Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand

The lively, family-oriented Grand Strand, a booming resort area along the South Carolina coast, is one of the eastern seaboard's mega-vacation centers. The main attraction, of course, is the broad, beckoning beach—60 mi of white sand, stretching from the North Carolina border south to Georgetown, with Myrtle Beach at the hub. People come to the Strand for all of the traditional beach-going pleasures: shell hunting, fishing, swimming, sunbathing, sailing, surfing, jogging, and strolling. Most of the sand is packed hard, so that at low tide you can explore for miles on a bicycle. Away from the water, golfers have more than 120 courses to choose from, designed by the likes of Arnold Palmer, Robert Trent Jones, Jack Nicklaus, and Tom and George Fazio. There are also excellent seafood restaurants; giant shopping malls and factory outlets; amusement parks, waterslides, and arcades; a dozen shipwrecks for divers to explore; campgrounds, most of them on the beach; plus antique-car and wax museums, an aquarium, the world's largest outdoor sculpture garden, an antique German band organ and merry-go-round, and a museum dedicated entirely to rice. The Strand has also emerged as a major center for country music, with an expanding number of concert halls. When it comes to diversions, you could hardly be better served.