If you're like us, there's a chance you may be spending a portion of this Christmas Eve running to a few stores in the Myrtle Beach area. You know, so you can find that last-minute gift or that missing ingredient for the holiday feast. But once the procrastinating has finally come to an end, we hope you're getting ready to enjoy a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with family and friends. If you're here visiting with us, thank you for choosing to spend a portion of your holidays here in the Myrtle Beach area. We hope you're…

Now this sounds like an amazing nature experience we want to take part in. Tours de Sandy Island offers nature buffs the chance to search for the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker and a variety of other songbirds. Depending on the season, such raptors as bald eagles, ospreys, swallow-tailed kites and great-horned owls are also a possibility. Seriously, that is some amazing bird watching! Visitors make their way to Sandy Island via a pontoon boat and then a private bus or van. In addition to keeping an eye out for those beauties of the…

It's beginning to look - and feel - a lot like Christmas. Seriously, these cold temperatures as of late have us letting our cars warm up for a few minutes before getting in and driving to work in the mornings. But hey, that's Old Man Winter for you, and it just gets us even more in the holiday spirit. Two of the Myrtle Beach area's most popular dinner shows - Medieval Times and Pirates Voyage - have been in a Christmas state of mind for several weeks now, and their holiday-themed shows are not to be missed. Pirates Voyage tells the story…

How's that holiday shopping coming along? We're a little more than two weeks away from Christmas, and gift buying is in full swing. If someone on your shopping list happens to be a sports nut - specifically college basketball - then do we have the perfect gift for you. Give the gift of the Big South! That's right, March Madness returns to Myrtle Beach once again in 2014 with the VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Basketball Championship. Both men's and women's championships will be played right here along the Grand Strand. With springtime…

The holiday season is in full swing, and for us here in the Myrtle Beach area, that means food, the ocean, yuletide parties, the ocean, pleasant temperatures, the ocean, shopping, the ocean, time with family and friends and, oh yeah, the ocean. OK, we digress. The Atlantic is just so appealing on this beautiful December day, where the temperature is 70 degrees. Oh yes, there's one other thing about the holidays that we love, and that's all the lights. And nothing will get us in the spirit of the season like Shadrack's Christmas Wonderland.…

One of the Myrtle Beach area's most popular holiday displays is back and bigger than ever this year. Brookgreen Gardens' Nights of a Thousand Candles has been expanded to nine nights this year due to popular demand. The dates are: Dec. 5 through Dec. 7; Dec. 12 through Dec. 14; and Dec. 19 through Dec. 21. The gardens come to life this holiday season amid the soft glow of over 5,500 hand-lit candles and countless sparkling lights from 3 to 10 p.m. each night. We can't think of anything more festive during this magical time of year than…