Ripley's Aquarium | Myrtle Beach Homes

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, so if you haven’t made plans yet you better hurry to it. I’ve actually already discussed the most romantic places in Myrtle Beach that you can see that list here. Every year around this time, I have tried to take my oldest daughter out for a special daddy daughter date night to someplace special here in Myrtle Beach. This year we took an evening to go explore Ripley’s aquarium just the two of us.

For this weeks two minute Tuesday, I hope you enjoy our date as we explored around the aquarium together:

As you can see, we definitely had a fun time exploring the aquarium. We have purchased season passes the past two years for the aquarium because it is a great place to take the family for an outing on a less than stellar weather days. We usually end up visiting at least 1 to 2 times a month.

This trip however, was a special one because it was just me and my oldest daughter. Normally when we go, it’s the whole family together including her younger brother and sister. This time she was able to do everything on her own and not have to share the spotlight with any siblings.

As we drove to the aquarium, I asked her what were some of her favorite things to do in Ripley’s. She replied that she always enjoys seeing the sharks, the octopus, as well as the feeding shows and of course the mermaid show. However, her favorite part is always finding Gabby, the 60 year old sea turtle. She is normally hiding in one of the dark places in the tank. On this trip, Gabby decided to make an appearance and head up to the surface for a few moments which was definitely a highlight for us.

Of course, any trip to the aquarium would not be complete without touching the Horseshoe crabs, jellyfish, and also the stingrays and sharks. And as we do with just about every trip to the aquarium, we ended the night with a final walk down the noisy steps. My kids always enjoy running up and down them making as much noise as possible. Even though we have visited the aquarium many times over the past few years Including on Fourth of July the past two years, we still had a very enjoyable evening where we spent close to two hours walking around discovering things together again.

If you have children, and are planning a trip to the beach in the future, I would definitely try to add the aquarium on to your to do list. Especially if a rainy day creeps up and you need a fun activity to do indoors in Myrtle Beach.

If you have visited Myrtle Beach over the past 22 years, then my guess is that you are familiar with Broadway At The Beach and all of the amazing things there are available to do. However, if you have visited in the past and are planning a trip back to Myrtle Beach expecting to go visit the Pyramid, you will be hard pressed to find it. Over the past year, the section of Broadway known as Celebrity Square has been completely renovated and give a major overhaul.

Gone is the giant pyramid that used to be Hard Rock Cafe and it has been replaced by a brand new building housing the all new Dave & Buster’s. Here you can enjoy a tasty meal and hours of endless fun playing games or watching your favorite sporting event on one of the many TV’s throughout. I recently visited here with my Broker for lunch and the Classic Goldfingers were delicious. He had the Bang Bang Chicken with Spicy Thai Peanut Noodles which also looked very good.

If you are sad about the removal of Hard Rock Cafe, do not fret, Hard Rock Cafe simply moved down the street to a brand new location which can be seen from afar by the giant 40′ giant red rotating guitar. You can still catch live entertainment here and have the full rock star experience that you have grown to love. During the summer, it looks like they have live entertainment almost every evening.

Back in the winter of 2016, the Wahlburgers family owned by Mark, Donnie & executive chef Paul Wahlberg opened their doors at Broadway At The Beach. Stop by there and enjoy a delicious burger. My personal favorite is the O.F.D or Originally from “Dorchestah”. Of course the sweet potato tots and the mac ‘n cheese with smoked bacon are a must to making any meal better too.

Another recent addition that opened is Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen. This restaurant features southern cuisine at it’s finest in a family style dining experience. After looking at their menu, the fried chicken and fried catfish have my mouth watering to go & give it a try. Of course, I’m sure Paula adds a pound of butter to everything, because we all know, butter makes everything better.

Now if you are thinking that all of your favorite things to do at Broadway have been shut down, you will be glad to know that they are all still there. You can still go enjoy going underwater with the sharks & see the mermaids at Ripley’s Aquarium, catching a new flick at Broadway 17 Cinemas, or going upside down at Wonderworks upside down house.

Fireworks At Broadway At The Beach

Another great thing to check out at Broadway At The Beach during the summer is the fireworks display that they do every Tuesday evening at 10PM over the lake. We haven’t been able to catch one yet this year, but below you can see a video snippet from when we saw one of the shows last year. You can see my how excited my son was during this show by all the jumping he did. The shows are great to catch and are free. Our favorite place to catch the fireworks is from the deck at Ripley’s Aquarium after visiting with the sharks & rays.

A tip from a local: If you watch the fireworks from Ripley’s, you can also enjoy a free bag of popcorn and a soft drink that they provide during the show.

An Inside Look At Ripley’s Aquarium of Myrtle Beach

Broadway At The Beach Changes For 2017

Fireworks At Broadway At The Beach