April 5, 2024 • 53 mins
The Wishing Well's Terrie Dean and Harry Reif discuss this week's travel news and Hot Deals!
Join us on this thrilling episode as we tee off to explore the most exquisite golf courses around the globe. We delve into the lush landscapes, iconic holes, and legendary tournaments that define these world-class greens. Whether you’re a seasoned golfer or simply a lover of scenic beauty, this episode promises to transport you to golfing paradise. Fore!"
Join us on this thrilling episode as we tee off to explore the most exquisite golf courses around the globe. We delve into the lush landscapes, iconic holes, and legendary tournaments that define these world-class greens. Whether you’re a seasoned golfer or simply a lover of scenic beauty, this episode promises to transport you to golfing paradise. Fore!"
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
This is a Lifeless Ordinary. Thetravel show and podcasts from your friends at
the wishing Well two forty three fAvenue in harsmerg and online It's the wishing
Well dot This. The wishing Wellis your ultimate luxury concierge, travel agency
and a Lifeless Ordinary is a travelshow and podcast hosted by Terry Dean,
bringing her over forty years of experiencein the travel industry to help guide you
(00:21):
to great experiences in your travel,whether it be around the block, around
the country, or around the world. Let's bring in Terry Dean say hello,
you know, Chris, it's sogood to be here with you again
on a beautiful Saturday. And wegot to say hello to Harry too.
No, we do, don't we. You guys are so nice, so
much. If we don't acknowledge you, you start throwing things out meus,
(00:41):
and that's dangerous. So I thought, you know, we'll bring you in
early. Well, I sometimes don'talways duck as quick as I should.
You know, it's a nice Saturday. I appreciate you. You're pointing that
out. You know. It's alittle chili. It is Dacay dating is
having the Redbud Festival just now gettingunderway right about now, it is.
And they were up nice and earlythis morning banging polls around everything outside our
(01:03):
windows. Yeah. So I've beenup for a while waiting for this that
you had, for this to happen. So, yeah, Spring, it
feels like it's kind of here.It is. It's a lot of stuff
going on, absolutely a lot ofstuff going on. And we have a
fabulous show lined up for you today. Because it is spring, and because
so many things are going on,I wanted to focus on something particular today,
(01:27):
Chris, and we are going tobe exploring the world of world class
greens golfing like golfing, oh sweet. Yeah. And it's a subject that
I know little about because I'm nota golfer. But the research that I
did on this particular subject I foundfascinating and I hope all of the listeners
(01:49):
will today too. But before that, we are of course going to get
into news and sales and then we'llexplore world class greens. Sounds good.
So you're going to come up topower on this green stuff. Tory.
Oh, can we stop him nowbecause this is just going to go completely
off the rails. I mean,I said he would throw stuff at us.
I can throw stuff back. Ohdo it, Chris, do it,
(02:10):
do it. I'll pay you stop. People are going to think the
worst of us. All right,Well, you guys are eating up my
time, and I have so muchnews this week that I want to talk
about. There's a lot of stuffgoing on. Probably the biggest piece of
news this week is what happened upin Baltimore. The unfortunate incident up in
(02:30):
Baltimore with the bridge, the FrancisScott Key Bridge, And why does that
matter to travelers? Obviously, thepeople that travel that bridge every day are
very, very concerned about that,as is all of the shipping traffic moving
in and out of the Port ofBaltimore. But it also is impacting tourism.
And the word that I'm getting isthat it may take at a minimum
(02:53):
of eighteen months and up to severalyears for that bridge to be replacements.
I was wondering, actually when thathappened. The first thing I thought of
was our show, and thought,what happens to the people who are already
have departed from the Port of Baltimoreand they're now coming back. I guess
they got diverted to what the Norfolk. They did and actually busses were lined
(03:16):
up there. As a matter offact, the other day, seventy two
buses lined up that hold about fiftypeople to carry the folks who were disembarked
in Norfolk back to Baltimore. Yeah, because I mean their cars and everything
would be there. That's right,That's right. So they had a several
hour ride after they got off theircruise. Let's just look at that as
(03:38):
an extension of your vacation, Iguess. Then the second thing I thought
of was Terry keeps saying have travelinsurance. Absolutely, I'm like, I
bet you some of these cruises wereaffected by this. Yeah, well,
there's a lot of cruises affected byit. In addition to bussing those people
back to Baltimore, the cruise lineswere courteous enough to provide bus service for
(04:00):
those people who are planning to takethe next cruise out from Baltimore, because
they too had to shift. Andthey've shifted most of that traffic down to
Norfolk. I believe some of ithas gone up to New York. But
the port of Baltimore itself is thetwenty ninth largest cruise port in the United
States last year, or the datathat I saw. Yeah, twenty twenty
three had four hundred and forty fourthousand passengers money through there. So it's
(04:26):
not a huge, huge board,nothing like Florida, but it's still very,
very significant. And there were twentylet's see, for twenty twenty four,
there were twelve ships originally scheduled tomake a total of one hundred and
fifteen calls in Baltimore this year,So all of that is being moved around,
(04:46):
a lot of logistics if you canjust imagine the logistics for the people,
the logistics for the people who purchasedair to come into Baltimore to cruise
out, who are now moving inand out of Norfolk. Lots of things
going on, and what you saidabout travel insurance very very relevant to this,
because a lot of changes had tobe made. The Carnival headquarters a
(05:09):
ship there called the Legend and theymoved her to Norfolk temporarily. And Rouryal
Caribbean is also another cruise line thatdoes a lot of work. Yeah,
and I think it bears mentioning Harrythat for folks who perhaps for the duration
of the vacation season this year,who were thinking, you know, I
might want to consider a cruise outof Baltimore. Don't right now, there's
(05:33):
not going to be any new bookingstaken out of the Baltimore Port or the
Norfolk Port. Norfolk is really justa backup right now for current cruises,
so you will not be able tocruise out of Baltimore for the remainder of
this year or indefinitely. We alsowant to remember the families who absolutely lost
(05:54):
loved ones, the workers that weredoing some construction. Absolutely the bridge heartbreaking.
You think about that travel for amoment, we set back and think
it's not as important as what happened. But when you think how busy that
Francis Scott Keybridge could have been,well, thank goodness and shut it down.
Amen. You know that in themorning. That was you know,
(06:15):
a bunch of quick people on theirfeet, and you got to give them
kudos for the work that they didso quickly. Yeah, all right,
so we move on. Yeah,so there's some more news a lot.
Of course. One of the bigthings is coming up is the eclipse.
Everybody's excited about the eclipse, andof course eclipses affecting the travel world too.
(06:36):
The things that I were reading saidthat it's going to be this year's
top travel I like this word phenomenon. Yeah, okay, it's the top
travel phenomenon. It's involving lots ofcities in the United States, including of
course Buffalo, Indianapolis, Dallas especially, and some of the airlines are doing
some special things. But before weget into what the airlines are doing,
(06:58):
I look to see what the FAAhas to say about it. People been
asking is travel going to be dangerousor is it going to be disrupted?
Exactly in the wrong way. Iguess everybody's flying to go see the eclipse,
so it's not going to disrupt theplanes moving around in the air,
but it will cause a lot moretravel. There's some specialized travel going on,
(07:20):
and they're worried about peak travel periods. Why. I remember when we
had the eclipse that sort of wasover us five years ago. Eighty one
was a parking lot for hours.Oh yeah, I mean like twelve hours.
You couldn't go anywhere, just frompeople traveling through our area to see
this. Yeah, and it's Imean, it's historic. We know this.
(07:41):
I mean the next eclipse is notgoing to even be around here until
twenty forty four, So you thinkabout it a lot of us may or
may not be here for that one, So of course people want to see
this. As Harry said, itis a phenomenon. It is something that
people consider us a history event.And for people that are operating motels and
(08:03):
popular places during the eclipse, likeBuffalo, not a big tourism place normally
at this time of the year orright now, those hotel rooms are going
for hundreds of dollars a night ifyou can get one. I heard that
in the path of totality there isn'ta single available Airbnb. They're all booked.
(08:24):
Yeah, I heard something, andyou got to have your fingers crossed.
You didn't spend all that money andthen it's cloudy day, right right,
it's not supposed to be. Butin addition to that, I also
have seen that NASA has a fabulouswebsite. If you go to NASA and
look for eclipse, they are actuallyoffering some very good information about the area
(08:46):
of totality and where you can havethe best viewing. Apparently, according to
NASA, Illinois is going to bethe place to be. Well, I
think the safest viewing will be righton the NASA website the television because you
don't have to worry, don't aboutany damage there, don't go looking up
at the sun during this thing onMonday. So my question that I was
(09:07):
thinking about is it's safe to flyduring an eclipse. What happens to airplanes
during an eclipse? Any idea?Same thing that happens at night? Nothing?
Absolutely nothing, that's right, Andthat's what they're saying. It's pretty
much the same as flying at night. I didn't think about asking this question.
But I don't know what the pilotshave to do, if they have
(09:28):
to wear special glasses or not.But if they got their heads down and
are flying with instruments as they wouldfly at night, I think they're going
to be perfectly saying, Harry,I think this is probably the same routine
they go through when the sun isout. That's what I was just sitting
at there. You know the moonis going to be in its path,
but does that really make the sunmore dangerous? Okay, which one of
(09:50):
the people sitting here's a scientist?That's my question. Okay, everything has
a simple answer. All right,guys, you'll qualified Chris. Okay,
fine, so we got through that. So my question, my next question
is this, can you experience thesolar eclipse from a plane. Yeah,
(10:11):
of course you can. Some ofthe prettiest pictures I saw were from a
plane during that one that happened afew years back. And you're gonna have
some advantages because you're above the cloudcover when you're in the plane, so
you're going to offset some of thatcloudinesssary that you were talking about. You'll
be above the clouds in the plane. And while someone on the ground might
see an eclipse for what are theysaying two to three minutes on the ground,
(10:33):
if you're in an airplane, thinkabout it. You're traveling, you
might see that eclipse for as longas six seven minutes because of the movement
along with the Sun and the moon, and you flying at five hundred miles
an hour, the eclipse is movingat one thousand miles an hour. Do
the math. Okay, you're gonnasee twice as much, which is pretty
(10:56):
interesting. Can I tell you howI would observe it, because this is
what I did the last one,and I think I wish I would have
taken pictures. The shadows of everythingare crescent shaped, yep, because you're
just getting that little edge of sun. So look at it like your fence
with the leaves and stuff when theyfluttered, they're all crescent shaped. That's
how you watch it. Well,the other thing you want to think about
(11:18):
is if you're flying and wanting towatch it, which side of the plane
are you going to sit on?Okay, so if you're going from west
to east, you want to wantto sit on the right side of the
plane. If you're getting your seatsfor the eclipse flights, that's what you
want to do. So lots ofgood lots of good tips there. The
other thing I wanted to mention realquickly, there are a couple of airlines,
Delta and American, that have actuallyasked the FAA for permission to fly
(11:43):
some s shaped sequences up there sothat everybody will get to like to see
it, and they've got special flightsout there for the eclipse of Unfortunately,
what I read said that they're alreadysold out. So how's that for a
good eclipse coverage. I think you'vecovered everything, all right, certain,
all right, a couple other thingsgoing on. We've we've got of course,
(12:05):
we've got the bridge, we've gotthe eclipse and there this week there
were a couple of earthquakes, themost recent of which happened Friday morning up
in the New Jersey, New Yorkarea. Thankfully, it was a very
short episode. It was I believefour point eight magnitude right near a place
called White House Station, New Jersey, and it did interrupt traffic for a
(12:30):
little bit, but no big disruptionsthere, So that was really good.
Sadly though, the one in Taiwan, oh, much much longer impact.
They said that this is the strongestearthquake to hit Taiwan in twenty five years.
Yeah, that was very, veryterrible. And the State Department right
(12:52):
now has an advisory out there thatthere are no changes in their updates.
They're saying you just exercise normal precautions. But if you read and you are
traveling, please do contact your travelagent and find out what you need to
do because there are lots of facilitiesthat are not available there. Most of
(13:13):
the airports and the ports and therailways are operating normally, but there are
some interruptions there, and the TourismBureau in New York said that they're looking
at alternate transportation options for some ofthe rail that's been interrupted there. So
take caution, take a look ahead, get some advice, use your travel
(13:33):
agent and figure out what you're goingto do if you got a future trip
planned. Be flexible, and justkeep monitoring the situation as the best advice
that we can offer at this point. Now, I think, Chris,
before we came on the air today, you shared some news that you had
cited on Disney and a huge expansionthat's going on there, and I ask
(13:58):
you if you would to share thatwith our audience. You know, I
hate when you have me be areporter. Yeah, it's okay, okay.
So, Disney World says that theyare investing sixty billion dollars over the
next ten years on an expansion ofWalt Disney World, also their cruises and
over and some other experiences as wellwithin their park system. Listen, this
(14:18):
fourteen acres on I don't know ifit's the west side of the park where
the where the thunder Mountain Railroad currentlyis. Yeah, and while that sounds
like a lot of land, that'sa thimblefull really based on what Disney actually
occupies. Oh yeah, Well,they say they're currently doing some you know,
research trips. They're gathering information andthey hope sometime in the next couple
(14:41):
of years to be able to announcewhat they're going to be doing. Yeah,
but they're going to expand and soI'm sure that's got the hearts of
all the Mickey lovers out there,just chanting with joy. And you guys,
you specialize in Disney travel, Sowe do. We actually have a
Disney specialist on staff, mister PaulHellmuth. And I can tell you right
now, you pretend everything there isto know about that little expansion, he'll
(15:03):
know every ride in that new portionoff it. I love that. Well,
the next thing we want to jumpinto is a lot of sales that
are going on this week, andsome of them were mind blowing to me,
only because quite often these days wehave a large sect of our clientele
(15:26):
who are anxious to fly. Let'ssay, in a more upscale fashion.
People are tired of flying economy.They know that the economy seats are tight,
and especially for those who are flyinginternationally, especially if you're going to
Europe or Asia, people just simplydo not want to fly economy anymore.
Well, uh, the days ofwhere you have to pay ten thousand dollars
(15:50):
for a round trip business first classairfare to Europe might be in the rear
view mirror because there is a bitbusiness class only airline called La Campagne.
They are offering discounted business class flightsfrom New York to Europe and right now,
Chris, you can fly round tripstarting for only twenty four hundred dollars
(16:15):
from New York to Paris, Milanand the French Riviera. Plus all the
flights can be changed without any fees, meaning you can book now and still
make adjustments to your plans down theroad. Now, I actually did a
little research on this airline because Ithought the last thing I want to do
is go on a lifeless ordinary talkabout this wonderful deal, only to find
(16:37):
out that it's not a reputable carrier. However, what I found out says
they get glowing, glowing reports,and that's from trip Advisor and Conde Nash.
They are actually they operate air buses. They only have seventy six seats
on board, and so that meansboarding is relatively quick. On board seats
(16:59):
are arranged two on each side.With universal electrical outlets. You've get these
fluffy pillows, quilted blankets, noisecanceling headphones that all comes with the with
the deal, travelers all receive thesebeautiful powder blue toiletry bags with eyemasks and
hand and faced creams by a fabulousFrench skincare brand, and you've got this
(17:21):
pod privacy and the ability to reclinein fully flat seats. Now that is
something that my clients, especially theones that are flying on overnight flights to
Europe, they really want that.They want to lay flat seats, yes,
so they can go to sleep forthat eight hours or whatever and wake
up kind of refreshed, you know. So the only disadvantage, however,
(17:42):
is that with the two by twoseat configuration on this plane, you may
have somebody who needs to get outover you to go to the restroom.
Chris and I have another question,well, will will they feed us?
Actually they do. The food servicehere on this flight is Michelin starred chef
(18:02):
meals. So that twenty four hundreddollars is not something you're settling for.
This is really an upgrade in theway you're able to travel. And I
hope that the person that's climbing overme is my wife, So that's fine
exactly. I mean for some mostpeople that would not really matter. Yeah.
Yeah, So another airfare deal that'sout there is offered by our good
friends at Air Tahiti Nui. Theyare offering round trip flights from Seattle and
(18:26):
Los Angeles to Paris starting at eighthundred and thirty two dollars and those flights
need to be booked by April thethirtieth. They are valid for travel dates
through May thirty first. You canalso find vacation packages to Tahiti, including
flights and hotels starting at about twothousand dollars for six nights days. And
(18:48):
I will say this based on someof the things that I'm seeing from Air
Tahiti Nui lately. Fiji, ifyou guys are listening and you're looking for
a great exotic place to travel to, has to be on your bucket list
for also value added places to travelto. You can actually go to Fiji
right now including air beachfront property forfive glorious nights for right about three thousand
(19:15):
dollars per couple. And that's notbad per couple per couple, Yes,
that's not terrible. Now, FrontierAirlines, the budget airlines, they have
a popular offer that they call goWild All you can Fly pass that went
on sale actually last year they're continuingit and they're offering its one year unlimited
(19:36):
flight pass right now for five hundredand ninety nine dollars file supplies last.
You might remember they did this lastyear. The pass does have some rules
and limitations, including some blackout periodsand you need to book your domestic flight
the day before your trip. Butother than that, some great deals there
at Frontier. Last on the airlinesale fares is brought to us by our
(19:59):
friends Ettihad, one of the bestcarriers ever. The airline has discounted stop
over flight packages. We talked aboutthat on a show here not too long
ago, including right now forty percentoff two or four night hotel stays in
Abu Dhabi hotels, one or twonight free stopovers in selected hotels, and
(20:19):
free accommodations. That's frie for travelerswith a connecting flight in Abu Dhabi,
and the airline stopover program also offersdiscounts on restaurants and experiences. So there's
some great offers from our airline friends. I want to jump right into some
of our cruise deals, and Chris, if you and Becca don't soon book
(20:41):
a cruise with these deals, I'mgoing to come hunt you down. I
mean, you just book them forus and tell us how much we are.
Yeah, let me just tell you. I mean, you're not going
to get better than this. Thenext time I tell you about a cruise
deal it's and you take it.It's going to be because I said I'll
pay you to go. I willhave you know. We have yet to
do our teach either, and Inormally I want to hear this. La
(21:02):
la la la la. Everything inmy life has just been procrastinate, procrastiny.
Well, for those of you whocan act on Impulse MSc Cruise Lines,
they're offering some major limited time dealson their sailings, with cruises starting
at drum roll please, one hundredand seventy nine dollars per person. Customers
(21:23):
booking through the wave season period arealso going to receive up to four hundred
dollars on board credit. So thatis like me paying you to go.
Chris, come on an Easy plusDrink package, Wi Fi for up to
two devices per state room, getthis and kids sale free. This is
an eligible window for sailings through winterof twenty twenty five, So, folks,
(21:47):
if you're looking for a family friendly, price friendly vacation deal, make
it MSc, It's going to saveyou thousands of dollars. Holland America Cruise
Line another one of my favorites.The cruise lines major anniversary sale offering up
to forty five percent off of allfairs and up to three hundred dollars on
board credit. Plus you can includethird and fourth guests on selected cruises also
(22:12):
for free. That sale ends Aprilthe thirtieth, and then Princess Love our
guys at Princess They're offering up tothirty five percent savings on cruise fares for
selected twenty twenty four, twenty twentyfive, and believe it or not,
we're booking for twenty twenty six now. The sale also includes complementary room upgrades
(22:33):
and an offer for third and fourthguests to sale free on selected cruises.
And this is great. You canfind Alaska cruises folks, you know who
you are. You've been asking meabout them, starting on Princess for only
two hundred and ninety seven dollars,Chris, can you see yourself in Alaska
for that? Caribbean cruises starting atfour hundred and eighteen and Mediterranean cruises starting
(22:57):
at only seven hundred and ninety sevendollars per person. You won't be able
to beat those deals, I promiseyou. So those are our sale fairs.
There's one more though, by AmtrakI thought was worth mentioning. You
might remember a couple of weeks agowe talked about the night Ol fairs.
You remember that, I do.Was it like twenty dollars to New York?
(23:18):
Yeah? Right, Well it's better. I don't know if they just
haven't had any takers or what,but whether you're a night ol or an
early bird, this is the dealfor you. The promotion applies to Amtrak's
coach tickets on Northeast Regional and afew other select routes. It includes stops
in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, DC. Right now,
Amtrak just added new trains to thepromotion, which now also applies to
(23:41):
select segments between New York and Boston. Night ol commuting between New York and
Washington will only have to pay twentydollars for their ticket, which is the
same price travelers would have to payto go from New York to Boston,
and traveling between New York and Philadelphiainstead will be even cheaper, with tickets
priced at only Hello ten dollars.For fifteen dollars, passengers will be able
(24:06):
to travel between New York and Baltimoreor between Washington, D C. And
Newark, while five dollars train rideswill be available between Washington, d C.
And Baltimore or for travel connecting NewYork and Newark. That's better than
a bus fair, it truly is. So that's it for news and sales
(24:27):
for this week. I think there'splenty enough reasons for you to get out
there and get traveling. Certainly,we want to be the place that you
shop at at the wishing Well,and we are easy to find. Jansks
say your phone number is A fivefour h nine oh eight twenty three thirty
three. Thank you, Chris.Don't let the deals pass you by.
(24:48):
Yeah, those are going to gofast. I'll tell you one hundred and
seventy nine for a cruise count mein. So you mentioned our share.
Our show today is all about beingon the greens. It is, yeah,
and it's interesting. We're going totalk a little bit about the best
places to go and how to actuallyknow whether you're playing on a good green
or not. I see you saidyou're a non expert on this I am
(25:08):
not compared to my knowledge. You'regoing to be an expert. Well,
hopefully after we get done with today'sshow, a lot of people out there
will feel a little bit more confidentabout that sport. Well, let's start
traveling the greens coming up next hereon a Life Less Ordinary. Protect your
vacation investment with guidance from a travelprofessional. The wishing Well knows travel and
help you avoid pitfalls. They canspoil your hirer earned vacation. We'll plan
(25:30):
your trip and have your back asyou travel. All of this without support
or so called convenience fees. We'reon the web at tho Wishingwell dot biz
or call us at five four zeronine zero eight two three three three.
That's five four zero nine zero eighttwo three three three. The washing Well
really does make dreams come true andwelcome back to a Life less Ordinary.
(25:52):
This is the travel showing podcast fromyour friends at the wishing Well, located
on f Avenue and Harrisonburg. They'reonline at the wishy Well dot bizz,
or pick up your phoney agavem call. They'd love to talk to you at
five four oh nine three thirty three. Ask for Harry or Terry and they'll
help you book all of your travelneeds. Love to absolutely love too.
I got a question for you.Yeah, do you golf put putt so
(26:18):
mini golf? Right? Well,I mean, honestly, that's about what
I do. But I got totell you, you know, we've got
our days are getting a little longernow. Weather's beginning to warm up,
and golf courses chris across the countryand even globally, they're they're kind of
dusting off those greens and they're preparingfor an influx of a lot of golfers,
(26:40):
a lot of hopefuls. And aswe all know, this is the
month for the Master's Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, an event that's going to
draw thousands and thousands of golf enthusiasts. So that alone makes today's show particularly
timely. I think I have afriend who's going. He and his wife
are going down for a day.Yeah. One of the folks on our
(27:00):
staff are going as well, whichactually they won a lottery to go,
That's how they got their sh Yeah, so I'm so excited for him.
But in any event, that waswhy I picked this topic for today.
But the other question I wanted topose on today's show is how do you
(27:21):
distinguish a good golf course from atruly great one? And I didn't know
that there was a big deal associatedwith that, but there is. That's
just one of the questions we're goingto be tackling today as we set out
on our journey to uncover the secretsof exceptional golf courses and the best golf
destination. It's going to be afun show. And I don't even golf.
(27:42):
I told you that, But Ienjoyed putting all this information together for
you today because I always count everyday valuable in when I learned something,
and I really did, I learnedsomething valuable. I want to tell you,
Chris, about my very first golfingexperience. I was very young,
probably in my early mid thirties atthe most, sorry twenties, and I
(28:06):
went down to Florida with a groupof travel agents and we went down to
the Disney Institute. And then theDisney Institute wasn't quite what it is today,
but we could choose two things thatwe wanted to do that Disney had
specialties in at the Disney Institute.I chose golf and culinary arts. Those
(28:29):
were the two things that I chose, and went out on the golf course
and we went to Florida to experiencethe Disney Institute in August. No,
have you ever been to Florida inAugust. I was there for Christmas and
it was too hot. It wasinsufferable, and I never regretted picking something
(28:49):
so bad in all my life.But we went out and I actually part
of the great part of this experiencewas that I got to spend the time
in training doing golf with a realgolf pro. Now I couldn't tell you
who it was if I had to, but apparently he was somebody very important,
is what I was told later on. And so it was my turn
(29:12):
to get up and tee off andI did, and I got some really
good tips from him to start with, and I swung and I hit the
ball and it went way out,to my great surprise, in ninety nine
degree heat and probably one hundred percenthumidity, at least that's what it felt
(29:33):
like. And he said, honestly, you are a natural. And I
hung my golf club up and Isaid, this game is not for me.
You had a golf pro tell youyou're a natural, and that scared
you off. Oh it didn't scareme off. Now I hated the weather.
Yeah, anything that you got todo in that kind of weather count
me out. I love your description. When it's hot out, you say,
(29:56):
what might as well lick the sun? Yeah, that's my favorite say.
And then that was really in Augustand Florida, that's where that came
from. But in any way,before we started exploring some of the good
golf courses in the world, Ican tell you this. If you type
golf courses near me into a Googlesearch, you're probably going to get no
(30:17):
shortage of results. And actually,for most people there are at least several
courses within easy driving distance of wherethey live. I mean that's true for
us, I can tell you that. But here's the sixty four thousand dollars
question. How can you determine whichcourse is the best because you can't get
a tea time. Well, infact, we're going to find that that's
(30:41):
not always the case. But asyou probably already know, not all golf
courses are of the same quality.Now, the reason that this came to
my attention, and the other reasonI wanted to do a show around this
topic today, is because the ownerof one of the local golf courses at
Packsaddle Ridge said to me, Terry, not all golf courses are created equal,
(31:03):
and again, I don't want toplay the game. But this fact
was sort of lost on me untilI began to do some real research.
And I've got to thank mister BruceForbes for enlightening me and pushing me to
find out about this sport of kingsand why it draws so many fans to
the beautiful outdoors. The information Ifound, Chris, is fascinating. So
(31:26):
here are the things I found outabout great golf courses. Number one,
Some of the best golf courses havebeen made through intelligent planning. When you
think of architects, you might thinkof them as designing skyscrapers or shopping malls,
but quality golf courses to require theinsight and planning of expert landscape architects
(31:52):
with a golf course specialty. Agolf course should not be haphazardly thrown together.
Intelligent experienced course architect knows how toplan a course in which each hole
serves as a valuable part of thewhole, and that lends a sense of
cohesiveness to the game. Although acourse of any age can provide that sense
(32:16):
of unity among the whole courses thathave been around for about a century,
those are often the best examples.Now, Jonathan Tucker of the European Institute
of Golf Course Architects said, gooddesign is timeless, with many of our
classic courses formed during the golden ageof golf architecture in the nineteen twenties.
(32:39):
That means this is truly a timelessgame. The second thing is you want
to have varied holes at golf courses. Boredom quickly turns a golf game from
pleasant to tiresome. Now I haveto say, I have to digress for
just a minute and repeat a quotefrom the comedian Rosie O'Donnell. When she
(32:59):
caned on Star Search. She said, golf is men in ugly pants walking,
That's what she said, and makingdeals. Clearly, the game as
a whole must have bored her.But that's really why, in all seriousness,
a mixture of whole styles keeps thegame from feeling redundant or monotonous.
(33:20):
And I didn't know that. Ididn't realize that was an important factor in
good golf course design is how theholes are going to make sense. Yeah,
A lot of varied factors in agolf course include the whole style.
Rather than snaking your way back andforth across the course with one straight shot
hole after another, you should betreated, they say, to a mixture
(33:43):
of designs, including some what theycall dog legs, and perhaps a few
other things called blond shots. Now, the length of the hole also matters.
It seems simple that some holes shouldoccupy more space than others, but
adhering to the basic principle can adda whole lot to the enjoyment of a
course. And then, par Harry, you joked about this a while ago.
(34:06):
But not only should every hole lookdifferent, but should also play differently.
Some should be doable with a minimumamount of shots, but others should
require four or more or be designatedas par well. That's why Robin Williams,
when you describe the game of golf, talks about what they charge you
with each time you hit the ball. They call it a stroke. And
(34:30):
his remark is, because it getsyou so mad you want to have a
stroke. And that's my experience withgolf. Now, another feature of a
good golf course is obstacles. Believedor not. Each hole should have its
own unique challenges like bunkers, whatare obstacles, false fronts, and slopes
toward or away from the green.The right amount of variety gives a course
(34:51):
a compelling personality that draws you intoit again and again. The third thing
is for it to have a reasonablechallenge. Now I've already told you about
my first golfing experience, but it'sgood to know that the average golfer isn't
an expert at the game. Asa matter of fact, most golfers don't
come in under par every time thatthey play, and they certainly don't play
(35:14):
on the pro tour. So therefore, a playable golf course shouldn't be so
difficult that only a championship player canhandle its trials, its twists, and
its turn That's not to say thata golf course should be simple. A
golf course with no challenge presents littlemotivation for any player to improve their game.
(35:35):
But the best course balance is withdifficulty and playability that stretches you to
try new shots and put your besteffort forward. However, they are not
so discouraging that you no longer wantto play the game or that particular course,
instead leaving you feeling of defeated.You want it to stretch you,
to play the game to the nextlevel. All of that. You know.
(36:00):
I can understand that because even inmy work day, I love a
good challenge. And so if thegame of golf is really the golf of
kings, no wonder they wanted itto be such. They wanted it to
have that challenging feeling. I feellike that's why they put the windmill on
my course. You think so.It makes it interesting, It makes it
(36:21):
Do you feel like a king withthe windmill course? You just get the
ball through those little blades, youask my wife. I strut around the
many golf course like I am theking of the world when I get oh,
it is. It is the gameof kings, And I'm so jealous,
because I really When I was akid, my uncle was a golf
pro at a country club and hetook me out to teach me golf.
(36:44):
And I was on the practice puttinggreen and I boop went right in.
I started jumping up and down andscreaming, and he grabbed hold of me
and said, you can't make thatmuch and always hear you. And I
never went back. I've never beenon a golf course other than many golf
since I sort of had similar Yeah, how sad, but I loved it.
I just never never went back.Well. And you know, I
(37:06):
think there is some decorum that's presentwith a golf game. We're going to
talk about that here in a bit. But one of the other things,
whether you want to go out thereand yell or not, is really the
natural beauty of the golf courses.I mean, that's one of the top
earmarks of a great golf course.As a matter of fact, renowned architect
(37:27):
A Lester Mackenzie he was famous forclaiming the courses should have beautiful surroundings and
all the artificial features should have sonatural an appearance that a stranger is unable
to distinguish them from nature itself.And I think that's true. You know,
a lot of courses built during theearly twentieth centuries Golden Age, still
(37:49):
they're admired for their grasp of thatideal, and architects of the same time
new to start by selecting some attractivelocalities for their courses. They would then
incorporate the features of the landscape intothose design, and a golf course with
a natural design works with the layof the land, not against it,
and it uses obstacles and bunkers thatmesh with the local flora and terrain.
(38:15):
A course that is designed in thatway is said to be bestowed with a
sense of belonging in its surroundings.It's a beautiful thing. You know.
The other thing about golf courses thatalways strikes me. I love this.
I love to see homes like this. But the impeccable maintenance that is taken
in the care of a golf course. Some of the best golf courses built
(38:37):
around the nineteen twenties, they didn'tstay the best by being half hearted about
maintenance. The only way that agolf course stays in top shape is by
receiving regular, thorough maintenance work.A couple of the other features of great
golf courses is the approachable scheduling.Now this goes into what you were talking
about a while ago, Chris.Regular play is the necessity if you want
(39:00):
to improve your golf game. Therefore, the earmark of a good golf course
is one we're scheduling a tea timeshouldn't be a monumental challenge. Yes,
it is exciting to play once ina lifetime, round on one of the
world's top ranked courses. However,you wouldn't want to fight for that tea
time every time that you were inthe mood to play golf at that one.
(39:22):
So for your home course, it'simportant to select a place where you
can snag a tea time just aboutwhenever you'd like. That is said to
be an earmark of a great golfcourse. Now the other is comfortable elegance,
and you know we're talking about that. You're talking about a decorum.
You know, it's a refined game. Let's be honest, remember the game
(39:44):
of kings. That's what it's called. And there's a standard of etiquette that
elevates this sport above a lot ofothers, or at least there should be
one. The management of a goodcourse, they do set some etiquette standards
for those who play there and holdtheir players to those standards, and this
maintains the classiness of the game andthe playing environment. Classy, though,
(40:07):
shouldn't mean stuffy. And I'll tellyou what I mean by that. As
a matter of fact, my mentor, a lady by the name of Dorothea
Johnson, who taught at the prestigiousBusiness Etiquette and International Protocol School at the
Ritz Carlton in Washington, d C. I took that course there by the
way, and she said, terryetiquette is just good behavior that makes everybody
(40:28):
in your company feel more comfortable whenpracticed correctly. That's the definition of etiquette.
It's not that you are snootier orhigher brow than anybody else. If
you're practicing good etiquette, you're ableto make everybody else in the room feel
comfortable. And that is what thesport of kings was all about. It
(40:49):
was supposed to be a sport whereeverybody felt comfortable playing in a beautiful,
manicured setting. I love that.I loved finding out. For me,
finding out about what made a beautifulgolf course was kind of empowering because even
though I don't know how to playthe game, I got to tell you.
Now that I know those things abouta golf course, I think I
(41:13):
could go out maybe and sort ofat least be a good inspector, you
know, right along and you know, pop the beer cans open for that's
called caddy. Maybe that job caddyspoint, I can be a great caddy.
Yeah, yeah, thank you.So now that we know what these
great golf courses should look like howthey should perform. I think it would
(41:38):
be fun if we looked at whatsome of the best golf courses in the
world are and where they are.Absolutely we'll get into that next Here on
a Life Less Ordinary. Protect yourvacation investment with guidance from a travel professional.
The wishing Well knows travel and helpyou avoid pitfalls that can spoil your
hard earned vacation. Will plan yourtrip and have your back as your travel
(41:59):
all of this without support or socalled convenience fees. We're on the web
at though Wishingwell dot diiz or callus at five four zero nine zero eight
two three three three. That's fivefour zero nine zero eight two three three
three. The washing Well really doesmake dreams come true. And welcome back
to a Life lest Ordinary, thetravel show and podcast from your friends at
(42:20):
the wishing Well. I like everySaturday morning we get together, we sit
down and we talk travel. Andthere's never bad travel news. When you're
thinking about getting a way to dosomething fun like golf, You're right,
there's no such thing as bad travel. I don't care what it is that
your topic is, but today we'reexploring world class greens that's the title of
today's show. And I had tobe really discerning about my choices, Chris,
(42:45):
and really had to whittle this listdown because there were so many that
were so great. So I decidedfor the purpose of today's episode, I
would only share with you those coursesthat have earned at least a five star
rating. Now, remember the onesI'm going to visit with you today are
actually resort type destination golf courses.So there's a place to stay and there's
(43:07):
a place to golf, and theyare considered the five star world class resorts
that we have to offer. Thesearen't all of them, but it's all
we have time for, unfortunately.So the first one that I want to
focus on is in Ireland, oneof my favorite places in all the world,
and it is called a Dare Manor. Now, not only does this
(43:29):
property have one of the world's mostbeautiful golf courses on its property, it's
also a contender for the most luxurioushotel in all of Ireland. Is absolutely
stunning. It's a Victorian Gothic mansionkind of on the edge of the beautiful
town of a Dare in County Limerick, and it boasts one of the finest
(43:50):
parkland courses in Europe. Golf expertand journalists Fionne Davenport includes a Dare golf
course on his roundup of the world'sbest golf courses in the world. So
no real mistake that I started withthis one today, recently refurbished to the
tune of about seventy million dollars.That's a lot of money. From the
(44:16):
moment you pass through the portico,you are in the expert hands of the
staff there, whose only role isto make you feel like you're a really
valued guest of the Earl of Dunraven, whose manner this once was. And
I know we talked in a previousshow about how you have some ancestry that
dates back to some of these fabulousplaces too in Europe, so you know,
(44:38):
it's kind of like could be ahomecoming for you, Chris. I
haven't been receiving any invites, anyfamily union service, that's unfortunate. But
we've got some original stylings at thisplace, huge marble fireplaces, stained glass
windows throughout, kind of gives theplace an air of an old world grandeur,
but this is very much a twentyfirst century hotel and include a vast
(45:00):
new annex area with contemporary styled bedrooms, a cinema, kind of top notch
spa, new restaurants with casual tofine dining service is exceptional and much in
keeping with the standards It's largely Americanclientele would expect. I mean, we're
very discerning travelers when we go internationally, we want we kind of want to
(45:23):
find things the way they are athome, but better. You know,
that's kind of how we travel.It's just also happens to be one of
our beloved virtuoso properties, so adear manor gets my best thumbs up for
world class golf destination and locality forresorts. The next one is Arabella Hotel,
(45:45):
Golf and Spa and Hermasis Western Cape, South Africa. A five star
retreat in the heart of the Biospherereserve. The Arabella Hotel is located in
one of the world's richest plant kingdomsand surrounded by lagoons, a natural reserve
and mountains. Even the website isso cool. I went there when I
(46:07):
was doing this research. You cansee three hundred and sixty degree views of
the area on their site that definitelygive you the sense of what it would
be like to actually stay there.You can even take the three hundred and
sixty degree view on their website,Go into the rooms, take a look
around in there, their restaurants,their lounges. It's a fabulous place.
(46:27):
It is amazing. Every room comeswith a breathtaking view across this shimmering lagoon
and a really lushly wooded mountain area. There's a feeling of kind of infinite
space and peace that's just so sorelaxing. And along the gorgeous coastal golf
course there there's a world class spa. They've got horseback riding along the beach,
(46:50):
and some of the best restaurants onthe whole of the garden route.
And what might it cost you toplay at one of the world's most beautiful
golf courses in South Africa? Iwas amazed six hundred and thirty five South
African rands, which in US dollarsis only about thirty four dollars per person.
(47:13):
Indeed, not bad for a dayof luxury and outdoor fun and exercise.
Interesting that one came in at numbertwo on my list. The next
one, this one happens to bewhen I've sold hundreds and hundreds of times,
mostly to golfers. Very popular destinationCasa de Campo in the Dominican Republic.
(47:34):
This is actually a former haunt ofFrank Sinatra and the rat Pack.
The Casa de Campo was designed byOscar da la Rena, and it feels
wonderfully elegant. It's got fifty villasspread out by the glittering marina there,
its own water park, and theworld class Teeth of the Dog golf course.
You might have heard about it manymany times. It's very famous.
(47:57):
Yep. Half a century on fromtoday when Sinatra and the rat Pack would
have flown into the private airstrip andindulged themselves, the Casa de Campo may
have lost its elite swagger a littlebit, but it's still just such a
great resort. Hotel Oscar de LoRent's original design still holds up, and
(48:17):
the large rooms there have an indooroutdoor vibe that kind of feels a little
extravagant, and the fifty or soprivate villas spread out from the marina are
all available for rent. The resortalso has three golf courses, which include,
like I said, the Teeth ofthe Dog course, which is one
of the world's best, and mostguests don't even feel the need to stray
(48:40):
beyond its seven thousand acres. It'samazing. I don't think we could probably
do this without talking about I wishwe had more time. I've got so
many more of these. But wereally couldn't talk about world class resorts and
golf courses without going to Scotland,could we? I mean, we just
have to. But Glenn Eagles Resortin Scotland Scottish baronal style facility sort of
(49:07):
meet French chateau at this five starresort hotel, recreating a lot of glamour,
extravagant luxury of the Roaring twenties.It is immaculate and the golf course
there is also plenty of activities tokeep even non golfers happy at this location.
One only one hour from Edinburgh,so it's really a short drive.
(49:30):
When this grand Scottish hotel first openedin nineteen twenty four, it was dubbed
a riv era of the Highlands.And I mean to tell you if you
go, if you have the luxuryof being online while I'm talking to you
today, on a lifeless ordinary,look this up. Glenn Eagles Resort in
Scotland. It's amazing. It's stillthe ultimate Scottish resort, famous of course
(49:52):
for its golf courses and pringle toutingclentele, but also sports a staggering range
of additional activities, everything from gundog school to falconry, wildlife photography to
off road driving. For the moresedentary, there's a sleek destination spa and
a two Michelin starred restaurant. It'sa one stop holiday shop. So all
(50:19):
in all, we've got some greatresorts and golf courses to really immerse you
into that lifestyle. If you area golfer and you're looking for some of
the world class golf courses, Iwas amazed at how many there really are.
I mean, they're numerous, toomany for us to have time on
(50:40):
an hour show to talk about.But I also wanted to give even non
golfers an opportunity to learn, ifyou have any interest at all in golfing,
to know what a world class golfcourse is supposed to be, what
they should have there, and thenwhere you could find golf courses that match
that quality. And I'm sure thereare spouses of golf lovers that aren't themselves
(51:07):
golf lovers who would love to knowthe secret of where to book a vacation,
that there is exactly And you know, one thing I know after having
done all of this research, isthat if you find a beautiful golf course
and it just happens to meet thestandards of what we talked about in the
beginning of today's show and it's attachedto a resort, that resort is probably
(51:32):
also going to have a refinement thatmatches the course. I love that because
we've talked so much about what luxuryreally means to people on this show,
and to me, this opens upa whole other window of that world of
luxury and combines it with a sportthat people love as well. And when
(51:52):
you're going on vacation with somebody thatyou care about, somebody that you love,
somebody special, it's great that there'ssomething there for everybody. You've got
a great golf course, you've gota great spy, you've got great food,
you've got great scenery, you've gota great vacation. Yeah, you
really do. And I think,you know, combining all of that is
the best way to really have agreat experience, which in today's world we
(52:16):
always know that people are looking fornot just a vacation. They are looking
for an experience and a memory.And if you don't come back with great
memories after going to a place likeScotland, like Ireland, you just don't
have your eyes open. I don'tknow how you can come back from magnificent
(52:37):
places like that and experience something likeyou're talking about and come home unhappy.
Something's wrong? You come home unhappy. Well, Harry and Terry, you
both convinced me I'm ready to goon a golf vacation. How do we
book? We're easy to find atthe wishing Well. We're located in the
beautiful town of Harrisonburg, two fortythree f Avenue in the Valley Center.
(53:00):
You can call us at five fouroh non zero eight two three three three
or look us up on the web. Chris, we are at the Wishingwell
dot biz. This has been alife less ordinary. The travel show from
your friends at the wishing Well attwo forty three nep Avenue in Harrisonburg.
If you have any questions on topicsdiscussed today, please reach out to the
wishing Well online at the Wishingwell topbiz or five four oh nine oh eight
(53:23):
twenty three thirty three. Past episodesare available on the iHeartRadio app, and
we'll see you again next Saturday morningat ten for a life less ordinary from
the wishing Well
This is a Lifeless Ordinary. Thetravel show and podcasts from your friends at
the wishing Well two forty three fAvenue in harsmerg and online It's the wishing
Well dot This. The wishing Wellis your ultimate luxury concierge, travel agency
and a Lifeless Ordinary is a travelshow and podcast hosted by Terry Dean,
bringing her over forty years of experiencein the travel industry to help guide you
(00:21):
to great experiences in your travel,whether it be around the block, around
the country, or around the world. Let's bring in Terry Dean say hello,
you know, Chris, it's sogood to be here with you again
on a beautiful Saturday. And wegot to say hello to Harry too.
No, we do, don't we. You guys are so nice, so
much. If we don't acknowledge you, you start throwing things out meus,
(00:41):
and that's dangerous. So I thought, you know, we'll bring you in
early. Well, I sometimes don'talways duck as quick as I should.
You know, it's a nice Saturday. I appreciate you. You're pointing that
out. You know. It's alittle chili. It is Dacay dating is
having the Redbud Festival just now gettingunderway right about now, it is.
And they were up nice and earlythis morning banging polls around everything outside our
(01:03):
windows. Yeah. So I've beenup for a while waiting for this that
you had, for this to happen. So, yeah, Spring, it
feels like it's kind of here.It is. It's a lot of stuff
going on, absolutely a lot ofstuff going on. And we have a
fabulous show lined up for you today. Because it is spring, and because
so many things are going on,I wanted to focus on something particular today,
(01:27):
Chris, and we are going tobe exploring the world of world class
greens golfing like golfing, oh sweet. Yeah. And it's a subject that
I know little about because I'm nota golfer. But the research that I
did on this particular subject I foundfascinating and I hope all of the listeners
(01:49):
will today too. But before that, we are of course going to get
into news and sales and then we'llexplore world class greens. Sounds good.
So you're going to come up topower on this green stuff. Tory.
Oh, can we stop him nowbecause this is just going to go completely
off the rails. I mean,I said he would throw stuff at us.
I can throw stuff back. Ohdo it, Chris, do it,
(02:10):
do it. I'll pay you stop. People are going to think the
worst of us. All right,Well, you guys are eating up my
time, and I have so muchnews this week that I want to talk
about. There's a lot of stuffgoing on. Probably the biggest piece of
news this week is what happened upin Baltimore. The unfortunate incident up in
(02:30):
Baltimore with the bridge, the FrancisScott Key Bridge, And why does that
matter to travelers? Obviously, thepeople that travel that bridge every day are
very, very concerned about that,as is all of the shipping traffic moving
in and out of the Port ofBaltimore. But it also is impacting tourism.
And the word that I'm getting isthat it may take at a minimum
(02:53):
of eighteen months and up to severalyears for that bridge to be replacements.
I was wondering, actually when thathappened. The first thing I thought of
was our show, and thought,what happens to the people who are already
have departed from the Port of Baltimoreand they're now coming back. I guess
they got diverted to what the Norfolk. They did and actually busses were lined
(03:16):
up there. As a matter offact, the other day, seventy two
buses lined up that hold about fiftypeople to carry the folks who were disembarked
in Norfolk back to Baltimore. Yeah, because I mean their cars and everything
would be there. That's right,That's right. So they had a several
hour ride after they got off theircruise. Let's just look at that as
(03:38):
an extension of your vacation, Iguess. Then the second thing I thought
of was Terry keeps saying have travelinsurance. Absolutely, I'm like, I
bet you some of these cruises wereaffected by this. Yeah, well,
there's a lot of cruises affected byit. In addition to bussing those people
back to Baltimore, the cruise lineswere courteous enough to provide bus service for
(04:00):
those people who are planning to takethe next cruise out from Baltimore, because
they too had to shift. Andthey've shifted most of that traffic down to
Norfolk. I believe some of ithas gone up to New York. But
the port of Baltimore itself is thetwenty ninth largest cruise port in the United
States last year, or the datathat I saw. Yeah, twenty twenty
three had four hundred and forty fourthousand passengers money through there. So it's
(04:26):
not a huge, huge board,nothing like Florida, but it's still very,
very significant. And there were twentylet's see, for twenty twenty four,
there were twelve ships originally scheduled tomake a total of one hundred and
fifteen calls in Baltimore this year,So all of that is being moved around,
(04:46):
a lot of logistics if you canjust imagine the logistics for the people,
the logistics for the people who purchasedair to come into Baltimore to cruise
out, who are now moving inand out of Norfolk. Lots of things
going on, and what you saidabout travel insurance very very relevant to this,
because a lot of changes had tobe made. The Carnival headquarters a
(05:09):
ship there called the Legend and theymoved her to Norfolk temporarily. And Rouryal
Caribbean is also another cruise line thatdoes a lot of work. Yeah,
and I think it bears mentioning Harrythat for folks who perhaps for the duration
of the vacation season this year,who were thinking, you know, I
might want to consider a cruise outof Baltimore. Don't right now, there's
(05:33):
not going to be any new bookingstaken out of the Baltimore Port or the
Norfolk Port. Norfolk is really justa backup right now for current cruises,
so you will not be able tocruise out of Baltimore for the remainder of
this year or indefinitely. We alsowant to remember the families who absolutely lost
(05:54):
loved ones, the workers that weredoing some construction. Absolutely the bridge heartbreaking.
You think about that travel for amoment, we set back and think
it's not as important as what happened. But when you think how busy that
Francis Scott Keybridge could have been,well, thank goodness and shut it down.
Amen. You know that in themorning. That was you know,
(06:15):
a bunch of quick people on theirfeet, and you got to give them
kudos for the work that they didso quickly. Yeah, all right,
so we move on. Yeah,so there's some more news a lot.
Of course. One of the bigthings is coming up is the eclipse.
Everybody's excited about the eclipse, andof course eclipses affecting the travel world too.
(06:36):
The things that I were reading saidthat it's going to be this year's
top travel I like this word phenomenon. Yeah, okay, it's the top
travel phenomenon. It's involving lots ofcities in the United States, including of
course Buffalo, Indianapolis, Dallas especially, and some of the airlines are doing
some special things. But before weget into what the airlines are doing,
(06:58):
I look to see what the FAAhas to say about it. People been
asking is travel going to be dangerousor is it going to be disrupted?
Exactly in the wrong way. Iguess everybody's flying to go see the eclipse,
so it's not going to disrupt theplanes moving around in the air,
but it will cause a lot moretravel. There's some specialized travel going on,
(07:20):
and they're worried about peak travel periods. Why. I remember when we
had the eclipse that sort of wasover us five years ago. Eighty one
was a parking lot for hours.Oh yeah, I mean like twelve hours.
You couldn't go anywhere, just frompeople traveling through our area to see
this. Yeah, and it's Imean, it's historic. We know this.
(07:41):
I mean the next eclipse is notgoing to even be around here until
twenty forty four, So you thinkabout it a lot of us may or
may not be here for that one, So of course people want to see
this. As Harry said, itis a phenomenon. It is something that
people consider us a history event.And for people that are operating motels and
(08:03):
popular places during the eclipse, likeBuffalo, not a big tourism place normally
at this time of the year orright now, those hotel rooms are going
for hundreds of dollars a night ifyou can get one. I heard that
in the path of totality there isn'ta single available Airbnb. They're all booked.
(08:24):
Yeah, I heard something, andyou got to have your fingers crossed.
You didn't spend all that money andthen it's cloudy day, right right,
it's not supposed to be. Butin addition to that, I also
have seen that NASA has a fabulouswebsite. If you go to NASA and
look for eclipse, they are actuallyoffering some very good information about the area
(08:46):
of totality and where you can havethe best viewing. Apparently, according to
NASA, Illinois is going to bethe place to be. Well, I
think the safest viewing will be righton the NASA website the television because you
don't have to worry, don't aboutany damage there, don't go looking up
at the sun during this thing onMonday. So my question that I was
(09:07):
thinking about is it's safe to flyduring an eclipse. What happens to airplanes
during an eclipse? Any idea?Same thing that happens at night? Nothing?
Absolutely nothing, that's right, Andthat's what they're saying. It's pretty
much the same as flying at night. I didn't think about asking this question.
But I don't know what the pilotshave to do, if they have
(09:28):
to wear special glasses or not.But if they got their heads down and
are flying with instruments as they wouldfly at night, I think they're going
to be perfectly saying, Harry,I think this is probably the same routine
they go through when the sun isout. That's what I was just sitting
at there. You know the moonis going to be in its path,
but does that really make the sunmore dangerous? Okay, which one of
(09:50):
the people sitting here's a scientist?That's my question. Okay, everything has
a simple answer. All right,guys, you'll qualified Chris. Okay,
fine, so we got through that. So my question, my next question
is this, can you experience thesolar eclipse from a plane. Yeah,
(10:11):
of course you can. Some ofthe prettiest pictures I saw were from a
plane during that one that happened afew years back. And you're gonna have
some advantages because you're above the cloudcover when you're in the plane, so
you're going to offset some of thatcloudinesssary that you were talking about. You'll
be above the clouds in the plane. And while someone on the ground might
see an eclipse for what are theysaying two to three minutes on the ground,
(10:33):
if you're in an airplane, thinkabout it. You're traveling, you
might see that eclipse for as longas six seven minutes because of the movement
along with the Sun and the moon, and you flying at five hundred miles
an hour, the eclipse is movingat one thousand miles an hour. Do
the math. Okay, you're gonnasee twice as much, which is pretty
(10:56):
interesting. Can I tell you howI would observe it, because this is
what I did the last one,and I think I wish I would have
taken pictures. The shadows of everythingare crescent shaped, yep, because you're
just getting that little edge of sun. So look at it like your fence
with the leaves and stuff when theyfluttered, they're all crescent shaped. That's
how you watch it. Well,the other thing you want to think about
(11:18):
is if you're flying and wanting towatch it, which side of the plane
are you going to sit on?Okay, so if you're going from west
to east, you want to wantto sit on the right side of the
plane. If you're getting your seatsfor the eclipse flights, that's what you
want to do. So lots ofgood lots of good tips there. The
other thing I wanted to mention realquickly, there are a couple of airlines,
Delta and American, that have actuallyasked the FAA for permission to fly
(11:43):
some s shaped sequences up there sothat everybody will get to like to see
it, and they've got special flightsout there for the eclipse of Unfortunately,
what I read said that they're alreadysold out. So how's that for a
good eclipse coverage. I think you'vecovered everything, all right, certain,
all right, a couple other thingsgoing on. We've we've got of course,
(12:05):
we've got the bridge, we've gotthe eclipse and there this week there
were a couple of earthquakes, themost recent of which happened Friday morning up
in the New Jersey, New Yorkarea. Thankfully, it was a very
short episode. It was I believefour point eight magnitude right near a place
called White House Station, New Jersey, and it did interrupt traffic for a
(12:30):
little bit, but no big disruptionsthere, So that was really good.
Sadly though, the one in Taiwan, oh, much much longer impact.
They said that this is the strongestearthquake to hit Taiwan in twenty five years.
Yeah, that was very, veryterrible. And the State Department right
(12:52):
now has an advisory out there thatthere are no changes in their updates.
They're saying you just exercise normal precautions. But if you read and you are
traveling, please do contact your travelagent and find out what you need to
do because there are lots of facilitiesthat are not available there. Most of
(13:13):
the airports and the ports and therailways are operating normally, but there are
some interruptions there, and the TourismBureau in New York said that they're looking
at alternate transportation options for some ofthe rail that's been interrupted there. So
take caution, take a look ahead, get some advice, use your travel
(13:33):
agent and figure out what you're goingto do if you got a future trip
planned. Be flexible, and justkeep monitoring the situation as the best advice
that we can offer at this point. Now, I think, Chris,
before we came on the air today, you shared some news that you had
cited on Disney and a huge expansionthat's going on there, and I ask
(13:58):
you if you would to share thatwith our audience. You know, I
hate when you have me be areporter. Yeah, it's okay, okay.
So, Disney World says that theyare investing sixty billion dollars over the
next ten years on an expansion ofWalt Disney World, also their cruises and
over and some other experiences as wellwithin their park system. Listen, this
(14:18):
fourteen acres on I don't know ifit's the west side of the park where
the where the thunder Mountain Railroad currentlyis. Yeah, and while that sounds
like a lot of land, that'sa thimblefull really based on what Disney actually
occupies. Oh yeah, Well,they say they're currently doing some you know,
research trips. They're gathering information andthey hope sometime in the next couple
(14:41):
of years to be able to announcewhat they're going to be doing. Yeah,
but they're going to expand and soI'm sure that's got the hearts of
all the Mickey lovers out there,just chanting with joy. And you guys,
you specialize in Disney travel, Sowe do. We actually have a
Disney specialist on staff, mister PaulHellmuth. And I can tell you right
now, you pretend everything there isto know about that little expansion, he'll
(15:03):
know every ride in that new portionoff it. I love that. Well,
the next thing we want to jumpinto is a lot of sales that
are going on this week, andsome of them were mind blowing to me,
only because quite often these days wehave a large sect of our clientele
(15:26):
who are anxious to fly. Let'ssay, in a more upscale fashion.
People are tired of flying economy.They know that the economy seats are tight,
and especially for those who are flyinginternationally, especially if you're going to
Europe or Asia, people just simplydo not want to fly economy anymore.
Well, uh, the days ofwhere you have to pay ten thousand dollars
(15:50):
for a round trip business first classairfare to Europe might be in the rear
view mirror because there is a bitbusiness class only airline called La Campagne.
They are offering discounted business class flightsfrom New York to Europe and right now,
Chris, you can fly round tripstarting for only twenty four hundred dollars
(16:15):
from New York to Paris, Milanand the French Riviera. Plus all the
flights can be changed without any fees, meaning you can book now and still
make adjustments to your plans down theroad. Now, I actually did a
little research on this airline because Ithought the last thing I want to do
is go on a lifeless ordinary talkabout this wonderful deal, only to find
(16:37):
out that it's not a reputable carrier. However, what I found out says
they get glowing, glowing reports,and that's from trip Advisor and Conde Nash.
They are actually they operate air buses. They only have seventy six seats
on board, and so that meansboarding is relatively quick. On board seats
(16:59):
are arranged two on each side.With universal electrical outlets. You've get these
fluffy pillows, quilted blankets, noisecanceling headphones that all comes with the with
the deal, travelers all receive thesebeautiful powder blue toiletry bags with eyemasks and
hand and faced creams by a fabulousFrench skincare brand, and you've got this
(17:21):
pod privacy and the ability to reclinein fully flat seats. Now that is
something that my clients, especially theones that are flying on overnight flights to
Europe, they really want that.They want to lay flat seats, yes,
so they can go to sleep forthat eight hours or whatever and wake
up kind of refreshed, you know. So the only disadvantage, however,
(17:42):
is that with the two by twoseat configuration on this plane, you may
have somebody who needs to get outover you to go to the restroom.
Chris and I have another question,well, will will they feed us?
Actually they do. The food servicehere on this flight is Michelin starred chef
(18:02):
meals. So that twenty four hundreddollars is not something you're settling for.
This is really an upgrade in theway you're able to travel. And I
hope that the person that's climbing overme is my wife, So that's fine
exactly. I mean for some mostpeople that would not really matter. Yeah.
Yeah, So another airfare deal that'sout there is offered by our good
friends at Air Tahiti Nui. Theyare offering round trip flights from Seattle and
(18:26):
Los Angeles to Paris starting at eighthundred and thirty two dollars and those flights
need to be booked by April thethirtieth. They are valid for travel dates
through May thirty first. You canalso find vacation packages to Tahiti, including
flights and hotels starting at about twothousand dollars for six nights days. And
(18:48):
I will say this based on someof the things that I'm seeing from Air
Tahiti Nui lately. Fiji, ifyou guys are listening and you're looking for
a great exotic place to travel to, has to be on your bucket list
for also value added places to travelto. You can actually go to Fiji
right now including air beachfront property forfive glorious nights for right about three thousand
(19:15):
dollars per couple. And that's notbad per couple per couple, Yes,
that's not terrible. Now, FrontierAirlines, the budget airlines, they have
a popular offer that they call goWild All you can Fly pass that went
on sale actually last year they're continuingit and they're offering its one year unlimited
(19:36):
flight pass right now for five hundredand ninety nine dollars file supplies last.
You might remember they did this lastyear. The pass does have some rules
and limitations, including some blackout periodsand you need to book your domestic flight
the day before your trip. Butother than that, some great deals there
at Frontier. Last on the airlinesale fares is brought to us by our
(19:59):
friends Ettihad, one of the bestcarriers ever. The airline has discounted stop
over flight packages. We talked aboutthat on a show here not too long
ago, including right now forty percentoff two or four night hotel stays in
Abu Dhabi hotels, one or twonight free stopovers in selected hotels, and
(20:19):
free accommodations. That's frie for travelerswith a connecting flight in Abu Dhabi,
and the airline stopover program also offersdiscounts on restaurants and experiences. So there's
some great offers from our airline friends. I want to jump right into some
of our cruise deals, and Chris, if you and Becca don't soon book
(20:41):
a cruise with these deals, I'mgoing to come hunt you down. I
mean, you just book them forus and tell us how much we are.
Yeah, let me just tell you. I mean, you're not going
to get better than this. Thenext time I tell you about a cruise
deal it's and you take it.It's going to be because I said I'll
pay you to go. I willhave you know. We have yet to
do our teach either, and Inormally I want to hear this. La
(21:02):
la la la la. Everything inmy life has just been procrastinate, procrastiny.
Well, for those of you whocan act on Impulse MSc Cruise Lines,
they're offering some major limited time dealson their sailings, with cruises starting
at drum roll please, one hundredand seventy nine dollars per person. Customers
(21:23):
booking through the wave season period arealso going to receive up to four hundred
dollars on board credit. So thatis like me paying you to go.
Chris, come on an Easy plusDrink package, Wi Fi for up to
two devices per state room, getthis and kids sale free. This is
an eligible window for sailings through winterof twenty twenty five, So, folks,
(21:47):
if you're looking for a family friendly, price friendly vacation deal, make
it MSc, It's going to saveyou thousands of dollars. Holland America Cruise
Line another one of my favorites.The cruise lines major anniversary sale offering up
to forty five percent off of allfairs and up to three hundred dollars on
board credit. Plus you can includethird and fourth guests on selected cruises also
(22:12):
for free. That sale ends Aprilthe thirtieth, and then Princess Love our
guys at Princess They're offering up tothirty five percent savings on cruise fares for
selected twenty twenty four, twenty twentyfive, and believe it or not,
we're booking for twenty twenty six now. The sale also includes complementary room upgrades
(22:33):
and an offer for third and fourthguests to sale free on selected cruises.
And this is great. You canfind Alaska cruises folks, you know who
you are. You've been asking meabout them, starting on Princess for only
two hundred and ninety seven dollars,Chris, can you see yourself in Alaska
for that? Caribbean cruises starting atfour hundred and eighteen and Mediterranean cruises starting
(22:57):
at only seven hundred and ninety sevendollars per person. You won't be able
to beat those deals, I promiseyou. So those are our sale fairs.
There's one more though, by AmtrakI thought was worth mentioning. You
might remember a couple of weeks agowe talked about the night Ol fairs.
You remember that, I do.Was it like twenty dollars to New York?
(23:18):
Yeah? Right, Well it's better. I don't know if they just
haven't had any takers or what,but whether you're a night ol or an
early bird, this is the dealfor you. The promotion applies to Amtrak's
coach tickets on Northeast Regional and afew other select routes. It includes stops
in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, DC. Right now,
Amtrak just added new trains to thepromotion, which now also applies to
(23:41):
select segments between New York and Boston. Night ol commuting between New York and
Washington will only have to pay twentydollars for their ticket, which is the
same price travelers would have to payto go from New York to Boston,
and traveling between New York and Philadelphiainstead will be even cheaper, with tickets
priced at only Hello ten dollars.For fifteen dollars, passengers will be able
(24:06):
to travel between New York and Baltimoreor between Washington, D C. And
Newark, while five dollars train rideswill be available between Washington, d C.
And Baltimore or for travel connecting NewYork and Newark. That's better than
a bus fair, it truly is. So that's it for news and sales
(24:27):
for this week. I think there'splenty enough reasons for you to get out
there and get traveling. Certainly,we want to be the place that you
shop at at the wishing Well,and we are easy to find. Jansks
say your phone number is A fivefour h nine oh eight twenty three thirty
three. Thank you, Chris.Don't let the deals pass you by.
(24:48):
Yeah, those are going to gofast. I'll tell you one hundred and
seventy nine for a cruise count mein. So you mentioned our share.
Our show today is all about beingon the greens. It is, yeah,
and it's interesting. We're going totalk a little bit about the best
places to go and how to actuallyknow whether you're playing on a good green
or not. I see you saidyou're a non expert on this I am
(25:08):
not compared to my knowledge. You'regoing to be an expert. Well,
hopefully after we get done with today'sshow, a lot of people out there
will feel a little bit more confidentabout that sport. Well, let's start
traveling the greens coming up next hereon a Life Less Ordinary. Protect your
vacation investment with guidance from a travelprofessional. The wishing Well knows travel and
help you avoid pitfalls. They canspoil your hirer earned vacation. We'll plan
(25:30):
your trip and have your back asyou travel. All of this without support
or so called convenience fees. We'reon the web at tho Wishingwell dot biz
or call us at five four zeronine zero eight two three three three.
That's five four zero nine zero eighttwo three three three. The washing Well
really does make dreams come true andwelcome back to a Life less Ordinary.
(25:52):
This is the travel showing podcast fromyour friends at the wishing Well, located
on f Avenue and Harrisonburg. They'reonline at the wishy Well dot bizz,
or pick up your phoney agavem call. They'd love to talk to you at
five four oh nine three thirty three. Ask for Harry or Terry and they'll
help you book all of your travelneeds. Love to absolutely love too.
I got a question for you.Yeah, do you golf put putt so
(26:18):
mini golf? Right? Well,I mean, honestly, that's about what
I do. But I got totell you, you know, we've got
our days are getting a little longernow. Weather's beginning to warm up,
and golf courses chris across the countryand even globally, they're they're kind of
dusting off those greens and they're preparingfor an influx of a lot of golfers,
(26:40):
a lot of hopefuls. And aswe all know, this is the
month for the Master's Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, an event that's going to
draw thousands and thousands of golf enthusiasts. So that alone makes today's show particularly
timely. I think I have afriend who's going. He and his wife
are going down for a day.Yeah. One of the folks on our
(27:00):
staff are going as well, whichactually they won a lottery to go,
That's how they got their sh Yeah, so I'm so excited for him.
But in any event, that waswhy I picked this topic for today.
But the other question I wanted topose on today's show is how do you
(27:21):
distinguish a good golf course from atruly great one? And I didn't know
that there was a big deal associatedwith that, but there is. That's
just one of the questions we're goingto be tackling today as we set out
on our journey to uncover the secretsof exceptional golf courses and the best golf
destination. It's going to be afun show. And I don't even golf.
(27:42):
I told you that, But Ienjoyed putting all this information together for
you today because I always count everyday valuable in when I learned something,
and I really did, I learnedsomething valuable. I want to tell you,
Chris, about my very first golfingexperience. I was very young,
probably in my early mid thirties atthe most, sorry twenties, and I
(28:06):
went down to Florida with a groupof travel agents and we went down to
the Disney Institute. And then theDisney Institute wasn't quite what it is today,
but we could choose two things thatwe wanted to do that Disney had
specialties in at the Disney Institute.I chose golf and culinary arts. Those
(28:29):
were the two things that I chose, and went out on the golf course
and we went to Florida to experiencethe Disney Institute in August. No,
have you ever been to Florida inAugust. I was there for Christmas and
it was too hot. It wasinsufferable, and I never regretted picking something
(28:49):
so bad in all my life.But we went out and I actually part
of the great part of this experiencewas that I got to spend the time
in training doing golf with a realgolf pro. Now I couldn't tell you
who it was if I had to, but apparently he was somebody very important,
is what I was told later on. And so it was my turn
(29:12):
to get up and tee off andI did, and I got some really
good tips from him to start with, and I swung and I hit the
ball and it went way out,to my great surprise, in ninety nine
degree heat and probably one hundred percenthumidity, at least that's what it felt
(29:33):
like. And he said, honestly, you are a natural. And I
hung my golf club up and Isaid, this game is not for me.
You had a golf pro tell youyou're a natural, and that scared
you off. Oh it didn't scareme off. Now I hated the weather.
Yeah, anything that you got todo in that kind of weather count
me out. I love your description. When it's hot out, you say,
(29:56):
what might as well lick the sun? Yeah, that's my favorite say.
And then that was really in Augustand Florida, that's where that came
from. But in any way,before we started exploring some of the good
golf courses in the world, Ican tell you this. If you type
golf courses near me into a Googlesearch, you're probably going to get no
(30:17):
shortage of results. And actually,for most people there are at least several
courses within easy driving distance of wherethey live. I mean that's true for
us, I can tell you that. But here's the sixty four thousand dollars
question. How can you determine whichcourse is the best because you can't get
a tea time. Well, infact, we're going to find that that's
(30:41):
not always the case. But asyou probably already know, not all golf
courses are of the same quality.Now, the reason that this came to
my attention, and the other reasonI wanted to do a show around this
topic today, is because the ownerof one of the local golf courses at
Packsaddle Ridge said to me, Terry, not all golf courses are created equal,
(31:03):
and again, I don't want toplay the game. But this fact
was sort of lost on me untilI began to do some real research.
And I've got to thank mister BruceForbes for enlightening me and pushing me to
find out about this sport of kingsand why it draws so many fans to
the beautiful outdoors. The information Ifound, Chris, is fascinating. So
(31:26):
here are the things I found outabout great golf courses. Number one,
Some of the best golf courses havebeen made through intelligent planning. When you
think of architects, you might thinkof them as designing skyscrapers or shopping malls,
but quality golf courses to require theinsight and planning of expert landscape architects
(31:52):
with a golf course specialty. Agolf course should not be haphazardly thrown together.
Intelligent experienced course architect knows how toplan a course in which each hole
serves as a valuable part of thewhole, and that lends a sense of
cohesiveness to the game. Although acourse of any age can provide that sense
(32:16):
of unity among the whole courses thathave been around for about a century,
those are often the best examples.Now, Jonathan Tucker of the European Institute
of Golf Course Architects said, gooddesign is timeless, with many of our
classic courses formed during the golden ageof golf architecture in the nineteen twenties.
(32:39):
That means this is truly a timelessgame. The second thing is you want
to have varied holes at golf courses. Boredom quickly turns a golf game from
pleasant to tiresome. Now I haveto say, I have to digress for
just a minute and repeat a quotefrom the comedian Rosie O'Donnell. When she
(32:59):
caned on Star Search. She said, golf is men in ugly pants walking,
That's what she said, and makingdeals. Clearly, the game as
a whole must have bored her.But that's really why, in all seriousness,
a mixture of whole styles keeps thegame from feeling redundant or monotonous.
(33:20):
And I didn't know that. Ididn't realize that was an important factor in
good golf course design is how theholes are going to make sense. Yeah,
A lot of varied factors in agolf course include the whole style.
Rather than snaking your way back andforth across the course with one straight shot
hole after another, you should betreated, they say, to a mixture
(33:43):
of designs, including some what theycall dog legs, and perhaps a few
other things called blond shots. Now, the length of the hole also matters.
It seems simple that some holes shouldoccupy more space than others, but
adhering to the basic principle can adda whole lot to the enjoyment of a
course. And then, par Harry, you joked about this a while ago.
(34:06):
But not only should every hole lookdifferent, but should also play differently.
Some should be doable with a minimumamount of shots, but others should
require four or more or be designatedas par well. That's why Robin Williams,
when you describe the game of golf, talks about what they charge you
with each time you hit the ball. They call it a stroke. And
(34:30):
his remark is, because it getsyou so mad you want to have a
stroke. And that's my experience withgolf. Now, another feature of a
good golf course is obstacles. Believedor not. Each hole should have its
own unique challenges like bunkers, whatare obstacles, false fronts, and slopes
toward or away from the green.The right amount of variety gives a course
(34:51):
a compelling personality that draws you intoit again and again. The third thing
is for it to have a reasonablechallenge. Now I've already told you about
my first golfing experience, but it'sgood to know that the average golfer isn't
an expert at the game. Asa matter of fact, most golfers don't
come in under par every time thatthey play, and they certainly don't play
(35:14):
on the pro tour. So therefore, a playable golf course shouldn't be so
difficult that only a championship player canhandle its trials, its twists, and
its turn That's not to say thata golf course should be simple. A
golf course with no challenge presents littlemotivation for any player to improve their game.
(35:35):
But the best course balance is withdifficulty and playability that stretches you to
try new shots and put your besteffort forward. However, they are not
so discouraging that you no longer wantto play the game or that particular course,
instead leaving you feeling of defeated.You want it to stretch you,
to play the game to the nextlevel. All of that. You know.
(36:00):
I can understand that because even inmy work day, I love a
good challenge. And so if thegame of golf is really the golf of
kings, no wonder they wanted itto be such. They wanted it to
have that challenging feeling. I feellike that's why they put the windmill on
my course. You think so.It makes it interesting, It makes it
(36:21):
Do you feel like a king withthe windmill course? You just get the
ball through those little blades, youask my wife. I strut around the
many golf course like I am theking of the world when I get oh,
it is. It is the gameof kings, And I'm so jealous,
because I really When I was akid, my uncle was a golf
pro at a country club and hetook me out to teach me golf.
(36:44):
And I was on the practice puttinggreen and I boop went right in.
I started jumping up and down andscreaming, and he grabbed hold of me
and said, you can't make thatmuch and always hear you. And I
never went back. I've never beenon a golf course other than many golf
since I sort of had similar Yeah, how sad, but I loved it.
I just never never went back.Well. And you know, I
(37:06):
think there is some decorum that's presentwith a golf game. We're going to
talk about that here in a bit. But one of the other things,
whether you want to go out thereand yell or not, is really the
natural beauty of the golf courses.I mean, that's one of the top
earmarks of a great golf course.As a matter of fact, renowned architect
(37:27):
A Lester Mackenzie he was famous forclaiming the courses should have beautiful surroundings and
all the artificial features should have sonatural an appearance that a stranger is unable
to distinguish them from nature itself.And I think that's true. You know,
a lot of courses built during theearly twentieth centuries Golden Age, still
(37:49):
they're admired for their grasp of thatideal, and architects of the same time
new to start by selecting some attractivelocalities for their courses. They would then
incorporate the features of the landscape intothose design, and a golf course with
a natural design works with the layof the land, not against it,
and it uses obstacles and bunkers thatmesh with the local flora and terrain.
(38:15):
A course that is designed in thatway is said to be bestowed with a
sense of belonging in its surroundings.It's a beautiful thing. You know.
The other thing about golf courses thatalways strikes me. I love this.
I love to see homes like this. But the impeccable maintenance that is taken
in the care of a golf course. Some of the best golf courses built
(38:37):
around the nineteen twenties, they didn'tstay the best by being half hearted about
maintenance. The only way that agolf course stays in top shape is by
receiving regular, thorough maintenance work.A couple of the other features of great
golf courses is the approachable scheduling.Now this goes into what you were talking
about a while ago, Chris.Regular play is the necessity if you want
(39:00):
to improve your golf game. Therefore, the earmark of a good golf course
is one we're scheduling a tea timeshouldn't be a monumental challenge. Yes,
it is exciting to play once ina lifetime, round on one of the
world's top ranked courses. However,you wouldn't want to fight for that tea
time every time that you were inthe mood to play golf at that one.
(39:22):
So for your home course, it'simportant to select a place where you
can snag a tea time just aboutwhenever you'd like. That is said to
be an earmark of a great golfcourse. Now the other is comfortable elegance,
and you know we're talking about that. You're talking about a decorum.
You know, it's a refined game. Let's be honest, remember the game
(39:44):
of kings. That's what it's called. And there's a standard of etiquette that
elevates this sport above a lot ofothers, or at least there should be
one. The management of a goodcourse, they do set some etiquette standards
for those who play there and holdtheir players to those standards, and this
maintains the classiness of the game andthe playing environment. Classy, though,
(40:07):
shouldn't mean stuffy. And I'll tellyou what I mean by that. As
a matter of fact, my mentor, a lady by the name of Dorothea
Johnson, who taught at the prestigiousBusiness Etiquette and International Protocol School at the
Ritz Carlton in Washington, d C. I took that course there by the
way, and she said, terryetiquette is just good behavior that makes everybody
(40:28):
in your company feel more comfortable whenpracticed correctly. That's the definition of etiquette.
It's not that you are snootier orhigher brow than anybody else. If
you're practicing good etiquette, you're ableto make everybody else in the room feel
comfortable. And that is what thesport of kings was all about. It
(40:49):
was supposed to be a sport whereeverybody felt comfortable playing in a beautiful,
manicured setting. I love that.I loved finding out. For me,
finding out about what made a beautifulgolf course was kind of empowering because even
though I don't know how to playthe game, I got to tell you.
Now that I know those things abouta golf course, I think I
(41:13):
could go out maybe and sort ofat least be a good inspector, you
know, right along and you know, pop the beer cans open for that's
called caddy. Maybe that job caddyspoint, I can be a great caddy.
Yeah, yeah, thank you.So now that we know what these
great golf courses should look like howthey should perform. I think it would
(41:38):
be fun if we looked at whatsome of the best golf courses in the
world are and where they are.Absolutely we'll get into that next Here on
a Life Less Ordinary. Protect yourvacation investment with guidance from a travel professional.
The wishing Well knows travel and helpyou avoid pitfalls that can spoil your
hard earned vacation. Will plan yourtrip and have your back as your travel
(41:59):
all of this without support or socalled convenience fees. We're on the web
at though Wishingwell dot diiz or callus at five four zero nine zero eight
two three three three. That's fivefour zero nine zero eight two three three
three. The washing Well really doesmake dreams come true. And welcome back
to a Life lest Ordinary, thetravel show and podcast from your friends at
(42:20):
the wishing Well. I like everySaturday morning we get together, we sit
down and we talk travel. Andthere's never bad travel news. When you're
thinking about getting a way to dosomething fun like golf, You're right,
there's no such thing as bad travel. I don't care what it is that
your topic is, but today we'reexploring world class greens that's the title of
today's show. And I had tobe really discerning about my choices, Chris,
(42:45):
and really had to whittle this listdown because there were so many that
were so great. So I decidedfor the purpose of today's episode, I
would only share with you those coursesthat have earned at least a five star
rating. Now, remember the onesI'm going to visit with you today are
actually resort type destination golf courses.So there's a place to stay and there's
(43:07):
a place to golf, and theyare considered the five star world class resorts
that we have to offer. Thesearen't all of them, but it's all
we have time for, unfortunately.So the first one that I want to
focus on is in Ireland, oneof my favorite places in all the world,
and it is called a Dare Manor. Now, not only does this
(43:29):
property have one of the world's mostbeautiful golf courses on its property, it's
also a contender for the most luxurioushotel in all of Ireland. Is absolutely
stunning. It's a Victorian Gothic mansionkind of on the edge of the beautiful
town of a Dare in County Limerick, and it boasts one of the finest
(43:50):
parkland courses in Europe. Golf expertand journalists Fionne Davenport includes a Dare golf
course on his roundup of the world'sbest golf courses in the world. So
no real mistake that I started withthis one today, recently refurbished to the
tune of about seventy million dollars.That's a lot of money. From the
(44:16):
moment you pass through the portico,you are in the expert hands of the
staff there, whose only role isto make you feel like you're a really
valued guest of the Earl of Dunraven, whose manner this once was. And
I know we talked in a previousshow about how you have some ancestry that
dates back to some of these fabulousplaces too in Europe, so you know,
(44:38):
it's kind of like could be ahomecoming for you, Chris. I
haven't been receiving any invites, anyfamily union service, that's unfortunate. But
we've got some original stylings at thisplace, huge marble fireplaces, stained glass
windows throughout, kind of gives theplace an air of an old world grandeur,
but this is very much a twentyfirst century hotel and include a vast
(45:00):
new annex area with contemporary styled bedrooms, a cinema, kind of top notch
spa, new restaurants with casual tofine dining service is exceptional and much in
keeping with the standards It's largely Americanclientele would expect. I mean, we're
very discerning travelers when we go internationally, we want we kind of want to
(45:23):
find things the way they are athome, but better. You know,
that's kind of how we travel.It's just also happens to be one of
our beloved virtuoso properties, so adear manor gets my best thumbs up for
world class golf destination and locality forresorts. The next one is Arabella Hotel,
(45:45):
Golf and Spa and Hermasis Western Cape, South Africa. A five star
retreat in the heart of the Biospherereserve. The Arabella Hotel is located in
one of the world's richest plant kingdomsand surrounded by lagoons, a natural reserve
and mountains. Even the website isso cool. I went there when I
(46:07):
was doing this research. You cansee three hundred and sixty degree views of
the area on their site that definitelygive you the sense of what it would
be like to actually stay there.You can even take the three hundred and
sixty degree view on their website,Go into the rooms, take a look
around in there, their restaurants,their lounges. It's a fabulous place.
(46:27):
It is amazing. Every room comeswith a breathtaking view across this shimmering lagoon
and a really lushly wooded mountain area. There's a feeling of kind of infinite
space and peace that's just so sorelaxing. And along the gorgeous coastal golf
course there there's a world class spa. They've got horseback riding along the beach,
(46:50):
and some of the best restaurants onthe whole of the garden route.
And what might it cost you toplay at one of the world's most beautiful
golf courses in South Africa? Iwas amazed six hundred and thirty five South
African rands, which in US dollarsis only about thirty four dollars per person.
(47:13):
Indeed, not bad for a dayof luxury and outdoor fun and exercise.
Interesting that one came in at numbertwo on my list. The next
one, this one happens to bewhen I've sold hundreds and hundreds of times,
mostly to golfers. Very popular destinationCasa de Campo in the Dominican Republic.
(47:34):
This is actually a former haunt ofFrank Sinatra and the rat Pack.
The Casa de Campo was designed byOscar da la Rena, and it feels
wonderfully elegant. It's got fifty villasspread out by the glittering marina there,
its own water park, and theworld class Teeth of the Dog golf course.
You might have heard about it manymany times. It's very famous.
(47:57):
Yep. Half a century on fromtoday when Sinatra and the rat Pack would
have flown into the private airstrip andindulged themselves, the Casa de Campo may
have lost its elite swagger a littlebit, but it's still just such a
great resort. Hotel Oscar de LoRent's original design still holds up, and
(48:17):
the large rooms there have an indooroutdoor vibe that kind of feels a little
extravagant, and the fifty or soprivate villas spread out from the marina are
all available for rent. The resortalso has three golf courses, which include,
like I said, the Teeth ofthe Dog course, which is one
of the world's best, and mostguests don't even feel the need to stray
(48:40):
beyond its seven thousand acres. It'samazing. I don't think we could probably
do this without talking about I wishwe had more time. I've got so
many more of these. But wereally couldn't talk about world class resorts and
golf courses without going to Scotland,could we? I mean, we just
have to. But Glenn Eagles Resortin Scotland Scottish baronal style facility sort of
(49:07):
meet French chateau at this five starresort hotel, recreating a lot of glamour,
extravagant luxury of the Roaring twenties.It is immaculate and the golf course
there is also plenty of activities tokeep even non golfers happy at this location.
One only one hour from Edinburgh,so it's really a short drive.
(49:30):
When this grand Scottish hotel first openedin nineteen twenty four, it was dubbed
a riv era of the Highlands.And I mean to tell you if you
go, if you have the luxuryof being online while I'm talking to you
today, on a lifeless ordinary,look this up. Glenn Eagles Resort in
Scotland. It's amazing. It's stillthe ultimate Scottish resort, famous of course
(49:52):
for its golf courses and pringle toutingclentele, but also sports a staggering range
of additional activities, everything from gundog school to falconry, wildlife photography to
off road driving. For the moresedentary, there's a sleek destination spa and
a two Michelin starred restaurant. It'sa one stop holiday shop. So all
(50:19):
in all, we've got some greatresorts and golf courses to really immerse you
into that lifestyle. If you area golfer and you're looking for some of
the world class golf courses, Iwas amazed at how many there really are.
I mean, they're numerous, toomany for us to have time on
(50:40):
an hour show to talk about.But I also wanted to give even non
golfers an opportunity to learn, ifyou have any interest at all in golfing,
to know what a world class golfcourse is supposed to be, what
they should have there, and thenwhere you could find golf courses that match
that quality. And I'm sure thereare spouses of golf lovers that aren't themselves
(51:07):
golf lovers who would love to knowthe secret of where to book a vacation,
that there is exactly And you know, one thing I know after having
done all of this research, isthat if you find a beautiful golf course
and it just happens to meet thestandards of what we talked about in the
beginning of today's show and it's attachedto a resort, that resort is probably
(51:32):
also going to have a refinement thatmatches the course. I love that because
we've talked so much about what luxuryreally means to people on this show,
and to me, this opens upa whole other window of that world of
luxury and combines it with a sportthat people love as well. And when
(51:52):
you're going on vacation with somebody thatyou care about, somebody that you love,
somebody special, it's great that there'ssomething there for everybody. You've got
a great golf course, you've gota great spy, you've got great food,
you've got great scenery, you've gota great vacation. Yeah, you
really do. And I think,you know, combining all of that is
the best way to really have agreat experience, which in today's world we
(52:16):
always know that people are looking fornot just a vacation. They are looking
for an experience and a memory.And if you don't come back with great
memories after going to a place likeScotland, like Ireland, you just don't
have your eyes open. I don'tknow how you can come back from magnificent
(52:37):
places like that and experience something likeyou're talking about and come home unhappy.
Something's wrong? You come home unhappy. Well, Harry and Terry, you
both convinced me I'm ready to goon a golf vacation. How do we
book? We're easy to find atthe wishing Well. We're located in the
beautiful town of Harrisonburg, two fortythree f Avenue in the Valley Center.
(53:00):
You can call us at five fouroh non zero eight two three three three
or look us up on the web. Chris, we are at the Wishingwell
dot biz. This has been alife less ordinary. The travel show from
your friends at the wishing Well attwo forty three nep Avenue in Harrisonburg.
If you have any questions on topicsdiscussed today, please reach out to the
wishing Well online at the Wishingwell topbiz or five four oh nine oh eight
(53:23):
twenty three thirty three. Past episodesare available on the iHeartRadio app, and
we'll see you again next Saturday morningat ten for a life less ordinary from
the wishing Well
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