Broadway at the Beach
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Spread over 350 acres, Myrtle Beach’s Broadway at the Beach shopping and entertainment complex features many of the city’s top attractions, including the Hollywood Wax Museum and 85,000-square-foot Ripley’s Aquarium.
“We like to call it experiential shopping,” said marketing director Melissa Armstrong. “We have a Build-a-Bear Workshop and Ridemakers, where you can go in and build your own remote-controlled racecar. It’s popular with boys and girls, but adults love it as well. At Sparkles, which is locally owned and operated, you can get a diva treatment, and get up on stage and sing your favorite song. You’re not going to find these shops and boutiques elsewhere.” Personality-driven retail like custom airbrushed shirts at Fric-N-Frac, stunt kites at Klig’s Kites, prank gifts at Stupid Factory and tropical wear at Flamingo Joe rule the day.
While Broadway at the Beach’s two live theaters run year-round, its Summer Nights concert series, with contemporaneous performances around the property, is a highlight for many visitors. Strolling performers, often jugglers or a Katy Perry or Elvis tribute artist from the Legends in Concert show, appear throughout the day, punctuated by acts from performers like Nick Pike from “America’s Got Talent.” Broadway at the Beach’s Margaritaville has a private upstairs room for groups, and Joe’s Crab Shack, Señor Frog’s, and Liberty Brewery and Grill have semiprivate options. The Hard Rock Café also features local talent nightly on the in-restaurant stage in its main dining area.
Broadway at the Beach can provide complimentary gift bags for groups at the guest services center, and Ripley’s Aquarium and Wonderworks offers private group experiences including behind-the-scenes tours of the aquarium. Helicopter Adventures also offers small-group tours of Myrtle Beach from above, leaving from Broadway at the Beach.
Legends Outlets Kansas City
Kansas City, Kansas
Focused on Kansas legends from sports stars such as “Buck” O’Neil and Barry Sanders to pioneers including Walter P. Chrysler, Amelia Earhart and Wyatt Earp, Legends Outlets Kansas City has traded the typical shopping experience for an interactive, incorporated theme-park-style experience. The outlets have commemorated more than 80 Kansas legends in visual tributes throughout the shopping center, and groups of up to 30 at a time can take a 40-minute or 1.5-hour self-guided audio and walking tour on the history of Kansas through Legends.
Amid the sculptures, murals and medallions, specialty stores like Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th, Cavender’s, the Polo Ralph Lauren Factory Store and Under Armour line alleys, which have themes such as the Yellow Brick Road. Its highly successful Coach outlet moved into an expanded space in 2015.
Legends’ Dave and Buster’s, the only one in the region, completed a $1.5 million renovation and added five new games in 2013, and its AMC Legends 14 theater just completed a renovation last year. Dave and Buster’s has a private dining space for groups of up to 75, and the AMC has a four-story, 500-seat auditorium that can be rented out exclusively for groups. T-Rex Café mingles meals with an interactive natural-history museum, culminating in a Build-A-Dino workshop.
The shopping center is part of the Village West development, which gives groups options for a full day of activities, rounding out a day at the mall with drinks at Hollywood casino, a NASCAR race or a major league soccer or minor league baseball game.
Union Station
Washington, D.C.
As Amtrak’s national headquarters and the central rail station serving Washington, Union Station often figures into travelers’ itineraries for its transit options, but its 40 million annual visitors come for more than just the trains. The station’s 210,000 square feet of retail space encompasses everything from good places to pick up gifts —such as Appalachian Spring, Andrew’s Ties, The Art of Shaving and The World in Your Hands — to major clothing brands like HandM and Jos. A. Bank Clothiers.
In 2014, Union Station surpassed Times Square to become the most-visited attraction in America — and the fourth most-visited in the world — thanks to its Beaux Arts, Neoclassical architecture by Daniel Burnham, who directed the master plan for D.C. and the World’s Expo in Chicago.
From the outside, the station echoes the grandeur of imperial Rome, particularly the Baths of Caracalla and Diocletian, and Italian stone carvers were employed to craft details like the 25-ton sculptures representing fire, electricity, agriculture and mechanics that frame the main entrance. There is currently no guided tour specifically covering the architecture of Union Station, but groups can take a Capitol Hill walking tour through DC Design Tours that begins in the station’s great hall and explores the station.
Groups can take advantage of the station’s landmark meal voucher program, which offers breakfast, lunch, dinner and small-bites vouchers for food vendors from major national chains, as well as local favorites like Crepe Luna, Le Pain Quotidien and Charley’s Philly Steaks. Groups looking for an exclusive experience also have the option to rent the Columbus Club, which was originally the station’s upscale soda fountain, for lunch. The Main and East Halls can be rented for private meals, as well, in the evenings only.
