Days around show night

A town built for visitors

Myrtle Beach was designed as a resort from the start. Franklin Burroughs saw the coast as a holiday destination; after his death in 1897 his sons completed the railroad to the beach and opened the first inn, the Seaside Inn, in 1901. His widow suggested the name, after the wax myrtle shrubs that grow wild here. The town was incorporated in 1938 and became a city in 1957. These days more than 20 million people a year come for the sand, the golf, the food and the shows.

The coast's own music

Before you hear anyone sing tributes to Detroit or Liverpool, it is worth knowing this coast has a music of its own. Beach music grew from the rhythm and blues and pop of the 1950s and 1960s and is tied to the shag, which both Carolinas have adopted as their state dance. Most accounts place its heart at Ocean Drive in North Myrtle Beach, where teenagers and college students on holiday danced to records many of them could not always hear at home. The Carolina Beach Music Awards are still held in North Myrtle Beach each year.

A morning on the riverboat

For a gentle half-day, the scenic riverboat cruise leaves from North Myrtle Beach and spends roughly ninety minutes on the Intracoastal Waterway aboard a renovated wooden paddlewheel boat. There are indoor decks for shade or cool and open decks for the view, with narration about the waterway's history along the way. A packed lunch can be added when you book, and drinks are sold on board. Refunds run until 24 hours ahead, and payment can wait. It pairs well with an evening show, since both are seated and unhurried.

A day in Charleston

Charleston lies about 94 miles down the coast, too far for a casual drive and back with energy left for a show. The Charleston day trip handles it in ten hours by coach from Myrtle Beach: a horse-drawn carriage ride through the historic downtown, time at the City Market if the schedule allows, a narrated harbour cruise with a deli lunch on board, and a guided visit to Boone Hall Plantation. It runs rain or shine. Plan the show for another night; after ten hours on the road, most people want an early dinner.

Boone Hall, seen plainly

Boone Hall Plantation, in Mount Pleasant, is famous for its long avenue of live oaks, but the site's history is above all the history of the people enslaved there. Wikipedia notes that most of the labour, including the brickmaking and the building, was done by enslaved African Americans, and that brick slave cabins survive on the property. In 2009 the site was named one of the African American Historic Places in South Carolina. The main house dates only from 1936. Go ready for that history, not only for the oaks.

Fitting the show in

The tribute show works best on a low-key day. Put it after a beach day, after the riverboat, or on the evening before a long drive home. Avoid the Charleston day, which is long enough on its own. If the weather turns, the show is the indoor option you can switch to, and free cancellation until 24 hours before on each of these tickets makes swapping days easy. Whatever order you choose, eat in the complex before the show and arrive early.

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