![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Welk-bubbles-300x225.jpg\")
<\/a>The name Lawrence Welk<\/strong> calls up one of two thoughts:\u00a0 If you\u2019re of a certain age, you\u2019re thinking, bandleader, who had an accent, a TV variety show, a ‘bubble machine’ and played ‘champagne’ music (Because his music was smooth yet bubbly, like champagne); and everything was always \u201cWondaful ah Wondaful\u201d.\u00a0 If you\u2019re not of a certain age, you\u2019re thinking, \u201cWho the heck is Lawrence Welk, and why are we even talking about him?\u201d<\/p>\nBecause Linda and I spent last week at the Lawrence Welk Resort in Escondido, CA<\/strong>, now, just called the Welk Resort, as Lawrence has passed, but not without living the quintessential American dream.\u00a0 He was born in the German-speaking community of Strasburg, North Dakota<\/strong>, to parents who had emigrated from Odessa, Ukraine.\u00a0 He left school while a 4th<\/sup> grader<\/strong>, to help work on the family farm and did not learn to speak English until he was 21.\u00a0 He loved music from an early age and convinced his parents to buy him an accordion for what would be today between $5 – $6,000!\u00a0 His love of music, business acumen and focused drive, got him on the radio, then television, then into creating resort destinations \u2013 the one in Escondido, his first.\u00a0 In all, he ended up creating eight, up-scale resorts in places like Lake Tahoe, Cabo San Lucas, Palm Springs <\/strong>and Branson, Missouri<\/strong>.\u00a0 He ultimately sold them to Marriott for $430,000,000<\/strong>.\u00a0 Not bad for a guy with less than a 4th-grade\u00a0grade education!<\/p>\n After checking into the Welk Resort on Saturday, I took Linda up to the Temecula Creek Inn<\/strong> on Sunday, to meet up with Addison and I drove directly from the Temecula Creek Inn to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park<\/strong> (the old Lion Country Safari<\/strong>), which I hadn\u2019t been to in many, many years, and was pleasantly surprised at what a great facility it had turned into.\u00a0 But before we could see the elephants, rhinos, lions, giraffes, apes, birds<\/strong>, etc., Addison had to have her face painted and visit a few of the gift shops.\u00a0 After 3-4 very fun hours with the animals, we then went back to the Welk and found the pool with the giant water slide<\/strong> that Addison showed no fear in going down \u2013 feet first and head first!\u00a0 After a full day of zoo and pool, we drove to the city of Vista for Addison\u2019s favorite dinner \u2013 sushi!<\/strong>\u00a0 And on the way home we saw the \u2018Blood Moon\u2019<\/strong> and I explained to Addison what an eclipse was.\u00a0 I asked her the next morning if she remembered what it was and she told me that this was a lunar eclipse where the earth passed between the sun and the moon \u2013 so the lesson was learned, as I imagined it would be!\u00a0 We met the girls in the morning for breakfast back at the Temecula Creek Inn \u2013 as I gave Addison back to Dana, I told her it wasn\u2019t really like babysitting, it was like hanging out with a very fun young lady!<\/p>\n The night before we checked out, we went to the great little theatre (seats about 350) on the Welk property to see a performance by Fortunate Son<\/strong>, a Creedence Clearwater Revival<\/strong> cover band \u2013 great songs, great show!!<\/p>\n Excellent facility, fun time, and close by \u2013 good enough that it could be on our \u2018annual trip\u2019 list.\u00a0 Perhaps Addison will want to join us for a day or two!!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bob Sparrow The name Lawrence Welk calls up one of two thoughts:\u00a0 If you\u2019re of a certain age, you\u2019re thinking, bandleader, who had an accent, a TV variety show, a ‘bubble machine’ and played ‘champagne’ music (Because his music … read more![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Safari-1-225x300.jpg\")
<\/a> daughters, Stephanie and Dana to do a wine tasting that they had given her for Mother\u2019s Day<\/strong>.\u00a0 Dana brought daughter, Addison, with her so I could babysit her for the next 24 hours.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Fortunate-Son.jpg\")
<\/a>For the next several days, Linda and I played three rounds of golf, two on the Welks property, one at the Oaks Course<\/strong>, a short par 3 course (not recommended), one at the Welks Fountains Executive Course<\/strong> (recommended), and one round about 30 minutes away at Mt. Woodson<\/strong>, or what I\u2019ve renamed it, \u201cMt. Bring-A-Lot-Of-Balls\u201d.\u00a0 It\u2019s a beautiful course in the hills of Ramona and I would highly recommend this one \u2013 just bring plenty of balls!\u00a0 On our way home from Mt. Woodson, we just happened to go by Harrah\u2019s Casino<\/strong> (I should have known that if I left the navigating to Linda that we\u2019d end up at a casino!)\u00a0 We had a great dinner in the casino at Fieri\u2019s Steak House<\/strong> and felt good about the contributions we gave to our Native American friends at the casino.<\/p>\n