquariums that literally surround visitors. A moving glidewalk takes you under Dangerous Reef for a view of sharks hovering overhead. Other exhibits include a stingray petting area, coral gardens, freshwater piranha in Rio Amazon, and live dive shows. Best Playground for All Ages & Best Carrousel... The Myrtle Beach Pavilion www.mbpavilion.com The Pavilion is Myrtle's heart. Ask for directions to anywhere, and you'll be told it's either north or south of this landmark amusement park. Since 1948, when a carnival set up on this seaside lot and never left, generations of vacationers come here day and night to enjoy 11 compact acres of roller coasters, water rides, go-carts and all the traditional thrill rides. It's a favorite for dates, parties, and kids of all ages, even teens. Carrousels are something of a Myrtle Beach tradition, and the Pavilion has the best - a rare 1912 Hershell-Spillman Menagerie Carrousel. Besides the usual horses, on this ride you can mount camels, elephants, ostriches, lions, pigs or the world's only carrousel elk. Best Roller Coaster...Family Kingdom Amusement Park www.family-kingdom.com The half-mile long Swamp Fox Roller Coaster at the Family Kingdom is a huge, and historic, wooden coaster. Originally built by the prestigious Philadelphia Toboggan Company, the Swamp Fox was completely refurbished using 55 miles of SC yellow pine in 1991. Best Theme Entertainment Complex...The House of Blues www.hob.com Like an overgrown moonshine shack, North Myrtle Beach's House of Blues towers over Barefoot Landing. Get closer and you'll see that what looks ramshackle is actually a work of art. Inside and out, not a square foot of space is undecorated or uninteresting. The organization is a major collector of so-called "Outsider Art" and a huge number of signed originals by SC artists hang on the walls in Myrtle Beach. The complex includes a giant patio, a restaurant serving "delta" dishes, a 2,000 seat concert hall, and, of course, the Company Store, carrying the "Take it Easy Baby" clothing line and other HOB memorabilia. Take in the Gospel Brunch or "Blues Train" dinner show that recounts the history of Rock 'n Roll. Or just stop by to gawk at the hundreds of thousands of beer bottle caps used here as building trim. Best Ensemble Show-Local Favorite...Alabama Theater www.alabama-theatre.com A young, enthusiastic cast ranges through a variety of musical styles and eras that's a sure hit with those "Born Country." Produced by Opryland Productions, the show featuring cast members from across the U.S., take place nightly at the state-of-the-art Barefoot Landing theater owned by supergroup Alabama, interspersed with weekly Celebrity Concerts, including visits by Alabama itself. The "Artist of the Decade" winners got their start years ago at a local music hall (The Bowery) and haven't forgotten their roots. They've got a restaurant, too, the Alabama Grill, near Broadway at the Beach. Best Day Trip...The Tidelands of Georgetown www.georgetown-sc.com Less than an hour's drive from the center of Myrtle Beach, Georgetown County preserves the Old South charm of the Lowcountry. Stretching from Murrells Inlet and Pawleys Island, south almost to Charleston, this is the heart of the old rice country. The town of Georgetown, still a busy port, preserves some 60 historic buildings, including one housing a Rice Museum. Best 3-Hour Tour...Carolina Rover's Shelling & Lighthouse Cruise www.rovertours.com Sail from Georgetown to a remote barrier island with an on-board naturalist for shelling, visits to a lighthouse and to a Civil War wreck. Best Free Tour...Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament www.medievaltimes.com Take a free guided tour of Medieval Times' fantastic castle from 9am to 4pm daily. Attractions include authentic weapon reproductions in the Hall of Arms, the Museum of Torture, and stables housing 25 Andalusian stallions used in the evening shows. Best Eco-Activity...Kayaking Ecotourism flourishes in the Low Country where some of the nation's most extensive wetlands and black-water rivers still remain relatively pristine. A number of outfitters offer relaxing day and overnight journeys in easy-and-safe sea kayaks. At last, a sport I can enjoy sitting down. Shadiest Afternoon Activity...Tour of Live Oaks www.conwaysc.org Most visitors speed through Conway, the gateway to Myrtle Beach, without a glance. However, the historic community rewards those who take the time. Holder of a "Tree City, USA" designation, Conway is home to some 200-plus live oaks with trunks exceeding seven feet in circumference. Most grow along Main St. and Elm St. If you want to know each tree's name (and learn a little local history), pick up a brochure at the Conway Chamber. Best Golf Event...DuPont World Amateur Handicap Championship www.playdupont.com Held at the end of August each year, the world's largest amateur tournament draws over 4,000 golfers for four days of competition on 65 courses, plus many parties, concerts, clinics and receptions. Best Family Vacations...Sands Resorts The seven resorts in the Sands group offer great deals for vacationing families during the summer season. Kids under 12 stay free and eat free at any of the Sands restaurants. Plus there's free babysitting at night, and a Kid's Club program with activities and field trips all day. Meanwhile, mom and dad play golf free or take classes in scuba, kayaking and more at Sands' Sports Academy. Best Vacation Package Deals...Myrtle Beach Key Attractions www.mbeachkeyattractions.com With its many, many facilities and attractions, the Burroughs & Chapin Co. is able to offer fantastic package deals. Pick one of the standard entertainment, golf, and family packages, or design your own, with or without accommodations. Best yet, a free shuttle bus connects all the attractions, so you don't have to get in the car or fight the traffic. A Name To Remember...Burroughs & Chapin Company burroughschapin.com Without the vision of two founding families, the Burroughs and the Chapins, there might be no Myrtle Beach today. Starting just after the Civil War, these families built a turpentine enterprise into a major tourist destination. They built a railroad to link the beach area with the rest of the world, named the resort Myrtle, built the first seaside hotel, the first bathhouse, the first general store. Today, the company, still owned by the members of the original families, remains a major landowner in the area. It owns and operates the wildly successful Broadway at the Beach, the beloved Myrtle Beach Pavilion, Myrtle Square Mall and numerous other shopping venues, many hotels including the South Beach and Grande Dunes Resorts, several residential communities, plus golf courses, miniature golf courses, amusement parks and water parks up and down the Grand Strand. One of its newest ventures: the Mall of South Carolina. When completed, it will rank as the largest mall in the state. Best Kept Secret on the Strand...Franklin G. Burroughs - Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum www.b-cartmuseum.org Note the names-and plan to stay for tea. Located at 3100 So. Ocean Blvd. at Springmaid Beach. [ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN CHARLOTTE'S BEST MAGAZINE]

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