Would you choose Myrtle Beach over Sydney, Australia? Miami? Honolulu?

Yahoo! users did. In the list of the "World's Best Beaches," the Grand Strand took the top spot, outranking destinations that dwarf Myrtle Beach in visitor numbers, reputation and general name recognition.

Editor's note: Downtown Myrtle Beach faces its first summer without its longtime landmark, The Myrtle Beach Pavilion Amusement Park. The Sun News will show how the area copes by following several businesses through the season.

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A jazzed-up IMAX will return to Broadway at the Beach in May with a new high-tech 3-D theater.

The new IMAX - with plasma-screen televisions showing movie trailers outside and a retail store inside - will replace the company's standard two-dimensional screens with a state-of-the-art, three-dimensional experience.

The Hurricane may be gone forever, but at least some of the memories - and nine of the rides - from the Pavilion amusement park's 58 years on the oceanfront have found a new home.

Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc. announced Thursday that many attractions from the Myrtle Beach Pavilion Amusement Park will move to Broadway at the Beach near the Carmike Theaters to become the "Pavilion Nostalgia Park," a miniature family amusement park and museum.

Ready to walk the plank into piracy?

A walk into a room-size replica on a pirate ship's gun deck cracks into a sunken treasure of history.

Travelers will have another way to fly to New York come March when US Airways becomes the second airline offering direct flights from Myrtle Beach to La Guardia.

US Airways, Myrtle Beach's largest airline, will start the daily La Guardia flight March 4, when most carriers step up service for the busy tourist season.

R eaders of Southern Living once again have picked Myrtle Beach among their favorites.

The Grand Strand landed spots in two categories from the magazine's Readers' Choice awards, for "Beach Town" and "Family Vacation."

As Myrtle Beach leaders make plans to build a boardwalk at a cost of up to $10 million, other towns in the area already know that a mile or so of planks along their rivers, marshes or other waterways can help make areas more attractive to visitors and locals year round.

Conway, Georgetown and Murrells Inlet capitalized on their sweeping river and marsh views by building boardwalks to shape their waterfront offerings.

A rendering of Inlet Square's future after renovations shows an open-air shopping center with covered walkways and an outdoor event area that could open in 2008.

Developers gave The Sun News this week the first artist's depiction of the 17-year-old mall's transformation into a modern center that incorporates some of the current stores. F+F Development officials say renovations could start next year.