Scottsdale Golf: TPC Scottsdale and The Phoenician

Scottsdale is almost synonymous with golf. There are 51 courses within the city limits and over 200 in the surrounding area. I visited the most famous one of all: home of The Waste Management Phoenix Open (“The Greatest Show on Grass”), the TPC Scottsdale Stadium Course is magnificent. Pictured here is its 16^th hole that transforms into “The Coliseum” during The Open – providing fans with one of the most exciting settings in professional sports. I also wandered around The Phoenician’s three 9-hole courses: Desert, Oasis and Canyon. Each one is totally different in character from the others.

The Inside Track on Scottsdale Hotels and Restaurants

I was fortunate enough to stay in three wonderful yet very different hotels in Scottsdale. The Hermosa Inn is a small but gracious boutique hotel of just 35 rooms that blooms in the desert and features artwork of Lon Megargee, the well-known cowboy artist.

The Hotel Valley Ho is in Scottsdale’s historic district, within easy walk of downtown. It’s 1950’s architectural detail is complimented by great amenities and a rooftop terrace with the best views of Scottsdale.

The Phoenician is an iconic hotel on the slopes of Camelback Mountain with every luxury you could imagine. I experienced the Shea Butter Wrap with Honey Avocado Foot Therapy at their centre for Well-Being and afterward floated to a sumptuous dinner at Il Terrazo Restaurant.

Dining is another of Scottsdale’s civilized pleasures and I can personally recommend FnB with entertaining gourmand Pavle Milic, Trader Vic’s with sensational Mai Tai’s and the lovely Lon’s Patio at The Hermosa Inn

The Phoenician has been added to to my list of Favourite Hotels which you can see at: www.chrisrobinsontravelshow.com

Cacti, Thanks and Websites

My grateful thanks to the Scottsdale CVB team who organized my trip and the radio broadcasts, particularly Laura McMurchie, Tatum Luoma and Christy Naughton. Also to my hotel hosts: Denise Seomin at The Phoenician, Nicole Plehn at The Hermosa Inn and the team at Valley Ho. Laura and Denise were also my warm and eloquent guests on my radio shows.

Websites to explore:

www.ExperienceScottsdale.com

www.thePhoenician.com

www.HermosaInn.com

www.HotelValleyHo.com

www.ArizonaFoodTours.com

www.aoa-Adventures.com

www.Cosanti.com

www.UltimateArtTours.com

www.TheMIM.com

www.DesertWolfTours.com

www.tpc.com

Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend

I am in Orlando Florida at Walt Disney World to participate in the inaugural Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend…and to broadcast my radio shows live from Disney’s Hollywood Studios of course! And it is a very full and fun weekend, with much of the activities centred here at the amazing ESPN Wide World of Sports, close by Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Here I watched the Kids’ Races on Friday afternoon and toured the runners’ Expo. On Saturday morning I participated in Mickey’s Halloween Family Fun Run 5K race and in the evening I ran the new Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon. A magical weekend of running as only Disney can conjure up!

Mickey’s Halloween Family Fun Run 5K

It’s early Saturday morning and there are Disney characters everywhere, both on the sidelines and also running in this 5km romp through the Magic Kingdom Park. Mickey and Minnie set us off and, as dawn broke on a cloudless day, we ran up Main Street, USA toward Cinderella Castle and through all parts of the Magic Kingdom to the finish line. Great fun for all the families taking part!

And there were many families at yesterdays’ Kids’ Races too - which were at times unbearably cute. Children under nine ran in races from the infant “Diaper dash” to 400m at the ESPN Wide World of Sports, ensuring that no one was left out of the weekend.

Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon

After the 5K run, it was off to Disney’s Hollywood Studios to interview renowned Olympic athlete and prolific marathon writer and coach, Jeff Galloway. Jeff gave me some valuable tips for this evening’s race, the inaugural Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon.

Starting at 10pm with 10,000 other runners, we ran through Disney’s Animal Kingdom (avoiding the lion enclosure – we’d be too much like fleeing prey!), in and around Disney’s Hollywood Studios (which were lit up like Tinsel Town), to the finish line at Epcot which most reached around midnight.

And there, after a quick recovery, we were able to indulge in a true Midnight Feast as we participated in the Finish Line Party and the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival. A mouth-watering array of dishes and drinks from around the world were available to 3am – the perfect, if exhausting end to a memorable Disney weekend!

The Spell of the Yukon

Robert Service, the Bard of the Yukon, conveys the allure of the Yukon in my favourite poem of his:

The summer - no sweeter was ever;
The sunshiny woods all athrill;
The grayling aleap in the river,
The bighorn asleep on the hill.
The strong life that never knows harness;
The wilds where the caribou call;
The freshness, the freedom, the farness -
O God! how I'm stuck on it all.

I am in the Yukon this week for a future radio show and to interview some Yukoners along the way. But most of all I’m here to experience the enchantment of that Yukon spell.