Myrtle Beach's 60 Best Kept Secrets #MYR_60Days

There's something about waking up to the sound of the surf hitting the shore outside your window...

While I was in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina as part of the Myrtle Beach's 60 Best Kept Secrets last week, this is where I stayed with my blogging friends. Not too shabby, am I right?

Each morning, I found this waiting for me outside my door (lucky me, I had an ocean view room with a gorgeous deck!

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you jealous...not too jealous, anyway!

If you were following me along Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, you probably saw a lot of the #MYR_60Days hashtag and you were probably wondering what it was all about.

Myrtle Beach's 60 Best Kept Secrets

We all know that Myrtle Beach has lovely beaches. It's one of the top beach vacation destinations in the world for a reason, right? Well, Myrtle Beach wants you to know that they are more than just 60 miles of pristine, sandy white beaches.

Yes, I said 60 miles! But there is so much more to do in Myrtle Beach than lay on those beautiful beaches - if you so choose!

Each day, Myrtle Beach reveals one incredibly awesome thing to do in Myrtle Beach that people might not realize is there - thus, the "secret." While I was there last week, I was able to experience a few of those 60 secrets first hand.

Like the Stingray Encounter at Ripley's Aquarium, located in Broadway at the Beach. You can reach down and touch the stingrays, and that included in your admission price. Not only is the stingray encounter super cool, but the entire Aquarium is awesome - and fantastic for kids! You can read about my visit to Ripley's Aquarium on my travel blog, Happy Travels.

Or the incredible gourmet dining at The Brentwood Restaurant and Wine Bistro, where you can watch for ghosts while getting a French Carolina Coastal cooking class - because it's a certifiably haunted building!

Oh, and the food? AMAZING. I walked out of the Brentwood so full and so satisfied that I felt like I may never need to eat again!

We had a private demonstration on how to cook crepes Suzette and a few of the ladies actually made them as well. It was so much fun!

Chef Masson is originally from France and is quite the accomplished chef, having studied in French and English culinary schools before bringing his divine cooking skills to Myrtle Beach. Chef Masson's story sounds like many of the stories you hear in Myrtle Beach; he discovered the Brentwood Restaurant while vacationing in Myrtle Beach, fell in love and moved there.

I don't blame him!

After dinner, I went looking for ghosts but didn't catch any...

It was still kind of spooky!

Of course, if stingrays and ghost-hunting while indulging in rack of lamb isn't your style, there are many, many more secrets to discover in Myrtle Beach!

Like the beautiful Black River, while actually being very dark in color, is absolutely breathtaking! We went kayaking and had a blast with the Black River Outdoors Cypress/Tupelo Swamp Kayak Tour. Our guide Paul was hilarious and kept cracking me up - but he was also extremely knowledgeable about the river, the surrounding area, giving us tidbits of information about the species of wildlife and vegetation along the river. It was a wonderful experience for me as an adult, and I think your older children would love it as well!

So...all of these secrets?

Myrtle Beach wants to show you first hand how much they really have to offer and wants you to discover some of these secrets for yourself!

Throughout September and October, you can enter to win a a 3-night, 4-day trip to Myrtle Beach, complete with accommodations for two, a restaurant gift card and a pair of tickets to your choice of attractions by entering the Myrtle Beach's Pin it To Win Pinterest contest. And one grand prize winner will win accommodations plus a two tickets to up to eight attractions featured in their "Myrtle Beach Dream Vacation" pinboard.

How to Enter the Myrtle Beach Dream Vacation Pinterest Contest:

1. Follow @MyMyrtleBeach on Pinterest. To enter the Sweepstakes, you must “Follow” Visit Myrtle Beach (Pinterest username @MyMyrtleBeach) on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/mymyrtlebeach.
2. Create a board titled “Myrtle Beach Dream Vacation.” Add at least eight attractions you’d like to visit in Myrtle Beach on a dream vacation and make sure you tag each with #MYRDreamVacation. You're encouraged to include a description with each image saying WHY you chose it. Entrants must include the tag #MYRDreamVacation within each pin added to their pinboard. Only one Pinterest pinboard entry per person is allowed.
3. When your board is complete, post a comment on the Pinterest board with your name and the url of your #MYRDreamVacation pinboard.

I received travel and accommodations while visiting Myrtle Beach, but all opinions are my own.