Close your eyes and think of grass – as green as the first day of creation. Breathe in the crystalline air that tastes as if it was distilled through pine branches. Picture a kaleidoscope of flowers – dogwood, azaleas, magnolias, and camellias.  Pretend you’re walking along a twisting pathway with a pine-straw floor that leads to a storybook village with a chiming church bell, a village green, and dozens of clapboard cottages with names like Red Gables, White Shingles, Whispering Pines, and The Hawthorne. Now open your eyes.  Welcome toPinehurst, North Carolina. Designed by Frederick Law Olmstead at the turn of the last century, the village offers the quiet serenity of a New England style village. Beside it, and tucked between long leaf and loblolly pines in the sandhills of one of the prettiest states south of the 49th parallel is Pinehurst Resort, home to a handful of world-class courses, including Nos. 1 through 8.  Pinehurst No. 2 is the jewel on this necklace of courses, built nearly a century ago by Donald Ross, the Michelangelo of golf course design. Ross apprenticed under Old Tom Morris of St. Andrews, so it’s little wonder that Pinehurst is often referred to as the St. Andrews of American golf. The sport’s bible, Golf Digest, once named Pinehurst the third-best resort in the world, trailing only the Monterey Peninsula in California, and you guessed it, the hallowed grounds along the Fife coast.

The Mid South Club and Talamore Resort are also located kittycorner to the village ofPinehurst, and just east is another gem, the town of Southern Pines, which boasts a delightful golf pedigree, as well as some of the finest equestrian facilities in North America. Pinehurst No. 2 is the most fastidiously built in all of golfdom. It was home to the 1999 U.S. Open, won in stirring fashion by the late and great Payne Stewart, and also hosted the 2005 championship. But in 2014, No. 2 will do something unparalleled in golf history: it will host both the U.S. Women’s and Men’s Opens in consecutive weeks. Pinehurst No. 2 is the vade mecum of American courses. It’s Spartan golf, and played as it should be played – on sand-based turf, with little water, no rough and saucer-shaped greens that demand precise shot making and steely nerves. Bill Campbell, one of America’s greatest amateurs, and four-time winner of the North and South Championship played at the course, once said:  “Pinehurst is more than good golf courses. It is a state of mind and a feeling for the game, its anesthetics, courtesies and emotions.” When Stewart, then 42, sunk his winning putt on the 72nd hole, he fell forward and landed on one foot – like a stork standing in a green pool. That seminal moment is indelibly imprinted in the minds of millions of golf fans and captured forever in a life sized bronze statue that now sits comely beside the 18th green.  It gained added poignancy when only a few months later a private plane carrying Stewart crashed and killed the two-time Open champion.

Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina with time to luxuriate in Pinehurst Resort’s 36,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art Spa (try the Mint Julep Wrap), or enjoy a classic buffet breakfast from the country kitchen at The Carolina hotel (dubbed ‘The Queen of the South’). Located between Charlotte and Raleigh, in south-central North Carolina, the resort is the Holy Grail for Canadians in desperate need of a golf fix. The surrounding area of Pinehurst, Southern Pines and Aberdeen boasts 43 well-manicured playpens including the Talamore Golf Resort, the Village of Pinehurst area’s newest 36-hole resort featuring two great courses, Mid South Club designed by Arnold Palmer and Talamore Golf Club by Ress Jones along with luxurious golf villas and lodges. No ordinary golf course receives the kind of acclaim and international praise that has been given to Talamore’s 18-hole course since it’s opening in 1991. Talamore Golf Club, a 7,020 yard course has been ranked in the forefront of outstanding courses in the Village of Pinehurst area; an area which has been known for its golfing traditions for over a century. Talamore was also made famous by instituting the firstllama caddy program.  Availability is limited to have one of these precious animals escort you around the links.  It certainly makes for an unforgettable day. The Mid South Club, Arnold Palmer signature golf course offers its members a challenging yet enjoyable championship layout on which to test their skills. Located just minutes from the historic village of Village of Pinehurst, North Carolina, the Mid South Club is one of the Carolinas most attractive private residential golf communities. Five hundred forty five acres of longleaf pine forests, lakes and gently rolling hillsides provide a backdrop for a place of beauty and serenity.

Millions of Americans have found the rejuvenating pine air, the southern fried hospitality, the stately beauty of The Carolina, and the timelessness of the village itself as a welcome respite from the daily grind of kids, work, traffic, bills, crime, and an economy turned suddenly sour.

Maybe that’s what drove Bostonian James Walker Tufts to found the resort in 1895. He carved a little chunk of New England in the heart of Andy of Mayberry country.

There’s a charming duality about Pinehurst that’s derived from this crossweaving of north and south. The cottages are named after plants, flowers or streets from New England. But make no mistake about it; Pinehurst is dripping in southern charm.

The village is one of two towns in the nation to be designated a National Historic Landmark, and its quaint array of shops, boutiques, restaurants and art galleries, offer a fetching allure that will quickly whisk you into a different world – as if you were Alice falling through the looking glass.

There’s an unhurried pace about the place, and each day has a quiet ordination about it: breakfast, golf, a walk in the village, dinner at one of a dozen great eateries, and a late-night drink at the local watering holes, – Hacker’s, Dugan’s (my favorite) or the Pinecrest.  That go-slow pace – almost a step back in time – is what separates Pinehurst from any town or village or resort I’ve ever visited.

The Village Green is an oval of land a couple hundred yards long nestled between the golf courses and the village. On it are a hundred pine trees, a library and a church. From the church spire several times a day come the sweet strains of the Coe Memorial Carillon. Chimes announce each hour, and this sound bleeds through the trees and out onto the courses. It’s almost a religious experience to play the first or second holes at No. 2 facing a twisting sidehill six-footer for par with the carillon’s sounding ‘Christ The Lord is Risen Today’ as a backdrop. Few rounds in the world are ever played to musical accompaniment. – and this is just another sequin added on to the Pinehurst experience.

No wonder Pinehurst Resort was in the crosshairs for stressed-out northerners motoring south to the Florida beaches during its halcyon days – the 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s.  It became a magnet for business tycoons like the Rockefellers, the DuPonts and the Morgans. It also drew an eclectic mix of adventurers like Annie Oakley (she taught shooting there) and Amelia Earhart, who landed her plane on the resort’s airstrip. Humourist Will Rogers loved to play polo in the area. Crooner Bing Crosby went there for the golf. Other Hollywood stars and starlets just loved to relax and breathe deep the perfumed air. Ben Hogan won his first professional title in 1940 at Pinehurst.

But slowly, almost imperceptibly, golf became the ruling passion of the resort’s soul, making its day-to-day existence even more profound. Thanks for that goes to Ross. He spent 48 years at Pinehurst designing and reshaping the resort’s first four courses. He designed four courses in nearby Southern Pines including Mid Pines, Pine Needles and two courses, one nine and one 18 holes at the Southern Pines Golf Club (known today as the Southern Pines Elks Club). Overall, the Scot has his name attached to over 400 courses in North America.

The romance of the Pinehurst Resort now runs deep.  Hogan, Snead, Palmer, Player, Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods have strolled its fairways – all perplexed by its subtle greatness. Phil Mickelson calls No. 2 “the best test of golf I’ve played in a major championship.”Ben Crenshaw, the two-time Masters champion, is even more effusive in his praise: “I look at these greens and I scratch my head. The movement is magical. You try to grasp it, to put those dimensions in your mind. They’re so distinct. It’s symphonic.”

While Ross was sprinkling fairy dust on Pinehurst No.2 and his other course designs, the legendary Peggy Kirk Bell, one of the founders of the LPGA Tour, was creating ‘Golfari’, – a takeoff on safari, with a golfing twist. Pine Needles and Mid Pines have become synonymous with her name, and one of the top destinations for women golfers in North America. Even today, at age 86, the North Carolina hall of famer is a great booster of the Pinehurst/Southern Pines/Aberdeen region. You can still find her hitting balls at the Lodge at Pine Needles, leaning on her titanium hip, a perfect bridge between past and present day.

If the Pinehurst area is a Mecca for chilled northerners looking for a warm golf retreat, what about the rest of North Carolina?  For me, it’s the most understated of states.

Located 12 hours south by car from Canada’s largest city, Toronto, North Carolina is shaped like a wedge of pie, turned sideways. If it stood on its head it would stretch all the way to Canada. If NC is a dozen hours drive from southern Ontario, it’s also a 14-hour drive across its breadth, from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Atlantic coast.

And what a coastline. The Grand Strand is a continuous stretch that links Wilmington, NC in the north with Myrtle Beach, SC to the south. To the north are The Outer Banks, pristine and windswept, that for over 400 years have drawn travelers and castaways. This is where the Wright Brothers’ first airplane flight took place in windy Kitty Hawk. Further south is Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge an eco-lovers delight, and if you follow the seashore southward, you can take the Hatteras ferry to Ocracoke Island, with its bucolic village and home to the wild ponies.

Brunswick County is the epicenter of the “Golf Coast” and has more than 30 daily fee courses designed by the game’s most recognizable architects. Who wouldn’t want to travel in a county with place names like Sunset Beach, Ocean Isle Beach, Oak Island, Holden Beach and Bald Head Island? And the town of Calabash holds the title of “Seafood Capital of the World!” Bald Head Island Golf Club, located on the magical outer island of the same name, is just one of the amazing courses that been designed with the Atlantic Ocean acting as a natural backdrop. The trip there aboard the local ferry and the warm welcome you get once on dry land, where golf carts are the only means of transportation, make a visit there all worthwhile. Canadian owned and operated North Carolina Golf Vacation has provided golfers across North America with affordable golf vacations and access to more than 30 quality courses and two fine locations for accommodations are offered in Wilmington and on the beaches at Oak Island. For information on golf packages visit www.ncgolfvacation.comfor details.

Leopard’s Chase is the most recent of four (soon to be five) cat-theme named courses within Ocean Ridge Plantation in Sunset Beach. Tiger’s Eye, Leopard’s Chase and Lion’s Paw sound like the purr-fect golfing stops.

And don’t miss Farmstead Golf Links in Calabash featuring one of the world’s longest holes, the 767 yard 18th.

If that’s not quirky enough, get this: the par 6 tees off in South Carolina and plays to a green in NC. How many golf holes allow you to traverse a state line and still offer up a chance for birdie?

Golf saturated holidays seems passé these days. Sure, today’s golfer wants to play the great layouts, but the state is also a sports lover’s delight, from NHL hockey (Carolina Hurricanes) in Raleigh (the state capital), to NFL and NBA teams in Charlotte. The NASCAR Hall of Fame opens in May 2010; a half-hour drive away is Cabarrus, the racing side of Charlotte and home to Lowes Motor Speedway and two of NASCAR’s biggest races, the Bank of America and Coca-Cola 500. If fantasy-driving camps are your thing, sign up for the Richard Petty or Jeff Gordon school that will have you banking a souped up sports car at 160 mph. The newest addition to the adrenaline rush is the zMAX Dragstrip, where you can load yourself into a charged-up racer and chew up the track. In nearby Mooresville, you can take the ‘5 off 5 on Challenge’, and watch as race-car pit crews train in order to change a set of car tires in under 13 seconds.

How about a visit to the U.S. National Whitewater Center, ten minutes from downtown Charlotte? Training ground to the U.S. and Canadian Olympic whitewater kayaking teams, this man-made water world has four channels and Class 3 and Class 4 rapids. Even if you’ve never paddled before, you can take part in an 8-man white water rafting event. For land lovers, spread across 307 acres is other challenges including: wall climbing, zip lines, ropes courses and bike riding along intricate trails.

Want to catch some college hoops or football? The state is overflowing with teams, from the legendary b-ball programs at Wake Forest to Duke, to the University of North Carolina, and NC State.

But golf is the magic elixir that draws half-frozen Canadians to this sun-splashed state year round. In Fayetteville (home to the legendary Raymond Floyd) you can phone ahead for “Golf on the Ready,’ where seven championship clubs participate in a program that promises a tee-off time for all comers.

If you swing cross state to the mountain side, anticipation is growing for opening day at the Cliffs at High Carolina, just outside Asheville. It’s the first Tiger Woods designed course in the U.S., and is slated to spring to life in mid-2010.

You can see what the excitement is about by going to www.discoverhighcarolina.com.

If you love the opulence of the gilded age, you must include a trip to Asheville and the Biltmore Estate. It’s the largest home in America, 250 rooms surrounded by a winery – the most visited vineyard in the U.S. (sorry California).

The home was built by the Vanderbilts and is a marvel of design and high living. The Grand Bohemian Hotel Asheville is located just steps away from the Biltmore Estate, and it holds authentic old-world charm, and a rustic ambiance that’s Tudor inspired. Asheville is an artist’s town and the hotels are amongst the best.  A stay in town is like a mini-vacation.

If Raleigh and Charlotte are two hours apart, located in between is some of the prettiest wine country in the world. There are 89 wineries in the state (triple the number since 2001), and 20 are grouped together in the fertile appellation Yadkin Valley. The rich soil and cooler climate combine to create the state’s famous Muscadine and Vinifera grapes.  The Scuppermong variety is the first grape cultivated in the U.S. and is the official fruit of North Carolina. A 400-year-old Scuppermong vine is the oldest in the U.S.

Childress Vineyards is one of the best, owned and operated by NASCAR legend Richard Childress. The 2009 Harvest Party was a “Grape-Stomping Fun Time” and included sampling, entertainment, and red wine pairings. Add Childress’ famous swine wine to nearby Lexington’s BBQ Capital and you have the makings of a feast! Located between Charlotte and Winston Salem, the Childress Vineyards are just one example of an industry that is reshaping the face of North Carolina.

The Raleigh area is known as the research triangle, but a trip there has to include a hearty breakfast at Big Ed’s City Market and dinner at the Angus Barn, a steak house par excellence.

The chatter at Big Ed’s is twangy and fun-filled, and if you’re lucky enough to meet Big Ed (and he is big!), then you’re in for an extra treat. Another promise: the food comes in heaping helpings, so bring a big appetite.

Here is a sampling of critiques from recent visitors: “Delicious.” “Pancake was huge.” “Awesome food and service.”

And at the Angus Barn: “One of the region’s, if not the nation’s best steakhouses.”

The price points for visits to North Carolina are more than reasonable, and long-term stays at many of the resorts (one month or longer) further chip away at the costs. Visitwww.golf.visitnc.com for details.

There are direct non-stop flights from Toronto to Raleigh and Charlotte that take only two hours, and a direct non-stop flight from Montreal to Charlotte is also popular. Still, 70 per cent of the traffic from Canada winds its way to North Carolina via the car.

Upon arrival, you’re met with a smorgasbord of choices.

Driving through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park or along the world-famous Blue Ridge Parkway (and the Linn Cove Viaduct that wraps around Grandfather Mountain), offers breathless vistas. Fun seekers can visit Harrahs Hotel & Casino and Sequoyah National Golf Club in Cherokee.

The Brunswick Plantation Golf Resort (1,400 acres, three golf courses, oceans views, and condo rentals) is another must-stop.

But all roads lead back to beautiful, bucolic, magical Pinehurst village.

Whether the infamous Pinehurst No. 2 acts as a magnet for golfers willing to test themselves against the best, or visitors simply want to mix up their visit by luxuriating in a storybook village where time stands still, there’s always a good reason why Canadian travelers should have Carolina on their mind.

Looking for something different?

Visit the National Hollerin’ Contest in Spivey or add a visit to Mount Airy the hometown of actor Andy Griffith. It’s a carbon copy of fictional Mayberry and fans of the popular 60s sitcom often wax nostalgic about simpler times when they pass through.

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