1. A Taste of Kitsch
If you'e craving old-fashioned boardwalk attractions, Myrtle Beach is the town for you. Haunted houses, pancake houses and tacky T-shirt shops dot the downtown. Over 100 golf courses make this the "seaside golf capital of the world," but its 50 mini-golf venues make it the mini-golf capital, too. And if these don't satisfy your taste for the outlandish, try a well-worn Vegas-style show like the Carolina Opry, where you can indulge your passion for golden oldies hits and Bob Mackie–style glitter.
2. Shopping Galore
After golf, shopping may be most popular sport in Myrtle Beach. Hit the outlet malls for deals or take a leisurely poke through the so-cute-it-hurts cluster of cottage boutiques called the Hammock Shops along Hwy. 17 in Pawleys Island. If you're a quilter, stop off at Island Threads on your way back to town. Bring a friend (and a wheelbarrow) to help you cart home your buys, from flour-sack reproduction prints to batiks to sweet ginghams with a Southern sensibility.
3. Southern Comfort Food
If you go home hungry from Myrtle Beach, it's your own fault. Not surprisingly, the Grand Strand is known for its seafood. She-crab soup, a rich, sherry-laced bisque made with blue crab meat and roe, is the local specialty. Plates heaped with shrimp and creamy grits are never hard to find. If sweets are your thing, drop into Landolfi's Bakery on Hwy. 17 just before the turn-off to Pawleys Island. There's an intimate café in the front and a small diner in the back that specializes in wood-oven pizza. An exhaustive selection of Italian confections crowd the display case, and none disappoint. Save room for a slice of Key lime pie – encased in a shell of dark chocolate, it’s a quasi-religious experience you don't want to miss.
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