My grandchildren all had a great time at Illumination Park. (Jessica Hudson Photo)
A beach vacation can be expensive depending on what you do when you are not enjoying the sand and ocean.
But I’ve discovered over the years that in most destinations, you can usually find very enjoyable things to do that cost very little — or might even be free.
We are in Surfside Beach, S.C. — just a few miles south of Myrtle Beach — and a great place to visit is Illumination Park: An Art Experience at The Hangout at Broadway at the Beach.
Granted, we went thinking the grandkids would think it was fun but I might have enjoyed it more than them — and it was free.
Illumination Park opened last week and Broadway at The Beach and The Hangout Restaurant plan to have “world-class artworks” for family enjoyment. I really liked that you could enjoy the artwork during the day but at night the illumination makes the artwork really sparkle.
The artwork at Illumination Park now includes art from Australia to Abu Dhabi but it is all hands-on for the youngsters as well as adults. I really liked the huge swings as well as the kaleidoscope that took me back to my younger days except this one was a lot bigger.
It also didn’t hurt that The Hangout had a live band playing music outside that my generation really enjoys — or that there is a bubble/foam pit that comes to life every hour and my two youngest grandsons really liked that. One even did his snow angel impersonation in the foam and loved every minute of it.
The artwork will change throughout the summer at the new Key West Village at Broadway at the Beach. New permanent murals are also scheduled to be added during the summer.
If you are going to be in Myrtle Beach this summer, I definitely would recommend you make a trip. And based on my oldest grandson’s reaction, you might also want to visit The Kwik-e-mart featured on The Simpsons. Not being a Simpson fan, I didn’t appreciate it but he did and so did my son-in-law.
And if you get lucky, you might see a character from The Character Company visiting Broadway at The Beach like we did with a Disney princess on our visit.
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If you need more information about Illumination Park or Broadway at the Beach, visi www.BroadwayattheBeach.com or call 1-800-386-4662.
6 Responses
Thanks Larry, never been to Myrtle beach , but its on my bucket list.
Hope you make it. a fun area
Myrtle Beach is my home Cats 79. Visiting is almost as much fun as living here,
We come back for two weeks in February. Need ideas from you Sandy about things to do
Do you have any other suggestions of fun things to do? My kids are 17, 15, and 9. Thanks!
My grandkids are not quite that old — two oldest are 13. But they enjoy the Marshwalk in Murrell’s Inlet and also Huntington Beach State Park where you can normally see alligators late in the afternoon or early evening. got to admit they also liked the banana boat ride today