Ok, I'll bite. On a national holiday here in the US to honor our great presidents Washington and Lincoln, my mind is wandering to what my ideal vacation destination might look like (components limited to those places I have been) . . .

The view out my hotel windows (of course, I have a corner suite) would be Lake O'Hara in the Canadian Rockies on one side and Big Sur on the other. After waking to a warm sun and a gentle wind, we would stroll to the nearby golf course for our tee time. St. Andrews was great, but I would probably opt for Royal Dornoch or one of the great Irish courses (Royal County Down, Ballybunion, Lahinch, Rosses Point). I would have procured lunch provisions at my favorite boulangerie and charcuterie in Paris for a comfortable picnic at the Segantini Hut overlooking the Engadine Valley near St. Moritz. Properly refreshed, in the afternoon we would hike to Amphitheater Lake in the Tetons. We would then watch the sun set from a waterside cafe in Santa Barbara. Dinner would be in New York City, but dessert would be Berthillon ice cream from the shop on Ile St. Louis in Paris. And the evening entertainment would be local music at a pub in County Clare, Ireland. You know this is a fantasy because I would be requesting a non-smoking pub!

Mark Los Angeles