Best Bets | Hop into home stretch for Easter

SATURDAY | 03.26

Area bouncing with Easter Bunny breakfasts, egg hunts

▪ “Easter Bunny Brunch” and egg hunt, 8-9:30 or 10-11:30 a.m. Saturday at Children’s Museum of South Carolina, 2204 N. Oak St., Myrtle Beach. $12 ($6 members). 843-946-9469 or www.cmsckids.org. (Museum opens for business at noon, also, noon-5 p.m. Sunday).

▪ Breakfasts with Easter Bunny, Saturday at Broadway at the Beach, on 29th Avenue North in Myrtle Beach, with reservations required – seatings 8:30 and 9:30 a.m. at Ripley’s Aquarium (Plus tax: $10.99 child and $19.95 adult – call 843-916-0888, ext. 3272; www.ripleyaquariums.com/myrtlebeach/breakfast-easter-bunny/); and 9-10:30 a.m. at Hard Rock Cafe ($9.95 ages 3 and older, and free ages 2 and younger with paying adult – 843-946-0007, ext. 208; www.hardrock.com/myrtlebeach). Also, fireworks at 8 p.m. – free to see. 843-444-3200, 800-386-4662 or www.broadwayatthebeach.com.

▪ “Breakfast with the Easter Bunny,” 9 a.m. Saturday at Gordon Biersch, at Howard Avenue and Nevers Street in The Market Common in Myrtle Beach. $10 ages 4 and older, otherwise free, plus tax and gratuity. Reservations at 843-839-0249.

▪ 34th annual North Myrtle Beach Community Easter Egg Hunt, 10 a.m.-noon Saturday in city’s McLean Park, 93 Oak Drive, west of Main Street. Free. 843-280-5673 or parks.nmb.us/Page.aspx?id=20.

▪ Family Egg Hunt, 10 a.m.-noon Saturday (ages 18 months-3 years at 10:30 a.m., ages 4-6 at 11 a.m., and ages 7-12 at 11:45) at Hammock Shops Village, on U.S. 17 in Pawleys Island. Free. 843-235-6355 or www.thehammockshops.com.

▪ Saturday in downtown Georgetown: “Easter Strut” at 11 a.m., with children walking down boardwalk from Frances Marion Park to Rainey Park for annual Easter Egg Hunt, 11:30 a.m., by Kaminski House Museum, 1003 Front St., Georgetown. 843-546-7706 or kaminskimuseum.org.

▪ “Barefoot Bunny Hop Easter Celebration,” noon-4 p.m. Saturday at Barefoot Landing, on U.S. 17 in North Myrtle Beach. Bring camera for photos with Easter Bunny. Free. 843-361-7949 or www.bflanding.com.

▪ “Easter at the Old Bridge,” 1 p.m. Saturday at Old Bridge Preservation Society Museum, 109 Shoreline Drive W., Sunset Beach, N.C. Free, including egg hunt, egg roll, and sack race. 910-363-6585 or oldbridgepreservationsociety.org.

▪ Surfside Beach Easter Egg Hunt/Children’s Festival, Saturday in town parks surrounding Horry County Memorial Library Surfside Beach branch – with hunt at 1 p.m. at Passive Park, near veterans memorial, at Surfside and Willow drives; and fest 1:30-3 p.m. in Fuller Park, at Surfside and Myrtle drives. Free. 843-650-9548 or surfsidebeach.org/Data/Sites/1/media/easter.pdf.

▪ Easter Egg Hunt, for toddlers through fifth-graders, 4-6 p.m. Saturday at Seacoast Vineyard Church, 504 27th Ave. N., Myrtle Beach. 843-445-9000 or seacoastvineyard.com.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY | 03.25-03.26

Spring Festival, ‘High School Art Show’ in Southport

The Franklin Square Park area in downtown Southport, N.C., is host for two special events, both with free admission:

▪ Southport Spring Festival, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, across park. Fee for some children’s activities. Also, Southport-Oak Island Kiwanis Club 5K Run/Walk at 8 a.m. Saturday from waterfront, for $20 advance (at www.active.com) or $25 day of event. 910-279-4616 or www.downtownsouthport.org, and www.southport-oakisland-kiwanis.org.

▪ “High School Art Show,” with works by students from South, North and West Brunswick high schools, through April 15, at Franklin Square Gallery, 130 E. West St., open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays. Details at 910-457-5450 or www.franklinsquaregallery.com.

Also in and near Brunswick County:

▪ Annual “Family Day,” 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday at Museum of Coastal Carolina, 21 E. Second St., Ocean Isle Beach, N.C. Free on this day for Brunswick County residents with ID, otherwise $3. 910-579-1016 or www.museumplanetarium.org.

▪ “Dinos and Donuts,” 8 a.m. Friday-Saturday, amid new “Dinosaurs” exhibit, at N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher, on U.S. 421, just south of Kure Beach, N.C. $18 ages 13 and older, $16 ages 3-12, $5 for 2-year-olds, and free ages 1 and younger. Preregistration required at 910-772-0500 or www.ncaquariums.com/fort-fisher.

ALMOST DAILY | Including 03.25-03.27

Shows pack CCU stages; Atlantic Stage opens ‘Two Rooms’

Two Coastal Carolina University sites are alive in arts, each for $17 general admission per date. Details at 843-349-2787 (ARTS) or www.coastal.edu/news/culturalarts:

▪ Menotti’s “The Old Maid and the Thief,” by CCU Opera Workshop, 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday in Wheelwright Auditorium, on main campus in Conway, accessed from U.S. 501 or S.C. 544.

▪ CCU Jazz Festival, with student ensembles and special guest saxophonist Jeff Coffin, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday – with the Funk Fusion Combo and Student Combo 1 on Monday, and two big bands, the New Jazz Ensemble, and Jazz Ensemble, on Wednesday – in Wheelwright Auditorium.

▪ “Pride & Prejudice” play, 7:30 p.m. March 31-April 2 and April 6-8; and 3 and 7:30 p.m. April 9 – in 79th Avenue Theatre, on Myrtle Beach campus at U.S. 17 Bypass.

Also, Atlantic Stage’s eighth season continues with “Two Rooms,” at the troupe’s new site, in Myrtle Beach Mall, at U.S. 17 and S.C. 22, near Briarcliffe Acres, and next door to Bath and Body Works, near Bass Pro Shops, and across from Carolina Improv Company’s Uptown Theater, through April 17: 7:30 pm. Thursdays-Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays. $ 27.50 general, $22.50 ages 55 and older/educators/military, and $17.50 students, including Osher Lifelong Learning Institute members. Also: Join dialogue with actors after Sunday performances through April 3. 877-287-8587 or www.atlanticstage.com.

SATURDAY, WEDNESDAY | 03.26, 03.30

Step out, in for charitable benefits

▪ “Race for the Inlet,” 8 a.m. Saturday from Murrells Inlet 2020 preservation group’s office, 4124 U.S. 17 Business, Murrells Inlet, across from the Crazy Sister Marina, with 5K walk/run $30, and 8K run $35. 843-357-2007 or www.murrellsinletsc.com.

▪ Grand Strand/Pee Dee “Walk to Defeat ALS,” 1 or 3 miles, benefiting ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/Lou Gehrig’s Disease) Association S.C. Chapter, 10 a.m. Saturday in Myrtle Beach’s Grand Park, on Farrow Parkway, across from The Market Common. All donations welcome. Pre-register at web.alsa.org/site/TR/Rides/Blueprint?fr_id=11563&pg=entry#.VtUoMnYo4y4. 803-851-3216, or email Mdenner@scalsa.org.

▪ “History for Lunch,” noon March 30 at S.C. Maritime Museum, 729 Front Street, Georgetown, with Dean Cain, marine biologist with S.C. Department of Natural Resources, covering recreational and commercial fishing in Georgetown region, as well as highlighting host venue’s new exhibit opening April 1, “History of Fishing.” Lunch reservations at 843-520-0111 or www.scmaritimemuseum.org. $20, including meal and beverages, or $18 for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and museum members.

DAILY | Through 04.10, to start 2016

Family Kingdom ridin’ high in new season

Family Kingdom Amusement Park begins a new year, open 1 p.m. daily from Thursday through April 10, and April 22-May 1 (opening 6 p.m. Fridays) – otherwise weekends through May 22, then open daily again through summer, all weather permitting.

Admission is free, and wristbands for all ages – which do not include go-carts and zip lines – are $27.35 plus tax (or $15.75 total for local residents with ID, sold only in the office under Swamp Fox roller coaster), and individual ride tickets cost $1.15 plus tax each, with 2-5 tickets needed per ride.

By the way, Family Kingdom’s Splashes Water Park, across Ocean Boulevard, along the Atlantic, opens May 28 for the season, from 10 a.m. daily through Sept. 4. Daily admission, plus tax, will be $21.95 for anyone 4 feet or taller, $18.95 children under 4 feet.

Details at 843-626-3447 or www.familykingdomfun.com.

This story was originally published March 24, 2016 at 1:00 AM with the headline "Best Bets | Hop into home stretch for Easter."