Sunday, September 3, 2017

Take Us To Turnberry.....





Well, we're back! After a long day of travel we have made it to Trump Turnberry, our home for the next several days. There is something so special about Scotland and Turnberry for us. We started coming here in 2009 for a "bucket list" trip. We had a wonderful time on our maiden voyage and have made the trip almost every year since. Funny thing is about a "bucket list" trip......it's only a once in a life time thing if you left it be! The first day of this trip is always the hardest. While Kristen and I are both well heeled when it comes to traveling, it's tough to combat the effects of an overnight flight and a very long first day. We did it though, but, it wasn't without our usual comedy of errors along the way. After traversing the "Green Mile" to get to the rental car place here in Edinburgh, we were ready to roll in a lovely Audi Q7 SUV. The drive took us a couple hours to get us over to the west coast and Turnberry. We passed through Glasgow and caught a bit of the WWII Airshow going on in Prestwick.   It was in Prestwick where I had the chance to meet some of Scotland's finest police officers. 😳 After leaving one of the roundabouts, I found myself cruising along in a lane that was lined with cones. After a mile or so and no end in sight to the cones, I decided to do my best Mario Andretti and whip it back into the proper lane. While I was thoroughly impressed, the Prestwick police department had a different take on the matter.  After some time for reflection and discussion at the next roundabout with said officers, we were on our way again. For those of you familiar with our travels and this blog, you may well remember the Police Lorry I had the chance to visit when we first got to Liverpool several years ago. Some call it trouble, I call it community outreach and getting to know the locals. Don't judge!





This is our first trip back to Turnberry since the Trump organization took it over several years ago. The hotel and property were already outstanding. After the renovations the new Trump Turnberry is even better. They've taken a beautiful hotel, set in a perfect place, and made it even better. Well done POTUS! 



The picture above is of my office for the next several days. This is view that will inspire the Fairways and Dreams blog for now. The two pictures below are from upstairs in the hotel. The hallways are filled with beautiful vintage photographs, detailing the history of this historic place as well as the history is this great game of golf. You cannot tell the history of the game without Old Tom Morris! 



 This chandelier is hanging in the main staircase of the hotel. Absolutely beautiful!




 As wonderful as the hotel is inside, the best part to me is what's outside. First things first! Our travels have taught us that the best thing for everyone is to make sure my sweet wife gets to the spa as soon as possible on day one. The Turnberry Spa is one of Kristen's favorites. After getting her all settled in over there, I was off, slated to play the newly minted Robert the Bruce Course here at Turnberry with a second round at the championship Ailsa course tomorrow morning. I was anxious to see the new course as well as the revisions done to Ailsa. As you can see from the pictures below, the weather was beautiful here today. Sunny, breezy and cool.....perfect for an afternoon walkabout. See below for a few of the pics I was able to take before my phone died. The first couple shots are from the short game area. I love looking back up the hill there. I wonder if the original developers could have imagined what they were giving us so many years later.







The next two are a couple of shots from the front nine. The Par 5 8th hole tees off, dead into the prevailing winds, from the highest point on the course. The winds were steady at 20+ mph. I love the back drop of the Ailsa Craig off in the distance behind the ever present Turnberry lighthouse. The last shot of the day was a good one. It was of the Par 4 9th. It's actually taken from the 8th tee. Regardless, you can see how pretty the hole is, sitting hard along the Irish Sea to the left. I love the craggy coastline that adorns these shores. Such a pretty place!






Upon my return from the course, Kristen was back in the room, rested and relaxed. The Spa worked its magic and failed to disappoint. Many thanks! We made a quick turnaround for dinner as we were both fading fast. Exhaustion was setting in quickly after such a long day. We walked across to the "Duel in the Sun" for dinner in the grill room of the club. With nearly 180 degree views of the course from here, it proved a wonderful place to watch the sun set on a great first day for our 2017 Getaway. Now, had you been paying attention throughout today's entry, I said comedy of errors, pleural, earlier. Well, I have one more story to tell for today. As I mentioned at the outset, we travel a lot and often do so with a sound machine. Sadly, the aforementioned sound machine met its fate here on the shores of Western Scotland. Shortly after turning on the machine for the night, we heard a pop and then smoke started beginning billowing out. If not for the Grace of God and my catlike reflexes, Trump Turnberry might have been reduced to ashes. That is all!


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