Thursday, August 21, 2008

My "Ideal" Golf Trip

My “ultimate golf trip” parameters:
Two weeks, start to finish
Off the beaten path, interacting with true locals
Good, local food and drink
Castles, historical sites
Finding experiences which cannot be replicated elsewhere: not much time in the large cities because large cities, for the most part, are all the same. Sure, there are distinguishing factors that make Paris Paris, and London London, and Chicago Chicago . . . but ultimately, with the shops, restaurants, bustle, traffic, pollution, crime and multi-ethnic populace, Paris is nearer in feel to New York than it is to a small village in the Loire Valley. It is to me, anyway.

One iteration of the plan is to lease a cottage (or, ideally, a restored lighthouse—how cool would THAT be?) and use that as a home base for the entire fortnight (yes, I said ‘fortnight’), making day-trips out. The whole of Scotland is smaller than Oregon, so that seems a reasonable plan. (I think it’s about 45 minutes from Edinburgh on the east coast to Glasgow on the west.) It would make for a couple of long driving days (4-6 hours in the car, play 18 holes, 4-6 hours back . . .) But it has the benefit of not unpacking and repacking every night, which can get old. Especially with a family in tow. If it were just me, I would rent a car, drive where the feeling took me, and crash out for the night wherever I stopped. Somehow, I’m thinking that plan is not going to fly with the little woman.

That’s one of the biggest decisions: get a nice cottage, use it as a home base, and get a sense of being a local, or stopping every night at a different B&B.

My inclination is to split the difference; spend a week in each of two general locales, with a home cottage in each.

Ahhh, but where?

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