{"id":18126,"date":"2020-02-12T07:00:23","date_gmt":"2020-02-12T06:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/?p=18126"},"modified":"2025-03-05T17:20:05","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T16:20:05","slug":"valentines-day-love-tollmans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/valentines-day-love-tollmans\/","title":{"rendered":"A Valentine’s Day Tale of Love and Oysters"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Guest post by Stanley S. Tollman, Chairman of The Travel Corporation<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Dear Traveler,<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In my life, love and travel have long been \u2013 and always will be \u2013 inseparable. \u00a0I will never forget the night I first discovered this, nor will I forget where that evening began \u2013 the Oyster Box Hotel in Umhlanga, outside of Durban, South Africa.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"\r\n
The Oyster Box Hotel, as it was<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

It was July of 1952 \u2013 the middle of winter in South Africa, though mild on the east coast due to the ocean breezes \u2013 and I was 21 years old. I had made plans to drive from Johannesburg to meet up with friends at the Durban July Handicap, South Africa’s premier horse race. \u00a0I was pleased to learn that Beatrice Lurie was also to be traveling to Durban to play in the Natal Tennis Championship, and even more delighted when she asked for a ride. Bea and I had dated a few times and become good friends. I was delighted to have her company in the car, but we ended up giving a ride to a friend of Bea’s as well. The two sat in the back seat talking non-stop for the entire seven hours of the drive, relegating me to play the role of silent chauffeur for what seemed like the longest seven hours of my life.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Upon arriving in Durban, Bea announced the discipline she imposed on her schedule while playing in a tournament: Absolutely no socializing.\u00a0 I was to be on my own.\u00a0 That might well have been the last we saw of one another in Durban, but for a twist I now consider to be divine intervention; Bea pulled a muscle in her back which, while not serious, forced her to withdraw from the tournament.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"\r\n
Stanley & Bea’s first date<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Seeing my opportunity, I asked her out for that evening \u2013 alone \u2013 to the famed Oyster Box Restaurant, which had an elegant ambiance of times gone by, an Anglo-Indian outpost set on the coast of South Africa that served the finest oysters to be found anywhere.\u00a0 Wanting to impress Bea, I dressed my best, with a red carnation in my lapel, and arranged to have the ma\u00eetre d’ seat us at the finest table in the house \u2013 number five \u2013 the<\/em> place to see and be seen. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\r\n

Bea admitted that she’d never before tasted oysters, but I persuaded her to order a half-dozen.\u00a0 She tasted one and \u2013 under the watchful eye of our fellow diners \u2013 promptly spat it out onto the floor. It was hardly an auspicious beginning.<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Later that evening, however, we found ourselves back in Durban, sitting astride a fence on a hill above a beach, laughing and telling jokes.\u00a0 One of my favorite jokes called for a theatrical gesture, but while waving my arms I lost my balance, toppling over, tumbling down the sandy bank and landing in a crumpled heap on the shore.\u00a0 As I tried to recover my composure and dignity, I realised Bea was laughing hysterically.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

There is no doubt that this is the moment where it all began.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

When people talk of \u201cfalling in love,\u201d they are generally speaking metaphorically.\u00a0 For me, the tumble was quite literal.\u00a0 That night and those that followed, I came to realize what a magnificent woman Bea was \u2013 despite her distaste for Oysters.\u00a0 Though I was on the verge of dropping out of pharmaceutical college with no feasible way of making a living, I shared my dreams with her, and she shared hers with me.\u00a0 They were wild, audacious dreams of a life filled with adventures and travel to the most amazing destinations in the world, opening fantastic restaurants and running the world’s finest hotels \u2013 including, someday, the Oyster Box.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"\r\n
Stanley & Bea at their engagement party<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Even now, sixty-eight years later, I feel as though we are still on that first date. \u00a0The dreams we shared on that beach have become The Travel Corporation you know today, which I am deeply honored to serve as Chairman. We were married on March 7, 1954 \u2013 next month we will celebrate our 66th<\/sup> anniversary. \u00a0I am grateful every day to have found such a beautiful, inspiring, and capable woman as my partner, in both life and work.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"\r\n
Stanley & Bea on their wedding day<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I am, indeed, a lucky man<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

It was fifty four years after that meal, in 2006, that we were entrusted with the opportunity to purchase The Oyster Box Hotel. By then it had fallen into disrepair and was in desperate need of remodeling. With Bea’s inspiration and guidance, our daughter, Toni, a brilliant architect, oversaw the renovation. In 2009 we welcomed nine hundred guests to the grand re-opening of the Oyster Box Hotel, conducted by none other than the Zulu King, Goodwill Zwelithini.\u00a0Today, The Oyster Box<\/a> is consistently recognized as one of the finest hotels in South Africa.\u00a0 It is one of 19 \u2013 soon to be twenty! \u2013 \u00a0Red Carnation Hotels, over which Bea serves as Founder and President, bringing her extraordinary vision, culinary genius<\/a>, and her incomparable attention to those tiny noticeable touches that make guests feel truly welcome.\u00a0 I believe these are the finest boutique hotels to be found anywhere in the world \u2013 at least on land<\/em>. I must add those words because Bea is also the guiding visionary behind Uniworld River Cruises<\/a>, each ship a floating boutique hotel which, through her efforts, are as magnificently apportioned and welcoming as those of Red Carnation.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

As if that is not enough, it was Bea’s spirit and our shared love of travel that led me to found TTC’s newest brand, Luxury Gold<\/a>.\u00a0 Through its truly immersive and exclusive experiences, it offers travelers the opportunity to visit the places and people that Bea and I have come to know and love over the years, all in magnificent style, bringing back the golden era of travel.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\r\n

Knowing Bea as I do, none of these accomplishments are surprising.\u00a0 What is, perhaps, a little surprising, is the fact that she has come to love oysters.<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This Valentine’s Day, it gives Bea and myself tremendous joy to know how our love has brought together so many other couples.\u00a0 We think of the many TTC employees who have found their life partners while working in our family of brands, and of the countless travelers who have found love while on holiday with us.\u00a0 More than anything, we are grateful for our family, carrying our dreams into the future as we embark on TTC’s second century.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"\r\n
Stanley & Bea in their beloved South Africa, 2015<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Wonderful as it is to have a day devoted to romance, Bea and I believe love is something to celebrate day in and day out, all year long.\u00a0 There is no better Valentine’s Day gift you can give yourself and each other than planning a vacation together, either by visiting your travel advisor or at TTC.com<\/a>. Doing so offers an experience you can book now and look forward to for months, yielding memories you will treasure for a lifetime.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Wishing you all the joy of love and travel,<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Stanley S. Tollman \/ Chairman, The Travel Corporation<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guest post by Stanley S. Tollman, Chairman of The Travel Corporation Dear Traveler, In my life, love and travel have long been \u2013 and always will be \u2013 inseparable. \u00a0I will never forget the night I first discovered this, nor will I forget where that evening began \u2013 the Oyster Box Hotel in Umhlanga, outside […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":18133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4909],"tags":[1423,12399,2044,12400,6013],"class_list":["post-18126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people-stories","tag-bea-tollman","tag-stanley-tollman","tag-the-travel-corporation","tag-travel-love-stories","tag-ttc-100"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Valentine's Day tale of love and oysters - THE REAL WORD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In my life, love and travel have long been inseparable. 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