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Welcome to the beginning of the warm-weather months at the beach! Spring break, end of hibernation, the beginning of Daylight Savings Time, the excitement of outdoor festivals, and more are all valid reasons to plan to visit the beach during a relative quiet time before Memorial Day or plan for the months ahead in summer time or even after Labor Day. All too soon time slips by the wayside unless we pin our memories to the passing minutes.
Some of our spring-breaking guests (perhaps from Canada or the northern states) have grasped time at the beach in unforgettable ways, starting with wearing their bathing suits in our 50- to 60-degree days to lie out on the beach on the crisp sand. Warmth from the sun feels deep-down good, but is it warm enough for bathing suits yet? Yes, for some hearty enough to try it.
These intrepid sunbathers lie on their beach towels, coaxing every stray warm sunbeam from the sky, but many of the beach-goers out and about wear mid-season apparel such as light jackets and trousers. What each has in common with the others is their love of the Carolina sun! Comfort, contentment, and happiness unite them here at the beach!
Avista awaits you, but don't let those terrific time-sensitive discounts escape from your grasp. Have you linked us to your SMS system? We can get last-minute discounted rates to you instantaneously through this system, putting you're here at the beach only hours after your last business meeting (depending on where you are, of course). Go ahead! Give us a try!
Your Friends at Avista Resort!
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News from Around Avista:
Leading the way -- Just Off Main at Taste of the South.
On Saturday, February 26th, Chef Marvin Jones and his staff participated in a North Myrtle Beach Chamber-sponsored event called Taste of the South, featuring prominent restaurants around the area. Chef Marvin's pasta special with shrimp won the prize in the pasta category at this exposition, and the over-all turnout at the North Myrtle Beach High School was excellent, giving further exposure of our restaurant to many locals, as well as to visitors to the area! A dining experience at Avista's restaurant is not hard on the budget, either, with menu options in everything from gourmet to basic burger. Come see our new spring, spruced-up look, too, at Just Off Main.
Easter at Avista.
Called "Easter Eggstravaganza," our multi-dimensional event includes not only a fabulous Easter menu on April 4th at Just Off Main (click here to see the menu), also options in having balloon bouquets delivered to your Easter accommodations here at Avista and children's Easter activities (coloring contest, egg hunt, and much more) include prizes, too! Join us for an Easter celebration here at the beach!
Mother's Day at Avista.
After a long, hard winter of putting up with wide-ranging work activities for your family (everything from office to laundry to care giving for family members), the "Mom" in your house would love a chance to recuperate. Pamper her with a stay at the beach, affordable and yet luxurious, in our special Mother's Day package for May 9th. Treat her to comfortable surroundings in our resort garnished with a gorgeous spring floral display and balloons at arrival, breakfast for two at Just Off Main, and an in-room spa-treatment massage for the "mother" in your world. Looking for even more for a really special treatment? We have enhancements, too! Ask us about show tickets, fruit-and-cheese baskets with wine, and cheese-and-champagne-with-chocolates. Moms RULE! Father's, your day is June 21st.
Plans for 2010 Summer Children's Activities.
Look for our list of summer children's activities in the coming newsletters. Last year children delighted in searches for shark's teeth on the shoreline, playing pool games, learning to tie-dye a summer T-shirt, and much more. This year has surprises and delights. The activities begin on Memorial Day weekend in May for this popular summertime series for children staying with us here at the beach!
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AROUND TOWN THIS MONTH
Saint Patrick's Day parade and festival on Main Street in North Myrtle Beach. A very family-friendly event with live music, arts and crafts, food of all types, and more!
SOS National Shag Dance Championship. Avista Resort and the Grand Strand enjoyed the arrival of the final dance competitors for a weekend in mid-March. The best dancers in the country showed off their best moves to the judges until the selection of the overall champions, Sam West and Leslie Jenkins. Congratulations to all who competed. We hope to see you staying with us again next year when this exciting first-class dance competition takes place right here in the heart of shag dancing country.
Heritage Shores Nature Preserve, North Myrtle Beach. One of the newest and most unique parks in the City of North Myrtle Beach, it offers boardwalks, observation decks, interpretive signs, 2 picnic shelters, and a stationary boat dock. Visit it at 53rd Avenue north, away from the ocean. 53rd Avenue near the Cherry Grove Park and Boat Ramp. Parking at the western end of 53rd Avenue north.
Russell Burgess Coastal Preserve, a scenic overview of the marsh with paved parking and a boardwalk just off Sea Mountain Highway. Get there from Sea Mountain Highway leading away from the ocean, then turn right (north) on Duffy Street and go 1 ½ miles to 36th Avenue north.
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Facebook and What It Does for You
This tool is a wonderful way to share vacation photos and experiences with loved ones, also to receive our latest discounted rates on everything from package specials to live music at the Tree Top Lounge.
If you are unsure how to sign up to use this social networking tool, just go to the Facebook homepage (www.Facebook.com) and look for the "sign up" section on the right side and complete the blanks. Then go to your email that you used to join Facebook and check for an email requesting you to open the registration confirmation from Facebook. Once you click on the verification link, you can access Facebook and find your friends and family.
SMS
Because people are the very heart of what we do at Avista Resort, we need to stay in touch to find out what groups to individuals want in vacations and accommodations.
In addition to Facebook, we use text messaging, also called Short Messaging Service (SMS), an electronic message handling system, especially functional for mobile users to communicate with each other. For those who have linked their cell phones to Facebook, either or both systems can help guest stay in touch with new events here, with discounts, and with many other pieces of information to make a vacation the best one ever...until the return visit!
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Featured Recipe: Self-Rising Biscuits from Scratch
These biscuits are as Southern as fried chicken and sweet tea. Some people eat them for breakfast with sausage, and others have them with any meal at any time.
Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 cups self-rising flour
- 2 tablespoons butter or margarine (melted)
- 2/3 to 3/4 cup milk (for buttermilk biscuits, use 3/4 to 1 cup buttermilk and 1 tablespoon sugar)
- 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
Directions:
- Preheat oven at 450 degrees.
- Place flour and shortening in medium-sized mixing bowl.
- Cut shortening into flour until the particles of shortening are the size of rice grains.
- Slowly add milk, mixing as you pour.
- Mix thoroughly with a large spoon.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly-floured surface. Roll the dough out until it is about 1/2-inch thick.
- Cut the biscuits to the desired size.
- Transfer biscuits to a shallow baking pan.
- Bake at 450 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until done (brown on top, fluffy in the middle)
- Brush the tops with melted butter before serving.
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Groups at AVISTA RESORT
We extend a grand "Thank you" to the following groups that selected Avista Resort as their preferred site at the beach for rest, relaxation, and a whole bunch of fun for their whole bunch of travelers!
- Great Canadian Holidays
- Aynor High School Class of 2000
- Girls Ministries USCC-IPHC
- Gospel Baptist Church
- Sevier Storm All-Stars
- Raleigh First Church of the Nazarene
- Sports Zone
- Mundeline High School / Girls Soccer Team
Small, medium, and large groups like these find their needs met here at Avista Resort - meeting rooms, comfortable accommodations, on-site restaurant, oceanfront fun, and much more. Avista is the best place to stay for a group's budget and coordination needs.
Spaces for meetings, banquets, seminars, and other get-togethers all have the ample 14-foot ceilings that provide comfortable temperature settings yet do not interfere with acoustics. They also make set-up easy with many possible options in designs (round tables, half-rounds, classroom arrangements, theater style, U-shaped, H-shaped, or conference set-up.
- Avalon Room (3,599 square feet)
- Ballroom A (744 square feet)
- Ballroom B (1,616 square feet)
- Ballroom C (1,226 square feet)
- Ballrooms A and B combined (2,363 square feet)
- Ballrooms B and C combined (2,848 square feet);
Do you have several hundred people or twenty and need to find a place to put them all for a group meeting or social gathering? We have meeting rooms that would suit your event, so contact our experts in the Group Sales office to help you with the details. Click here.
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Avista's On-Going Green Effort
The wind turbine project here at Avista is moving forward, and we expect further news to report later in the summer.
After the structural feasibility study here at the resort and further exploration into just how much wind, under normal circumstances, regularly blows through our property, Avista's management has submitted its turbine proposal to the City of North Myrtle Beach for approval of its wind turbine installation here at the resort. By early summer, we anticipate the City's conclusion, after which we will meet with a manufacturer about the turbine itself.
In a continual effort to raise its standards and boost energy-saving practices, Avista continues its on-going recycling endeavors. Here are some campaigns to note when you stay with us:
- Conserving Water - Small practices add up to huge savings, so not only are water-savings devices being explored for shower heads and faucets, also drips and leaky areas are a constant target for our Engineering staff.
- Recycling Paper - Rather than print our business emails, we review them for their content and print as little as possible, thereby saving paper.
We reuse printed matter where we can by turning to the blank back side and using it for printing draft copies.
We recycle old newspapers and other paper products.
- Looking Forward to Long-Term Benefits of Recycling - Management is exploring the most cost- and waste-efficient way to recycle what has in the past just being discarded. This is much we have done already - look for recycling bins both on the property and around out area. There is much more we can do.
Tip for Home Conservation: Screen-savers are not energy-savers. They continue to use the computer monitor at full power and do not provide any energy savings. Shut down, or configure your computer to shut down automatically after some amount of time suitable to you. Leaving the computer up uses energy.
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GUEST COMMENTS
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All the workers at the front desk have been very friendly and courteous. We have been especially impressed with Ann Marie, Theresa, and Angela. They have been so pleasant and helpful. They helped make pour stay one to remember
Hand-written letter to Front Desk Manager Marvis by Patterson Family, March 2, 2010.
This resort is excellent!!! So clean and comfortable. We are ready to plan our summer trip to the Avista Resort
Email from Allison R. to Avista's Concierge, March 8, 2010.
The Night Manager is excellent -- big smile and so friendly. I'm returning to the Avista with eight guys (family) for a golf vacation on March 27th. We've been coming to Myrtle Beach for the last 10 years. First time ever we're staying on the ocean. Kathy Phillips in your Golf Department is terrific. She does an excellent job. See you in March. I'm hoping the rest of our golf group likes the Avista as well.
Email from Don N. to Avista's Concierge, March 8, 2010.
Very nice facility. I was on business but sure wished my family could have been with me. If I stay in Myrtle Beach again I will definitely stay @ Avista!
Email from John M. to Avista's Concierge, March 8, 2010.
Resort is a wonderful place to stay. I would love to come again.
Email from Lisa T. to Avista's Concierge, March 8, 2010.
We enjoyed our stay at the Avista resort. We would recommend the Avista as a great place to stay.
Email from Bobby B. to Avista's Concierge, March 8, 2010.
Our entire party of six very much enjoyed our stay at Avista. We found the room to be very comfortable, and [it] met all of our needs. We appreciated the way our stay was handled by your staff. Thank you.
Email from William C and James A. to Avista's Concierge, March 8, 2010.
I would like to thank the front desk for being so kind as usual and the housekeeping staff for respecting our privacy. Avista is the number 1 resort in Myrtle Beach. Thanks.
Email from Crystal and Anthony G, Lumberton , NC, to Avista's Concierge, March 8, 2010.
The gals at the Front Desk are awesome, and we especially liked Anne Marie for helping us gather info for our next family vacation by copying floor plans and allowing us to look at the other 3-bedroom condos. We spent time in the Grand Strand area and could not find anything to our liking as well as the Avista....We love the Avista Resort and tell all our friends about it. Thanks so much for a great mini-getaway, even though it [the weather] never warmed up for us.
Email from Jean Carol and Gerard, March 4, 2010.
Fun Facts
Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt."
It is believed that Shakespeare was 46 years old around the time that the King James Version of the Bible was written. In Psalms 46, the 46th word from the first word is "shake" and the 46th word from the last word is "spear."
"Canada" is an Indian word meaning "Big Village.
In the English language, four is the only numeral that has the same number of letters as its value.
Three English words with the consecutive letters "uu" are: vacuum, residuum, and continuum.
While our eyes remain the same size from birth, our nose and ears never stop growing.
Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.
Male mosquitoes are vegetarians.
If ignorance is bliss, why aren't more people happy? It is the goal of these "fun facts" to make you both knowledgeable and happy.
If you lend someone $20 and then never see that person again, the money was well spent.
Chewing gum while cutting onions interferes with tear production.
In life, some days we are the pigeon, and some days we are the statue.
A box of crayons offers lessons for life. Some crayons are sharp. Some are pretty. Some are dull. Some have weird names. All have different colors. All live in the same box.
In the southern hemisphere, water always swirls counter-clockwise down into a drain or pipe.
Local Events Calendar
With the sun climbing higher on the horizon, its warming rays are melting our winter doldrums and reinvigorating us to get outside and play. The events show on our website (click here) represent only a small portion of the many sites, sights, sounds, and experiences available to everyone here at the beach. Come see us!
Click here.
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