Hard Rock Park Takes Turn On ABC

Written By: By Steve Palisin

Sunrise provided the lights, ABC the cameras and Hard Rock Park the action for "Good Morning America Weekend."

About 200 people turned out Sunday morning at the Myrtle Beach theme park to see a network crew film segments aired by ABC during its two-hour morning news program from 7 to 9 a.m. (WPDE-TV 15 and WWAY-TV 3 and WCIV-TV air only one hour each on Sundays.)

With the 70-foot Gibson guitar sculpture reaching toward the sky in the background, two people on personal watercraft made repeat rounds at the park's center water feature, flying five linked kites. The public assembled in two groups at the entry plaza, between the park's Rock & Roll Heaven and Cool Country sections.

The first 100 people in line Sunday received free admission for the day. Others got free rides on such attractions as the Eagles' Life in the Fast Lane roller coaster while cameras rolled with traveling "Good Morning America" co-host, Marysol Castro.

Ryan Shelley and wife, Becky Shelley, of Socastee brought their children, Brittany and Zachery, and nephew Brandon Howell. The family arrived at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Ryan Shelley said, to check out details for seeing the show in the morning. They parked in the lot all night and tailgated, Becky Shelley said.

Wearing their season passes, Vinny Spera and Mary Spera of Myrtle Beach said they had visited the park four times. The ABC filming piqued their curiosity, "simple as that," Vinny Spera said, especially after they had attended a similar NBC affiliate production for "Good Day Connecticut" a few years ago, his wife said.

Another season-pass holder, Robert Pickaart of Carolina Forest, asked, "When was the last time Myrtle Beach had this kind of exposure?"

Sporting a pink cowboy hat, Pam Joseph of Myrtle Beach stood with her niece, Hannah Bar, who held a pink handmade banner for the ABC cameras.

Joseph said she watches "Good Morning America" every day and found the crew, park staff and crowd friendly.

"It's perfect," she said.

A taped "Weekend Window" segment took viewers to Georgetown County to see American alligators and the Atalaya castle at Huntington Beach State Park, then across U.S. 17 to Brookgreen Gardens.

Brad Dean, president and chief executive of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, watched the telecast at home Sunday and said he enjoyed how show producers took in the area.

"They really portrayed the diversity of attractions on the Grand Strand," he said.

Dean said The New York Times provided the other half of the double-pronged free publicity plug Sunday for Myrtle Beach. A travel piece, "The 31 Places to Go This Summer," reasoned its vacation-worthy aspects go beyond its best known amenity, golf.

"The Grand Strand is quickly emerging as a national destination," Dean said. "It's no longer just a well-kept secret in the South."

Taping ended just after 8 a.m. for broadcast in the second hour, and host Castro said such weekend TV projects usually involve packing a tight agenda into a 24-hour visit. She boiled that down to flying in, shooting, editing, then flying out.

"For a live show," she said, gesturing toward ABC and park personnel, "they do all the hard work. I just show up and talk."

31 Places to Go This Summer

Reporting for this article was done by Stuart Emmrich, Denny Lee, Suzanne MacNeille and Laura Marmor.

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THERE used to be a time — oh, let’s call it 2007 — when summer was considered a time of almost limitless possibilities, a time of languorous vacations, of trips filled with the promise of discovery.

But the summer of 2008 is starting out like a cruel joke, with air travel increasingly a nightmare and with wildly escalating gas prices threatening to make the road trip all but obsolete. It’s almost enough to make you sit at home and catch up on episodes of “Gossip Girl.”

The summer vacation is still an inalienable right, however. And there is no reason to forgo it this year. It will just take a bit of creativity — and perhaps the willingness to stay a little closer to home this time around — to pull it off in 2008.

Thus, here are 31 options — from river rafting in eastern Oregon to biking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire — for a great summer vacation. Not one involves the terrifying conversion of dollars into euros, many can be enjoyed without ever getting on a plane, and the road trips are ones that actually justify filling up your tank, even if the price of gas hits $5 a gallon this summer.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Ranked #6

55-acre Hard Rock Park (www.hardrockpark.com), billed as the “world’s first rock ’n’ roll theme park,” just opened in Myrtle Beach, complete with a Led Zeppelin-themed steel roller coaster and nightly fireworks set to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” It may be an unlikely addition to this popular resort, best known for its golf courses, but it’s not the only reason to visit this summer. Many of the area’s hotels are offering deep discounts on their weekend rates, ranging from three-bedroom suites for $225 a night to two-bedroom golf villas starting at around $200.

Source: The New York Times. Sunday June 1, 2008