This year when making that holiday gift list, why not think outside the box? Here's a look at five last-minute gift ideas that could make this holiday less stressful:
Surprise your loved ones with a summer vacation at the beach. Dazzle them with the gift of a week at the Sands Resorts in Myrtle Beach. A collection of six fun-filled oceanfront locations in Myrtle Beach, Sands Resorts offers an incredible number of on-site activities including restaurants, indoor and outdoor pools, an on-site water park, a kid's club and a concierge service that will arrange for tickets to local shows or tee times at local golf courses. Best of all, a vacation at Sands won't break the bank. At the peak of the summer season, a family can actually get an ocean view suite that sleeps two adults and two children for six nights for under $1000. An oceanfront suite will still cost less than $1700. More information is available at www.sandsresorts.com.
No trip to Myrtle Beach is complete without going to the area's newest attraction -- the IMAX 3D Theatre at Broadway At The Beach. It's not just a movie viewing, it's an experience and those who see one film return time and again to see others. So why not give the beach lover on your list the gift of an annual pass to the South Carolina coast's only IMAX 3D Theatre. For just $35, you'll be giving a gift of gigantic proportions (www.IMAX3DMyrtleBeach.com).
If your family likes to spend vacation evenings hanging out at an amusement park and riding the rides, then The Family Value Package at the Sea Mist Hotel in Myrtle Beach is the perfect gift for them. For around $400 in mid-summer, a family of four gets two nights of accommodations, a free 5 x 7 family photo, unlimited putt-putt golf, and passes to Family Kingdom Amusement Park for each night of their stay, plus daily passes to Family Kingdom's Oceanfront Water Park (www.myrtlebeachseamist.com). The enchanting Family Kingdom is Myrtle Beach's only seaside amusement park and its water park is perched just feet from the ocean (www.family-kingdom.com).
When spring comes, men young and old have just one thing on their minds -- golf. Why not give the man in your life a spring golf getaway to help him get his game in tune? As the world capital of golf, Myrtle Beach's Grand Strand is known for its fine golf courses and affordable packages. For around $500, you can book a three-day golf vacation at some of the Strand's best golf resorts. Picturesque marshlands and moss-draped oaks frame the golf course at Pawleys Plantation where a variety of golf packages include accommodations and a daily plantation buffet breakfast (www.pawleysplantation.com).
The Glens Group offers a taste of Scotland at their award-winning facilities where the atmosphere is steeped in tradition and the courses have evocative names like Heather Glen and Glen Dornoch (www.glensgolfgroup.com). On the southern coast of North Carolina, golf purists can experience three distinctively different courses at Sea Trail Golf Resort where golfers can stay, play, attend golf school and get fitted at an on-site custom club shop (www.seatrail.com).
If there are golfers on your holiday list the choice is easy. Give them gift cards for a place that offers everything from clubs to help with building a better game. It's PGA TOUR Superstore and, while there are branches in several cities in the south, there's no better place to shop than the Superstores in America's golf capital, Myrtle Beach. Your golfers will spend hours cruising the aisles of this golf fantasyland. On-site teaching professionals both fit golfers to the clubs that work best for them and help them tweak their swings. The service is great and the assortment of merchandise is mind-boggling in its breadth (www.pgatoursuperstore.com).