Myrtle Beach is one of those cities where you cannot come for a visit without going to a few popular locations.

Soak up the sun. Take a morning or afternoon, pack your beach bag and head out to one of Myrtle Beach’s beautiful sandy beaches off of Ocean Boulevard. As a native of the area, I never get tired of the beach and I always look forward to the warm weather and the cool breeze; perfect weather for a day at the beach.

Gather your clubs. If you’re a golfer, Myrtle Beach is the perfect place to find a great spot to golf at one of the hundred’s of courses available. Although I am not a golfer myself, I have been to several golf courses with friends who visit primarily to enjoy golfing in the area. You can create custom Myrtle Beach golf packages with northmyrtlebeachgolf.com to save a good chunk of change during your golf vacation. Visit one of top courses around Myrtle Beach listed below:

• Long Bay Golf Club, North Myrtle Beach
  Awarded 4 stars by Golf Digest

• Willbrook Plantation, Pawley’s Island
  Featured in “Top 50 For Women” by Golf For Women Magazine

• World Tour Golf Links, Myrtle Beach
  Awarded “2004 National Golf Course of the Year”

• Caledonia Golf & Fish Club
  Named “5^th Best New Public Course in America” by Golf Digest
  Named “Top 31 Best Upscale Courses in America” by Golf Digest

Fulfill you appetite. Visit a few restaurants around the beach, particularly seafood restaurants- Myrtle Beach’s specialty. My favorites are Bennet’s Calabash Seafood (North Kings Highway, Myrtle Beach), Captain George’s Seafood (29^th Avenue, Myrtle Beach) and Original Benjamin’s Calabash Seafood (North Kings Highway, Myrtle Beach). I usually go for the buffet, which ranges from $15 to $30, which is well worth it if you are a seafood lover.

Check out the nightlife. If you want a night out on the town, Myrtle Beach has a variety of nice places to visit. I usually enjoy going to Broadway at the Beach, which not only has a variety of shops, restaurants, rides, putt putt golf, a movie theater and aquarium, but also several bars and nightclubs.

For me, Senior Frogs is a great spot. A restaurant during the day, and club by night, that plays different styles of music including R&B, Pop, Reggae and Rap. If you enjoy piano, jazz and blues music, Crocodile Rocks is the perfect spot for you. For those of you who enjoy karaoke, Broadway Louie’s Grill gives you the opportunity to sing your favorite songs.

Broadway at the Beach also includes Club Boca, Froggy Bottomz, Malibu’s, Shucker’s Raw Bar, Revolutions, Stool Pigeons, Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville, Fat Tuesday and Blarney Stone’s Pub & Cigar Bar,

You can check out this website for specials and cover charges: http://www.broadwayatthebeach.com/nightlife.html

Visit the beach’s new addition, Hard Rock Park. Although Hard Rock Park doesn’t open until Spring of this year, I have constantly heard ranting and raving about this rock-n-roll theme park for months. Located off of Highway 501 in Myrtle Beach, this park will include a live music amphitheater, rides, restaurants, cafes and retail stores. I don’t have first hand experience to share about this park; however, I believe that it will be nothing but a positive addition to the beach.

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No matter what you have in mind, there are plenty of things to do in the area to make your Myrtle Beach vacation one to remember!

As it gets closer to Spring time, I can’t help but think about one of Myrtle Beach’s signature qualities, the beach.

Although many people flock to the beaches near South Ocean Boulevard in downtown Myrtle Beach, I prefer to stay away from the traffic, busyness and the crowds on the beaches.

Don’t get me wrong, the beaches in Myrtle Beach are great, but I love the tranquility of being able to lounge comfortably and listen to the seagulls and the waves of the ocean crashing, without the hassle of finding a spot and the endless noise of a crowd.

If you love that atmosphere, stop at any public parking spot off of South Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach, which runs parallel to business 17; however, if you’re like me, then you may want to take a visit to North Ocean Boulevard in Cherry Grove, only 10 to 15 miles further away. Furthermore, Cherry Grove is also a section that isn’t occupied my condos, rather, Myrtle Beach Beach homes take up the space, giving it a less busy atmosphere.

In all of my visits to Cherry Grove I have only experienced overcrowding once, which happened to occur Memorial Weekend also known as Biker Weekend in Myrtle Beach.

Besides that particular weekend, I have always been able to easily find a parking space and find an open spot on the sandy beach. My favorite area is near the Cherry Grove Pier at 3500 North Ocean Boulevard.

At this spot, you can walk down a couple blocks to conveniently find a few pizza and ice cream shops and several beach stores, perfect for an afternoon at the beach. You can also stroll down the historical pier in Cherry Grove. Like I said before, Cherry Grove has more of a ‘homey’ feel because of the lack of large North Myrtle Beach condos taking up the space.

The relaxed atmosphere in this area is perfect for a day at the beach by yourself, with friends or family.

It’s pretty far out of the way if you are here on vacation. Even in the off season, though, its always packed. My fiance and I drive by it every day to and from work. Every night we drive by, there are ALWAYS cars there. I’d hate to see it during tourist season! So we thought….well….is HAS to be good.

Located on Hwy. 9 outside of Little River on your way to Loris, Horry’s Restaurant packs a mean seafood punch, all while giving you that ‘down home country atmosphere.’ (Yes, the southern hospitality friendly service is included.) It is a bit out-of-the-way, but if you have heading in or out of North Myrtle Beach through Hwy. 9, you should definitely stop in for some good grub.

We strolled in one night on Friday night at about 9 p.m. (normally they are closed then, but on Friday, they are open till 10.) It wasn’t very busy then, seeing as how its far away from any part of North Myrtle Beach. We were immediately greeted with a smiling face and shown to a booth. If you are looking for a type of “high class” restaurant, then please head in the other direction. Horry’s Restaurant was obviously, (or at least it looked it) a large house at one time, now dotted with booths, chairs, and tables, followed by nostalgic pictures and random keepsakes on the walls. It wasn’t to the point of needing any repair work, but it definitely showed it’s age. You surely won’t be able to compare it to one of these new Myrtle Beach condos that monopolize the coastline, thats for sure.

After the drink order, we took a gander at the menu. Very fair prices, something you would expect from a place like this.

Their menu wasn’t huge like the chain restaurants. Most of it was seafood. The rest was steaks, and some chicken. They also had one page dedicated to the history behind the place. Nice touch Horry Restaurant! I had the chicken tenders, hush puppies, and onion rings, with my significant other having the sirloin steak.

Service was nothing short of perfect. Every time I THOUGHT of a refill, there she was, ready to top off my glass. And let me tell you, the food was GREAT. The waitress even waited around for my fiance to cut into her steak to see if it was cooked to her perfection. Indeed it was. And my meal was great too. How can you say no to deep fried onion rings and hush puppies? :) I felt like a bear ready to go into hibernation after I finished my meal.

I will definitely be heading back to Horry’s Restaurant. It is close to Aberdeen and Long Bay, so if you are finishing up a late afternoon of Myrtle Beach golf there, you can stop in for dinner.

Leopards Chase Golf Club as been awarded a spot in the ESPN / GOLF DIGEST TOP 10 BEST NEW PUBLIC COURSES OVER $75. Leopard’s Chase Golf Club is the newest ferocious “Big Cat” at Ocean Ridge Plantation joining the award winning Tiger’s Eye, Panther’s Run and Lion’s Paw. This breathtaking par 72 championship layout was designed by renowned golf course architect and land planner Tim Cate, who also did Tigers Eye.

Since its opening in February 2007, the course features mature TifSport Bermudagrass fairways and immaculately manicured L-93 bentgrass greens. Leopard’s Chase is graced with scenic landscapes, scattered with native grasses and plantings, including preserved wetlands, creating a series of picturesque views from anywhere on the course. Make Leopards Chase a must play on your next North Myrtle Beach Golf Package.

The Founders Club at Pawleys Island which reopened its doors on Feb. 1, 2008. The first or two redesigns to open this early Spring Golf Season. The old Sea Gull Golf Club which opened is doors back in the late 1960`s by local families was given a face lift which included nearly $7 million in renovations and beautiful 5,000 square foot Clubhouse with wrap around porch which overlooks the 10Th and 18Th hole.
Architect Thomas Walker, once with the Gary Player Design Group, led the $7 million dollar construction project. The front nine is virtually unrecognizable from the old Sea Gull golf course. The changes include Hole #1 being shortened by about 50 yards, and a huge practice putting green has been installed directly behind the tee boxes. You actually step from the putting green to the tee box. The #3 hole now has split sets of tee boxes. #4 has been converted to a par 4, and a lake has been built behind the tee boxes. The #6 hole has been converted to a wonderful risk/reward par 5. Hole #12 now has a split fairway and the green has been moved down closer to the lake. Walker has created a course that is esthetically pleasing to the eye, but near as difficult as it appears.

There are 5 sets of tees on each hole and measures 7007 yards from all the way back. All golf carts have the newest GPS technology with accurate yardages and graphics. With Bermuda fairways and a mixture of Bermuda and Zoysia in the rough, The Founders Club and the TPC of Scottsdale, home of the 2008 Accenture World Match Play Championship, as the only two golf courses in America with Emerald Bermuda greens. A new strand of grass just released from the Champion Turf Company, Emerald Bermuda tolerates the hot South Carolina summer sun and requires less water than other grasses.

The second course during the 2008 golf season to open (March 13,2008 ) is the Palmetto Greens Country Club. The 6,486-yard par-71 is the second Rick Robbins design on the Grand Strand. The first being Crow Creek since leaving the Nicklaus Design Team. Palmetto Greens features more water hazards, than the original Colonial Charters Golf Club designed by John Simpson. Two man-made waterfalls with a “Stadium Feel” around the L93 bent grass greens.

The course which opened in 1988 is changing from a par-72 to a par-71. The back tees which measure 6,486-yard will also have three other tee boxes that will make this new layout measure approximately 6,200, 5,800 and 5,100 yards. Palmetto Greens will have one Par 5 that is 620 yards long making it the “2Nd Longest Hole On The Grand Strand” behind the 18Th Hole at Farmstead

Both of these courses are in EXCELLENT CONDITION, and can be added to any of your North Myrtle Beach Golf Packages.