If Sen. Jake Knotts hadn’t prodded the media to find out just where the hell Gov. Mark Sanford was, South Carolina’s “love guv” would have spent 10 days in Argentina with mistress Maria Belén Chapur. Sanford used his Delta Sky Miles to book a June 18 flight to Buenos Aires, with a return flight scheduled for June 28, according to Politico.
Sanford thought so little of his position as the state’s chief executive that he obviously felt he could disappear for a week and a half without anyone noticing he was gone. Where he was in Buenos Aires was the Palermo neighborhood, considered one of the city’s nicer places to live. Eric Lach, writing on newyorker.com, said:
It’s winter now in Argentina, but in summer you can smell the animals in the zoo across the street from my grandfather’s balcony—and from María’s place as well, no doubt. Guido’s bar and restaurant at 2843 is probably the street’s most iconic feature, a quirky Italian place with no actual menu, where you are at the mercy of your waiter. The surrounding neighborhood, Palermo, is a fashionable residential neighborhood featuring a large namesake park, a major shopping district, bars and restaurants. We’ve yet to find out much about Sanford’s mistress, but the charms of her neighborhood are obvious.
Indeed, it was at Guido’s where Sanford and Chapur were seen by the owner of the bar to be drinking, kissing and other associated activities.
