Myrtle Beach Blogs

New Attractions Make Noise in Myrtle Beach!

Everyone comes to Myrtle Beach for the sand, surf and sunshine of the beach, but some new/revamped attractions on Hwy 501 are causing quite a stir!

The revamped Myrtle Beach Speedway had its grand reopening earlier in the month. The track now features new food vendors, sound system along with a new paint job. More renovations are expected including several upgrades to the facility including new fencing and safety barriers and possibly repaving the track. More Late Model and Mini Stock races have been added to the events calendar for the speedway as well school bus racing and monster truck shows.

For dare-devils with the need for speed the speedway now offers the NASCAR Racing Experience. The Racing Experience allows NASCAR fans to drive NASCAR stock cars around the speedway at speeds only racers normally drive out. Fans can now drive on the same track that Dale Earnhardt Jr. used to race at every weekend!

After years of looking run-down and dilapidated, new businesses are also setting up shop in the old Waccamaw Pottery buildings! A New nightclub called Block Party will be opening up in the next couple weeks in the building facing the Boathouse. According to the WMBF story, “The group of investors behind Block Party says the nightclub will be interactive, using technology to connect partiers in Myrtle Beach with others in hotspots like Miami.”

So what attractions/venues/ restaurants would you like to see come to Myrtle Beach? And will you be taking a turn on the track?

Photocredit: (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Leave a Review and Win a Vacation!

Have you stayed at one of Sands Resorts? Leave a Google Review at any of their properties to be entered into a drawing to win a 3 night stay at Ocean Dunes Resort and Villas!

Leave YOUR Google Review at the following link(s). If you have family or friends who have vacationed with you at Sands, SHARE our contest, and have them write a review too. More chances for a FREE family/friends vacation!

Ocean Forest Villas- http://g.co/maps/wd2cp

Sands Beach Club- http://g.co/maps/3xmp6

Ocean Forest Plaza- http://g.co/maps/4ehqj

Ocean Dunes Resort & Villas- http://g.co/maps/zng49

Sand Dunes Resort & Spa- http://g.co/maps/cb8px

(it takes Google 2-5 days to publish reviews, don't be alarmed if you don't immediately see it)

*Finally - Write in our comments field below "I wrote a review" and tell us which property

Good Luck

7 (Surprising!) Secrets of Springmaid

Springmaid Beach Resort This has been a special place for families to gather since May 15, 1949, when Colonel Elliott White Springs opened the “Myrtle Beach Vacationland” for his mill employees. He wanted to reward them for their hard work in the textile mills, and allowed them to stay at a greatly discounted rate. Best boss EVER. More about the history here.
Col. Elliott White wasn't just the heir to this huge textile empire, he was an ace fighter pilot, author, and the original "Mad Man"of the advertising world..and boy-oh-boy were his ads racy! See here: ETV MIss Springmaid
Miss Springmaid: from 1946 - 1951, competing in the Miss Springmaid Contest was a dream come true for pretty young ladies of South Carolina. The winner won an all-expense paid trip to NY with a makeover and full wardrobe. You know those 'Carolina Girls are the prettiest in the world!
The wonderfully vintage-feel of the Springmaid Beach Resorts has recently had a make-over of it's own...more details about these renovations will be shown here on Myrtle-Beach.com soon!
Springmaid Beach Resorts is the ONLY hotel in Myrtle Beach to allow beach weddings! From the rehearsal dinner, brunch with the bridesmaids to the ceremony on the beach and reception, you can have it all under one roof! Until May 31st, military couples can enter to win a FREE dream wedding, click link for for details.
Open to the public: The Springmaid Beach Pier is open to the public for only $1 a piece, and you can enjoy all the fun at BARnacles! Be sure to check out the weekly Hawaiian Luau Hula & Fire Show each Sunday from
june 10 to August.
Watermedia Workshops and classes are offered here each spring and fall.

Springmaid Beach Resorts...it's the prettiest and most private place in Myrtle Beach!

Do You Love Mini Golf?

Myrtle Beach is known for their sandy beaches, family friendly atmosphere, beachwear stores and miniature golf. So do you love miniature golf and which course is your favorite?

Photo Courtesy of Mt. Atlanticus Minotaur Goff

I’m pretty sure that Myrtle Beach has more miniature golf courses in a five-mile radius than most states have. At last count there was over 50 mini golf courses in the Grand Strand area an every time I turn around I find another one being built. My favorite mini golf course in Myrtle Beach is Mt. Atlanticus; it’s a mini golf course in tiki huts overlooking Ocean Boulevard and the beach. Dragon’s Lair at Broadway at the Beach is also really popular, as well as Treasure Island golf.

So what’s your favorite place to go mini golfing?

S.C.U.T.E.

Do you love baby sea turtles? This is their nesting & hatching season, May - October...and you can help them!

A baby sea turtle’s life is precarious. From each nest, only an estimated 80% of the eggs resulted in hatchlings make it safely to the ocean. Only one in 1,000 hatchlings may grow to adulthood, which takes up to 25 years. These low odds make the S.C.U.T.E. / Santee Cooper preservation effort essential to loggerhead sea turtle survival in South Carolina.

The S.C.U.T.E. , or South Carolina United Turtle Enthusiasts, is a group of volunteers dedicated to sea turtle conservation in Georgetown and Horry Counties. The group organized in 1990 and are based out of Pawley’s Island, and are permitted by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources to protect, and if necessary, relocated turtle nests.

What can you do?
1.   Help to limit beachfront lighting in Horry County by turning outside lighting off at beachfront homes by 10 p.m. during nesting season, May – October. Baby hatchlings will follow the brightest light and may not reach the ocean. Bright lights also confuse nesting female turtles.
2.   Don’t disturb a nesting female. If you see one on shore attempting to nest, sudden movements may make her skittish; crouch down and allow her to find a spot to lay her eggs.
3.   Don’t use flashlights or flash photography at night if you see a nesting female, or hatchlings.
4.   Don’t disturb a nest. If you happen to find a nest of eggs, contact S.C.U.T.E. (contact information below) Chances are they already are aware, but it doesn’t hurt to report!
5.   If you do see some hatchlings….don’t disturb them if they are headed towards the sea. Again, please contact S.C.U.T.E. If they are headed the wrong direction, you can gently turn them towards the ocean. If they are headed towards artificial light, they’ll either be eaten by a predator, be stepped, hit by a car, or die of dehydration. Please do NOT put them into the ocean directly.
6.    Please bring in all your beach chairs, toys, etc from the beach at night. Plus, fill in large holes that have been dug during the day. Turtles and hatchlings can get trapped in them .

Contact info
Throughout the nesting and hatching season, SCUTE volunteers distribute information to beach users who express an interest in turtle conservation. For more information on the loggerhead sea turtle, contact SCUTE at (843) 237-9821 or (843) 235-8755 or Myrtle Beach State Park at (843) 238-0874.
Email   scute1@aol.com     Facebook: S.C.U.T.E.

Helpful links:
Santee Cooper Sea Turtle Protection South Carolina DNR Sea Turtle Conservation Program

Myrtle Beach State Park "The Urban Sea Turtle" event- To teach children about sea turtles (no live turtles at the event) three more days! Tuesdays May 15, 22, 29

Photo courtesy of the S.C.U.T.E.

Happy Mom's Day

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mom’s who brought us to the beach! Thank you for packing our lunches. Thank you for carrying us when the sand was too hot for our little feet. Thank you for hugging us even when it got sand stuck to your suntan oil. Thank you for worrying when we were straying too far from your view, and for yelling when we were wading too deep. Thank you for knowing what to do when a jellyfish stung us. Thank you for holding our hands and jumping the waves. Thank you for helping build sand castles. Thank you for being patient when we didn’t want to pick up our beach toys when it was time to leave. Thank you for not minding sand in the car, and protecting our prized shells. Thank you for walking on Springmaid Beach Pier with us. Thank you for loving us enough to know that our memories of going to the beach would always be happy ones. We love you, Mom...today, and every day.

Fans....please share YOUR favorite memory of your Mom at the beach here!

Who’s Bringing Their Pets to the Beach?

Our four-legged friends are important members of our family, but do you bring them on vacation with you?

Photo Courtesy of Myrtle Beach Pet Friendly

More and more families are opting to bring their dogs or cats on vacation with them, and why not pets deserve a vacation too! No more having to kennel the dogs or worrying about getting a friend to take care of them, many Myrtle Beach hotels are now accepting pets. For a small fee, you can bring your favorite pooch with you! Dogs are permitted on the beach during the summer, but not between the hours of 10am - 5pm from now through Labor Day; dogs are also not allowed on the sections of the beach between 21st Ave North and 13th Ave South.

UPLOAD YOUR "FURRY FRIEND PHOTO" to the Myrtle Beach Pet Friendly Page

for a chance to WIN! Deadline is May 22nd

So do you bring your pet on vacation?

Alligator Adventure: Locals catch 500 pound gator!

Most alligators you see in the Pee Dee area are safely housed within the confines of Barefoot Landing. But a local girl helped catch a 500 pound gator out in the wild!

As WPDE first reported, Morgan Tolan and a few of her friends were out on the big Pee Dee River in Georgetown County and managed to snag a 500 pound alligator. The group had a permit from the state’s Department of Natural Resources to catch the alligator as alligator hunting season normally runs from September 1st- October 15^th.

If you’d like to check out some alligators without having to get up-close and personal with them, check out Alligator Adventure at Barefoot Landing next time you come to Myrtle Beach. We suggest staying at Sands Ocean Club Resort which is minutes away from Barefoot Landing and ideally located by restaurant row.

So would you go alligator hunting?

Photocredit: WPDE News

Sweet Magnolia

Sweet Magnolia...how do you describe their scent?

Magnolias smell like a warm early summer morning....a glass of sweet lemonade...and honey drizzled over a warm biscuit. Getting close to a big blossom makes you feel dizzy, like that moment just before a first kiss. Breathing in that intoxicating magnolia is like being wrapped up in your Grandma's quilt, sucking on a lemon drop. A feeling of heaven on earth, and feeling of timelessness. If you happen to steal one from your neighbor's tree, your whole house smells like the finest hotel in Paris, and you'll want to plant one of your very own.

The thick white petals catch the sunlight like a string of pearls, or a wedding dress in May. This Southern beauty, unabashedly perfumed and lovely, standing out against glossy, thick dark-green leaves like a belle surrounded by suitors waiting to take her hand. Sweet magnolia, signature scent of South Carolina, how we love you.

Is Tanning Addictive?

Everybody wants a nice glowing tan for summer, but how much tanning is too much tanning?

As summer approaches, girls and guys of all ages hit the beach, pool, and the tanning salon to make sure they have that much needed summer tan.Obviously some sun is good for the skin, but evidence has linked prolonged exposure to sunlight or tanning beds to skin cancer. But do people go too far in their desire to be tan and disregard all the dangers associated with it? For years people have been making jokes about Snooki looking like an oompa-loompa. Now, with the recent controversy about the tanning mom in New Jersey (Pictured)- it begs the question: how much tanning is too much? Is Tanorexia an actual addiction much like alcohol or cigarettes? Or are these people striving to be tan so much that they just don't know when to stop.

What do you think: Can you get addicted to tanning?

Photocredit: Z6Mag

Aloha, Y'all!

Is there a similarity between people that say "Hey, y'all" and "Aloha"? I think so! Smiling faces, beautiful places ... a love of family, respect for history and tradition- and enjoyment of good food and fun! There may be a connection between the appeal of fire shows and fireworks, too.

Here in Myrtle Beach, audiences are so lucky to have the chance to experience a bit of Hawaii brought to us by Chief Kamu's Fire and Hula Shows. Sam "Chief Kamu" Kanekoa is a native Hawaiian from the Waipio Valley on the big island of Hawaii who lives here with his beautiful wife and two daughters. Sam shares traditions such as hula, beautiful costumes, Polynesian music, and the exciting fire knife dance at various locations along the Grand Strand for going on nine seasons. Hula lessons are part of the show, and even the littlest girl will love the dancing...and you can guarantee that little boys (and their grandfathers!) will love the fire show finale.

Spring Maid Beach Resort just announced weekly Hawaiian Luaus featuring Chief Kamu's Fire and Hula Show beginning Sunday, June 10th through August from 6 - 9 pm. The shows are open the public, and tickets will be $39 Adults $12 Children, and include authentic Hawaiian Buffet. Contact Springmaid for ticket information: (866) 293-5078.

Hula dancing, Hawaiian music and a fire show...Jana Banana can't wait to go!

Readers: Have you been to one of Chief Kamu's shows before? Share your story!

Are TruckNutz Offensive?

Have you ever seen TruckNutz? Would you expect to get pulled over for them? Well that’s what happened to two drivers in South Carolina.

In July of 2011, Sixty-five year old Virginia Tice of Bonneau, S.C was pulled over by a local cop (in Bonneau) due to the fake red testicles hanging off the back of her pickup truck. When she refused to remove them, the cop issued her a $445 ticket claiming she violated South Carolina’s obscene bumper sticker law. Tice has refused to pay the fine and instead asked for a court trial which has been postponed until sometime later this year.

This past weekend Joe Cervantes-Rodriguez was pulled over in Spartanburg, S.C. because of these funny-but- apparently- obscene fake testicles. Cervantes-Rodriguez removed the offending object as requested but was ultimately arrested for not having a valid driver’s license.

All of this begs the question, are these TruckNutz that offensive? How are they any different from the little Calvin peeing decal that is everywhere? Or the mud flaps with naked women’s silhouettes that I constantly see on tractor trailers? Is this really worthy of the police force’s time and energy or taxpayer money?

What do you think: Are the TruckNutz that offensive or has this been blown out of proportion?

There Is A River

My friend’s father, Mr. Campbell, was a tall, dark, quiet man. He wore a formal shirt and black shoes even when he was resting. I would stare at him in the 2^nd row of the Kanawha Presbyterian Church and think there sits the most boring man in the world. Years later, on a road trip, Mr. Campbell and I talked about our experiences with God and our dreams. We became quiet friends.

Year later, I learned of Mr. Campbell’s death late Sunday night as my wife and I arrived in the States to preach in a church in Panama City Beach, Florida. I went to bed troubled and saddened, and the telephone rang at 3 in the morning. It rang only once but was enough to wake me up. Instantly I remembered what I was dreaming: I saw Mr. Campbell moving sideways down a ravine in the woods, gingerly, until he came to a beautiful clear river. Somehow I knew the water was so clean and cold that it would make your teeth ache to drink it. It was so beautiful it would make your heart ache. Than I saw him standing there so peacefully and smiling, as if to say, “See, there is a river.”

At once, I remembered Psalm 146:4 that declares, “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God”.

Then like the morning light brightening the beach, I remembered the many times over the years I would turn around a see Mr. Campbell standing off to one side with that same peaceful smile. I think he was already standing near the river. Later that day I talked to his daughter, Carol, who told me that Psalm 146 was the scripture her dad had chosen for his own funeral. I could almost feel the river flowing at my feet.

John saw the river in Revelation 22. Ezekiel saw it, too. The prophet Ezekiel saw it, too and said it was full of fish, which is good news for me. Maybe if we are quiet enough, we can hear the waters around us. Just doing nothing could be wonderful, even though we might be accused of being boring.

Beachy Toes

Painted toenails on sandy feet, my daughter and I sit side by side on a blanket at the beach. We watch the waves together, just as we've done since she was born. Memories flood back- her first trip to the beach as in infant, protected from the sun under an umbrella and floppy hat... sitting in the sand wearing a red & white swimsuit watching her big brothers jump the waves.... and later, walking the length of the shore with her friends in a neon green bikini. Each year collecting shells, drawing our names in the sand, building sand castles and mermaid sculptures. Applying sunscreen to her tiny face, handing her lunch and forgetting to wash the sand off her hands, and that time she was scared by a ghost crab at Huntington Beach State Park.

How did she grow up so fast? Those little chubby pink feet that I used to strap sandals to are now larger than mine. "I made you from scratch." I tell her. She laughs, "I know, Mom." Our beachy toes side by side...my sweet girl born in July will always be my baby.

Readers: what are your memories of being with your child ..or your Mom...at the beach? Please share them here!

Landmarks on the Drive to "The Beach"

Hand painted signs on the side of the road make me smile. Their simplicity warms my heart, and I imagine the care that the artist took planning the placement of the letters, the careful brush strokes on the wood. This little sign on Highway 501 became my favorite on the drive "To the Beach" when I lived 90 miles away in Hartsville, SC. My car Sally Suburban packed with beach toys, towels, cooler full of food and three kids asking me "how much longer??"...this sweet sign was a welcome sight. It meant that I only had 30 miles to go.

In later years, it became my signal to call my now-husband when I visited him. He used to worry about me driving alone, and this was a check-in location. To be honest, it was also my cue to check my make up in the rear view mirror. This may also be why he worries about me driving alone, come to think about it.

My friend Andy also loves this sign, and once took a photo with his phone and posted it on my Facebook wall. Not to be outdone, one day I also pulled off to the side of the road to take my own picture, wading through tall grass and briars and praying that I wouldn't step on a snake. It was worth it. "TAKE A PEACH TO THE BEACH" will always bring a smile to my face.

Do you have a favorite sign on your drive to Myrtle Beach? Be it a sign, or a restaurant that's been there forever, these landmarks make the long drive all worth it.....it means you are almost there.

Should Gratuity Be Added to Checks at Restaurants?

Ever been out dining with a large party and saw gratuity added onto your check at the end of the night? Should restaurants be allowed to do that?

Recently a restaurant in Texas locked their doors and called the cops because a table refused to pay the 18% gratuity on their bill. Now I’ve worked as a waitress in Myrtle Beach for almost 10 years and when it comes to added gratuity on checks, a lot of people hate the idea. I’ve worked in both a restaurant that did add gratuity to parties of 8 or more and one that didn’t, so I’ve experienced both sides of the controversy. I’ve had people yell at me because gratuity has been added and claimed they would have left me more if it wasn’t added. I’ve also had parties of 12 people with a $150 check leave me a five dollar tip. Frankly, you’d be surprised how many customers leave less than a 10% tip just because they can.

The thing is Myrtle Beach servers only make 2.13 an hour, so 90% of our income is based on tips. A lot of people, especially foreigners, don’t know that and consider tipping a bonus on top of minimum wage. I’ve had particularly bad nights waiting tables, where even though I know I gave a customer great service, they have left me a 5% tip or worse a verbal tip. I love being told I am great at my job, but that doesn’t keep a roof over my head. So in some ways an added gratuity is a safeguard to make sure a waitress makes money. Sure, there are bad waitresses who take advantage of the system and if that’s the case- tell the management during the meal that your server is not doing their job. Not at the end of the night when you get the check.

So what is your opinion: Is added gratuity a good thing or a bad thing?

Photocredit: http://bowtielaw.wordpress.com/page/2/

Secret Morning

Would you like to know a secret place to watch God painting?

The sun rises in the east over the Atlantic Ocean here in Myrtle Beach, bringing with it glorious mornings to fish for photos. For $1 each my husband and I got our wrists stamped (in the shape of a starfish) by a man wearing an orange Hawaiian shirt that opened up the shop at the Surfside Beach Pier; he wished me luck. We walked out onto the wooden walkway at 6:02 am and I prepared my camera. The lights on the pier were still on, and the sky lightened from dark to purple. A mallard duck landed on the sand facing the shoreline, and seagulls, crows and pigeons flew over and occasional roosted on the handrails. I wondered...do the pelicans sleep in?

The sky changed to lavender, pink and coral. A lone fisherman pulling a cart of fishing gear approached; his name was Bud, and retired here from Maryland to enjoy the mild weather. We chatted a bit, and shared stories of the Bay of Fundy and Prince Edward Island after he learned I was from Maine. “I go fishing every day,” he said, “Because I can.”

The sun started as a bright orange yellow sliver and expanded rapidly to a sphere; the only sound was the clicking of my lens. A woman in a pink shirt appeared from the row of houses towards the shore, and two boys with surfboards headed into the waves. The lights from Myrtle Beach twinkled from across the beach. Morning had broken, and my catch of the day was the sun.

Will One Bike Rally Be a Disaster?

This year, both the Harley-Davidson and the Atlantic Beach Bike rally are going to be happening at the same time. Leaving many to wonder: is this a good idea?

Myrtle Beach Bike weeks have been a source of contention in Myrtle Beach for some years. There are some (tourists and locals) who view the rallies as a nuisance. The rallies are loud, noisy, create tons of traffic congestion and not very family friendly according to some people. Conversely, some people see the rallies as an added source of income for Myrtle Beach during a time when families are not vacationing in town. The biker rallies bring in hundreds of thousands of people who are staying, shopping and eating in the Grand Strand area.

The Harley Davidson rally has in the past always been the third week of May, with the Atlantic Beach rally following it the next week and into Memorial Day weekend. Earlier this year, the Harley rally opted to extend their rally until Memorial Day weekend. Then last week Atlantic Beach opted to start their rally a week earlier.

So do you think having the two rallies going on concurrently is good idea or a recipe for disaster?

Photocredit: Randall Hill/The Sun News, via Associated Press

Fishing is Faith

My wife and I just saw the movie, Salmon Fishing in The Yemen, which is more about romance than fly fishing- a disappointment for me. I did appreciate the line,

“Fishing is faith” which I would break down into four stages.

The first stage is the hook-up. The first bump of the bait flares all the senses. Then the line pulls and the reel sings. That is the first part of the catch and the first part of a revelation from God. God begins to tug on our heart. We feel the pull from the invisible. It may be a word, a thought, or a supernatural touch, and suddenly we know we are on to something. We don’t know how to apply it to our life or what it means, but we know deep is calling unto deep and we are connected to the unseen. Often it comes in prayer and at times is just grows around us like morning. Sometimes it is a small almost imperceptible tug, and sometimes is a hard yank that reminds us that God is bigger than we thought.

.The second stage is seeing it. One evening I was fishing with my son Christian on a small charter boat when I hooked something big. We had to follow it out to sea because it was stripping the line. The captain thought it was just a big shark and since it was getting dark, he wanted to cut the line and call it a day, but I pleaded with him to play the fish out. Finally after being dragged out a few miles and an hour later, the fish surfaced. It was a 150 lbs. granddaddy tarpon, a moss back. I have had many long hard pullers that got away without ever catching a glimpse of them. It was so important to see it and know what it was.

So, the first step is the pull from the invisible, but that is never enough. Once the fish yanks, we yearn to see it. It is not enough to feel it; we have to identify it. Our eyes strain against the reflections on the water to see the first blue or white flash. Then, suddenly, the fish comes into clear view and we always shout its name. Whether it is a king fish, a tuna, a shark, or a wahoo, just naming it give a sense of capture. We are Adam again naming the animals.

Nevertheless, seeing it only leads to a greater desire, the third stage, to boat it. We want to possess what we see. We want to touch it. When God begins to show me something new in my life, I am excited to see and proclaim it, but at the same time, all my energies begin to channel to see the vision realized. It may be a business, a foundation, or a project. Our visions, like salmon, swim against the current, until they become visible.

Now with the fish flopping in the boat, we celebrate but it still is not enough until the final stage is complete, a good picture. God has wired us to show and tell and take pictures. Even the pictures of cavemen are always about big catches. Imagine catching a huge fish yet never allowed to tell anyone. It remains an un-fished fish. One lazy afternoon I caught a big red drum off a dock in Marco Island, Fl. I took the fish over to bait shop to ask if it was legal and edible: I really took it there to show it off. A big red hair fellow said he wanted to take a picture of it and put it on his TV show, “Big Red Fishing Show”. I was thinking I had arrived-my picture on a fishing show. I was thrilled and hurried back to the dock to throw it back while still alive. A few minutes later I returned to the shop and Big Red asked me if he could get another shot of the fish. I told him I had released it and he said, “ Nuts, because I forgot to put film in the camera.” I had the hard pull, the first sight and the landing of the red fish, but not getting Big Red’s photo took the helium out of my happy balloon. Maybe my whole motive for this article is to tell you about the big 10 lbs. red drum I caught in Marco Island. Maybe it was 12 lbs. It wouldn’t even fit in a camera.

So, God made us braggers and we are at our best bragging on Him. First, we get hooked by the deep pull of His love, and then, secondly, we begin to see what He wants us to do. Thirdly, we give it all to see it a part of our life. And finally we must tell others what we caught, or rather, what caught us.

Have you ever felt you still must to do something big? It is like leaning over a boat and seeing a huge shadow and feeling a quiet thunder moving in your gut. Imagine pulling into light what you can only vaguely sense is there. That is fishing and that is faith in “God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did” (Romans 4:17).

Boardwalk Stroll

When was the last time that you played hooky? Strolling on the boardwalk on a sunny afternoon when everyone else is supposed to be at work....it doesn't get any better than this. Palm trees swaying in the ocean breeze, the smell of hamburgers grilling at Peaches Corner, and beach music playing at Marvin's. Kids on vacation playing at the Arcade, teenage boys throwing frisbees on the beach and stores full of Myrtle Beach t-shirts and shark teeth necklaces. American flags flapping in the wind, and a brave parasailer lifted in the air over the ocean. The Pavillion may be gone, but the new boardwalk is beautiful. There are plenty of benches to sit for a bit and soak in some sunshine watching the Skywheel spin against the Carolina blue sky.

I took a walk yesterday afternoon along the boardwalk and Ocean Boulevard and pretended to be a tourist with my camera in tow. I even bought some cotton candy! For a peek at my photos, click here: Jana Banana: Day at the Boardwalk, Myrtle Beach. Come back to Myrtle Beach and visit us....and if you live here like me, play hooky and pretend to be a tourist soon!

Fan Appreciation Week Big Winners!

Did you win big in our Fan Appreciation week? One top commenter just won a free trip to Myrtle Beach! Click the link to see if it’s you!

Our Fan Appreciation Week Top Commenter grand prize goes to…. Tricia Bell Lanum! She’s won a free 3 night vacation to Myrtle Beach. Please email Britt@Myrtle-Beach.com to claim your prize and get all the details.

Top commenters on our website will periodically win gifts and prizes. Want to know how to become a top commenter: comment on stories on our website once a week or more!

Our Timeline Cover Contest Winner is Ashley Hopkins! Her picture got 102 likes and 36 shares. Her photo will be up on our Myrtle-Beach.com Facebook page until the end of the day on Monday, May 7^th. Make sure to check it out!

And stay tuned to Myrtle-Beach.com and our Myrtle Beach Facebook page for more news, contests and giveaways!

Who Wears Short Shorts?

Every Southern girl loves her daisy dukes, but have you ever seen a pair of shorts that were TOO short?

Living in a beach town, I see people walking around in various shades of undress all the time. It’s not uncommon to walk into a store and see someone wearing a towel over their bikini and a pair of flip flops. I can’t tell you how many times I have been walking around Broadway at the Beach and seen girls wearing daisy duke shorts that were so short you could see their entire butt hanging out of the back. I mean I love my short-shorts, but I am of the opinion that if your pockets are hanging out the bottom of your shorts, they are too short.

So do you wear daisy dukes? And have you ever seen a girl’s shorts and thought, “those are too short?”

Sandy Swimsuits

Finding shells...eating an ice cream on the Boardwalk... lying on the wet sand, giggling as the waves tickle over tummies. Those are a child's memories of Myrtle Beach.

Myrtle Beach is a sunny smile. Long days of play ending with sunsets on the strand watching the stars appear.

It's the magical beach of vacations, the place where children's memories are made....

Summer days are almost here, ready to make our children's swimsuits sandy yet again...

These are the favorite pages in the story of our family.

Shag: The Movie

Fans...share your memories of Shag: The Movie!

Four cute girls, The Pavilion, beach music of 1963 and shagging... it must be Myrtle Beach!

If you haven't seen this movie, you'll love it- and you if you know folks from Myrtle Beach you probably know someone that was an extra in it! The film was released in1989 and starred Phoebe Cates and Bridget Fonda, and told the tale of four friends going away to Myrtle Beach for a weekend of total fun. Luanne is the proper one that is nervously driving the girls in her car and staying at her fathers (the senator's) house, where you can't sit on the furniture and tells them, "Furthermore, Daddy's bourbon... is strictly off limits." Pudge is a nice girl who has always been a wall flower- but this trip has her shagging the most. Melaina is wild and crazy and would rather live a Hollywood life than "die in a parish house in Spartanburg, South Carolina", and Carson is the sweet girl about to marry Harvey-but her friends want her to have one last weekend meeting cute boys.

Tell us, fans.... what are your favorite scenes? Do you have a favorite quote? Love an outfit? We want to know!

Details: Fan's Favorite Spot!

Fans- Tell us your favorite Myrtle Beach Spot and Win! Click the link and tell us your spot on our website!

What’s your favorite spot in Myrtle Beach? Is it hanging out on the Skywheel? Dancing in the clubs at Broadway at the Beach? Is there a particular restaurant you have to visit when you’re in Myrtle Beach? Or is lounging in a beach chair with your feet in the ocean all you want to do when you’re here? Tell us your favorite Myrtle Beach spot in the comments below and one lucky winner at random will get a gift card to Dunkin Donuts or Subway! We’ll pick the winner on Monday.

So what’s your favorite Myrtle Beach Spot?

Also don't forget to grab your Golden Ticket for a free night stay in Myrtle Beach! And remember we will also award a TOP COMMENTING fan a grand prize on Monday (4/30/12) at 10am !

Festival Wars: Coastal Uncorked or Sun Fun?

The 3^rd Annual Coastal Uncorked Festival is going on this weekend, and it got us wondering: would you rather have Coastal Uncorked or the Sun Fun Festival?

Don’t get me wrong there are benefits and drawbacks to both festivals. Coastal Uncorked is a 4-day festival that allows people to sample food and wine from participating restaurants. There are various food and wine tasting tents, shopping specials, live music, grape stomping and an Iron Chef -style food competition on the last day that is sure to make foodies very happy. Coastal Uncorked tends to favor an older clientele with more expensive tastes and palates.

The Sun Fun festival, on the other hand, was a 3-day event held the first week of June that mostly catered towards families with young children. The 60 year old event included the Miss Sun Fun beauty pageant, actors and singers from “kid friendly” entertainment (last year David Archuleta was the headliner), beach games, a parade and a sandcastle building contest. It was considered the kickoff to summer in Myrtle Beach.

Neither festival is self-sustaining; both require revenue from the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce to continue running. The Chamber cancelled the Sun Fun Festival for 2012 claiming it doesn’t bring in enough tourists and costs too much money to run, although they had hopes they would be able to revive Sun Fun for 2013. Coastal Uncorked, however, got 60,000 in funding from the Chamber this year.

So if the choice was up to you which festival would you keep: Coastal Uncorked or Sun Fun?

Let's Go Ride a Bike!

Bicycle riding in the Myrtle Beach area can be enjoyed all year thanks to our Southern climate and our many beautiful trails to ride. If you haven’t been on a bicycle in years you may want to rediscover the joy of cycling- not only is it fantastic exercise and a mood booster, it can save you some gas dollars for quick trips. Serious cyclers may not find too much challenge with our flat terrain, but that can be made up by long interrupted trails to help improve your speed.

Or, if you are like me, you may have chickened out as a child and are discovering the joys of cycling for the very first time as a “grown up”. Seriously...I am embarrassed to admit that not only was I the only person that I knew that didn't know how to ride a bike, when I finally got one for Christmas this year I actually sat at the computer and searched on Google "How to Ride a Bike"- much to the laughter of my family and friends! Now I love it, and you just can't wipe the smile off my face when I'm riding.

Regardless of your fitness level, bicycle riding is a great low-impact exercise that is just plain FUN!

Here’s a list of some local bicycle shops that sell and/or rent bikes, and several sites to find trails; a few shops have groups to join for longer rides and encouragement for people that need some help getting back into the (bike) saddle- please share your favorite shop and trail!

(list in no particular order- please feel free to post ones that I have left off, and do post your favorite place to ride!)

Grand Strand Bicycles www.grandstrandbicycles.com/ with two locations:

515 Highway 501 Myrtle Beach, SC Phone 843 839-3702 and

4410 Highway 17 Bypass Murrells Inlet, SC Phone 843 652-3700

This shop invites cyclers to join in for group rides several days a week, check out their website for more details.

Beach Bike Shop www.beachbikeshop.com/

711 Broadway Street Myrtle Beach, SC 29579 phone: 843-448-5335

This shop also invites cyclers to join group rides on Friday and Saturday mornings, check out their website for more details.

Cyclopedia www.cyclopediaonline.com/

115 Willbrook Blvd # J Pawleys Island, SC 29585 Phone: 843-235-6500

This shop offers group rides, contact them for more details. They have a great map on their site of the Waccamaw Neck Bikeway (click title to open).

Myrtle Beach Bicycles www.myrtlebeachbicycles.com/

10799 Highway 707, Murrells Inlet, SC Phone: (843) 215-7433

Mr. C's Bicycles

720 Highway 17 N # A, Surfside Beach, SC Phone: (843) 238-3222

Bicycles-N-Gear www.bicycles-n-gear.com/

515 Highway 501 # C, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577 (843) 626-2453

Bike Doctor Of The Carolinas www.bikedoconline.com/

315 Sea Mountain Hwy, North Myrtle Beach, SC Phone: (843) 249-8152

Woody’s Beach Rentals www.woodysbeachrentals.com

208 Atlantic Ave Garden City Beach, SC Telephone: (843) 357 2453

Pawleys Island Beach Services www.pawleysislandbeachservice.com/

10570 Ocean Hwy 17 Pawleys Island, SC Phone: (843) 237-4666

TRAILS:

East Coast Greenway www.greenway.org/sc.aspx

Map My Ride Myrtle Beach www.mapmyride.com/routes/search/run/united-states/sc/myrtle-beach

Central Park
1400 Outrigger Road, North Myrtle Beach
www.parks.nmb.us
1/4-mile paved walking/bicycle path

McLean Park
93 Oak Drive, North Myrtle Beach
www.parks.nmb.us
1/2-mile paved walking/bicycle path with fitness trail

Huntington Beach State Park
16148 Ocean Highway, Murrells Inlet
www.huntingtonbeachsc.org
Cycle through 2,500 acres of oceanfront forests and lagoons, historic Atalaya castle and bird sanctuaries.

Grand Park at Market Common
Farrow Parkway, Myrtle Beach
www.marketcommonmb.com
2-mile paved walking/bicycle path surrounding lake with fitness trail

Riverwalk
Downtown Conway
www.conwaymainstreet.com
boardwalk and paved path winds along the Waccamaw River, marina and park

Pawleys Loop
Pawleys Island Nature Park, Pawleys Island
www.scgreatoutdoors.com/bk-pawleys
31/2 miles past views of the marsh along the causeways and Myrtle Avenue. Visit the Web site for details on the route.

Details: Caption Contest

Fans, click this link and give us your caption for this picture at our website. Best Caption Wins!

Give us your best caption for this picture in the comments below. Then vote for the winning caption by liking the caption in the comments. Get your friends to help you win by getting them to like your caption. Only likes on the website page count. Caption with the most likes wins! Winner will be announced on Monday and will receive a gift card to either Dunkin Donuts or Subway. Get ready, set, go!

Also don't forget to grab your Golden Ticket for a free night stay in Myrtle Beach! And remember we will also award a TOP COMMENTING fan a grand prize on Monday (4/30/12) at 10am !

CDOS: It Feels Like a Fairytale

Ever think something is too good to be true? I do, I’m always skeptical when something good happens to me especially when it comes to dating.

So I ran into neighbor boy again, well he ran into me, and I’m starting to think it wasn’t by chance. I had Saturday day off from work, and some bread that had gone stale, so I slipped on my flip-flops and headed down to the pond in our housing development to feed the ducks.

I tucked my green flowered-print skirt under me as I tossed out pieces of the breads. There was only two ducks there and a couple of ducklings, but an army of turtles came out of the pond to eat. Some of them were no bigger than my thumb and it took everything not to kidnap one. One of the little ducklings came to eat the bread out of my hand, it was so cute and then I heard someone chuckling behind me.

There was neighbor boy leaning on a tree behind me, a shaggy looking medium-sized white and brown terrier sat next to him. I mumbled a shaky hello and his dog walked over and laid his head down in my lap. Neighbor boy burst out laughing. Apparently I’m some sort of magical Disney princess that all the animals love me according to him. He introduced himself and his dog before sitting down next to me. We had a nice little chat where I found out he just graduated from college two years ago, works as bartender at a nice restaurant and thinks lima beans are the most disgusting food ever (don’t ask how that came up). I have to say that he has the most amazing green eyes of anyone I’ve ever seen. I wanted to get lost in them but I didn’t want to be the weird girl that stared at him. I don’t know how long we sat there talking before both of us looked at our phones and realized we were going to be late for work. He did, however, put my number in his phone before he left.

So do you think he’s going to call? And are you a pessimist when it comes to dating too?

Read: Meeting Neighbor Boy

New Community-Focused Magazine to Premiere at Myrtle Beach Bike Week

Press Release by Edward Carney.

Myrtle Beach, SC – Biker Life, LLC currently maintains a website featuring general motorcycle information, events lists, classifieds, and a community forum. Now, scheduled to coincide with Myrtle Beach Bike Week from May 11 to 20, Biker Life will be officially launching its print magazine.

The company behind both was established in the spring of 2011 in an effort to combat negative perceptions of the biker community by much of the general public. Biker Life founder and CEO, Tiffany M. Primo has been a motorcycle owner and enthusiast for years, during which time she has met many bikers who are highly involved in charity work, community building, and social activism.

Ms. Primo, along with others, will be in attendance at the festival for its last three days in order to act as representatives for the publication, its website, and the company mission. The first issue will be made available to attendees and will feature profiles of noteworthy bikers and biking organizations, interviews with community leaders, articles on motorcycle ownership, maintenance and safety, and a variety of reader-submitted content on topics of interest not only to bikers, but also to activists and all people interested in improving their local communities.

“Biker Life is about people promoting people,” says Primo. “I want everyone to be able to benefit from the knowledge of others who accomplished their goals through hard work and dedication.” That same hard work and dedication is something that Primo and her colleagues at Biker Life are eager to bring to the continuing development of the magazine and to their own participation in the activism and community-building that they use it to highlight.

As the company develops, Primo hopes to make Biker Life not just a leading voice of the biking community, but also a voice for the community in general, as a creator of and focal point for internships, youth programs, scholarships, and community organizing. After all, the tagline on its website, BikerLife.org, declares that biking is “not just a ride, it’s a lifestyle. So Biker Life strives to showcase the best of that lifestyle in all its facets.

If you can’t make it to Myrtle Beach Bike Week, but wish to inquire about Biker Life Magazine regarding sponsorship, subscriptions, content, or to share information about your own biking organization or community project, you may contact Tiffany M. Primo at (404)462-8567.

Details: Timeline Cover Contest

Upload your Myrtle Beach Vacation Picture to our Facebook Wall! We will then upload the picture to our Timeline Cover Contest Album. The picture with the most likes and shares by Monday April 30^th will become our Timeline Cover for a week!

So upload your picture to our Facebook wall now and then go vote for your favorites and get your friends to vote for you!

Rules:

1. All entries must be submitted by Monday, April 30^th.

2. Voting will end on Monday April 30^th at 8 pm.

3. Only likes and shares on the pictures in the Timeline Cover Contest Album will be counted. Likes and shares from our Facebook wall will not count.

4. All picture entries must be your own original photos. No stock photos will be allowed.

Note: Timeline covers are typically 851 x 315 pixels. We do not expect you to make your pictures in these measurements but we would greatly appreciate it.

Yummiest Catch

Most five year olds love pizza and macaroni and cheese. There is one little boy that lives in the Myrtle Beach area that is keeping fishermen busy.

When I first met him he was three years old, the grandson of my boyfriend at the time. When I met the Little Fella he looked up at me and asked my name- when I told him it was “Jana Banana” he laughed; then, he got very, very serious. “What are your favorite restaurants?” This little guy, as I was about to discover, was the youngest food critic I’d ever met. He described his favorite restaurants to me in loving detail…the hash brown casserole at Cracker Barrel was listed among his top choices.

That evening his GranDaddy and I took him out to eat. His grandfather named off a few restaurants, and Little Fella shook his head at each suggestion, his brow furrowed as his looked out the window as we drove on Highway 17. All at once he broke into a bright smile and pointed to a large restaurant with a huge crab atop their sign, “That one, GrandDaddy! Let’s try that one!”

Now, I don’t know about you, but I haven’t met many preschoolers that prefer seafood over pizza. My experience told me that he would probably choose from the children’s menu and order standard kiddie fare, such as chicken fingers and French fries. Oh, was I ever wrong!

We walked inside Phillip’s Seafood Myrtle Beach seafood restaurant and Little Fella’s face broke into a huge smile, complete with deep dimples. “This place looks great!” The hostess smiled and walked us to our table. On the way, GranDaddy pointed out a lobster tank to Little Fella , and told him what they were. “Are they good to eat?” he asked- to which GrandDaddy said, “Oh, yes.” - which garnered another wide grin.

We sat at the table and looked at the menu. I asked Little Fella if he’d like me to read him the menu, and he patted my hand and said, “Nope. I know what I want.” Again, I thought- “chicken fingers”.

The waiter came to the table to take our order, and started with Little Fella. “I want…..CRAB LEGS!!” he said with gusto. I looked at him, then at his GrandDaddy. He smiled too, and told the waiter- “You’d better make that an adult-sized portion.”

After the waiter left, I asked him if he was crazy. He told me, “Just watch.”

If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it. This little three year old ate an entire adult sized portion of crab legs, then sat back and patted his tummy with a big sigh. “Mmmmm, mmm. Thank you!” I dissolved in giggles. I think I fell in love with him that evening, even before I fell in love with his GrandDaddy.

I went on to marry GrandDaddy, and got the best wedding gift ever when I got to be this little guy’s permanent Jana Banana. Little Fella has gone on to be the best guide to Myrtle Beach restaurants I’ve ever met. He has an adventurous palate and can extol the virtues of recipes like a mini-Wolfgang Puck. When you take him to a seafood market he points out all the fish in the case by sight. Our adventures in restaurants continue to crack me up. He recently begged us to eat at Crabby Mikes in Surfside Beach where he ate his favorite dish of King Crab Legs, shocking the waitress by how expertly he devours them. Last night my husband and I watched the Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel, and we both immediately thought of our Little Fella, who is helping to keep these brave fishermen in business.... one big plate at a time.

Myrtle Beach Reaches Out for Jarrod Danka!

Remember being 11 years old? Remember playing with your friends and riding bikes with your siblings. Remember when your biggest worry was making a good grade in school and if that boy/girl liked you.

For 11 year-old Jarrod Danka his biggest worry is whether he is going to live to see his next birthday. Jarrod was born with two types of kidney disease and has already had to undergo one kidney transplant, but he needs another one soon to save his life. He already has a donor lined up but with the ongoing medical expenses piling up his family cannot afford to pay for the transplant.

Tom Lorenz, the marketing director for the Myrtle Beach Skywheel, and the City of Myrtle Beach quickly stepped in to help. The City of Myrtle Beach has declared this Friday, April 27^th, Jarrod Danka day and Lorenz has coordinated a special fundraiser to help out this wonderful little boy. Donations will be taken at the Skywheel all day on the 27^th and people who donate will get two dollars off their ride on the Skywheel. Furthermore, 10% of the days proceeds will go to straight to helping Jarrod Danka’s medical bills.

There will also be a party starting at noon on Friday at Plyer Park next to the Skywheel. There will be a DJ and karaoke from noon to five, and live bands from 6 until the party ends. Bands scheduled to play include the Shoreline Brass Band and rock band One Eye Open. There will also be a silent auction that will include some desirable items from some of Myrtle Beach’s favorite places including Pirates Voyage. Radio Station Movin’ 94.5 will be there with a special surprise announcement that you absolutely don’t want to miss (we know what it is, and it’s definitely a special treat!).

So make sure you come down the Skywheel on Friday April 27^th and support Jarrod Danka and his family! This amazing little boy needs YOUR Help. Sadly, Jarrod won’t be able to attend the festivities because he is currently back at UNC Medical center having caught a bought of Ecoli that has left him dehydrated and on antibiotics.

Picture from Carolina Live Story

Local David vs. Goliath Legal Battle Nearing Climax

Scott Lemons, 34 year old Myrtle Beach entrepreneur who owns the Fortis Consulting Group, LLC, expects to be in court soon. He’s fighting a large and powerful South Carolina law firm and seeking damages that could be in the multimillion dollar range. The firm’s name shall not be mentioned but it is one the biggest and most powerful in South Carolina with hundreds of partners and many office locations. Legal malpractice plus unethical conduct and fraud at the partner level is being charged.

Scott says his battle with the establishment has been tough, brutal and vicious. He notes that his opponent has a multitude of legal talent to draw on plus unlimited financial resources. Scott says a partner threatened him by saying that if he persisted they would ruin him financially and destroy his reputation.

When all is over we hope that justice will have prevailed.

Scott Lemons Myrtle Beach

Where is the Best Darn Hot Dog in Myrtle Beach?

Hot dog lovers, share your favorite! When you crave an All American hot dog, where do YOU go? Do you love the hot dogs at the Pelican’s game? Or do you prefer the dogs at iconic Sam’s Corner with locations in Myrtle Beach, Garden City and Pawleys Island? Or maybe you are a traditionalist that prefers to grill your own at home.

I went undercover and asked a few locals and visitors to the Grand Strand, and Sam’s Corner that serves Carolina Pride hot dogs came up again and again. A hot dog fan from New Jersey swore that the Chili Cheese Coneys from Sonic were her favorite.

There are a lot of variables here; do you like them “loaded up”, or “ just mustard & ketchup, please”? Adding chili seems to be a Carolina favorite, and some folks like them with sweet Vidalia onions, slaw or sauerkraut. The bun seems to be very important as well- it should hold up to a hefty amount of condiments with that all important hot dog.

Whatever the fixin’s, the question we want to know here on Myrtle-Beach.com is….

Where is the Best Darn Hot Dog in Myrtle Beach?

****UPDATE!!****

The voters on Facebook have spoken...the best darn hot dog in Myrtle Beach was a TIE between Peaches Corner and Sam's Corner (locations in Myrtle Beach, Garden City & Pawley's Island) ...visit these great places soon and try them for yourself! And tell them you heard about them from your friends at Myrtle-Beach.com

Details: Most Curious FAN Wins!

Fans, stump Myrtle Beach! Ask us your most curious question; the best question WINS! Click on link for more details.

Stump the Myrtle Beach team and our genius fans to win!

First: Ask your toughest question below.

Then: Myrtle Beach Fans - help yourself win by correctly answering other people's Myrtle Beach questions! Correctly answered questions by Myrtle-Beach.com or any of our fans are eliminated.

We’ll pick the best unanswered question and the winner will get a gift card to their choice of either Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts or Subway.

Submit Your Questions Now!*

*question must be related to Myrtle Beach

Example: What was the name of the first hotel built in Myrtle Beach?

All questions must be in by midnight tonight (12 am on 4/24) to win. READY, SET, GO!

Also don't forget to grab your Golden Ticket for a free night stay in Myrtle Beach! And remember we will also award a TOP COMMENTING fan a grand prize on Monday (4/30/12) at 10am ! If using an iPad or iPhone, Facebook does not recognize "Tab App Links." Please use a PC to get to your Golden Ticket

CONTEST CLOSED: The Winner is Betty Lawrence with her question " How many out of state babies are born at Myrtle Beach every year by vacationing moms?" Congrats Betty!

Details: Fan Apreciation Week. Every Fan's A Winner!

As we approach 500,000 fans on Facebook, we want to reward each of you for your love of Myrtle Beach and for supporting us through our recent name change required by Facebook!

Myrtle-Beach.com loves our fans. We will be awarding special daily prizes each day this week to fans who post on our Myrtle-Beach.com website wall on various fan appreciation giveaways that we will be running. We will also award a TOP COMMENTING fan a grand prize at week's end and our fans will actually pick our top commentor!

To all our fans, for supporting Myrtle Beach now for over 7 years now, thank you!

TODAY'S FAN APPRECIATION PRIZE:
Visit our Myrtle Beach Facebook Page's Golden Ticket Tab**Every Fan who visits will win one free night on your next 3 day stay or more in Myrtle Beach!

**The Tab will not work on Ipad, Iphone or Mobile Devices. Please use a computer to redeem your Golden Ticket.

Beachcombing

Surfers surf, kids jump the waves, and beachcombers walk slowly. If you are like me, you cannot go to the beach without spending a few minutes to seek some shell treasure. We are the ones strolling, backs bent, eyes scanning. Unbroken sand dollars are a special prize, and black shark teeth are coveted here on the Grand Strand. We usually walk quietly, and respect the space between ourselves and the other beachcombers. There is camaraderie between we shell seekers; a nod as we straighten our backs after a long period of time sifting through a good patch, and sometimes we share a look at a good find. The last time I visited the Garden City beach a young man showed me a large shark tooth he’d found. He wouldn’t have done that if I’d been a casual beach walker. He recognized me by our common bond.

Shark teeth are not what my eye finds. My eyes are trained for specific shells: those with a good hole (for art projects I always say I’ll do and never find time for); “angel wings”- open shells with both sides still connected; little white shells that spiral up that I call “unicorn horns”; and anything that is especially beautiful. There are books and websites that would tell me the scientific names of the shells I collect, but I have no desire to learn them. Nor do I wish to purchase shells from stores. I prefer the hunt, and the delight in finding something new.

There is a gentle, soothing quality about the slow walk combing the beach that remains timeless, ageless. The connection between salt water and the creatures that live on either side, one former creature’s home found by a human lost in thought. The beauty of the shells take time to appreciate. Mixed in with more "common" shells are the whirls of a moon shell, the deep purple insides of another, the occasional irridescent sparkle that catches the sun. It is imporant to be reminded just how amazing even the tiniest creatures on our planet can be to have such beautiful protective coverings.

Chances are some visitors to the ocean haven't collected shells since they were a child...maybe it's time to get a new pail and join we beachcombers. We promise to give you a nod.

Share YOUR shelling story! Do you have a favorite place to look for shells? Do you make things with your finds, or display them in your home? We'd love to hear it! Early in the morning and just after a storm are the BEST times to find shells here in the Myrtle Beach Area. Click the following link for a great guide for beachcombers that includes wonderful photos for shell identifying: Myrtle Beach State Park Beachcombing Guide

Is the Zip Line Overpriced?

Have you tried out the new zip line in Myrtle Beach? Do you think it’s worth the cost?

The new zip line opened up just a few days ago at the old pavilion stomping grounds and dozens of people have lined up to take a ride on Myrtle Beach’s newest attraction. But at the cost of 25 dollars a ride, I’m wondering if the ride is just a bit overpriced. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a great concept. Zipping down a line several feet in the air with a breath-taking view of the Myrtle Beach boardwalk is a great attraction. The view from it is beautiful and it’s something that is fun for the whole family; but for a family of four to ride it’s going to cost $100. I don’t know that 2 minutes in the air (if that) is worth the sticker price to most tourists.

You tell me: Is the zip line overpriced?

Photocredit: Adrenaline Adventures Website

Seagull Soaring

A big seagull stole my tuna fish sandwich right out of my hand when I was five years old, and I’ve been wary of them ever since. Have you ever noticed how these large birds will stare at you when you are eating? Seagulls have the keen eyes of a hunter, and their prey is often your lunch.

Through the years I’ve tried to make peace with these birds after my stolen sandwich trauma. I’ve learned to appreciate their beauty as they soar across the sky, and admire how their strong wings propel them gracefully to scan the shore. They are adept at catching just the right wind current and somtimes float in midair. Watching seagulls eat clams fascinated me as a little girl- they are ingenious enough to lift the mollusk to a high elevation and drop to break onto the rocks below, then swoop down to pry the flesh out of the shells. They are incredibly skillful at hunting fish out of the ocean, their keen eyes spying their target and zeroing in with precise timing.

Seagulls live all over the world, and have been the bane of fishermen for centuries for stealing unattended bait from their boats. But, fishermen also watch them for cues because flocks of seagulls point out schools of small fish that big trophy fish follow. My father used to say that if the seagulls leave the air and walk on shore that a storm is heading in. Most US gulls do live near the sea, but many live far inland and make their meals off dumpsters…especially those behind fast food restaurants. Like them or not, they are excellent scavengers and usually leave places cleaner then they found them. Well, most of the time.

I just recently learned a few facts that endeared them more to me, including that seagulls usually live 5 - 15 years, but can live up to 30 years. Perhaps my sandwich theif had watched my beach lunches for years! The neatest fact is that they have the unique ability to drink both fresh and salt water, using special supraorbital glands above their eyes that allow their bodies to process the salt out of their system which later drips out of their nostrils.

When my children were small, a family friend in Cherry Grove, SC taught them how to hold up a piece of bread high over their head and wait for a seagull to fly by and grab it. I can see their little faces now, the look of sheer terror mixed with delight as the big white and gray gulls dive-bombed towards their trembling extended arms. We went through two loaves of bread in 15 minutes flat one afternoon. It took much urging from my kids to finally conquer my life-long fear of the birds and willingly let them steal food from me; I must admit that it was fun and made for a good memory.

Like them or not, seagulls are a part of life in Myrtle Beach. What are your memories of them?

Punched Out Faith

I was thumbing for a ride in Virginia Beach when a car full of sailors stopped. I ran up to the car and they took off. When I mentioned something about their mother, they stopped and got out. I was seventeen and believed the best in everyone. I was sure they wouldn’t hit me, but one of them punched me in the left cheek. I went down and got up. He slugged me again in the exact same place, and I went down in the exact same place. Another sailor offered to help me up but I said I was just fine on the ground. They thought that was funny and kicked me before leaving. An hour later, I had a cantaloupe on the left side of my face. Sometimes we rather stay down than risk getting knocked down again. Years later I had a root canal. The dentist asked if I ever got hit in the left cheek and said that probably caused the nerve damage. I never knew a punch could hit you from thirty years away.

Thomas wasn’t at the meeting when Jesus appeared to the disciples. The disciples were excited and wanted to give Thomas a hand up. He wanted to believe that Jesus was alive but could not take another hurt like seeing Jesus naked and nailed to the cross. Thomas thought it better not to believe. Better to keep your faith on the floor. He said the only hand that could lift him up would be the wounded hand. The disciples were the same a week earlier. Jesus appeared to the ten disciples and spoke peace over them, but nothing happened. They were shelled shocked and could not receive peace. Then Jesus showed them His scars and suddenly, they could receive peace. Sometimes as Christians, we try to give a hand without showing our scars. People are tired of big haired smiling Christians. We are better when we are wounded healers.

Most atheists are disappointed romantics. If you dig into the history of those who mock God, you will find a tragedy, a death of a child, a sucker punch. We all have some blows that hurt and like the root canal, we feel them more deeply over time.

Your faith was not made for the floor, but before I tell you to get up and believe again, I might mention every wound will be healed in heaven but His. And the blows Jesus took on the cross can hit you 2000 years later, deeply, where you need it. They hit you with healing. Up you go. You may get hit again. You might even deserve it like I did, but at least you will be dreaming again and maybe even loving.

CDOS: It Smells Like Fish

So YAY I got a job! That phone call that interrupted my flirting with hot neighbor boy was actually a restaurant calling me back for an interview, and they hired me! I now serve seafood 4-5 nights a week at a local restaurant. I started training last week and frankly I didn’t know that many type of fish existed. In my world there is tuna and salmon and that’s about it. I spent all day of Thursday and Friday of last week learning the differences between grouper, tilapia, mahi-mahi, dotted rose snapper, mutton snapper, and red snapper. In short, I am fished out.

Other than the fact that I come home and feel like I smell like fish every night, it seems like a pretty cool job. Most of the waitresses are my age, and lucky for me there was no chain-smoking lady trying to take my measurements here. Just a comfy t-shirt, the option to wear jeans or khakis and thirty different mixed drinks to memorize. It’s not like I haven’t worked in food service before. I used to sling pizza at this hole in the wall joint back home. I’ve just never worked in a restaurant of this size or volume. Not that it’s bad, there are definitely some cute kitchen crew guys to flirt with and the manager seems really cool about being flexible to my lifeguarding schedule.

I start my first official day of waitressing tomorrow, and I need to be able to recommend a fish to order. So tell me what’s your favorite fish to eat?

Read: Summer Meets a Hottie!

Three Letters to My Father

Part 1

As a kid, I worried a lot about my dad dying, maybe because my father was older than most fathers. Maybe because of an experience I had when I was nine. I was lying in bed awake and eternity hit me like a brick. I was looking out the window and wondering where the stars ended. Then I wondered how I got here and where I was going and what would happen when my parents die. These were not casual thoughts but powerful, like being just inches from a passing train. I was like a fish that realizes that water exists. Life was huge, fast and scary. The reality of death, existence, and eternity all flashed before me and ripped me wide open like a clam. What keeps us from flying into a thousand pieces? How do we wake up sensing we are who we are? What happens a few seconds after death and what will happen when my Dad dies?

It all hit me so hard that I burst into tears and ran downstairs to my parents who were trying to have a nice drink by the fireplace. The only way I could express my angst, my deep concern about the metaphysical presumptions of existence, was to blurt out, “I am afraid you will die." They looked at each other hoping the other would field the question - so much for a quiet evening. Finally Mom said, “Don’t worry about that because it won’t happen for a long time.” The problem was that I knew that one day it would happen and this day is connected to the next day and the next day is connected to the next until that day when it will happen. There is nothing to stop the days flowing into that final day. Imagine that everyday was represented by a little space with a wall separating it from the next. Suddenly all the walls between the days fall down and you could see straight to the last day. I was looking straight to the end. In other words, I no longer saw my death day as far off but, since all the days are connected, it was right there. When Saturday turns Sunday at midnight, there is no wall. The clock doesn’t even hesitate: one day glides into the next without a hitch. I would like for the year to pause and look around before coming in, but every year strides right in as if it has been there all along. In a way it has. There is nothing that separates this year from the last. The division of days, months and years is thin air. It is really one big day that gets dark and light, cold and hot, and suddenly, extremely bright or extremely dark.

So, we are standing unprotected from death coming at us like a Mack truck…or a bright wave. This very minute is connected to the next minute that is connected without a seam to the last minute when we will hear death say, "Your turn." Lovely thought. So I cried it out and went back to bed. Lying awake in my bed, I was flying to the end.

Form that day I was vulnerable to these kinds of thoughts. I measured everything by the big questions of life and death and why. If a friend told me he wanted to take over his father’s business, I wondered why and what it had to do with living and dying. As I grew older, the more I thought about the big reasons for living. Just having a profession, making money, or owning a home was not enough. I thought the answers must be hidden in philosophy, poetry, psychology, or religion. I discarded Christianity because these issues never were covered in the Sunday school. Old ladies talked about Jesus carrying lambs and about people like Saul and Samuel, who bored me to tears. So, I rushed into the study of world religions. Of course, Jesus irritated me because He dared to say He as the only way to the Father, but I could not shake Him.

Part II

At the University of Virginia, a writing professor related the night of his father’s death. Though he was 500 miles away, he said he saw his Dad pass by the window of his house and he knew he had died. He called home to verify the news and his Mom asked him how he knew. We all sat in his class with chills. We never outgrow ghost stories, but what really riveted my attention was that his father died and one day mine would, too.

My Dad would read the obituaries and see the name of someone he knew and say. "He must have been surprised waking up dead yesterday." Once he went to a friend’s funeral in the Kanawha Presbyterian Church and the eulogy was great. Only he thought it strange that the pastor kept calling his friend Harold. He didn’t know that his friend, George, had another name. Finally he figured out he went to the wrong funeral. George was down the street at the First Presbyterian. He must have thought that his own funeral would one day be at the Kanawha church. Eighteen years later it was. I officiated the funeral. I was breaking into a thousand pieces inside but the newspaper simply said I officiated.

When I was 23, I would come home from the bar and read the Bible, but would close one eye to steady the page. Finally, I had to reject or accept Jesus. When I handed Him my sword, I was surprised that the old fear of death lost its grip. I did not expect it but the Bible says the He delivers us from the life long fear of death (Hebrews 2:15). He tasted death and loneliness on the cross and cried, "Why have You forsaken me?" so that we don’t have to feel forsaken and fractured into nothingness. I was not sure how real or deep this new freedom was. I just knew something was different. Shortly after my conversion, I came home to West Virginia for a visit and spent an afternoon in the Presbyterian church's library where I found a 1944 yearbook. Each member had recorded his favorite Bible verse and my grandfather wrote,

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

John 14:1-2

There is that old library with books to the ceiling; my grandfather was speaking to me. I did not want my dad to be left out of the conversation. I knew death had him in a quiet desperation.

I wondered how I could talk with Dad about it. So I prayed for a way to talk to my father about our Father, but like fly fishing on a windy day, I could not get a conversation to land in the right place.

Part III

So, I wrote him three letters when I was at Yale Divinity School. I laid out my love and respect for him and the whole redemption deal. I wrote how much I wanted him to end up in heaven and how his being a good man was never enough to fill the contract. I wrote about how Jesus lived perfectly and transfers to us His reward. I wrote about how Jesus tasted the fear of our death so we could live free from it. I wrote about the surprise of seeing one night Edinburg Castle lit up in flood-lights, and how Christ brought immortality to light and surprised my dark heart. He did not write back. I wrote him three long letters and poured out my heart but he never responded to them. He never mentioned the three letters.

Later when I pastored a church in New Jersey, my parents visited me and I preached, writing the sermon with Dad in mind. When I came home to preach in our family church, I would do the same. I would dream about my Dad running up to me and saying that Jesus had crashed his party. But he would always be outside after the service, holding raincoat in his arm and say, “Good job”. Nothing more was said.

When I told him I was getting married and moving to Colombia as a missionary, it was not the career move he expected. When he turned 81, he came to Colombia to see our first son. The next Sunday he was in church and I preached in Spanish. As Kathy translated, God explained it to his heart. He made the deal. He bowed his head and said, "Lord Jesus”

After church, he told me he wanted to take the elevator instead of the subway. That Sunday afternoon, we went to the Cali soccer game and sat high in the bleachers under the blue sky and watched the teams play on the bright green grass. We sat in a river of peace. When we got home, Dad laid down on the bed and I laid my son by his side. They both passed out quickly. When a man sleeps he does not own his face. A man has ownership over his face when he is awake, but when he is asleep, he loses his ownership. His face is adrift. Now my son and my father were both sleeping adrift in peace. Peace was all over his face. He later said it was the best sleep he had in years.

Six months later I had to rush home to West Virginia because he was dying. When I arrived to spend the last week with him, On his last day, I sat alone with him for hours. The Cardinals were on the television, the last time to watch a ballgame together. He could only nod yes or no. I asked him if he was ready for heaven and he nodded yes. After I told him how much I loved and honored him, I prayed out loud to release him to our Father. That prayer hurt because the love of a father is deep. It was a little awkward to pray with my dad, but the love overshadowed it all. He fell asleep and I left to be with Mom. Almost as soon as I arrived home, my sister called us to say he had died. The moment I had feared all my life was now there without any buffer. The day my parents said was a long way off was here.

I passed the phone to my Mom and I went to the living room. I lifted my hands up. I expected the dread of horrible storm but it turned into a soft rain. The moment I had feared for so long turned into strange peace. I did not feel fatherless at all.

The next day Mom and I went to the bank to open the safety deposit box where dad had put in safe keeping the most important documents- bond notes, titles and other legal documents. I opened it and on top of everything -the three letters. I think our heavenly Father treasures what we say, too

Heels on the Beach?

Girls love their heels, but would you wear them on the beach? Is it even safe to do that?

As a girl, I know I love my high heels. They make my legs look longer and sexier, but I would never in my right mind wear them to the beach! All too often I have been lounging in my beach chair tanning only to see some young girl (read 16-22) walking down the beach in her bikini and three inch heels. That might work on Sex and the City, but in the real world wearing heels on the beach is the quickest way to break your ankle. Beach sand isn’t exactly hard and heels aren’t exactly the most stable of shoes either. I don’t care what the Ed Hardy swimwear models wear on the runway, if you are going to the beach - wear flip flops.

Also these flippers are just wrong:

So would you wear heels on the beach?

And the Winners Are...

Are you the winner in Myrtle-Beach.com’s latest giveaway? Click the link to find out!

The winners of tickets and a VIP package for the 6^th annual Mac Arnold and Plate Full of Blues Cornbread and Collard Greens Blues Festival are:

Myrtle Beach, SC - Robin Miller Keith and Susan DeMers

Charlotte, NC - LaShaunda S Hatton and Valerie English

Asheville, NC - Alex Shue and Fyodor Goloubentsev

Congrats to the winners! If you will give your names at the door to the event and ask for Clark Smith, he will get you your VIP package complete with meet and greet with Mac Arnold!

Don’t be sad if you didn’t win. Tickets to event run between 10-25 dollars depending on the city and there are plenty left available. Don’t miss out on some great blues music, food and the chance to support a great charity. Remember 100% of the profits from the festival goes to support the I Can Do Anything Foundation that preserves music and arts in public schools.

If You Live Near the Sea….

If you live near the sea, you thank your lucky stars. While others must wait for their vacation to visit the coast, locals are blessed by the scent of salt in the air, sunlight sparkling on the ocean, and that delicious feeling of sand beneath their bare feet whenever they please. Here in Myrtle Beach, we love all seasons but we especially enjoy our home in the spring.

The weeks between spring break and summer vacation become a magical time for residents of the Grand Strand area with mild traffic, warm temperatures and quiet beaches. This is the time of year when we rediscover our beautiful corner of the world, and appreciate the tranquility of the sea. We don’t mind sharing our pretty locale with visitors- but we certainly love to enjoy the beaches a little before “company arrives”.

This Monday evening was one of those magical times. My husband and I rode our bicycles for an hour then stopped to walk onto the beach just as the sky began to grow pink from the setting sun. We were both amazed to look up and down the shoreline and realize that we were the only two people on that end of the beach. There was nothing but wind ruffling across the dunes, waves rolling onto shore, and the call of sea birds. It was a surreal moment, and one not soon forgotten.

Although I am a Yankee transplant, I feel like a true local since I was raised as a child of the sea and am delighted to live near it again. My home state of Maine is also a popular tourist destination- our logo was “Vacationland” for many years. I waited impatiently for the short summer months to swim in the cold waves, build sandcastles, and climb the rocks in search for tide pools and sea glass. I learned to appreciate the busy traffic of the “summer people” that traveled to us from Canada and across the US, and find South Carolina to be very familiar as a popular tourist destination.

The difference here, unlike my home state, the lack of snow and bitter cold temperatures means that I could enjoy the shore year ‘round. Unfortunately (like many other locals) I got too busy with work and family to make time to enjoy the beauty that surrounds me. This has been true since I moved to the Grand Strand...until now. Armed with a camera and notebook, I have the great pleasure of being a tourist in my own community and will share all the delightful sea-side surprises I can find here on Myrtle-Beach.com. Whether you are a visitor, a local, or a business, I hope that we can connect to share the beauty of Myrtle Beach with the rest of the world. And yes, indeed, I do thank my lucky stars!

Jana “Banana” Thornton will be sharing the beauty of the Myrtle Beach area here on Myrtle-Beach.com. Join her adventures, and please feel free to contact her with ideas for future stories and features at jana@myrtle-beach.com.

The Crazy Days of Summer: Marco Polo

Okay not Neighbor Boy, but pretty close. From Cosmo

The best part about living in Myrtle Beach? The abs.

So I hit the pool of the housing development I am staying in. I’m renting out my parent’s friends townhouse; they have been trying to sell it for like five years to no avail. Anyways, it was like 80 degrees out and while I haven’t gotten any callbacks for second interviews for jobs yet, I figured a nice tan never hurt anything.

So I hit the pool and it had all its requisite housing development type people: screaming children, indifferent parents and grumpy old people making disgruntled faces. Around 2 o’clock the pool started clearing out, I figure because it was everyone’s nap time, when four incredibly hot twenty-something’s showed up; three guys with six-pack abs and one teeny-tiny little blond girl in a green striped bikini. They set up shop on the other side of the pool area and I conveniently moved to lie on my stomach so I could watch them without being noticeable. Hello, three hot guys in swim trunks? I am not missing out on that opportunity. The three boys hopped into the pool to throw around a football and I got to watch some serious eye-candy.

Just as I started packing up my things to leave, the football magically hit the chair beside me. I promise I didn’t scream, but I did jump about three feet in the air. Anyways, tall, tan and brunette (as opposed to tall, tan and blonde or short, tan and blonde) came over and apologized for startling me. I won’t lie, my heart did a little pitter-patter and some serious butterflies started in my stomach as I handed the football back to him. We had a few minutes of chit-chat before my phone rang and I had to leave to take it. But if this is what the neighbors look like, then I am in the right place.

So should I show up to the pool tomorrow with my own football?

Summer Hits Broadway at the Beach

Should Myrtle Beach be More Popular than Kim Kardashian?

Do you love Myrtle Beach? Do you think Myrtle Beach should be more popular than Kim Kardashian?

As we near a half-million Facebook fans, we at Myrtle-Beach.com thought we would check out how many fans other people/places had. Kim Kardashian has 8.4 million fans on Facebook! Love her or hate her, the girl has a huge following. That made us wonder, how do we get as popular as Kim Kardashian? What do we do to get that kind of notoriety? I mean she does have a TV show, a popular clothing line, and a string of public relationships, so how can Myrtle Beach compete with that?

So tell us: What does Myrtle Beach need to do to be as popular as Kim Kardashian?

Photocredit: http://popgoestheweek.com/2012/03/kim-kardashian-does-the-right-thing-thats-not-a-typo/

Spring Sneezing?

Spring is definitely in the air, along with blooming flowers and pollen. While I love spring and the flowers, it also means allergy season for me. Do spring allergies drive you crazy too?

Spring is by far my favorite time of year. I love seeing all the flowers bloom, and the new leaves on the tree. I love the baby ducklings waddling around the pond by my apartment. I love taking my dogs on long walks through the park in the crisp cool air. But I hate the allergies. I have the unfortunate luck to be allergic to pretty much everything green during spring. As much as I love to be out in it, I need a good dose of Benadryl by the end of the day.

Do allergies drive you crazy in spring too?

Pay for Beach Access?

The best part about coming to Myrtle Beach is that unlike many other cities, you don’t have to pay to access the beach here. But is Myrtle Beach missing out on a huge amount of revenue by having free beaches?

With the increase in parking by downtown Myrtle Beach, running off the biker rallies and the canceling of Sun Fun due to financial problems, people are starting to wonder if the Chamber of Commerce is going to start forcing people to pay for beach access. Let me make it clear, that this is just a rumor and there is nothing indicating that the City Council is even thinking about doing this. But it’s not out of the range of possibilities as a way to increase funding for a city that has been losing revenue over the years. Many beaches make people pay to access the beach or at least pay to park including Seaside Heights, New Jersey, Daytona Beach and the state of Rhode Island.

So should you have to pay to get on the beach?

Photocredit: http://www.cybergenica.com/blog/personal-post/nascar-racing-beach-sunset-road-trip-to-daytona-beach/