I apologize for being so lax recently on the update, but we've been in 5 new states in quick succession, so I have an excuse, though rather lame. After our great experience in Georgia we drove to Clemson, South Carolina. Clemson is a great university and just about the whole town. We stayed at the palacial James Martin Inn, had a two room suite, and bathed in luxury after a month in a 21 foot motorhome. The golf course was fun and we were paired up with two others for the first time -- two brothers named Todd and William from nearby Easley who were a great example of southern gentlemen. They didn't even laugh at my play. The signature hole is #17, a par 3 with a green shaped like a tiger paw with 4 sand traps behind. It was beautiful, especially with the lake in the background.
North Carolina was next and a wonderful little town called Brevard. It is only one of two towns in the U.S. with white squirrels -- they really are white. We just missed White Squirrel Days but bought a "Fightin' White Squirrel" tee shirt anyway. The mayor stopped and chatted for awhile and I was interviewed on the radio at WSQL. The golf course, Glen Cannon, was very pleasant with a great 2nd hole, a par 3 with the tee shot over a mountain stream onto a small green with a pretty waterfall in the background. I missed the green twice but blamed my ineptitude on the scenic beauty which caused me to lose concentration. Brevard has 200 waterfalls nearby in the Pisgah National Forest and is a tremendous little town. Gloria said if our kids and grandkids lived nearby she'd move there in a minute.
Tennessee was our next stop, at the Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park where Davy himself spent his early years killing bars and learning how to sing "mighty fine horse on a winding course, gotta git me a purty woman's love." We visited Jonesborough which was the first capitol of our 14th state, Franklin, formed in 1785. Or at least it was our 14th state for a few years until word reached our nation's capitol and congress nixed the idea, so the area later became Tennessee. We played golf at a pretty rural course called Graysburg Hills and chatted with a fellow who told us some funny stories about guys getting killed.
Next we drove north on the Country Music Highway, U.S. 23 in eastern Kentucky which was coal mining country. We stopped at Yatesville Lake State Park and played golf at Eagle Ridge, a golf course which is so steep and hilly that we lost about two dozen balls and had a great time. The durn things kept falling off the tiny landing areas and dropping into the rough about a hundred feet below. Their signature hole is number 13 which drops off about 250 feet onto the fairway and green below. Fortunately we brought our binoculars and could see the green in the distance. I managed to make a par, and it was beautiful watching my tee shot sail off into the distance. This course is definitely not for the weak at heart or for those with vertigo.
We are now in West Virginia at Pipestem State Park in the southern part of the state. The course here is very green, but we had slow play yesterday -- we walked in the heat and waited many minutes for the foursome ahead of us which made the experience less enjoyable. I hit into a sand trap on the third hole and saw lots of litle ant hills all around. After hitting out, the fellow with us suggested I get out quickly because the ant hills were actually yellow jacket nests and they were starting to get restless. I didn't get stung but wondered why the folks would allow such a sand "trap." The park is very pretty and last night we took a tram down about 1,000 feet to a nice restaurant below which borders the Bluestone River. A nice way to finish after a warm and tiring day on the links.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Florida, Alabama and Georgia
We said our farewells in Mississippi and headed for the Alabama coast at Dauphin Island (pronounced doff-in) where we enjoyed strolling on the beach and birding. After catching the ferry to Fort Morgan, we continued on to the Sunshine State of Florida and Milton, an old logging and shipping town on the panhandle which was originally called "Scratch Ankle" due to the irritating undergrowth. Our golf course was The Moors, a nearly treeless beautiful course patterned after the great courses in Scotland. It was warm and windy as we teed off, and had a fun time except for when we landed in one of the many pot bunkers. These are named pot bunkers because you can take so long to get out of them that you go to pot. Unfortunately, we landed in many of the buggers which increased our score a bit.
From Milton we went straight north to Greenville, Alabama and the famous Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail where we played the Sherling and Canyon nines at Cambrian Ridge. This golf trail was the brainchild of a Dr. Bonner who was in charge of the parks and recreation system. He believed in spending a lot of money on golf courses in hopes that they would lure some of the frozen northerners to Alabama to play golf at very cheap rates while spending their northern dollars on lodging, food, gas, and other luxuries. Some thought him crazy, but like Seward who urged purchase of Alaska for a few millions, his gamble paid off big time. Anyway, we met Francine Wasden, Executive Director of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce who is possibly the most positive, the most bubbly, the most charming C of C director you could hope to meet, and with a southern accent to boot! She loved our idea and even met us on the golf course for one hole on which she managed to get a par. The course was absolutely fabulous. Built on a ridge, it is designed perfectly to combine challenge with scenic beauty -- no two holes are the same and they are all breathtaking. I even managed my first birdie on the trip, a par 5, and we loved the entire morning. We started at 7 Am and had the course to ourselves for a whole hour -- it was golf at its absolute best; a beautiful day, a beautiful course, and solitude with a birdie and good scores thrown in.
From Greenville we headed north to Montgomery where we enjoyed the new and very well done Rosa Parks museum. We spent the night in Georgia at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt State Park, camping on Lake Delano with frogs croaking outside our window and awakening to a lot of great birds singing. It was beautiful, serene, and peaceful, marred only by the rest room being flooded which forced us to go a bit farther to the next one. We toured the Little White House at Warm Springs where Roosevelt went to get the cure from his infantile paralysis (polio), and then drove to Atlanta. Somehow big cities have it in for us, as during the peak of rush hour on an extremely busy interstate our RV started making very loud clanging noises and almost overheated before we could pull off to the side. A broken water pump was the problem, and a nice guy arrived about 90 minutes later for the tow after which we spent the night at a Red Roof Inn, and dined in not-so-much-luxury at a Waffle House where Gloria managed to share her T-bone with a dog by throwing pieces and finally the bone on the floor. It was an informal place. The van was fixed by 1:30 the next day so we were off again, this time to northeastern Georgia at Hartwell to play at Cateechee, a long and difficult course.
Before our round that afternoon we were interviewed by a nice reporter named Mark Hynds. We made the mistake of having a beer before playing as it was still pretty warm, then got out on the course at about 4 PM or so. Unfortunately, either the beer or the stress of the water pump got to us as we both played terribly, managing to lose all the balls we had found at Cambrian Ridge and then some. I had up to 4 mulligans on one hole, and we're not sure if this is exactly legal according to the Golf for Duffers book. By the back nine Gloria had had enough, but I finally started playing a bit better and even had a birdie on a par 4. By the 144 yard par 3 my aim was returning as I hit a nice 7 wood which soared down the fairway, bounced twice on the green and disappeared. It was an ace, a real hole-in-one, I could barely believe my luck! We raced up to the foursome just ahead of us to see if they had seen it, which they hadn't, but congratulated us anyway. We had to make it to our campsite as it was almost dark by the time we finished, so didn't get to buy all 60 people in the bar a drink afterwards. We understand that this is a major faux pas, but promise that we will provide drinks to everyone on the next dozen or so holes in one we get, unless it is almost dark and we have to make it to our campsite, that is.
It is now Memorial Day Weekend and we are safely lodged at the James Martin Inn on the Clemson University campus next to the Walker Course at Clemson, our next challenge tomorrow morning. The good folks at Clemson have been wonderful to us by providing the suite plus round of golf gratis, and they threw in a bright orange Walker Course at Clemson baseball cap which I will always treasure and will certainly wear tomorrow and at many future sporting events except when Clemson is playing the Ducks of Oregon, which probably will be never. So Go Tigers!!!!!
Glenn
From Milton we went straight north to Greenville, Alabama and the famous Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail where we played the Sherling and Canyon nines at Cambrian Ridge. This golf trail was the brainchild of a Dr. Bonner who was in charge of the parks and recreation system. He believed in spending a lot of money on golf courses in hopes that they would lure some of the frozen northerners to Alabama to play golf at very cheap rates while spending their northern dollars on lodging, food, gas, and other luxuries. Some thought him crazy, but like Seward who urged purchase of Alaska for a few millions, his gamble paid off big time. Anyway, we met Francine Wasden, Executive Director of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce who is possibly the most positive, the most bubbly, the most charming C of C director you could hope to meet, and with a southern accent to boot! She loved our idea and even met us on the golf course for one hole on which she managed to get a par. The course was absolutely fabulous. Built on a ridge, it is designed perfectly to combine challenge with scenic beauty -- no two holes are the same and they are all breathtaking. I even managed my first birdie on the trip, a par 5, and we loved the entire morning. We started at 7 Am and had the course to ourselves for a whole hour -- it was golf at its absolute best; a beautiful day, a beautiful course, and solitude with a birdie and good scores thrown in.
From Greenville we headed north to Montgomery where we enjoyed the new and very well done Rosa Parks museum. We spent the night in Georgia at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt State Park, camping on Lake Delano with frogs croaking outside our window and awakening to a lot of great birds singing. It was beautiful, serene, and peaceful, marred only by the rest room being flooded which forced us to go a bit farther to the next one. We toured the Little White House at Warm Springs where Roosevelt went to get the cure from his infantile paralysis (polio), and then drove to Atlanta. Somehow big cities have it in for us, as during the peak of rush hour on an extremely busy interstate our RV started making very loud clanging noises and almost overheated before we could pull off to the side. A broken water pump was the problem, and a nice guy arrived about 90 minutes later for the tow after which we spent the night at a Red Roof Inn, and dined in not-so-much-luxury at a Waffle House where Gloria managed to share her T-bone with a dog by throwing pieces and finally the bone on the floor. It was an informal place. The van was fixed by 1:30 the next day so we were off again, this time to northeastern Georgia at Hartwell to play at Cateechee, a long and difficult course.
Before our round that afternoon we were interviewed by a nice reporter named Mark Hynds. We made the mistake of having a beer before playing as it was still pretty warm, then got out on the course at about 4 PM or so. Unfortunately, either the beer or the stress of the water pump got to us as we both played terribly, managing to lose all the balls we had found at Cambrian Ridge and then some. I had up to 4 mulligans on one hole, and we're not sure if this is exactly legal according to the Golf for Duffers book. By the back nine Gloria had had enough, but I finally started playing a bit better and even had a birdie on a par 4. By the 144 yard par 3 my aim was returning as I hit a nice 7 wood which soared down the fairway, bounced twice on the green and disappeared. It was an ace, a real hole-in-one, I could barely believe my luck! We raced up to the foursome just ahead of us to see if they had seen it, which they hadn't, but congratulated us anyway. We had to make it to our campsite as it was almost dark by the time we finished, so didn't get to buy all 60 people in the bar a drink afterwards. We understand that this is a major faux pas, but promise that we will provide drinks to everyone on the next dozen or so holes in one we get, unless it is almost dark and we have to make it to our campsite, that is.
It is now Memorial Day Weekend and we are safely lodged at the James Martin Inn on the Clemson University campus next to the Walker Course at Clemson, our next challenge tomorrow morning. The good folks at Clemson have been wonderful to us by providing the suite plus round of golf gratis, and they threw in a bright orange Walker Course at Clemson baseball cap which I will always treasure and will certainly wear tomorrow and at many future sporting events except when Clemson is playing the Ducks of Oregon, which probably will be never. So Go Tigers!!!!!
Glenn
Friday, May 16, 2008
We're in Mississippi, Ya'll
A quick update from the Magnolia State: After leaving Galveston we did some nice birding at High Island and Anahuac Wildlife Refuge before leaving for Louisiana. Our goal was St. Francisville, an old town near the Mississippi which sits up on a bluff, hence the name of our planned golf course, The Bluffs, St. Francisville. Before getting there we took a little detour further north to look for some rare birds which we didn't find, but we did find "love bugs." These are little black flying bugs which come out a couple of times a year en masse. They look like little biplanes as they fly about, but are very adept at hitting your windshield as you drive. After a few miles of driving in love bug country, your windshield is spotted black which can seriously interfere with visibility, especially if you are already tired and cranky because you didn't see the birds you drove so far to see.
We gave up on the birds and headed to St. Francisville, only to find out that the ferry to town was not in use. Not realizing that the ferry actually crosses the Mississippi River, we grouchily drove the extra 60 or so miles around to the bridge and finally got to St. Francisville, a beautiful, quaint old plantation town with lots of charm and old houses beautifully restored. Our spirits raised, we called the golf course only to learn that they had become a private course 3 months ago and we could only play if we stayed at their expensive lodge, which we weren't eager to do. Instead we camped out, drove to the course the next day and looked hopeful and pleading that we needed to play their course for our book, at which time they relented, especially since no one was actually on the course at the time and at least they could make a little money from us, BUT ONLY BECAUSE OF THE BOOK JUST THIS ONE TIME. The course was just great. Pristine, green, large fast smooth greens, great scenery and beautiful southern style brick homes. We had a lot of fun and Gloria got her first par 4 on the trip.
We gave up on the birds and headed to St. Francisville, only to find out that the ferry to town was not in use. Not realizing that the ferry actually crosses the Mississippi River, we grouchily drove the extra 60 or so miles around to the bridge and finally got to St. Francisville, a beautiful, quaint old plantation town with lots of charm and old houses beautifully restored. Our spirits raised, we called the golf course only to learn that they had become a private course 3 months ago and we could only play if we stayed at their expensive lodge, which we weren't eager to do. Instead we camped out, drove to the course the next day and looked hopeful and pleading that we needed to play their course for our book, at which time they relented, especially since no one was actually on the course at the time and at least they could make a little money from us, BUT ONLY BECAUSE OF THE BOOK JUST THIS ONE TIME. The course was just great. Pristine, green, large fast smooth greens, great scenery and beautiful southern style brick homes. We had a lot of fun and Gloria got her first par 4 on the trip.
We then drove north to Natchez, Mississippi, a great old town on the Mississippi dripping with history, but, unfortunately for us, it was dripping with a heavy all-day rainstorm. We had a free snack at the visitor center, watched the movie and headed out to McComb in hopes of playing golf the next morning. Our 12 year old Roadtrek showed its age as water started seeping, then steadily dripping in at about six places, though fortunately we had about six saucepans to catch the drips. We put up the awning which stopped most of the leakage, turned on the air conditioner, had a great dinner followed by 2 games of scrabble and a night listening to the rain and thunder which finally stopped. Next morning we went to the golf course and found out it was too wet to play, so on we went to McComb for a great lunch at The Dinner Bell, an old southern restaurant where you and about 15 others sit around a big round table with a lazy susan piled with all kinds of southern delicacies -- fried chicken, fried eggplant, rutabega, collard greens, candied yams, banana cream pudding with wafers... It was delicious -- you took whatever you wanted or could catch as it whizzed by, and the sweet tea was unlimited. We chatted with the folks, then left for Terry, Mississippi, and Gloria's niece Michele, husband Mike and their daughter Nicky, their twelve horses, six dogs, and five cats (or was it five dogs and six cats?)
Anyway, we met up for dinner with Lisa and Tony and their children Henry, Mary and Peggy who lived with us two years ago (all except Tony who was back in Taiwan working and taking care of his parents). It was a joyous reunion, topped off by the best fried catfish, fried dill pickles, mustard greens and sweet tea we had ever tasted. The rain has stopped, we're feeling great (and well-fed), and will be playing the McComb course Sunday morning and a course in Milton, Florida Monday afternoon. We like the southern hospitality a lot, though our clothes aren't fitting very well. Oh well, we'll soon be further north -- we can't wait for that great Maine lobster!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas
Greetings from Galveston! We're visiting Jamie and having a super time birding, eating, kayaking in the bayou, eating, bike riding, eating, and, oh yes, we're eating a lot -- crayfish, blue crab, salmon, scallops, oysters - lots of delicious fish.
But back to the trip, I forget myself with all this good food. Arkansas was fun. Mountain Home is over 50% retirees, so we expected lots of old folks, but found it to be great. The course is fairly flat, well-manicured and not too hard except for the stiff wind we always seemed to face. Gloria particularly liked the posh ladies locker room complete with computer to update emails. We then went to the Ozark Folk Museum in Mountain View -- it was a hoot, especially the great foot stompin, finger snappin bluegrass music. That morning we had quite a thunderstorm, only tofind out that 30 miles away was a tornado which killed two people. We happened to drive by next day and were amazed to see trees snapped off and a utility shed about 50 feet up in a tree!
On to Broken Bow, Oklahoma, where we played at a nice hilly, narrow course with lots of woods. Unfortunately they had record rains and the signature hole was under water. We followed a golf tournament, so replenished our supply of golf balls after Glenn hit many shots in the woods.
Glen Rose, Texas was great. Everyone was thrilled to see us, since it is both of our names (Rose is Gloria's middle name). Folks were very friendly and we loved the course. They were predicting severe thunderstorms with possible hail, but we played anyway and the storm never materialized. We just got lucky. Gloria just missed a birdie putt which was a great relief to Glenn because he hasn't had a birdie yet. She is getting a lot better.
We had a very nice time in Fort Worth with Gloria's brother Dan and his wife Jennifer -- just kicked back, saw a couple of movies and had a pleasant visit. After Glen Rose we went to Pedernales State Park in the Texas Hill Country and had a super visit with David Shackleford and his fiance Mallory. David has been our birding guide in South Africa, Madagascar, China and India and is a super birder. We had great views of the rare and local Golden-cheeked Warbler which breeds there.
Now in Galveston, did I mention we are eating a lot? Tomorrow we leave for High Island, Anahuac and Bolivar peninsula for birding, then on to Louisiana and cajun/etouffee/gumbo. I don't think we're losing weight. The trip has been great fun, and we even discovered how to turn on our air conditioner in the Roadtrek which has helped here in Galveston with 85 degrees and 88% humidity. We are definitely in the subtropics. We also got the Verizon gadget which allows us to be on line while traveling - this should be a great help to us.
Now it's on to Louisiana, Mississippi and the gulf coast.
Glenn and Gloria
But back to the trip, I forget myself with all this good food. Arkansas was fun. Mountain Home is over 50% retirees, so we expected lots of old folks, but found it to be great. The course is fairly flat, well-manicured and not too hard except for the stiff wind we always seemed to face. Gloria particularly liked the posh ladies locker room complete with computer to update emails. We then went to the Ozark Folk Museum in Mountain View -- it was a hoot, especially the great foot stompin, finger snappin bluegrass music. That morning we had quite a thunderstorm, only tofind out that 30 miles away was a tornado which killed two people. We happened to drive by next day and were amazed to see trees snapped off and a utility shed about 50 feet up in a tree!
On to Broken Bow, Oklahoma, where we played at a nice hilly, narrow course with lots of woods. Unfortunately they had record rains and the signature hole was under water. We followed a golf tournament, so replenished our supply of golf balls after Glenn hit many shots in the woods.
Glen Rose, Texas was great. Everyone was thrilled to see us, since it is both of our names (Rose is Gloria's middle name). Folks were very friendly and we loved the course. They were predicting severe thunderstorms with possible hail, but we played anyway and the storm never materialized. We just got lucky. Gloria just missed a birdie putt which was a great relief to Glenn because he hasn't had a birdie yet. She is getting a lot better.
We had a very nice time in Fort Worth with Gloria's brother Dan and his wife Jennifer -- just kicked back, saw a couple of movies and had a pleasant visit. After Glen Rose we went to Pedernales State Park in the Texas Hill Country and had a super visit with David Shackleford and his fiance Mallory. David has been our birding guide in South Africa, Madagascar, China and India and is a super birder. We had great views of the rare and local Golden-cheeked Warbler which breeds there.
Now in Galveston, did I mention we are eating a lot? Tomorrow we leave for High Island, Anahuac and Bolivar peninsula for birding, then on to Louisiana and cajun/etouffee/gumbo. I don't think we're losing weight. The trip has been great fun, and we even discovered how to turn on our air conditioner in the Roadtrek which has helped here in Galveston with 85 degrees and 88% humidity. We are definitely in the subtropics. We also got the Verizon gadget which allows us to be on line while traveling - this should be a great help to us.
Now it's on to Louisiana, Mississippi and the gulf coast.
Glenn and Gloria
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