— Myrtle Beach —
South Carolina
One of the favorite vacation destinations in the Southeast, Myrtle Beach has developed quite a menu of attractions and activity options for visitors. The Greater Myrtle Beach area includes some 60 miles of South Carolina’s Atlantic coastline, stretching from Little River in the north to Georgetown in the south.
Groups visiting the area can spend plenty of time outdoors, but it’s the shopping and entertainment scenes that set Myrtle Beach apart from many other beach destinations.
“The biggest thing that we have is seven live theaters,” said Sandy Haines, group tour sales manager for the Myrtle Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. “For the motorcoach market, they’re going to do a show every night they’re here.”
Those entertainment options include musical revues at the Carolina Opry, the Alabama Theatre and the Legends in Concert; Pirates Voyage and Medieval Times present interactive dinner shows with stunts, music and comedy.
Myrtle Beach is also a shopper’s paradise, with a number of retail and dining complexes. Barefoot Landing and Broadway at the Beach are two of the most popular destinations for visitors. There are also two Tanger Factory Outlet complexes and Market Common, an upscale urban shopping village.
Outside the main tourist area, groups can visit a number of smaller nearby towns that add Southern charm and tradition to their Myrtle Beach experience. In Pawleys Island, Hammock Shops Village showcases traditional Low Country crafts.
“There’s a store called the Original Hammock Shop, where a gentleman makes hammocks by hand,” Haines said. “You can take your group over there and have the experience of watching him make a hammock on-site.”
Groups can also take plantation tours in the Georgetown area or visit a working historic farm in Conway.
— St. Augustine and the Beaches —
Florida
In northeastern Florida, St. Augustine and the surrounding communities blend beautiful beach scenery with a healthy dose of history.
“We’re known as Florida’s historic coast,” said Kathy Catron, communications director for the St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra and the Beaches Visitors and Convention Bureau. “St. Augustine is going to be celebrating its 450th anniversary in 2015. Ponte Vedra is well known for its resorts and golf. And we have 42 miles of pristine Atlantic coast at St. Augustine Beach, Crescent Beach, Ponte Vedra Beach and Matanzas Inlet.”
With more than five centuries’ worth of stories to tell, St. Augustine has some 60 historic sites and monuments. The Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park is the location of the first Spanish settlement in St. Augustine. Castillo de San Marcos National Monument is the oldest masonry fort in the United States, built between 1672 and 1695 and still open for tours.
St. Augustine will celebrate its 450th anniversary next year with a long schedule of art exhibits, historical re-enactments, street festivals and religious events.
“Everything will culminate on September 8, the actual anniversary,” Catron said. “We’ll have a re-enactment of the landing of Pedro Menendez, the Spanish admiral who founded St. Augustine. We’ll have fireworks and street festivals, and then we roll right into the Spanish Wine Festival. We have a music festival scheduled in September as well.”
Groups visiting the area can take walking or trolley tours of St. Augustine. Paddleboarding, kayaking and charter fishing offer opportunities to get out on the water, as does a tall-ship sailing tour aboard the Schooner Freedom.
