Tag Archives: beach

The Beach I Overlooked for Almost Five Decades

Have you ever waited too long to visit someplace for the first time? After spending three days at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in the Florida Panhandle, that is exactly how I feel about the sands and surf of this stretch of seaside in the Sunshine State. Tucked in between the Gulf of Mexico and Choctawhatchee Bay in the Destin area of Northwest Florida, Sandestin is an award-winning luxury resort community that passes every eyeball test. But its greatest allure is its chief natural amenity – the sugary white sand and crystal clear water of the Gulf Coast. Having lived in Florida for most of my 48 ... [Read More]

Sandestin Report, Day Two: Baytowne’s Like an Old Friend

Baytowne 16

After our welcome by Sandestin’s beaches on Saturday, it was time to tee it up on Sunday morning. After all, you can’t have surf without some turf. The Baytowne Golf Club at Sandestin was designed by Tom Jackson and then renovated by him in 2005, not long after resort developer and operator Intrawest acquired the resort and invested in a $400-million makeover. Just last week the course was selected to host the NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Golf Championships in May 2013. So it ought to be quite a mountain to climb for people who barely have time to pick up a club anymore, right? Wrong. ... [Read More]

Super Saturday at Sandestin

Sandestin Beach

"It's more beautiful than I thought it would be." "I love it here." "Listen to those waves. Look at that moon." Those comments from my wife Carrie, our nearly nine-year-old daughter Audrey and me, respectively, sum up our first 24 hours at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Destin, Fla. (The last were said to myself before dawn, my favorite time of day whether on vacation or not.) Now is the time for sun seekers from Canada to the Carolinas to begin their journeys toward the Sunshine State. As a public service my family has trekked through L.A. (Lower Alabama) in order to deliver a resort report from "Florida's ... [Read More]

Size matters in the Canary Islands

   I arrived in the Tenerife, largest of the Canary Islands, to the following message from my colleague in Barcelona: "Mr. Jones! I think you made my eruption!" I couldn't think of any way to translate that into something I wanted to hear, so I declined to respond. Sometime later I received the following correction: "Sorry, I meant the eruption! You hear about volcano?" This made me simultaneously relieved and nervous. It turned out that just as Soo and I were arriving in the Canary Islands an underwater volcano erupted, near the Island of El Hierro, forcing the evacuation of more than 600 local resisdents. (El Hierro hasn't had the easiest of ... [Read More]

Çeşme – made for summer and spas

  February is the wrong time of the year to visit Çeşme, a small Turkish coastal town nestled on the Mediterranean Sea. And it’s not just because the temperature hovers near freezing (yes, my husband really brought me to a resort on the Med in the middle of winter.) The oddest part about visiting Çeşme (pronounced Chezmay) in February is that it’s a ghost town. Most shops are closed as many of the city’s residents are in-town only during the warmer months of April – October. During this season the town bustles to life with tourists sprawling the sandy beaches, sailing the aqua blue waters. And enjoying ... [Read More]

Tequila is my friend

Mexico and tequila and are two things that just naturally go together, sorta like West Virginia and incest. My friend Jeremy remarked that my little group consumed more tequila in our five days in Cancun than he'd managed since moving here eight years ago. I don't think he was kidding. There's a lot to love about Cancun, and the local tequila surely makes the list. When the hotel waiter on the beach asks you if you want the "good stuff," however, say no, emphatically, unless $25 shots are in your budget. These connoisseur tequilas aren't in my budget, though this failed to occur to me until after we'd downed ... [Read More]

Ringing in the new year Bahamian style

Adam and I  figured the Caribbean would be a grand place to celebrate our first New Years together and ring in 2011. So we left frigid Atlanta with two of Adam’s closest friends, Brian and Jim, in favor of the welcoming warmth of The Bahamas. In my head I envisioned sunbathing in the hot Caribbean sun, sipping pina coladas, and lazily watching the foamy blue waves of the ocean lapping the beach. Or perhaps romantic twilight strolls, hand-in-hand with my soon-to-be husband, along the pristine sandy shores, listening to the peaceful sounds of the sea. Perhaps I should have checked the weather forecast before fantasizing so gloriously about the trip. The Bahamas in ... [Read More]

The Pirates of the Caribbean

  The Bahamas first became known to Europeans in 1492 when Christopher Columbus hopped off his boat on Guananhani Island  in what history has come to record as the “discovery" of America.  The Spanish monarchy, and thus Spainsh explorers, were driven by a passion for gold and god. The newly discovered islands had no gold, so the Spanish had little interest in the Bahamas beyond inflicting their god on the native people, called the Lucayans, forcing most of their new Christians into slave labor, then more or less wiping the rest out. It took fewer than 20 years to decimate the population, with as many as ... [Read More]

Avoiding Atlantis

I've been on a lot of trips in my life. I've never been on one before without shoes. For this trip down to the white sandy beaches of the Bahamas, Soo and I brought only flip-flops. There's something almost sinfully casual about going on a week-long trip with naught but flip-flops to cover your feet. It's like announcing to the world that we're uninterested in anything that might happen in the coming days that would require a sock. I felt like I was getting away with something sneaky. And so it was, thusly un-attired, that Soo and I arrived last night for dinner at Atlantis, the gaudy 1100-room ... [Read More]

Everything’s better with lime

Perfect weather for my last day on the beach!

Mexican restaurants in America give you free chips and salsa before you even order. In Mexico they give you limes. Mexico’s way is better. The theory seems to be that no matter what you order, the taste will be substantially improved by adding lime juice. And they’re absolutely correct! In the last four days I’ve dripped fresh lime juice on nachos, tacos, tortas, arrachera, carnitas, cactus, tortilla soup and more margaritas than I can count. Each got much yummier after adding the lime juice. I believe I’m going to have to have a chat with the proprietors of my favorite Mexican joint at home and make sure they understand the need ... [Read More]