We heard the rumor yesterday, but today’s newspaper confirmed it: a family of bears was up a tree in the Forestbrook section of Myrtle Beach yesterday. Neighbors believe that a fenced-in dog scared them up the tree, and local experts say the bears would come down and continue along their merry way after dark - and after the dog stops barking at them.

Well, they are called Caroina Forest and Forestbrook for a reason!

Thanks to The Sun News for confirmation and the picture!

They’ve done it again.  Actualy, they do it every few days.  If you regularly fly to Myrtle Beach (or want to) for real estate reasons or just for fun, you really should check out Spirit Air’s sales as well as DirectAir’s sales.

Last Saturday afternoon, ten thousand little yellow rubber ducks raced across the Intracoastal Waterway at Barefoot Landing.  This is one of those things that you just have to see to believe.

Each duck represented an individual or corporate sponsor donation to the Humane Society of North Myrtle Beach, with race winners celebrating their victory winning prizes as valuable as a $5,000 gas card courtesy of event sponsor Myrtle Beach Harley Davidson.

This year’s Paws Across The Water event raised about $23,000 for the Society.  Prize winners are listed on the Humane Society website.

Where do old New York City subway cars go to retire?

(No, this isn’t the start of a bad joke.)

The New York City Transit Authority has donated 41 subway cars to help the environment here in South Carolina.

With their windows and doors removed, these subway cars make a surprisingly effective artificial reef about 25 miles offshore and will anchor corals, sponges, barnacles, algae and other organisms that are unable to colonize the sandy bottom of the ocean floor here.  This will, in turn, attract fish, crabs and shrimp, who will use the reef for shelter and even food.  This, in turn will attract larger species, and… well, you get the picture.

I’m sure there’s a good joke here about the New York subway and Myrtle Beach real estate… but I’ll leave it up to you for the punchline.

Thanks to the Myrtle Beach Sun News for the picture.

If you’re going to Hard Rock Park this summer, don’t plan on sitting in traffic or waiting in long lines to ride the rides.

This isn’t the news that the park’s owners expected to announce last week. “It is a really tough summer,” said Steven Goodwin, CEO of the $400 million Hard Rock Park. “We’re seeing people cutting their vacations from seven days to five days to three days, spending less money.”

The park has reacted by cutting back operating hours and lowering ticket prices, including an extension of its $45 price for adults and $30 for children (age 4 to 9) through Labor Day.  Locals (residents of North and South Carolina) can get in on Saturdays and Sundays for $39.

Before the park opened in April, officials expected to remain open until at least 1 a.m. But the park has been closing at 11 p.m. since at least mid-July, and now plans to close at 10 p.m. this month and 7 p.m. after Labor Day.

Original plans were to remain open five days a week during the off season, but those plans have been scaled back to four days a week, with aspirations to remain open all week long… eventually.

This item has been modified from its original publication in the Myrtle Beach Sun News.