Myrtle Beach on the Internet, Issue 2, May 26, 1996
The Catawba Indians are planning to bring high-stakes bingo to North Myrtle Beach. The Native American group, based in the Rock Hill area south of Charlotte and just recently federally recognized as a tribe, received in their settlement with the government the right to operate 2 bingo operations and payout up to $100,000 in a single game. The Indian leadership has decided on the Grand Strand as their first location, and are hoping to be in operation within a year. The facility will be open 6 days a week, with at least half the money taken in paid back out to the players in winnings. The Horry County Council had passed a resolution back in April declaring they were opposed to high-stakes bingo operations, and the federal settlement calls for local government approval, but some council members have since reconsidered their opposition. The bingo hall will be built in the Vereen’s Marina area, pending council approval which the tribe will seek Tuesday. Proponents of the hall have also pointed out that some federal monies may be freed up for road construction as a result of this, which the strand surely needs.
Theme restaurants are proliferating along the beach. Joining the Hard Rock Cafe, open at Broadway at the Beach for about a year now, will be Planet Hollywood, the House of Blues, and the Nascar Cafe.
Planet Hollywood already has a souvenir shop open at Broadway at the Beach. The restaurant will be across the street from the Hard Rock and the rest of the shopping complex. Like other theme restaurants, memorabilia and paraphernalia abound, in this case relating to the movies. There will be a 3-D sculpture featuring King Kong on the back of the building. Opening is scheduled for late this year.
Barefoot Landing will be getting a House of Blues in 1997. The ambitious plans call for a New Orleans style menu, facilities for live blues music, and a cruise boat that would venture down the adjacent Intracoastal Waterway and also feature blues music. The usual souvenir shop will be present, of course.
Finally, the Nascar Cafe will open this summer across the street from Broadway at the Beach. There will be race cars, video games, large video screens with racing footage, and of course a souvenir shop inside. The exterior will resemble a racetrack grandstand, and the menu will be casual.
This will be the fifth or sixth House of Blues and the very first Nascar Cafe to open nationwide.
A couple of Myrtle Beach nightspots have experienced changes recently. Xanadu, on U.S. 17 Business in central Myrtle Beach, has reopened under the same ownership as Mother Fletcher’s. Atlantis Nightlife, on U.S. 501, has been transformed into the Baja Beach Club, and features waitresses in bikinis and other tropical themes. Meanwhile, a second comedy club has opened along the strand. Comedy Cabana joins Comedy at the Beach, both in the Restaurant Row section.
The ice-skating show at Fantasy Harbour, formerly Magic On Ice, will become Snoopy’s Ice Fantasy on July 1. The famous beagle and his cartoon friends will be skating 11 months each year, with a special show around Christmas. The ice skating rink will be expanded to allow faster skating. Tickets are $22.95, $19.95 for seniors, $9.95 for 3-16 year olds, and under 3 free. Call 800-681-5209 or 803-236-8500.
A couple of brewpubs, small restaurants that brew their own beer, have opened along the strand. First to open was the Liberty Steakhouse and Brewery at Broadway at the Beach. Offering 8 to 10 locally brewed beers, as well as its own root beer and cream soda, the restaurant also features fancy appetizers and entrees such as chicken, steaks, burgers, and the like. Beers are $2 to $3; meals $10 to $17. The brewpub opens at 11 a.m. and serves food until 10 or 11 p.m., drinks until 2 a.m. Call 803-626-4677.
Recently joining Liberty is the Mad Boar Brewhouse at Barefoot Landing, occupying the site of Fajitas Grande Mexican restaurant which closed last year. This is a British style facility, with fish and chips joining steaks, pasta, pork, and of course locally produced beers on the menu. Open 11 to 11. Call 803-272-7000.
Also in the, um, beer news is word that the Bowery, the famous not-exactly-upscale nightspot next to the Pavilion where the country group Alabama got its start, will be distributing its own brand of beer. It will be an ice beer brewed in Minnesota and distributed first around South Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi, and possibly nationwide later. There is a Confederate flag on the cans, just like the one on the outside of the bar.
Late last summer, Alligator Adventure opened in North Myrtle Beach at Barefoot Landing. The attraction features over 700 alligators and related crocodilians, including a couple of rare albino alligators. There are also giant Galapagos tortoises, birds, snakes, and other animals on the 14-acre site. Admission is $10.95, $6.95 for children 4-12 and free for children under 4. Call 800-631-0789 or 803-361-0789. My wife and I visited this attraction early this year and had a wonderful time.
Also at Barefoot Landing is a 3 dimensional replica of “The Last Supper”, da Vinci’s famous painting. The wax heads on the figures have mouths that are synchronized with the voice-over. The 15-minute show costs $3.50 and is located in the Life of Christ exhibit near T-Bonz restaurant.
In Calabash, the small North Carolina seaport town famous for its seafood and just across the state line, all the road construction projects which had been going on have been halted for the summer. Merchants were complaining of the traffic tie-ups that were resulting.
If you’re at least 18, want to work at the Pavilion this summer, and need a cheap place to live, the owners of the Pavilion may be able to help out. They have purchased and renovated a nearby hotel and will rent the rooms for no more than $45 a month to 20 Pavilion employees.
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