Myrtle Beach Entertainment Shake-Up in 2011

Two of the most popular entertainment venues in the Myrtle Beach area have announced plans for major changes in 2011. While Legends in Concert is merely changing locations, Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede is completely changing the format of the show.

After 18 years and over 7,000,000 visitors, the Dixie Stampede is going nautical... in a BIG way. An $11 million upgrade will, among other things, convert the former horse/bison/ostrich-and-rider show into a 15-foot-deep lagoon in which actual pirates will battle each other... in full-sized pirate ships! The new attraction, appropriately named Pirate's Voyage, will allow guests to experience the "spirit and swashbuckling excitement of the pirates who called the Carolina coast home." Blackeard, Captain Kidd and Anne Bonny will all make appearances, and the former North-vs.-South spectator battle will be transformed into warring Crimson and Sapphire Pirate camps. As before, a five-course pirate feast will ensure that no one leaves hungry. The new show is scheduled to open in June, and a schedule will be posted at www.piratesvoyage.com as soon as it becomes available.

For as long as Dolly has been delighting visitors on the north end of Myrtle Beach, Legends in Concert has been wowing them on the south end with its Las Vegas-style celebrity impersonation show. In fact, the show has become so popular that it has outgrown its former location, and will be moving to Broadway at the Beach for 2011. The new theater, located next to Planet Hollywood, will offer its guests a spectacular experience, including a projected stage with seating on three sides, side-stage monitors for close-up views form every seat and even VIP table booths for an even more personalized experience. As anyone who's seen the show knows, Marilyn Monroe already did her best to make it personal! Performances are scheduled to begin on March 11, and you can find more info at www.legendsinconcert.com.

Plans are underway for the former Legends in Concert location in Surfside Beach, and we'll let you know as soon as they are announced.

Sea Turtles in Garden City Beach, SC.

While neighboring Huntington Beach State Park gets most of the attention, Garden City Beach has always been a prime spot for sea turtle nests. This year was better than most, with two Loggerhead nests and two Green Turtle nests. Local turtle aficionados got a rare treat on December 2, when SCDNR officials and volunteers from SCUTE (South Carolina United Turtle Enthusiasts) inventoried a late-hatching Green Turtle nest.

This nest was laid in mid-September behind Second Sunrise, which is a little late for most turtles in this area. Whereas most summertime nests will hatch in about 60 days, this one took 85 days before the first sign of life. Because the air and water temperatures have been so cold, the SC Department of Natural Resources made the call to go ahead and "inventory" the nest and transport any fully-hatched turtles to the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, about 60 miles offshore.

The inventory began at noon, and visitors were delighted as one live turtle after another came into view. All in all, 24 fully-hatched turtles were brought out, to go with six that had dug themselves out over the past several days. In addition, another 20 or so partially-hatched babies (known as "pips") and at least that many more unhatched eggs were unearthed as well. Sue Habermeier, the owner of Second Sunrise and a SCUTE volunteer, said that these eggs would be re-buried in order to allow the turtles to come out on their own timeframe.

The combination of the late hatching, the weather and the long boat trip to the Gulf Stream means that these turtles have a long and difficult journey ahead of them. However, as one SCUTE volunteer noted, "If even one makes it, this will all have been worth it!"

Myrtle Beach's May Festival Lineup Announced

The Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, along with city leaders, began announcing plans over the past week for several weekend festivals aimed at boosting travel to the area during the month of May. The festivals, all of which target different genres of music, will feature concerts from nationally-known acts as well as other related activities including fireworks shows.

Festivities will kick off downtown on Saturday, May 15 with several big events: the city's new Beach Music Festival will coincide with the ribbon cutting for the new oceanfront Boardwalk. The festival will run all day, from 10 AM 'til 10 PM, and the lineup of performers is a veritable Who's Who of beach music: Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, The Coasters, The Embers, Jim Quick & Coastline, Mark Roberts & Breeze and Billy Scott & the Party Prophets will all lead up to headliner Ben E. King. In addition, Buddy Valastro, TLC's "Cake Boss," will attempt to bake the world's largest flip-flop cake. Put 'em all together, and you've got the perfect recipe for a great weekend.

The fun continues on May 22 with the Beach Blast! contemporary Christian music festival. The festival will feature a number of the most popular contemporary Christian artists, including headliner TobyMac, and will take place at the former site of Myrtle Square Mall in the heart of Myrtle Beach.



Finally, plans for a reinvigorated Memorial Day weekend were announced this morning, and the lineup is truly impressive. In addition to the already-scheduled Military Appreciation Days events held in and around Market Common, the downtown area will host a full slate of events. The first Memorial Day parade in recent memory will wind its way down Ocean Boulevard past arts and crafts vendors on May 29, and a world-class fireworks show will end the evening with a bang.

In between, visitors will be treated to meet-and-greets with a host of Disney celebrities, including Nathan Kress of iCarly, Savannah Outen of Hannah Montana, Jasmine Richards of Camp Rock, Drake Bell of Drake and Josh, Tiffany Thornton of Sonny with a Chance and Debby Ryan of Suite Life on Deck. The weekend's highlight, however, will be a concert at the former Myrtle Square Mall site featuring not only Outen, Bell and Richards, but Hannah Montana's Mitchell Musso and American Idol Season 6 winner Jordin Sparks!

Memorial Day is definitely back in the Myrtle Beach area, and we hope you'll have the chance to experience it with us!

Myrtle Beach Pet Friendly Rentals Offered by Dunes Realty

Pet-friendly travel is one of the fastest growing trends in the vacation rental business, and we've decided that the time is right to "join the pack," so to speak.

Beginning this month, a select number of our homes will, at the discretion of their owners, become "dog friendly." Renters will, for the first time, be allowed to bring small (under 35 lbs.) dogs on their vacations, avoiding the expense and hassle of boarding them or otherwise arranging for their care. More importantly, dogs that are "members of the family" will finally be able to enjoy all the perks that come with that title!

True, there will be a small fee associated with bringing a dog, and there are some extra rules and regulations that must be followed. However, these are necessary to insure the comfort and safety of all of our guests, including those without dogs.

Currently, only homes may become dog-friendly, as none of the Homeowners Associations in our condo complexes allow pets of any kind. As the number of dog-friendly properties grows, however, there should be a property perfect for any family, regardless of size or budget.

You can visit our website for more information, or give one of our Vacation Coordinators a call... we'll be happy to get you started on your greatest vacation ever!

New Myrtle Beach Vacation Rentals Mobile Site From Dunes Realty

These days, it seems like everyone is addicted to their mobile phone. Whether from an iPhone, Blackberry, Droid, Instinct, etc., the ability to access any information almost anywhere has made the newest generation of smartphones a near-neccessity. However, as anyone who has tried to navigate a traditional website on a 3" screen can attest, these phones are not without their limitations.

For this reason, Dunes Realty is proud to announce the launch of our new mobile website. Specifically formatted for the small screens and browsers of today's smartphones, this site will allow visitors to not only search and browse our huge selection of properties, but can even direct them (via Google maps) right to the front door! A link will be featured to our new Area Attractions page as soon as it becomes live, and all of our departments and staff are just a click away.

If you have a web-enabled phone, take a look and let us know what you think. The mobile site won't have all the features you've come to expect from our main site, but we think it fits the bill nicely and hope you do as well.

Spirit Airlines adds Atlanta route to its Myrtle Beach schedule

Spirit Airlines announced yesterday that it was opening a new non-stop route between Myrtle Beach and Atlanta beginning in May of 2010. While that may not seem big news at first glance, especially considering the fact that other airlines already offer service to "Hotlanta," the real news is the wholesale fare reduction that is sure to follow. As one of the country's premier low-cost carriers, Spirit promises to make connecting flights reasonable once again, and to open a new world of easy access to Myrtle Beach's golden sands, championship golf and countless attractions.

In my younger days, I was generally willing to put up with more connections and a seat in the baggage compartment in order to save a few dollars. Today, thankfully, that's no longer necessary, especially if Myrtle Beach is on my itinerary (which it usually is, since I live here!) The Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR) offers non-stop flights from a staggering 26 destinations all over the country (in addition to connections from almost anywhere.) The list of cities from which non-stop flights can be booked is impressive:

Atlanta, GA
Charlotte, NC
New York City, NY (LaGuardia)
Niagara Falls, NY
Plattsburgh, NY
Boston, MA
Worcester, MA
Washington, DC (Dulles)
Washington, DC (Reagan National)
Newark, NJ
Atlantic City, NJ
Pittsburgh, PA
Philadelphia, PA
Allentown, PA
Huntington, WV
Columbus, OH
Toledo, OH
Detroit, MI
Kalamazoo, MI
Chicago, IL (O'Hare)
Rockford, IL
Springfield, IL
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Orlando, FL
Punta Gorda, FL

In addition, the first regularly scheduled non-stop flights to Toronto will begin in 2010 as well.

Getting to Myrtle Beach has never been easier!

Dunes Realty Goes Live with a New and Improved Myrtle Beach Vacation Rentals Website!

Chances are you arrived at this blog via our Dunes Realty website, and if this wasn't your first visit, you may have noticed our new look. If not, take another look; we just went live this morning, and we're very excited about the changes.

Don't worry: the same functionality and ease of use that you've come to know and expect from dunes.com is still there (along with a few new touches that we think you'll enjoy,) but we felt that it was time for a little "updating." One of my favorite features is the new individual property page (like this one for Slo M'Ocean,) and we've also added links to our Facebook, MySpace and Twitter pages. Thanks to Rand McNally, customizable driving directions are available right from the site, and WeatherBug gives you instant weather information as well. (Here's a hint: it's always beautiful here!)

We're not done yet, though... keep your eyes open for our all-new attractions page and our concierge service, enabling our guests to both see and book tickets for some of the Myrtle Beach area's most popular theaters, attractions and watersports. Both of these features should be live by the end of November.

We'd love to know what you think, so please let us know!


E-mail: info@dunes.com