The Travel Thread - 2022 edition

[ChrisLong]

Heads up, but if you're traveling to the UK you now need to apply for an ETA in addition to having your passport. Feels like a $12.98 money grab by the UK government, but whatever. Took about 10 minutes and was approved almost immediately. When they describe the "chip" on your passport, for U.S. residents, they mean the barcode on the back inside cover of your passport, not the chip that's on front of it.

Apply for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA)

Thanks, we booked a cruise for September, so there isn't a time crunch. Starts and ends in England. The next day I got an email about the UK visa. Everybody has their hands out.

 

[qtlaw]

I lucked out, Spanish Bay Wed then Pebble Thur with high of 63, low 47, light breezes and sunny.

 

[Cosmo]

Going on a golf media junket this week to @Batman country. I've driven through Mississippi but haven't spent real time there, looking forward to it. Flying into Biloxi-Gulfport tomorrow and we'll weave our way up through Jackson and Tunica and I'll eventually fly out of Memphis on Saturday. Lots of golf, music, good food, gambling, etc. I get paid for this?

 

[dixiehack]

I suggest you savor the coast and let those memories sustain you through Jackson and the Delta.

 

[Batman]

I suggest you savor the coast and let those memories sustain you through Jackson and the Delta.

Hard to argue with that. There are some nice golf courses and areas around the Jackson Metro — the Country Club of Jackson hosts a PGA Tour event, and Annandale used to host it — but most of the city ain't exactly country club living.
The Delta is just a lot of empty space, for the most part. Except where there are signs of crushing poverty.

 

[dixiehack]

The Delta has a kind of stark beauty to it, similar to what I imagine a drive in the desert must feel like. But few people plan vacations around stark beauty. And I frankly don't see how Tunica can continue to hang on as a cut above "generic casino town" when there are so many options now.

 

[Cosmo]

Good thing about a FAM is that you'll never see the bad parts of anywhere you're going. Shell Landing was fine today but incredibly wet and we only finished 15 holes because we started late due to the storms and our host wanted us to experience the food at Coraline's at the Beau Rivage. (It was excellent). Fallen Oak in the morning, which is the crown of the courses we'll play this week. Much like the Alabama FAM I went on two years ago, you start in the south and eventually meander north. There's probably a reason why we're doing two nights here, as you all have pointed out. I honestly chose this particular trip because it's an area that our magazine has never explored, and the timing was right before we get into our championship season. Weather looks great until Saturday.

 

[Batman]

What other courses are you playing?

 

[Cosmo]

The Bridges at Hollywood Casino, Refuge Golf Club (Jackson), Tunica National, and River Bend Links ... though the last one is Saturday and the weather is looking rough, so we may opt for an earlier departure instead. I'd be OK with that. Have been on the road a lot of late.

 

[dixiehack]

Hopefully as you migrate north your hosts will arrange for you to hear some great music in a local joint or two. (Sadly the Subway Lounge in Jackson is no more.)

 

[Cosmo]

That's definitely part of the plan (and the pitch on the travel aspect of the story). Fallen Oak was fantastic by the way. I'll take 104 for my first posted round of the year playing on a high-level course with no local knowledge whilst breaking in brand new irons. Going to take a minute to dial in the distance on those. Was hitting my pitching wedge with the old ones about 75 yards and hit a solid 120 with one today. Oops.