Country Vacations & Resorts

The #1 question of the year 2012 on this blog has been:

“Where was the movie, “War Horse” filmed?

Not only can we answer the question again, but we’ve also found you a perfect vacation rental from which to enjoy the same beautiful countryside! The UK Vacation Cottage of the Month for January is Owl’s Roost – at the edge of Dartmoor National Park.

Owls’ Roost, Tavistock

For a one bedroom one bath cottage, Owl’s Roost packs a lot of amenities in a quaint package. This character barn conversion has exposed beamed ceilings, a luxury bath with separate shower, fresh flowers, tea, and complimentary wine on arrival – and when available (hens willing!), fresh and very local eggs!

The large one bedroom is spacious and boasts a King-sized pine bed – clean linens are also provided.

The luxury bath will give you a great place to unwind after your walks or cycle rides on historic and scenic Dartmoor.

The living room has a large TV along with a DVD player and a CD/radio system. Relax next to the wood stove and review the provided maps and guidebooks of the local area. Free WiFi is available for your convenience.

And it gets even better!

One of your hosts is a fully qualified therapist in Reflexology, Holistic Massage, Healing/Reiki, and Bowen so why not enjoy a relaxing, rejuvenating treatment during your stay? Plan a long holiday at Owl’s Roost cottage for an exclusive country resort experience!

The Owls’ Roost kitchen has everything you’ll need – along with complimentary teas and coffee. With laundry facilities on site – all you need to bring is yourself, a beach towel or two, and some comfortable walking shoes or hiking boots. You’ll need those to take advantage of Owls’ Roost’s incredible and scenic location…

Where “Joey” likes to run…

Much of the filming of Steve Spielberg’s “War Horse” took place in and around Dartmoor National Park. Anyone who has seen the film could not possibly miss the natural beauty of this historic area of England.

Fortunately for reader’s of Country Vacations & Resorts, you can not only stay near the filming location, but you can also take a guided “War Horse” walking tour with your host Nick and his “best friend, ” Sky!

Also in easy walking distance, above Tavistock, and right off a adjoining bridlepath is Cox Tor – a 1,450 foot summit from which you can enjoy a panoramic view of your spot at Owl’s Roost and the surrounding countryside. You might even get to see some paragliders if the wind is just right!

So…a luxurious English cottage, countryside good enough to suit a perfectionist like Steven Spielberg, therapeutic treatments, complimentary “goodies,” and the beautiful beaches of Devon nearby…

What more could you ask for from a “accommodating” country vacation?

More from our “Cottage of the Month” series…

Time really does fly – whether you’re having fun or not!

I noticed Valentine’s Day products are already in stores which will then be replaced with Easter basket displays followed quickly by July 4th party items – probably by 1 June! Normally I find this sales push quite annoying but for vacation planning – the earlier you start the better.


If you’re running short on ideas for your 2012 vacation, spending some time at http://www.trustedtours.com might help.

They can provide tickets to top US sightseeing tours, world class attractions, museums and other amazing things to do while on vacation. The selection is huge and includes over 500 products in 23 top city destinations including New York City, Boston, San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas, Key West, Miami, Chicago, Washington DC and more!

You can also get travel assistance with:

- Sightseeing Tours
- Helicopter Tours
- Whale Watching Excursions
- Airport Transfers
- Bicycle Tours and Rentals
- Dinner Theater Productions
- Rail Tours

If I had school-aged kids, I think I’d plop them in front of the Trusted Tours web site and let them propose some destination ideas for their own summer vacation!

2012 will be a big year for travel to the United Kingdom. There’s the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee from the 2nd through the 5th of June, 2012. You can read some details on celebration plans here. I also wrote a post about the amazing Queen last month – this jubilee is a well-deserved honor for both the Queen and her country.

As if that wasn’t enough, add the XXX Summer Olympic Games – held 27 July to 12 August 2012 in and around London. Think of the location of the 2012 Olympics as almost a gift to the Queen. Tourism will be HUGE for the Olympics and anyone planning to be anywhere in Great Britain during this particular time frame had better be making arrangements NOW!

Here’s something you will find very useful from our friends at My Favourite Holiday Cottages. You’ll recognize them from the UK Vacation Cottage of the Month series on this blog.

From their web site, simply click the red “My Favourites Favourites” logIn button and do a quick registration on the site – totally painless. You can then save the results of your searches for the perfect English cottage right on the site. I have a little insider info that there are now over 300 cottages listed. Make some coffee, or some tea, and plan a nice long visit – this will be fun!

Not ready to book today? Well, don’t wait too long if you’re just contemplating 2012 visits, and an even better reason to start working on your portfolio. Even though the Olympics are focused on London, the entire country will no doubt be a #1 travel destination for 2012.

Happy planning…and don’t forget new “Downton Abbey” and “Doc Martin” episodes are also coming up in 2012 for those in the US! I’m ready for a return to “Portwenn” – otherwise known as Port Issac, Cornwall. Here are a few cottages there to get you started…

Time in Office: January 1969 to August 1974
Terms: One +
Birthday: January 9, 1913
Birth Place: Yorba Linda, California
Date of Death: April 22, 1994
Place of Death: Cornell Medical Center, Manhattan, New York
Buried: Yorba Linda, California

Notes:

~ An avid walker
~ Played several musical instruments
~ “President” of his 8th grade class
~ Won numerous debating awards
~ Wrote the bestselling book “Six Crises” (1962)
~ Served 8 years as Vice President
~ First incumbent President to visit the People’s Republic of China
~ Established the Environmental Protection Agency
~ Wrote 10 books during his retirement

The 37th President of the United States, Richard Milhouse Nixon was born in a small farmhouse built by his father but was raised mainly in nearby Whittier, California.

Having moved and then transferring schools in his early years, Nixon graduated 3rd in his class from Whittier High School and was offered a grant to Harvard. He was unable to accept due to family responsibilities and instead attended Whittier College – graduating in 1934. Richard received a full scholarship to Duke University School of Law (North Carolina,) where he graduated near the top of his class in 1937.

Nixon had hoped to work for the FBI but instead found himself practicing law back in Whittier. Cast in a local theater production, Nixon met Thelma “Pat” Ryan whom he married in 1940. In 1942 Nixon accepted a job in Washington, DC and later in that same year he joined the US Navy – serving stateside and in the South West Pacific theater. He resigned from the Navy in 1946.

Most of the next 30+ years Nixon’s life was totally involved in politics. His political career began with his election to the US House of Representatives – January 1947 to December 1950. He was then elected US Senator from California – December 1950 to January 1953. Later in January 1953 he became the 36th Vice President of the United States – a office he held until January 1961.

From 1961 to 1967, Nixon traveled to Europe with his family, meeting with leaders in an unofficial capacity. He moved his family to New York where he was senior partner in the law firm Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie & Alexander. Nixon had stated that he was not interested in a run for President and seemed disillusioned by politics but by the end of 1967 he had changed his mind and by January 20, 1969 he was President. He was re-elected in 1972 and impeached August 1974. Nixon is the only President ever forced to resign while in office.

Nixon – “Traveling Man”

It gets more difficult to cover Presidential travel now that Air Force One and air travel are the main means of transportation. Current era Presidents, unlike Jefferson and Jackson who got around either on horseback, by carriage, or by slow, ocean-going vessels – can and do visit several countries in the same week. As example, President Nixon visited the following countries in the year 1969 alone:

~ Belgium ~ UK ~ Italy ~ Germany ~ France ~ Indonesia ~ Phillipines ~ Thailand
~ Viet Nam ~ Pakistan ~ Romania ~ Mexico

In 1970, Nixon visited:

~Mexico ~Italy ~Yugoslavia ~Spain ~UK ~Ireland ~France ~Portugal ~Bermuda
~China ~Canada ~Austria ~USSR ~Iran ~Poland ~Iceland ~Egypt ~Saudi Arabia
~Israel ~Jordan ~Belgium

The purpose of most Presidential travel is State or “official visits,” or to attend memorial services for foreign dignitaries. Use of the radio call sign “Air Force One” began in 1953 when a plane carrying President Dwight Eisenhower had a near miss with a commercial plane using a prior, similar call sign. “Air Force One” is now notification to air traffic control as a plane transporting the President of the United States.

Flying via Air Force One, which Nixon named “The Spirit of ’76″ is now “standard procedure” for US Presidents. One of the two planes used during this timeframe was a Boeing 707 – tail number “26000″ which also flew John F. Kennedy to Dallas in 1963.

The U. S. S. Sequoia, placed in service in 1920, has been used by Presidents including Nixon – who played the piano while onboard. The Sequoia is docked near Washington, DC and is open for tours and even rentals! The Sequoia was possibly the first handicapped-accessible boat since it was outfitted to provide wheelchair access for Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Vacations and time off were spent at Camp David, Maryland. President Nixon used Camp David as much as his 5 predecessors combined. Nixon also spent much time at the “Florida White House” which was his private compound on Key Biscayne, Florida and which he visited more than 50 times while in office between 1969 and 1974.

“La Casa Pacifica” (The Pacific House), which overlooked the beach in San Clemente, California was also known as the “Western White House.” The home is now a private residence and closed to the public.

Time magazine reported that some $10.5 million tax dollars went in to the “refurbishment” of these two estates. The Key Biscayne property had a floating helicopter pad…and you can now rent it yourself…maybe for your next vacation?

Nixon suffered a severe stroke while at his home in New Jersey, April 1994. He died April 22, 1994 at the age of 81. His funeral was attended by 5 living Presidents. Nixon is buried next to his wife Pat – who had died in 1993, at the Nixon Library and Birthplace. He was survived by his two daughters, Tricia and Julie.

Links:

Nixon Library & Birthplace
An essay on Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon – The Politician
Nixon’s Resignation Speech

Prior President: Lyndon B. Johnson
Next: Gerald R. Ford

The Traveling with the Presidents Series.

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Time in Office: April 1945- January 1953
Terms: Less than 2 – assumed office after Roosevelt’s death
Birthday: May 8, 1884
Birth Place: Lamar, Missouri
Date of Death: December 26, 1972
Place of Death: Kansas City, Missouri
Buried: Truman Library – Independence, Missouri

Notes:
~ Middle initial “S” but no middle name
~ Was legally blind in one eye
~ A member of the Freemasons
~ Had several business failures
~ Inaguration was the first televised nationally
~ Only President who served after 1897 without a college degree
~ “Time” magazine’s “Man of the Year” – 1945 and 1948
~ Created and organized the Department of Defense
~ Approved the Berlin Airlift
~ Received the first ever Medicare card

Photo Credit: Young Harry S. Truman
Trumanlibrary.org

Born into a farming family, Harry S. Truman, America’s 33rd President, spent most of his formative years in Independence, Missouri. Harry didn’t attend a traditional school until the age of 8 but he loved to read – having been taught by his college-educated mother, and he loved both history and music.

Harry would get up at 5am to practice piano for two hours each morning before heading off to school. A somewhat quiet and bookish young man, Harry served as a page at the 1900 Democratic National Convention in Kansas City, graduated from Independence High School in 1901, and began looking for ways to earn a living – working various clerical positions in the Independence and Kansas City areas. In 1906, his father called him home to help work the farm which Harry did without complaint.

In 1905-1911 Harry was also a member of the Missouri Army National Guard. His eyesight was so poor in one eye that Harry passed the physical exam only by memorizing the eye chart in advance. In 1911 Harry also made his first proposal to Elizabeth “Bess” Wallace – a girl he had loved since he’d first met her at Sunday School at the age of 5. She rejected him and in Harry’s practical mind, she should have since he was, according to himself, a rather useless farm boy!

Prior to leaving for the war Harry was sent to Camp Doniphan in Oklahoma and then on to France. Rising to the rank of Colonel, Harry first exhibited leadership qualities and his successful war record would, in future, help him politically. At war’s end, Harry was in a bit of a hurry to get back to Missouri. His second proposal to Bess had been accepted and in June 1919 they married.

After a haberdashery business failure Truman, with the aide of a wealthy but shady local political bigwig, was elected county commisioner for Jackson County, Missouri. He became popular due to his diligence and willingness to work hard for the good of the county and it’s citizens but the connection to his benefactor who had connections to organized crime, constantly plagued him. Backed by the same benefactor, (Thomas Pendergast) in a run for the Senate in 1934, Truman would win the election, but arrive in Washington with a reputation as having bought or stolen his election. Truman would spend the next several years earning the respect of his senatorial peers.

Harry moved his wife Bess and his daughter Margaret to a rented apartment in Washington, but Bess was not pleased to be there. Having spent her entire adult life living – even after marriage – with her mother in what was her mother’s home, Bess returned to Independence, Missouri though she and Harry communicated by letter almost daily. Harry took his job as Senator very seriously and began the committee that exposed fraud and waste in military contracting during World War II.

Presidential Travel – Harry S. Truman

His honesty and willingness to dig for the details brought him to national notice and when the party was looking for an acceptable Vice Presidential nominee to Franklin’s Presidential election in 1944 – Harry was selected. Party members knew that Roosevelt’s health was deteriorating and Truman’s eventual win as Roosevelt’s VP almost guaranteed he would one day be President.

After only 82 days as Vice President, Truman learned that Roosevelt had died. His panic and feelings of being unprepared and unworthy to serve as President were summed up in his quote,”…I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me.” (More quotes from Harry)

With no time to waste Harry immediately learned about underway plans for an atomic bomb, and was soon attending the Potsdam Conference in Europe. By august, with the Japanese unwilling to surrender, Truman authorized use of the atomic bomb:

In 1950 he would approve development of the hydrogen bomb – 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic version.

Truman’s re-election would prove an arduous and seemingly impossible task. The US transition from war-time to peace-time had not gone smoothly and Truman was held responsbile. His efforts to win re-election took him over 21,000 miles across the United States in 1948. While supportive crowds continued to grow as news of Truman’s “Whistlestop” train tour spread, political pollsters predicted Truman would lose the election to his rival, Republican Thomas Dewey. Truman won the election – photographed proudly waving newspapers with headlines predicting his loss.

Not long after his inauguration, the Truman family was moved to Blair House in Washington, DC while extensive renovations were done at the White House. On November 1, 1950 an assassination attempt was made against Truman while he was still living there. Although it would have been allowed, despite the new 22nd amendment against third-term Presidents, by 1952, Truman decided not to run for re-election.

In 1956 Truman traveled to Europe and, after accepting an offer to give a speech in Philadelphia, drove himself and his wife, turning down “official” transport. In 1972 Truman was admitted to a Kansas City hospital suffering from pnuemonia. On December 26, 1972, at the age of 88, he died. He was buried at the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri. His wife Bess joined him there in 1982.

Links:
Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum
Harry S. Truman National Historic Site

Former President, #32 – Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Up next, America’s 34th President, Dwight D. Eisenhower

Series: “Traveling with American Presidents“

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