On The Record

FOLLOWING ARE ANSWERS from Leisure Group Travel readers whoresponded to the query: Tell us aboutyour best garden or theater tours. Whatmakes them special and what perks doyou add in to make them different?

There are many garden walks inChicago and its suburbs. The most enjoyable for my group was initiated viaThe Garden Conservancy (www.gar-denconservancy.org). When you contactthem, you will pay a small fee for theircatalog detailing garden walks through-out the U.S. After doing this, I selectedthe date and area we preferred. Whenyou know how many you will have par-ticipating, you send a check for thatnumber, and tickets will be issued. 

We visited two gardens in the morn-ing and had lunch in a lovely restaurantlocated in close proximity of the two gar-dens we were visiting in the afternoon.One owner, located on a high hill aboveLake Michigan, had a beautiful screenedporch where he served us coffee/tea and cookies – absolutely beautiful! It ismost interesting to learn how the own-ers became so interested in gardeningand nature. Each garden was differentwith totally different atmospheres. Onelocation had a mansion-like home withswimming pool, a lovely arbor, extensivepatio, etc. The garden included theswimming pool in its layout of flowers,trees, bushes, etc. Awesome!

I highly recommend garden walks –even the slow walkers have a good time.

Esther M. ScottAssistant Vice PresidentHinsdale Bank & Trust

Hinsdale, IL

on the record �

alissa Preston MicHael lundquist Ginny Howell

roses, fragrant Carolina jasmines andwisteria mingle with the majestic oaktrees. Spanish moss hangs from each treeto complete the magical Old South im-agery. The tour ends in Savannah, wherewe enjoy the gardens in the city squaresand famous private homes completewith their own gardens. A trip to theSoutheast is a must for anybody whoenjoys gardens and good times.  

Michael LundquistNational Group Sales Manager

Globus family of brandsLittleton, CO

We have a fabulous new tour that combines the romance and ease of traintravel on a deluxe “hotel on wheels”plus the exciting world of opera, balletand choral music in Russia andUkraine. Among the special touches:the artists will come on board to meetwith the guests and demonstrate onboard in addition to the performances.One special musical performance willbe monks in a monastery singing.

Eleanor Flagler HardyPresident    

The Society of InternationalRailway Travelers

Louisville, KY

On The RecordReaders Offer Tips onGarden and Theater Tours

Some of the best gardens can be visitedin the southeastern United States. Atthe Globus family of brands we havecrafted several custom programs thatvisit these majestic gardens and famousestates. We start our 9-day “Gardens of the Old South” tour in Atlanta, withvisits to Martin Luther King’s homeand the Swan House, an elegant, classi-cally styled mansion built in 1928. Onevisit to these lavish gardens will takeyour breath away. These gardens featurea pair of cloverleaf pools, cascadingfountains, a terraced lawn and rosestumbling over a stone retaining wall.The Swan House garden is one of themost photographed sites in Atlanta.The next site visited is Biltmore Estate,near Asheville, N.C. If you love gardens,you will marvel at the 80 varieties ofroses in the Rose Gardens, 50,000 tulipbulbs in the English Walled Garden,1,000 poinsettias that decorate BiltmoreHouse every Christmas and the mostcomplete collection of wild azaleas inthe United States.

In Charleston, S.C., there are visitsto Magnolia and Middleton Place plantations, where trails through thegardens will transport you to a forgot-ten era. The colorful azaleas, camellias,

62 April 2011 LeisureGroupTravel.com

Both the Columbus Jazz Orchestra andBalletMet offer unique VIP experiences.Before a CJO concert, groups get abackstage tour of the gilded historicSouthern Theatre before meeting theband’s personable artistic director,Byron Stripling, the former lead trum-peter and soloist for the Count BasieOrchestra. After the show, you can go on stage to meet the entire bandand get your copy of the CJO’s “TheColors of Jazz” CD autographed.

BalletMet also allows groups exclu-sive backstage access to meet theirdancers and see their intricate sets andcostumes up close. If your group isn’tvisiting during a show, they can watchthe dancers rehearse and get a hands-onlook at the costume shop, before takinga low-impact dance/stretch class led bythe BalletMet Academy faculty.

Columbus’ hands-on garden experi-ences are unique, too. Franklin ParkConservatory lets you pick herbs from

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on the record �

IN THE JUNE ISSUE

of Leisure Group Travel, our On the Record column will look

at online marketing. Please send usyour response to this question:

How are you using online tools—websites, email, social networking

—to grow your business?

Along with your comments, please include your name, company

name and location. Also for publication, send a high-resolution

photo of yourself. A selection of responses will be printed in the June2011 issue. Thanks in advance for

your valuable opinions.

Send to: Randy Mink, [email protected]

their new community garden campusto create your own wood-fired pizza.You cook it yourself outside in theirLive Fire Cooking Theater.

One of Columbus’ suburbs, Ga-hanna, is known as the Herb Capital of Ohio. They offer all kinds of funhands-on classes that let you do every-thing from making one-of-a-kindherbal blends to herb-infused vinegar.

Alissa PrestonTourism Sales Manager

Experience ColumbusColumbus, OH

I have done tours for garden clubs usually coming from Ohio to theGeorgia and South Carolina coasts.We have planned stops at the DanielStowe Botanical Gardens in Charlotte,where lunch has been arranged alongwith a speaker who will talk about any garden subject that the group isinterested in. This was especially pop-ular with Massillon, Ohio-area groups

as the stained-glass roofin the entrance camefrom the Baptist Churchin Massillon. The peo-ple at Daniel Stowe arevery easy to work withand the gardens arebeautiful. Even on amorning when it wassleeting, the pansiesdidn’t care; they stillshowed their beautifulfaces. This particulargarden group continuedon to Charleston, wherewe had a Master Gar-dener take them to anumber of the privategardens in Charleston.They then had lunch atMiddleton Place Plan-tation, where anothergarden expert talked tothem about the Middle-ton gardens, which date

back to the 1800s .We hosted the Ohio Association of

Garden Clubs on Jekyll Island. Theybrought two motorcoaches and whileone toured the Jekyll Island HistoricDistrict, the other toured the districtwith the in-house horticulturist, CliffGowran. Cliff gives them a tour high-lighting the historic plantings in thedistrict. They had high tea at the JekyllIsland Club Hotel hosted by GinnyHowell Tours. Tea was served in Ginny’sprivate collection of tea cups, tea potsand assorted handmade doilies. One ofthe ladies from the local garden clubcame and talked with the group. Theycontinued on to Savannah, where eachgroup was treated to a tour of HiddenGardens. They were then taken to MassySchool to see the original layout of thecity. This group ended in Charleston atMiddleton Place for lunch. The Middle-ton horticulturist welcomed the groupand talked about the upkeep of the gar-den and the flowers, which are plantedfor year-round beauty.

Ginny Howell Ginny Howell Tours

Jekyll Island  GA 

6300 Seawall • Galveston • TX • victoriancondo.comDirector of Sales & Catering • Jennifer Kirk

[email protected] • 800.231.6363 ext. 2231www.facebook.com/galvestonvictorian

Galveston is the place for family and militaryreunions, educational field trips and seminars.

Space to Work. Room to Relax.

The Victorian Condo Hotel Resort and Conference Center is a favorite destination for those planning reunions, church and school events.

Our staff has the expertise to meet your expectations for meeting facilities and to provide options for your groups’ outings to the Island’s world-class attractions.

Over 10,000 square feet of of indoor and outdoor meetings areas, for groups of 12 to 300.

64 April 2011 LeisureGroupTravel.com

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