Welcome to the #AtoZ Blog Challenge and a Tour of Hotels & Inns

Take time to watch a youtube video of a Pinehurst destination

The first time I visited The Carolina Hotel in Pinehurst was December 5, 1995. A group of women friends drove from Governors Club in Chapel Hill, NC, where we were living at the time. I remember this because it was 72 degrees! Having moved from the North Shore of Chicago, a place that could be knee deep in snow by then, cold and damp, the novelty of warm weather in December was memorable. In the lobby of the hotel we were greeted with a Christmas tree that held us spell bound. My husband tells a story that was my reply to living in Pinehurst when we began to think of retirement and moving south. Bob played golf in the area for years on ‘business trips’ when working for Leo Burnett Advertising. When he suggested that we could live in Pinehurst and drive to Chapel Hill, a place I was interested in,  I replied,  “How about we live in Chapel where there is abundant sports, culture, enrichment, and you drive to Pinehurst when you want to play golf.”  A Jack Nichol’s designed golf course at Governors Club settled the matter. Don’t miss an opportunity to come to Pinehurst and enjoy the Hotel and the charming village that surrounds it. It is worth the trip.

Founded in 1895, Pinehurst Resort encompasses three historic hotels. It was founded by Boston soda fountain magnate James Walker Tufts. He purchased 5,500 acres for approximately $1.25 per acre in 1895. Pinehurst Resort and its village were designed by famed landscape architect Fredrick law Olmsted as a health retreat in a mild Southern climate. Wide verandas, afternoon tea, walking pathways meander through the quaint New England-style village, which is full of shops, galleries, and other historic and cultural attractions.

The first golf course was laid out in 1897/98, “Pinehurst No. 2,” was completed in 1907 to designs by Donald Ross, who became associated with Pinehurst for nearly half a century. After Pinehurst No. 2 was opened in 1907, Donald Ross said that the course was, “The fairest test of championship golf I have ever designed.”

Harry Leon Wilson, when friends tried to induce him to play golf said:                                “Golf has too much walking to be a good game, and just enough game to spoil a good walk.”