Summer Tournament Fun, Travel Tips and Grand Bahama Island

Just as March is the turning point from winter to spring in South Florida, May is the turning point from spring to summer. Why? Because May is the start of the summer tournament fishing season! The Stuart Sailfish Club’s Ladies Tournament kicking off this weekend, followed by the Francis Langford Memorial Tournament the following weekend, and then the Treasure Coast Builders Association (TCBA) 25th Annual Memorial Weekend Fishing Tournament  (May 27th -29th), are the harbingers of summer fishing and boating fun on Florida’s Treasure Coast! 

This week, Jim Moore, the president of the Jensen Beach Chamber of Commerce, will be in the studio to talk up the activities and fun of the Francis Langford Memorial Fishing Tournament. This tournament uniquely combines an amateur event with a sanctioned SKA (Southern Kingfish Association) professional anglers event. According to tournament organizers, the Francis Langford Tournament is one of the most popular among the SKA competitions. 

The TCBA Memorial Weekend Tournament, one of the area's most popular tournaments, will be described by tournament co-chair George Cooper and TCBA staffer Maddie Williams. This year, a special 25th Anniversary Special Category has been added for anglers pursuing blackfin tuna. Both tournaments have a significant impact on local tourism and listeners on Friday will find out why.

Additional topics this week will include a potpourri of tourism tips to make your vacation as trouble free as possible, including: How to treat a scorching sunburn, how to manage motion sickness, how to fix a chipped tooth and more. Even non-travelers can find use for these tips at home!

Next, we’ll also take you on a virtual vacation on Grand Bahama Island, the closest island to the Treasure Coast. Whether you reach Grand Bahama via cruise ship, commercial air carrier, private plane or boat, Grand Bahama Island has lots of great things to do for the adventurer or the family vacationer.

All this and more is in store for you this Friday at 10:05 a.m. on Talkin’ Tourism. Catch the show on WPSL 1590 AM or on your nearest computer streaming live at www.wpsltv.com.

Let the summer fun begin!

Operation Blue Suit, St. Lucie Inlet Update, and Romantic Beaches

If you have ever thought about spending time on a beautiful island surrounded by the Caribbean Sea, and one with fabulous fishing and world-class diving, after listening to Talkin' Tourism co-host Robin Hicks-Connor's first-hand account of her four-day Talkin’ Tourism “secret mission," you just might be on the phone now booking your own trip to San Salvador, Bahamas! Robin's mission was to see the island like a local, and by all accounts from Robin (and the very active coconut telegraph), she did that and probably a little more.

Listeners got to hear about Elvis, Peaches, Davey Crockett, Margonda, Hilton, Michelle and the great hospitality extended to Robin and her traveling cohort Lynn during their island getaway. Robin described the local night spot, the great local food, fabulous beaches and her personal tour of the island’s more remote areas. Her enthusiasm was off the hook (pun intended). Unfortunately, sea conditions were a bit uncooperative and she never encountered “the man in the blue suit” despite several attempts to visit his local haunts. Will Robin return for another try? We'll let you answer that question!

Other topics included a recap of the St. Lucie Inlet meeting on April 26 to discuss dredging and possible funding sources. Boaters from near and far, as well as those businesses who are impacted by the health of the marine industries, know this is a critical Treasure Coast, Florida issue. If you missed the meeting or last week's show, the audio file from last week's show will bring you up to speed.

Char Griggs, the executive director of the Stuart Sailfish Club, made a guest appearance on the show to share all the special details of this weekend's Stuart Sailfish Club Ladies Tournament. Will you be fishing? The weather is supposed to be great and rumor has it that History Lady is trying to field a team of ladies anglers. This Friday, we'll give you an update on any late-breaking tournament details.

Florida 2011 tourism numbers seem to be improving at a steady pace. Has that spread across the Gulf Stream to the Family Islands in the Bahamas? Talkin’ Tourism took a regional look and shared recent reports from the Bahamas Out Island Promotion Board’s recent survey of hotels and resorts, which indicate better days seem to be on the horizon. If you'd like to hear those details, it's all on last week's show audio file, which you can download here.

Last, but not least, listeners learned about five of Florida's top-rated beaches by category. If you missed it, no problem, we've got you covered. Here's the audio file from last week to find out where you may want to go this summer for a nearby romantic beach vacation.

'See you' on Friday!