You might find these comments in a columnist's editorial in the Virginian Pilot about the "Jersey Shore".Posted to: Kerry Dougherty Opinion
Kerry Dougherty
Virginian-Pilot columnist
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Kerry's blog

The Virginian-Pilot
© May 17, 2008
I can't believe I’m saying this, but give Virginia Beach a break. I’m talking to the hundreds of crankypants who posted ugly comments about the Resort City last week on The Pilot’s Web site.

You called the Beach “disgusting,” “tacky” and a “no fun zone.” A “money-grubbing resort town,” with shops “full of crap.” “If I were a tourist living up North, I would not even stop in Virginia Beach to relieve myself,” one declared.

Hey, it’s one thing to criticize the crazies at City Hall. Quite another to attack our sandy beaches.

The name-calling came as the result of a silly dust-up between tourist honchos in Virginia Beach and Myrtle Beach. South Carolina is trying to steal our tourists.

“Myrtle Beach: The Alternative to Virginia Beach Vacations” boasts a dull, 2-year-old campaign.

Virginia Beach’s crybabies gave the obscure promotion oceans of publicity.

It was “ unethical, unfortunate and, frankly, beneath the dignity of a major resort,” huffed Virginia Beach’s Tourism chief Jim Ricketts.

Please. Leave the word “dignity” out of a discussion about advertising. That’s just asking for trouble.

Once the stories broke, Beach-bashing began. Disgust with city government seemed to translate into contempt for the city itself, what shrinks call “transference.”

True, the Resort City is run by a troupe of dancing bears. Their canoodling with developers has led to many boneheaded decisions. But we can’t blame them for T-shirt shops and snow-cone stands. Those are at every resort.

As a vacation destination, Virginia Beach is hampered mostly by latitude. It can’t compare with more tropical resorts but it stacks up fine against points north.

Let this Jersey girl tell you about tacky enterprises, money-grubbing municipalities and dirty beaches.

I spent my summers at the Jersey Shore. I was an adult before realizing tar wasn’t a natural byproduct of the sea. You haven’t been to a bacteria beach until you’ve scrubbed gobs of black goo off the soles of your feet. With kerosene.

Money-grubbing resorts? At the risk of giving Virginia Beach bosses more bad ideas, many Garden State beaches require badges to just walk on the sand. Five bucks a day in some places.

You want to talk ocean temperatures? Fuggedaboutit. The water’s so cold up north that your legs ache if you wade in. I’ve been to Delaware and Maryland’s resorts, too. Outside of the excellent french fries, there are lots of good reasons for Pennsylvania and Ohio tourists to drive on by.

Myrtle Beach officials say they’re engaging in “guerrilla advertising.” Good idea. Every resort should try it.

Virginia Beach ought to retaliate with “gasoline ads.” With a gallon of regular headed for $4, all the Beach needs to do is show a map of the East Coast. Myrtle Beach lies 370 long miles to the south

Thanks Walt for the link. That's some majorly inter-beach dissing going on. For our response to Kerry, see the entry above at go.philly.com/downashore.