I'm as big a fan as anyone of out-of-the-way, off-the-beaten-path places, but the "driving the Buenos Aires coastline" story Mark Sanford gave a reporter upon disembarking in Atlanta is sounding odder by the minute.

Here's TPM reader BC:

As someone who has been to Buenos Aires many times, just returned from BA and is in the process of moving there later this year, I can tell you unequivocally that someone who goes to Buenos Aires to 'see the coastline' is akin to someone going to New York City or Boston to see the Atlantic Ocean. As for getting away to clear his head, the greater Buenos Aires area is home to 30% of Argentina's 40 million people. While Sanford is trying to paint a picture of a peaceful drive along a beautiful coast, in fact he was crammed into a land-locked city* of 15 million people. Worst excuse ever.

Meanwhile, our Spanish-speaking interns here at TPM tell me this is reportedly the coldest day of the year in Buenos Aires. Again, I love the beach in winter, but ...

*Technically, Buenos Aires isn't "landlocked." It's at the mouth of the Río de la Plata, but as AP reports, it has about two miles of coastline.