Myrtle Beach now boasts three Starbucks locations along Ocean Boulevard – all providing the high-quality “Starbucks Experience” you’d expect to find at any of their stores, but each offering its own little wrinkle that makes it a go-to java destination.

Now in its fifth year of operation and the first Starbucks to come to Myrtle Beach, the shop at Breakers Resort (Ocean Blvd. at 21st Ave. N.) boasts a central location to get your coffee or latte, then walk across the street for an early-morning stroll along the beach. Uptown, the store at Long Bay Resort (7200 N. Ocean Blvd.) offers easy beach access and features an outdoor patio in front, perfect for using the free wireless Internet connection while you soak up afternoon rays.

The latest addition comes a shade downtown, at Bay View Resort (504 N. Ocean Blvd.). Here, you can get your joe to go – or stick around, catch a seat at the high bar along the 5th Avenue North side, and enjoy the ocean view from the inside (pictured). Right now, this is the only Starbucks location along the entire Grand Strand that offers such a convenience.

And when you leave Ocean Boulevard, there are several other Grand Strand locations where you can get your Starbucks fix, including:

• Kroger at Carolina Forest (3735 Renee Drive, Myrtle Beach)
• Piggly Wiggly at Carolina Forest (right across the street)
• Target (1150 Seaboard St., Myrtle Beach)
• 547 Hwy. 17 N., North Myrtle Beach (across from Gator Hole Plaza)
• Broadway at the Beach
• Coastal Grand Mall
• Piggly Wiggly at The Market Common (former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base)
• Piggly Wiggly Murrells Inlet (4430 Hwy. 17 Bypass)
• Litchfield Beach & Golf Resort

Jeremy Potterfield, executive chef for Webster’s Lowcountry Grill at Litchfield Beach & Golf Resort in Pawleys Island, is the featured culinary artist in the March edition of Links Magazine’s “Chefs of South Carolina.”

As Links Magazine explains, “Potterfield brings more than 20 years of food and beverage experience to Litchfield Beach & Golf Resort … He honed his skills in some of the Waccamaw Neck’s finest restaurants, and his cuisine embodies the Lowcountry, fusing the freshest local ingredients with flavors from around the world.”

Read on, and you’re rewarded with the recipe behind one of Potterfield’s signature dishes: oyster pie. The ingredients look like they’ll make you take a few extra minutes on the treadmill the next day, but hey – if you’re gonna get a true taste of Lowcountry cuisine, you may as well do it in style, right?

The Dunes Village Resort in Myrtle Beach has been selected by TripAdvisor.com readers as a recipient of its 2008 Travelers’ Choice Award, earning the No. 2 spot in its annual list of “Top 10 Best Hotels for Families” in the United States. Dunes Village joins select company that includes

1. Residence Inn Sea World/International Center, Orlando, Florida
2. Dunes Village Resort, Myrtle Beach
3. Embassy Suites Anaheim South / Disneyland Resort, Garden Grove, California
4. Candy Cane Inn, Anaheim, California
5. Marriott's Grande Vista, Orlando, Florida
6. Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa, San Antonio, Texas
7. Comfort Suites Maingate East, Kissimmee, Florida
8. Hilton Grand Vacations Club at Sea World Int'l Center, Orlando, Florida
9. Homewood Suites Anaheim-Main Gate Area, Garden Grove, California
10. Disney's Wilderness Lodge, Orlando, Florida

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This ain’t your Whitman’s Sampler-type of lover’s holiday.

So instead of the last-minute, overpriced dozen roses you’ll pick up at the Kroger florist, why not put that money to better use toward a Valentine’s Day getaway package that both of you can truly enjoy?

It’s the Valentine’s Romantic Getaway special being offered at Litchfield Beach & Golf Resort in Pawleys Island. With rates beginning at $562 per couple, you can enjoy a three-night stay at the South Strand’s premier resort destination, with a boatload of extras including:

• Recreational options galore. You not only get a round of golf at nearby Litchfield Country Club, but unlimited tennis at one of the country’s “Top 50 Resorts” as selected by Tennis Magazine. You also get unlimited bicycle rentals, so you can “Bike the Neck” along one of the region’s most scenic trails.
• Your choice of either one massage or one facial per person (Monday through Saturday) – the perfect way to unwind after a day full of activity.
• Daily breakfast for two.
• Dinner for two at Webster’s Lowcountry Grill, which includes a bottle of champagne to celebrate your romantic getaway in style, and a four-course meal with entrée options including char-grilled local grouper, lemongrass-seared free range chicken breast and chateaubriand for two.

For more information, visit Litchfield’s Specials page or call 1-800-882-0684.

Myrtle Beach- Top Rated Golf Destination, Vacation Spot Or Both?
By Mike D'auria

In the winter of 1990 I was contemplating planning my first golf vacation. At that time I had been playing for about 13 years, approximately once a week, either with my golf club at Marine Dunes Golf Course in Brooklyn on Flatbush Avenue or at Dyker Beach Golf Course in Dyker Heights. The course was located in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn and at the time it was the most played public course in the country.

I always wondered what it would be like to go on vacation for an entire week and be able to play golf every day if I wanted to. In conversation with my golf club comrades and reading my favorite golf magazines, Golf Digest being at the top of the list, it became clear to me that Myrtle Beach would be a great choice. I had one dilemma, my significant other was joining me on the trip and had never played golf before. So I offered her this option - Learn to play golf or wait for five or six hours, while I played, for my return. She was into sports, softball, baseball and football like myself, and athletic so she opted to learn to play. Her decision to learn posed my second dilemma, which was how to teach her to play in four or five weeks before we had to embark on our trip. A crash course with an instructor or should I take on the challenge?

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With a sudden cold snap gripping the continental U.S., the snowbirds who begin their Myrtle Beach migration this week will be greeted by a little extra steam from the outdoor heated pools (like this one at the Long Bay Resort).

Not to worry, beach lovers -- temps are expected to climb back into the 60s by the weekend.

Chalk up a huge score for Coastal Carolina University’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC). One of its local “success stories” just hit the big time.

Myrtle Beach-based Meditlantic Importers, LLC is featured on Forbes.com in an article released Nov. 28, “How to Make Money Off Your Homeland.” The Forbes piece details how Hala Amer, who moved to the Grand Strand from Egypt six years ago, transformed a simple idea into a business concept that now enables local hoteliers to share a taste of Egyptian luxury with its guests.

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ESPN personality Charlie Rymer will bring the inaugural Fa’Tass Invitational to the Myrtle Beach area, November 29 – December 2, 2007, to help launch his new Fa’Tass Sporting Apparel line. Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday will host the two-day event along with co-sponsors PGA TOUR Superstore, Dr. Pepper and Budweiser.

The Invitational will be held at the Thistle Golf Club and The Dye Club at Barefoot Resort & Golf with all golfers flighted by handicap and weight. Accommodations are scheduled at the beachfront Royale Towers at Kingston Plantation. The entry fee is $995 per person and includes three rounds of golf, three nights of accommodations, Thursday and Friday night dinner receptions, breakfast each morning, lunch at the course, Fa’Tass apparel and an awards luau on Saturday night. All participants are asked to bring a new toy that will be donated to the Myrtle Beach Toys for Tots campaign with a portion of the tournament proceeds to be donated to the charity.

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One’s a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the other’s recent album release debuted at #2 on the Billboard charts. Both are part of a local venue’s effort to once and for all make a major splash on the Grand Strand area concert scene.

Next month, rock legend Lynyrd Skynyrd and nu metal giant Korn are the headline acts at the Carolina Entertainment Complex. Just north on Highway 501 in Marion, the former Carolina Ampitheatre is under new ownership, and on a mission to reverse its recent history of misfortune.

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