Westfield Mall in San Diego
Marathon shoppers will be in heaven at Westfield Mall in San Diego. With 114 stores, including Macy’s, Nordstrom and the Apple Store, you’ll have no problem finding something for everyone on your list.

The shopping package from Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, San Diego North, makes your day even sweeter with a $100 gift card to the mall and a welcome bag with an energy bar, bottled water and more! A complimentary shuttle with take you from the hotel to the mall and back.

Legends Outlets in Kansas City
See the savings stack up at Legends Outlets in Kansas City. The stores and restaurants stretch over 1.2 million square feet! Your shopping package from Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Kansas City at Village West includes a $50 gift card you can use at any of the stores or restaurants. After a day of exploring Legends, rest your tired feel at the hotel’s heated indoor pool and hot tub.

Shop Your Style in Covington, LA
Browse through the antique shops in search of a one-of-a-kind gift, or hit the new shopping districts for the latest designer fashions. Your shopping package from the Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Covington, LA, includes a $50 Visa Gift Card you can spend wherever you’d like. The hotel is convenient to fantastic shopping, and you’ll get coupons and shopping guides to help you navigate the deals. Warm chocolate chip cookies will be waiting upon your return. And you’ll have plenty of room for all of those shopping bags in your upgraded suite.

Go Caving in Kentucky
Lost River Cave offers Kentucky’s only underground boat tour, taking visitors through some of the largest caves east of the Mississippi River. While at the park, you can hike nature trails, go bird watching or visit the butterfly habitat—a whole day’s worth of fun activities.

The Country Inn & Suites, Bowling Green, is only four miles from Lost River Cave, and has an indoor pool and fitness center. The Lost River Cave Package includes an overnight stay in a quality suite, plus two adult tickets to Lost River Cave.

Hit the Links in North Carolina
There are plenty of blue-sky days to spend on the fairways this fall. Birkdale Golf and Country Club in Lake Norman, NC, is an 18-hole Arnold Palmer-designed golf course right outside of Charlotte. This acclaimed course has well-manicured greens and challenging water hazards to keep you on your toes.

As part of the golf package at Country Inn & Suites, Lake Norman, you’ll get a suite with a king-sized bed and 18 holes of golf for two adults at Birkdale Golf Club. Also included is bottled water and various snacks for when you hit the course.

Bike through Lehigh Gorge
The trails that crisscross Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Gorge State Park take you through a railroad bed along the river, making for an unforgettable bike trip. Take the 15-mile ride down the Mid-Way trail, which is 100 percent downhill and takes about 2 to 4 hours to complete. Or for more of a challenge, opt for the 25-mile ride, which takes 3 to 5 hours and canvasses just a slightly downhill grade.

The Country Inn & Suites, Lehighton has biking packages for either route you choose. The packages include overnight accommodations, bike rental and shuttle service for two.

And don’t forget, any stay at a Country Inn & Suites by Carlson hotel always includes our free hot breakfast to help you start the day!

Sunny San Diego
Southern California is beautiful year-round, and San Diego has cultural attractions and sandy beaches to make everyone happy. The Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, San Diego North is 7 miles from downtown and is a great home base for your trip.

Take a picnic to Balboa Park, home to the San Diego Zoo and 15 museums. The grounds of the park are free to explore, and you can choose to visit the attractions based on your interest and budget. The park also has miles of hiking trails, a miniature railroad and a carousel.

San Diego also has beautiful beaches close to downtown. Drive or take the ferry across the bay to Coronado and enjoy one of the wide, family-friendly Coronado Beaches. And while you’re there, stroll the charming shops and restaurants of this lovely seaside town.

Action-Packed Atlanta
This southern city is brimming with attractions and events for families or couples. And there are plenty ofCountry Inn & Suites By Carlson^SM locations to choose from, all convenient to major sites.

Enjoy the warm, late-summer weather by exploring Piedmont Park, more than 180 acres in the city center with a lake and walking trails. It’s adjacent to the Atlanta Botanical Garden where you can spot native birds and walk through the treetops on a canopy bridge.

• Visit America’s oldest city and enjoy the great weather in sunny St. Augustine, Florida. With this hotel package from Country Inn & Suites – St. Augustine, Florida you’ll be treated to:
  • Two tickets per reservation for either the Red Sightseeing Train or the Old Town Trolley, which include unlimited on-and-off privileges for shopping, attractions and restaurants at more than 20 stops
• Tour New Orleans’ waterways by airboat. Country Inn & Suites New Orleans is proud to offer this Airboat package where you’ll ride through the depths of nature and experience a unique, once-in-a-lifetime adventure. This hotel package includes:
  • Two passes to Airboat Adventure
  • Pick-up and drop-off from hotel
• Explore Stone Mountain Park and enjoy this great family vacation destination from Country Inn & Suites – Stone Mountain, Georgia. Located on 3,200 acres of natural beauty, Stone Mountain Park features a wide variety of fun family activities. This offer includes:
  • Four all day, all attraction passes to Stone Mountain Park
• All Aboard! Take the trolley tour of Watertown. Enjoy VIP perks at all of Watertown’s Trolley stops with this hotel package from Country Inn & Suites By Carlson Watertown, South Dakota. This package includes:
  • One-night stay in a single king or double queen room for two at the newly renovated Country Inn & Suites
  • Free trolley fare and VIP perks at all Watertown trolley stops
  • Two tickets to Bramble Park Zoo
  • Keepsake cookie cutter and Mellette fan from the historic Mellette House
  • Terry Redlin exclusive edition print from the Redlin Art Center

And, as always at Country Inns & Suites, enjoy complimentary hot breakfast and free high-speed Internet in the U.S. and Canada.

Make this Fourth of July one to remember forever!

With more than 6 million people, the Dallas–Fort Worth area is one of the fastest-growing regions in the United States. But there’s still some folksy charm in an area that’s perfectly at home with the chic and fashionable, as well.

Day One
Start your day at upscale grocery store eat Zi’s, in the Oak Lawn neighborhood, minutes from downtown Dallas. Hit the grill and get breakfast sandwiches and fresh juice for everybody. Don’t forget an extra loaf of bread to feed the ducks.

Head two blocks east to Turtle Creek Boulevard; this is one of Dallas’ most tony neighborhoods, and the creek has plenty of shady spots to people-watch. Stop at Lee Park and see the classical architecture of historic Arlington Hall, built in 1939 and fully restored in 2002. The park itself dates back to 1903 and is one of the urban area’s treasured oases.

One of Dallas’ major airports is Love Field, which houses the Frontiers of Flight Museum in the terminal building. Take a flight through time with exhibits that range from the pioneering aviators of the 1920s to the rocket age that launched us into space. Kids love the old airplanes, hands-on models and interactive exhibits.

Head to the Knox-Henderson area and get ready for squeals of delight in Wild About Harry’s when your children try one of Dallas’ best frozen custard creations, such as “Mort’s Favorite” sundae with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, hot fudge, whipped cream and a cherry. Sit outside beside the giant hot dog and watch the world go by.

Afterward you might head next door to Knox Street Market, a grown-up toy store with posh knickknacks and gourmet treats. A little farther down the street, visit Iota, a fine arts and crafts store showcasing sculptors, painters, jewelry makers and designers.

Dinner is upscale at Abacus, just steps away. The contemporary global cuisine of chef Kent Rathbun has kept this restaurant flush with accolades. Our favorite? Wood-roasted beef tenderloin with red wine butter, truffle-whipped potatoes and baby vegetables ($39).

Day Two
Start your day in Uptown at the most popular brunch spot in the area, Bread Winner’s Bakery Bistro. Kids love the breakfast tacos, and grown-ups can opt for the French ham Benedict.

Head west on Interstate 30 to Cowtown—Fort Worth got this name because it was a stop along the Chisholm Trail . Start the adventure at the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. Head upstairs and have a video made of everyone “riding” the mechanical bucking bronc; it superimposes your image on an old-timey video of a rodeo that you can download from the Internet later.

The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History offers an IMAX theatre, as well as special exhibits.

Don your cowboy hat and step into cowboy lore when you walk across the street to the Fort Worth Stockyards, at the center of the Stockyards National Historic District. There are more than 50 shops and stalls inside, but be sure not to miss the herd of longhorns that will walk outside at 11:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Wild West Weekends mean gunfights, cattle roundups, the Pawnee Bill Wild West Show at Cowtown Coliseum and the Cowtown Cattlepen Maze.

If you have extra time, you might mosey on over to the Log Cabin Village, with all the sights of 19th-century Texas on 2.5 acres in Forest Park. 

 Author Bio: Leah Shafer was dancing to “Cotton-Eyed Joe” before she could ride a bicycle.

Stop by the pavilion inside the park and get geography and history lessons on the Georgia coast. Take notice of the intriguing displays that recount the lives of Ice Age animals that once roamed the area, along with information on the native peoples who occupied the land—the Timucua and Yamassee tribes. With easy access to the tidal creek and salt marsh habitats, anglers can try their luck at catching red drum, spotted sea trout, mullet, whiting and many other species.

Stand just on the edge of this sleepy Southern coastal town and take in the soft, blue-green marshlands, considered some of the most extensive, productive and famous in the world. The Marshes of Glynn Overlook Park allows you to experience to the fullest this unique stretch of the southeast Atlantic coast, beyond which you can also discover the white sands and tropical feel of St. Simons, Jekyll and Sea islands.

 With a four-square foundation symbolized by four downtown statues and an abundance of art, Charlotte, the Queen City of North Carolina, also teems with spectator sports.

By Irwin Speizer

The giant gold miner, pan in hand, is likely to be the first thing that catches your eye as you approach Independence Square, the intersection of Trade and Tryon streets in uptown Charlotte, North Carolina. This is the mythic heart of the city, an ancient Native American crossroads now crowded with skyscrapers that all seem to have sprouted yesterday. The miner looms 25 feet high, a bronze sentry standing guard over the bankers and financial wizards hurrying to the next deal. He is part of a family of four sculptures by Raymond Kaskey, one on each corner, that serve as a homage to the city’s near past and its emerging future. They are also a convenient guide to Charlotte’s arts and culture.

The Statues at Independence Square are earnest and direct, like the city they represent, and to make sure there’s no mistaking their meaning, each one displays an engraved title in its base. The miner symbolizes commerce; the woman mill worker, industry. The railroad worker stands for transportation. And the mother hoisting her child to the patch of sky visible between the office towers represents the future. Follow the hints offered by these statues and you get a pretty good overview of Charlotte’s heritage.

The Art of Downtown

You don’t need to look far to find examples of the marriage of commerce and culture. It’s in the modernistic architecture that dominates uptown, and in the lobbies of those buildings, which serve as showcases of the generous support of the arts that characterizes the compact downtown business district.

Step into the lobby of the tallest building in Charlotte, the 60-story Bank of America Corporate Center which dominates Independence Square, and you face a vibrant fresco by North Carolina native Ben Long, depicting a swarm of humanity hard at the task of building the future. Commissioned by the bank, the fresco consists of three panels, each 23 feet high by 18 feet wide, keeping at least a couple of visitors spellbound at any given moment. Just down Tryon Street is another Long fresco, commissioned by the bank for the arcade dome of the Transamerica Square building.

Another modern office building worth a visit is the Carillon Building, about two blocks east on Trade Street. The local offices of the U.S. Attorney are in this building, but you’d never guess it from the avant-garde art in the lobby. The centerpiece, titled Cascade, is a 40-foot-high Rube Goldberg–inspired mobile of rusted gears, wheels, animal skulls and other odd relics combined by Swiss artist Jean Tinguely into a perpetually churning piece of mechanical art that anchors a permanent collection.

Two uptown museums that provide a kind of cultural counterpoint are the new Bechtler Museum of Modern Art and The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture. Both are within a stone’s throw of each other, making a day of art and culture rather convenient.

Riding the Rails, Panning for Gold

The sculpted railroad worker recalls Charlotte’s long history as a transportation and commercial crossroads, which picked up speed with the coming of the railroads. At one time, the city also boasted a streetcar system. The Charlotte Trolley is no longer the transportation staple it used to be, but you can certainly ride Car #85 on part of the Norfolk Southern railroad between Tremont Avenue in Historic South End and uptown’s 9th Street if you so choose. The only difference now is that the Charlotte Trolley shares the tracks with The Lynx Blue Line, Charlotte’s light-rail service and the only light-rail service in the state.

The Charlotte Trolley’s Powerhouse Museum, where you can take a self-guided tour, is situated in Historic South End. This area of old red-brick cotton mills that, although renovated into shops, restaurants, offices and apartments, still contrasts with the sleek modernism of uptown. South End was once the industrial heart of Charlotte, the place where the mill worker depicted by one of the Statues at Independence Square might have spent her days toiling over spinning machines. Back in uptown, Levine Museum of the New South explores the heritage and culture of Charlotte and the South since the Civil War, with permanent and changing exhibits that invite visitors to find out more about such things as the textile industry, race relations and cotton.

As for that gold miner, his vocation is probably closest to Charlotte’s distinction today as a banking and finance center. Charlotte grew up as a gold-mining town, complete with its own branch of the U.S. Mint in the 1800s. That building is today Mint Museum Randolph. Mint Museum Uptown is slated to open later this year.

To find out where the old Charlotte Mint got its gold, head to the Reed Gold Mine, about a 30-minute drive east of Charlotte, where farmer John Reed touched off the nation’s first gold rush when his son found a 17-pound gold rock on his property in 1799. The mine offers tours and lets you test your luck at finding your own gold—and perhaps feel your own “gold rush”—by sloshing sandy water around in a pan just like that miner at Independence Square.

Serious About Sports

The one item missing from the sculpted group is a statue for Charlotte’s love of big-time spectator sports. Charlotte is the acknowledged capital of NASCAR, and no trip here is complete without a stop at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a half-hour drive northeast in Concord and Uptown’s NASCAR Hall of Fame (http://www.nascarhall.com/). Major races draw crowds in excess of 100,000, but during off weeks you can take a tour of the track, which puts you in a van for a lap around the track. Many NASCAR race teams in the area are open to visitors, such as Dale Earnhardt Inc. in Mooresville and Hendrick Motorsports in Harrisburg.

Charlotte’s other spectator sports include the Charlotte Bobcats NBA franchise and the Carolina Panthers NFL team. The city is also home to a pair of minor-league professional teams, the Charlotte Checkers of the East Coast Hockey League and the Charlotte Knights Triple-A baseball team. The Knights play in a stadium about a half-hour drive south, in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

More than 200 years ago, George Washington went through Charlotte and dubbed it a “trifling place.” These days, Washington wouldn’t have slept here—there’s just too much going on in Charlotte.

Writer Irwin Speizer covers the topics of business, politics and culture.

Somehow, after 60 years, The Dunes Golf and Beach Club remains one of the best-kept secrets in golf. Not only is it the premier course in Myrtle Beach, it is part of golf history. In 1948, when the legendary Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed it, he was not yet legendary, and there were only two other courses in Myrtle Beach. But what set The Dunes apart was the 13th hole, the first “signature hole” in golf. Today, this term has become commonplace, and almost every course is designed with the idea that one hole will be worthy of reproduction on magazine covers, but when Jones’ firm began advertising with the slogan “Give your course a signature,” he was making history.

The 575-yard par-5 has been alternatively described as a boomerang, U-turn or horseshoe. It is more accurately thought of as a “V” with water in the middle. When you stand on the tee the green is off to your right, almost at a right angle. The line of play would be right at the green, but the lake is too wide to carry here, so you play down the fairway, away from the green. The options are to hit your tee shot down the right, as close to the water’s edge as possible, then play across the narrower end of the lake to get within a hundred yards of the green; or to play safely to the center, then around the bend on the second shot, and face a much longer approach with the water along the right. An amazing hole, it broke new ground for the use of water hazards. The short par-5, one that can be reached in two shots, has been around for more than 500 years, but Jones added a new wrinkle. Most reachable fives had the risk on the second shot, so the player could hit his or her drive and then decide whether to go for the green based on the result. Jones’ signature hole at The Dunes (and many after it) takes a completely different tack. Players who want to go for it in two must decide before they hit their tee shots and play as close to the water’s edge as they dare.

The Dunes is more than just a one-hole wonder. The variety is staggering, with short forced carries over water on two holes, a heroic risk/reward carry choice on another, and a pond in front of the green on the par-5 18th. The second hole doglegs so severely that to have a decent chance of reaching the green in two, the tee shot must be played over the tall trees of the corner, a shot rarely demanded in golf.

After a round at The Dunes, make sure to drop by Greg Norman’s Australian Grille, one of the first fine dining restaurants in the nation owned by a golf legend, for dinner or a selection from the lengthy wine list.

Golf writer Larry Olmsted is the author of Golf Travel By Design and has appeared as a golf expert on NBC television, ESPN and CBS radio, and MSN.com.

 SARALAND, Ala. (June 16, 2010) – Carlson Hotels, one of the world’s leading hotel companies, today announced the further expansion of Country Inns & Suites By Carlson^SM in Alabama. The opening of Country Inn & Suites Saraland, Ala. marks the brand’s accelerated expansion in the region as part of its Ambition 2015 growth strategy.

“With 12 Country Inns & Suites hotels in the state and more than 220 locations in the southern United States, the brand has established a strong footprint in the region,” said Steve Mogck, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Country Inns & Suites By Carlson. “We are focused on building momentum in North America and India as we increase our portfolio of hotels over the next five years.”

Country Inns & Suites offers caring, consistent, comfortable hospitality with a touch of home, and many distinctive product and service innovations, such as the Friends Hosting Friends^SM employee training program that has generated tremendous employee engagement scores and high overall guest satisfaction. 

“We are thrilled to be joining the Country Inns & Suites family and are confident that the consistency, value and leadership of this brand and the Carlson Hotels system will result in a successful future for this hotel,” said Larry Wright, owner of the Country Inn & Suites, Saraland, Ala. 

The 100 percent non-smoking hotel features an outdoor pool and whirlpool, and a fitness center. The 60-room hotel features one-bedroom suites, extended stay suites and guest rooms featuring complimentary wired and wireless high-speed Internet access, microwave, refrigerator and flat screen televisions. 

The hotel is located 10 miles from downtown Mobile. 

For reservations and information, visit www.countryinns.com or call toll-free +1-800-456-4000.

“I would imagine there were clear lines and divisions 60 to 100 years ago,” says Chef John Reilly, who teaches at The Culinary Institute of America. But today the cuisines have blended so much that they’re difficult to differentiate, except by their origins. Cajun—often described as “country” food—originated with French-speaking people from Nova Scotia, called Acadians (and later “Cajuns”), who settled in southern Louisiana in the mid-1700s. As farmers with large families, Cajuns cooked one-pot meals made from whatever ingredients were available. Creole was considered “city” food, brought to New Orleans by the sons of aristocrats who left France in the early 1700s.

By the 1900s, Creole and Cajun cuisines began to blend, and today have more similarities than differences. Both include gumbo and jambalaya, but though each relies on seafood, Cajun uses crawfish or catfish while Creole recipes contain oysters, shrimp and crabmeat. Dishes in both begin with roux—a mixture of oil or butter with flour, used to thicken sauces. And both use what bayou gourmets call the “holy trinity”—onion, celery and green bell pepper. “It’s used in just about all their applications of cooking,” Reilly says.

To experience the cuisine, Reilly suggests an appetizer of gumbo or étouffée (from the French “to smother”; seafood covered in a tangy tomato-based sauce) and, for your meal, a shrimp or crawfish court-bouillon (a spicy stew with fish, tomatoes, onions and vegetables). To bring the flavor home, Reilly says, concentrate on the spices—cayenne, paprika, and black and white pepper.