VAIL — Vail was the setting for a ‘Surprise Vacation’ this past weekend.
“Surprise Vacations with Karen Duffy,” a new show scheduled to debut on the Fine Living Network in July, filmed a segment in Vail Friday and Saturday. The show finds people who “give endlessly, always put others before themselves and never ask for anything in return,” according to .
The producers of the show, with the help of the person’s family, sends them on a dream vacation.
The episode filmed in Vail focuses on Rockwall, Texas resident Marilyn Mock. Mock, who was in Vail with her husband, Bruce, has bought a few foreclosed homes and given them back to their previous owners, said Raelyn Suchy, associate producer of the show.
“We chose Vail because she really wanted to go to the heart of the mountains, that was her dream and we found that out through her daughter,” Suchy said.
Along with touring Vail Village, the Mocks went whitewater rafting, horseback riding and fly fishing. They visited the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens and had special dinner at Larkspur restaurant in Vail.
“Chef Armando (prepared) a special multi-course dinner with wine pairings, almost like going to his home for dinner on a special occasion,” said Sue Barham, the marketing director for Larkspur.
The Mocks got one final emotional surprise while at Larkspur: Tracy Orr, a resident of Pottsboro, Texas, was one recipient of Marilyn’s kindness. She surprised them at the restaurant.
In 2007 the Fine Living Network visited Vail and Larkspur restaurant while filming a show about the top 10 winter wonderlands, Barham said, which in part is why Barham thinks the network may have chosen to feature the restaurant again.
The episode featuring the Mocks in Vail will likely air in mid-August, Suchy said.
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