http://traveltattler.com Great Golf and Travel Writing Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:22:13 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en It didn’t take long after landing at Palm Springs, California’s unique, outdoor garden airport to realize the desert valley is devoted to, and teeming with, star power. Street signs “on the road,” as Bing Crosby and Bob Hope sang, to the famed La Quinta Resort and Club read like the all-star opening credits of an ensemble cast for a motion picture: Gene Autry Trail, Kirk Douglas Way, Dinah Shore Drive, Frank Sinatra Avenue, plus streets ... ]]> http://traveltattler.com/golf/golf/lifestyle/1026/la-quinta-resort-and-spa-near-palm-springs-is-a-star-with-celebrities The debate about the South Florida peninsula is ongoing: as a vacation spot – or potential retirement/second home option - do you prefer the east coast or the west coast? Are you lured by the view of the expansive power of the Atlantic Ocean from a seaside high-rise, the pink glitz of Palm Beach and Miami’s Latin beat? Or do you prefer the soft sunsets, and sleepy, gated bedroom communities like sandy Sarasota and scrubby-shored ... ]]> http://traveltattler.com/golf/golf/courses-and-travel/1013/boca-makes-it-better-mizners-venice-of-the-atlantic-in-south-florida Though Downriver will always be home, I admit I am an amorous travel writer. I fall in love with almost every place I visit. The thrill of arriving at a new destination feels, to me, as if I have been introduced to a glamorous and mysterious stranger. We shake hands. We make eye contact. For those first moments in a new locale, my senses are heightened, just as they are when having a glass of wine ... ]]> http://traveltattler.com/golf/golf/courses-and-travel/1009/travel-writer-michael-patrick-shiels-the-places-i-have-seen It wasn’t just the plate of caballo – roasted horse – sitting in front of me at El Patio, an open-air restaurant in Havana’s Plaza de La Cathedral that made the night in Cuba surreal. It was also the sight of the dramatic moonlight illuminating the crumbling Catedral San Cristobal - completed in 1777 and purported to, at one time, house the casket of Christopher Columbus – and the sound of the five classical musicians ... ]]> http://traveltattler.com/golf/golf/courses-and-travel/997/inside-communist-cuba-the-forbidden-fruits-of-havana LANSING, Mich. - Gov. Rick Snyder today announced Michael Patrick Shiels, of East Lansing, will serve on the Michigan Travel Commission. The commission helps Michigan’s travel industry grow. “One of the key components to building a better and stronger Michigan is to continuously promote all the attractions our state has to offer, including our beautiful lakes and great landmarks,” Snyder said. “Michael Patrick Shiels is a great addition and uniquely positioned to be a great asset to ... ]]> http://traveltattler.com/golf/golf/lifestyle/993/michigan-travel-commission-member-appointed The grand sense of arrival each time you pass into the lobby of a hotel is thrilling. It’s curiosity you feel when opening your guestroom door for the first time…followed by a moment of either relief or renewal…and a rush to the window to open the drapes and check out the view or climb onto the balcony. You are suddenly lord or lady of the manor, surveying your new, if temporary, domain.   I globetrot each year breathlessly ... ]]> http://traveltattler.com/golf/golf/courses-and-travel/986/hotel-of-the-year-awarded-strong-group-of-finalists-nominated-in-2011 Everyone has heard that Austin, Texas is in love with music and musicians, most of all the state capital’s beloved resident funky folk hero Willie Nelson. But I didn’t know just how music-minded Austin was until I sat making notes for this story at Guero’s Taco Bar, in South Austin. After finishing a Lone Star longneck and awaiting a hand-shaken margarita with fresh-squeezed lime juice in the open air cantina, I put down my pen ... ]]> http://traveltattler.com/golf/golf/courses-and-travel/973/get-lost-in-austin-steer-into-lone-star-luxury Last weekend’s “Carrier Classic” – a basketball game played under the glow of twilight on the deck of an aircraft carrier in San Diego Harbor, was a reminder that San Diego, in addition to touting itself as “America’s Finest City,” also has America’s most pleasant climate. Where else would Michigan State’s athletic director Mark Hollis even dare to dream up an outdoor basketball game against the top-ranked Tar Heels, on worldwide television, with President Barack ... ]]> http://traveltattler.com/golf/golf/courses-and-travel/962/come-to-your-senses-at-la-costa-southern-californias-top-resort-spa It’s the Outer Banks, not outer space. Sure the charm of the slender slice of sand sticking in the sea off of North Carolina’s Atlantic shore is its’ remote location, but that doesn’t mean it takes a spaceship to get there. A 90-minute drive south from the Norfolk airport in Virginia puts you in Kitty Hawk, NC, where the Wright Brothers historic first flight lasted 13 seconds. The National Monument there is well worth the ... ]]> http://traveltattler.com/golf/golf/courses-and-travel/956/the-outer-banks-are-far-out-the-pristine-islands-accessible-for-family-adventures It’s been a year since Celtic Manor Resort, near Cardiff, Wales, hosted the biennial Ryder Cup golf matches. The much-anticipated event was more than just three days of American professional golfers competing against a Europe’s best players and rousing throngs of spectators. It was also three days of worldwide television coverage, years of promotion, millions of dollars of capital investment, a commitment to fund other tournaments, and finally, to start the week, a star-studded event ... ]]> http://traveltattler.com/golf/golf/courses-and-travel/950/whale-of-a-big-event-in-wales-ryder-cup-venue-salutes-recent-history