While much of America struggled during the last financial crisis, Texas grew in greater economic stature on a number of levels. Fueled by a thriving job market, one strong growth area was real estate development.

            Texans have always had a strong affinity to golf so it’s no surprise real estate communities, resorts and private clubs feature golf as a central component.  Two top leisure properties in Texas are 72-hole Horseshoe Bay Resort in Texas Hill Country and TPC Four Seasons at Las Colinas, home to the AT&T Byron Nelson Championship.

If the ferocity of this year’s winter is any reminder, there’s a reason millions of American and Canadian “snowbirds” head south each year for the winter months. Indeed, as Boston is literally buried in snow and other major cities are having some of their harshest wintry conditions in years, the Sun Belt has never looked better as a leisure and vacation home destination.

When Captain James Cook was credited with discovering Hawaii in 1778, the British explorer landed on what is considered one of the most remote land masses in the world. Situated near the center of the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii is a long 2,390 miles west of California and 3,850 miles east of Japan.

Remote status notwithstanding, visitors continue to flock to this dreamy Pacific Ocean paradise. For full disclosure, my family discovered Hawaii in 1977 and we’ve been residents ever since.