Last weekend we caught a wonderful ‘Pops in the Park’ performance by the Long Bay Symphony at Marina Park at Grande Dunes. Beyond the perfect weather and setting (Marina Park is situated along the waterway), the music was phenomenal. The Long Bay Symphony is the Myrtle Beach area’s professional orchestra and while they usually perform at the Myrtle Beach High School Music and Arts Center, they can be heard at other special events and locations throughout the year. I’ve talked to many visitors and new residents to the area who are often…

Festival brings another artistic dimension to the Grand Strand. Lights, camera, action! Tickets are now on sale for the fourteenth annual Myrtle Beach International Film Festival (MBIFF), which takes place April 23-27, 2019 at the Grand 14 Theater in the Market Common. You can join film enthusiasts from all over the country and enjoy an outstanding line up of 67 films and five events! Jerry Dalton, founder and director of the MBIFF, combed through submissions from 128 countries to find what he feels are the best films in the world. There are…

Myrtle Beach, SC – March 15, 2019 — Grande Dunes is excited to announce the 2019 Marina Park events lineup. Marina Park is an outdoor music and event lawn located along the Intracoastal Waterway and next to the Grande Dunes Marina in Myrtle Beach, SC. The event season will begin on Saturday, April 6 with a Long Bay Symphony Pops Concert from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. To kick off the 20 th anniversary of Grande Dunes, the Long Bay Symphony will perform music ranging from Broadway to Hollywood. Tickets are on sale now. On Saturday, May 4 Grande Dunes…

This past Valentine’s Day--instead of our usual fancy dinner out--my husband and I took a couple’s pottery class at the recently opened Lineta Pritchard Pottery Studio. The pottery studio is located downstairs at the Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum in Myrtle Beach (it’s a lot easier just to call it the Myrtle Beach Art Museum) and offers a combination of different classes for all levels of experience. We took the class with two other couples, and we were all beginners. It was such a fun change of pace from a normal date night,…

Hopsewee Plantation -while just about 30 miles south of central Myrtle Beach-feels worlds away. This National Historic Landmark was built about 40 years before the American Revolutionary War, and is the birthplace of Thomas Lynch, Jr., one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. This private residence is open from January 30 through December 15 in 2018, Tuesday through Saturday, with tours on the hour from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. This historically significant local landmark is by far one of my favorite places to take visiting friends and…

This coming weekend, October 19 and 20, packs a lot of exciting events in the Myrtle Beach area. From the Loris Bog-Off in northern Horry County to the 29th Annual Wooden Boat Show on the southern end of the Grand Strand in Georgetown, South Carolina… there is a lot going on. The Georgetown Wooden Boat show is always held on the third weekend in October and features one of the Southeast’s best wooden boat exhibits. More than 140 classic wooden boats are displayed both on land and in water, and the festival features everything from knot tying…

Brookgreen Gardens has made 2018 such a fun year for locals and visitors to the Grand Strand. They are just wrapping up their first-ever Summer Lights show and have a full fall schedule of special events and activities. Earlier this month, they debuted the National Sculpture Society 85th Annual Awards Exhibition, and they are the only venue that will host this one of a kind exhibit. The National Sculpture Society is the oldest professional organization of sculptors in America, so I can see how Brookgreen is the perfect place to display this…

Hop in the car, take a drive, see beautiful things, challenge your mind and enjoy gourmet dining! The Arts Grand Strand has started the area's first Art Trail with 18 fine art galleries and 3 restaurants participating. The Art Trail stretches the entire 60 mile length of the Grand Strand from Calabash, NC, inland to Conway, SC and southward to Georgetown, SC. The purpose of the trail, like those in other cities, is to provide art lovers with an easy-to-follow map to see much of the best artwork in the area, most of which is for sale. For…

The Myrtle Beach area is home to two outstanding South Carolina State Parks: Myrtle Beach State Park and Huntington Beach State Park . As an outdoor enthusiast, I enjoy spending time in both of these parks throughout the year. In fact, we’re annual pass holders--something I definitely recommend investing in if you are a South Carolina resident. When we’re on the southern end of the Grand Strand towards Murrells Inlet and Pawleys Island, I always like to stop at Huntington Beach State Park. The park is home to a wide, pristine beach, over 300…

While I often recommend the Myrtle Beach Art Museum as an ideal spot for those waiting for clouds to pass or a sunburn to subside, the truth is it’s a great stop even on the sunniest of days. The Franklin G. Burroughs Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum is housed within historic Springmaid villa and has been open to the public since 1997. There is so much to love about the museum. For starters, admission is free for everyone. The museum houses 11 galleries with exhibitions that change throughout the year featuring a variety of artists and types of work…