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Take a Trip Back to Daytime’s Golden Age With Some of the Greatest Location Shoots In Soap History
Friday, April 22nd, 2022
Sometimes it’s nice to just get away!
Spring has sprung and summer feels like it’s just around the corner, so chances are you’ve already started planning your next vacation. Believe it or not, there was a period in daytime history when your favorite soaps would be doing the same! For a time, during daytime’s Golden Age in the ’80s and ’90s, every show was sending it’s cast off to exotic locales to shoot breathtaking stories.
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Soaps like All My Children and Guiding Light would hop down to the Virgin Islands for a honeymoon or two, while General Hospital would ship its cast off to Mexico or Puerto Rico for some high adventure. There was grand romance in New Orleans with Days of Our Lives and stunning Hawaiian weddings courtesy of The Young and the Restless.
Few shows travel as much as Bold & Beautiful, and few places get as much love as Italy.
Credit: Aaron Montgomery/JPI
The Bold and Beautiful, though, has to take home the crown for the sheer number of location shoots they’ve gone on, from their own backyards on California beaches to globe-trotting in Monte Carlo and Dubai. Over the years, the show has pulled out all the stops! Sadly, though they’re one of the few shows that have kept up the grand tradition in these budget-conscious times, even they’ve been hampered by the realities a global pandemic.
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These days, expensive location shoots may be few and far between — it’s far easier to film Taylor dangling from your own building than a cliffside in Mexico! — but at least we still have our memories. So why not sit back, relax, and see if you can find any vacation ideas as you flip through our gallery of daytime’s greatest location shoots.
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Image: Nick Sined/JPI
1/26
<p>For a little while there, Monte Carlo was almost like <em>Bold & Beautiful</em>’s second home. A seaside resort for the wealthy, it was the perfect playground for the Forresters, Spencers and Logans. It had it all — beautiful buildings, beaches, yachts, people. So many beautiful people…</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
2/26
<p>When Luke and Laura returned in 1993, <em>General Hospital</em> pulled out all the stops — a bombing in British Columbia, a jump from a stolen plane, a daring river rescue and then an even more daring waterfall rescue! We have no idea where this is (between Chicago and Port Charles?), but it looks like it would be great for whitewater rafting!</p>
Image: Sean Smith/JPI
3/26
<p>Ah, good ol’ NOLA. Who hasn’t wanted to visit the home of Mardis Gras and take in some of the raucous culture of the French Quarter? It’s certainly a change from Genoa City, Wis.! At least, we assume so. We suppose those benches look a bit decadent.</p>
Image: Paul Skipper/JPI
4/26
<p>Anyone up for a staycation… with a twist? That’s what the folks of Salem got when they were fake-murdered and shipped off to backwards New Salem, aka Melaswen, back in 2004. It was identical to their hometown, except they got to wear Hawaiian shirts and frolic in tropical foliage! Strangely, no one wanted to stay.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
5/26
<p>Erica and Dimitri’s whirlwind romance took them to Budapest in the latter’s native Hungary, where they made love all night and performed, from the looks of it, <em>The Nutcracker Suite </em>in the city square. Oh, and Erica got kidnapped. Twice. Maybe scratch Budapest off the vacation list.</p>
Image: Sean Smith/JPI
6/26
<p>We’re certain that if you looked up “luxury” in the dictionary, this 2014 trip to Dubai would be pictured. Guided camel rides, extravagant hotels, high-octane cars and attempted murder by private helicoptor — this was a trip only the ridiculously wealthy could pull off! </p>
Image: Pierre Guibert/Visual/JPI
7/26
<p>Why does it feel like Victor is warning Ashley not to look at all the pretty sights during their 2008 visit to Paris? “Whatever you do, my dear, don’t turn around and make eye contact with that church. I think it’s following us.” “OK… But I’m pretty sure that’s just the Notre Dame Cathedral, Victor.”</p>
Image: NBC
8/26
<p>Now <em>Days of Our Lives</em>, they did New Orleans right when Bo and Hope visited in 1984. Actually, they might have leaned into the Southern spirit a bit <em>too</em> much. Dressing up and making love on an old estate? Er, don’t play plantation owners on your vacations, folks.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
9/26
<p><em>General Hospital</em> pulled out all the stops when Ricky Martin was playing Miguel, even going on location to his native Puerto Rico to reunite the character with his long-lost lady love, Lily! And, well, we forgot where we were going with this. Does anyone have a fan handy? It’s suddenly feeling hot in here…</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
10/26
<p>Admit it — Eterna is better than a theme park. Is it a real place? No. Is it a safe destination? Not even remotely. But those jumpsuits alone make this trip to Llanview’s great underground city worth the price of admission. Disclaimer: The price of admission could be death.</p>
Image: CBS/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
11/26
<p>There’s nothing better than spending a romantic getaway with your fiancé on Italy’s Amalfi Coast. At least, Emily <em>thought</em> it was her fiancé. Royce suffered from a split personality, so it was kind of hard to tell.</p>
Image: CBS/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
12/26
<p>The Florida Keys are a great destination spot — so long as you understand how the bridges connecting the islands work. Do not, for instance, do what Reva did while off her postpartum-depression meds and drive off an unfinished bridge. Always seek out the finished ones. </p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
13/26
<p>Some folks from Port Charles go on sun-drenched trips to places like Mexico and Puerto Rico, others to Mt. Rushmore. Terry fell into the latter category with her beau, Dusty, who was programmed to kill her, Anna and Robert… Some gals have all the luck. All the <em>bad</em> luck.</p>
Image: Sean Smith/JPI
14/26
<p>Hope (then Kimberly Matula) and Liam’s Italian wedding was never actually legal, so they both felt a bit like a heel when it was all over with. Then again, that might have just been because they were fake-married in the “heel” part of Italy. OK, OK, we’ll boot ourselves off the stage.</p>
Image: John Paschal/JPI
15/26
<p>Hell: the vacation destination where you can get away from the cold and snow of the winter but not have to worry about the sun burning your fair skin like it might in more tropical climes. What’s not to love about it? Well, besides the whole eternal damnation thing.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
16/26
<p>We’ll just let you drink in this pic of Erica and Tom on their 1978 honeymoon in St. Croix. A honeymoon, we might add, that lasted… mm, almost as long as their very brief marriage. Heck, that <em>cocktail</em> almost lasted as long as their marriage!</p>
Image: Tammie Arroyo/JPI
17/26
<p>What could be more romantic than proposing to your love right next to the canals of Venice? Neither <em>Bold & Beautiful</em> nor Thorne spared any expense on this vacation engagement. But maybe they should have since it ended up being a total waste when Brooke went running back to Ridge.</p>
Image: NBC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
18/26
<p>Carly and Bo headed south of the border for their 1991 wedding ceremony, which was pretty much entirely symbolic. Since they never bothered legalizing their union, we have a sneaking suspicion they just used “getting married” as an excuse to go paddle-boating in Mexico. Well-played.</p>
Image: Sean Smith/JPI
19/26
<p>OK, fine. So the show didn’t actually go to Hawaii. But they did stage their own version of the Tom Hanks classic <em>Joe Versus the Volcano</em> with Skye and Sharon, so we’ll be darned if this picture wasn’t making it in! Unlike in the Hanks movie, though, Skye did not get ejected from the volcano… RIP.</p>
Image: John Paschal/JPI
20/26
<p><em>Bold & Beautiful</em>’s visit to Lake Como gave the folks a chance to take a dip in its gorgeous waters — whether they wanted to or not. But c’mon, how could Stephanie resist that invitation? It would’ve been shocking if she <em>hadn’t</em> pushed Sally into the lake!</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
21/26
<p>Ericaland is a lot like Hollywood, what with that big sign and all, but in this place, everyone is named Erica and has egos the size of Australia. And that’s why Ms. Kane hailed a cab out of there as soon as she could. How’s a gal supposed to feel special in a place like that? “Taxi!”</p>
Image: CBS/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
22/26
<p>Ah, back to beautiful Venice, the Floating City of Italy. Holden’s brother Seth took fiancée Frannie there on the most romantic of getaways. Or did he take Sabrina there? Eh, they were identical and he was engaged to both of Julianne Moore’s characters, so… same difference?</p>
Image: CBS/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
23/26
<p>There’s nothing like a nice vacation to the Virgin Islands. Just look at that breathtaking view! The one drawback is that the hats don’t have tops. Oh, and Morgan’s husband gave Josh a beating when he thought the two of them were sleeping together. But that sounds more like a <em>Josh </em>problem than a St. Croix problem.</p>
Image: John Paschal/JPI
24/26
<p>Fun fact: Italy’s picturesque Portofino is a gorgeous vacation spot that lies on the Gulf of Genoa. Maybe that’s why Stephanie looks so confused here. “Wait, Sally, are you saying we <em>aren’t</em> in Wisconsin?” </p>
Image: CBS/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
25/26
<p><em>Young & Restless</em> did actually go to Hawaii for Danny and Christine’s lavish 1990 wedding. And they didn’t even have to sacrifice anyone to a volcano to make it happen! Oh, and the trip also featured Danny in a Speedo. Ah, the good old days!</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
26/26
<p>When it comes to sheer fun, nothing beats Ned and Lois’ 1994 trip to Coney Island in Brooklyn. Granted, they were nearly killed when they tried to ride the famed Cyclone roller coaster on the <em>arm rests</em>, but hey, you do you, kids. </p>
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