{"id":2483,"date":"2020-04-29T11:12:44","date_gmt":"2020-04-29T18:12:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/?p=2483"},"modified":"2020-04-29T11:14:11","modified_gmt":"2020-04-29T18:14:11","slug":"protocol-at-pga-national-with-tales-of-diplomacy-and-destinations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/golf\/courses-and-travel\/2483\/protocol-at-pga-national-with-tales-of-diplomacy-and-destinations","title":{"rendered":"Protocol at PGA National with Tales of Diplomacy and Destinations"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"PGA<\/a>

Ambassador Brinker talked travel and diplomacy at PGA National. (Photo by Harrison Shiels)<\/p><\/div>\n

Nancy Brinker walked into my suite at PGA National Resort and Spa in South Florida for a scheduled interview\u2026and I was as nervous as a cat. She was the picture of elegance \u2013 straight out of the Palm Beach Post social pages \u2013 fashionable and accomplished. Brinker forged her station in life all the way from Peoria to Palm Beach and along the way founded one of the nation\u2019s most impactful charitable organizations; was named U.S. Ambassador to Hungary; received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama; and directed the Office of Protocol for President George W. Bush.<\/p>\n

Any greeting I gave, in light of Brinker\u2019s level of diplomatic experience, was sure to be a clumsy fumble. So I gestured toward the in-room billiards table and asked, \u201cExcellency, would you like to shoot a game of pool?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I\u2019m good,\u201d Brinker declined, politely (naturally).<\/p>\n

The resort\u2019s two-room suite also had its own full bar I could have offered next, but I considered the ice now sufficiently broken.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is perfect,\u201d she assured me and then complimented the expansive suite with its balcony view over the golf course, before accepting my next invitation \u2013 to sit wherever she was comfortable. Brinker then, with modesty, answered my questions about her career and Presidential travel experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had an entire committee that organized details such as where the President would be seated at dinners and at meetings. We arranged introductions as he came off Air Force One and the timing of meetings in the Oval Office and White House family dining room,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n

She also helped visiting foreign ambassadors to see the real USA. \u201cThrough a program I developed called \u2018Experience America\u2019 we invited the ambassadors to go around the country so they didn\u2019t visit only three or four cities.\u201d<\/p>\n

State visits were often organized for dignitaries of higher rank than ambassadors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have met Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and I love her. The number one rule is: don\u2019t touch the queen. It\u2019s the American style to hug, but if the Queen wants to shake your hand she will be the first to do it,\u201d Brinker explained.<\/p>\n

Our little meeting was joined by the author of \u201cThe Queen Next Door,\u201d a new book by Linda Solomon, the acclaimed celebrity photographer from Birmingham, Michigan about her friend Aretha Franklin, the blues singer known as the \u201cQueen of Soul.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI met Aretha several times and the book is sensational,\u201d said Brinker, who also spent time with Pope Benedict.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took two years to plan for that first-ever papal visit to Washington D.C. and I was thrilled to be the first person to greet him when Shepherd One landed. I expected to meet a man in his 80\u2019s who was exhausted but he was just wonderful,\u201d Brinker recalled. She also accompanied Bush when eight months later the 43rd<\/sup>president traveled to visit the Holy Father at Vatican City.<\/p>\n

Of course, Brinker said she is most enamored by her late sister Susan G. Komen, who became the patron saint of fighting breast cancer \u2013 which became Brinker\u2019s life mission – after the disease took Komen at the age of 33. \u201cI had the best sister in the world\u2026but not long enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brinker and Solomon left PGA National and headed for the Breakers Hotel to attend the \u201cPerfect Pink Party\u201d to benefit the Promise Fund charity gala \u2013 a perfectly \u201cPalm Beach\u201d socialite thing to do for two great women who\u2019d spent the day at two great resorts.<\/p>\n

Contact<\/em>\u00a0Travel Writer Michael Patrick Shiels at\u00a0MShiels@aol.com<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0His radio program may be heard weekdays at\u00a0MiBigShow.com<\/a>\u00a0or in Lansing on WJIM am 1240\u00a0from 9-noon. His newest book \u201cI Call Him Mr. President\u201d with George HW Bush is at\u00a0Amazon.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nancy Brinker, a breast cancer fighting advocate, talks travel and diplomacy at PGA National.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":2484,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[716416,1954,1023701,1023702],"class_list":["post-2483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-courses-and-travel","tag-pga-national-resort-and-spa","tag-palm-beach","tag-nancy-brinker","tag-experience-america"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2020\/04\/unnamed-7.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2483"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2486,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2483\/revisions\/2486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}