I've been waiting for this past weekend to come for what seems like years now. I remember when we booked the trip I didn't know Kaitie or Andrea very well, but I knew I was going to the British Open. Now we've all become good friends and I can't believe our trip has come and gone already.
Friday I waited. I did my laundry. Waited. Took a nap. Waited. Called Kaitie and begged her to leave early. Waited....she got home around 5:30 and we all took off for the airport to catch our bus. After returning to the apartments so Corrie could get her passport (which we didn't even need by the way) we were left with about 10 minutes to get from our apartment to the bus. Lets just say we had a great cab driver and we made it just before the bus left. It was a 3 hour ride that dropped us off right at the hotel. There were about 13 of us all together and 9 of us were going to the Open on Saturday so we just went to dinner at the really great Italian place and then called it a night around 11.
We had to be checked into the ferry by 6:30 am, so my day started around 4:30. I was the first one up and showered, and was coffee in hand when the cab came to pick us up at 6 (I guess I take more after my mother than I thought). The ferry port was only about 5 miles from our hotel, so we got there early enough to check in and have breakfast. The ferry wasn't a normal ferry, it was a freaking cruise ship...we spent the first 15 minutes of our trip (before they started the movie we viewed from stadium seats) learning all the amenities the ship had to offer including a casino (No Eric, I didn't play Blackjack), a children's playground, and a full service nail salon. We all watched parts of Bedtime Stories..an appropriate choice since most of us slept through the entire film...for most of the 2 hours it took our ship to cover the 8 miles between Ireland and Scotland. From there we went straight to an hour bus ride...again mostly spent napping...until we finally arrived at Turnberry!
The security check in was surprisingly casual, and Kaitie easily snuck in her camera (don't get too excited, we only used it before and after the actual tournament for fear we'd end up in golf jail). Of course we all headed straight to the "Official Merchandise Pavilion", lists in hand prepared to buy gifts for everyone we knew (Kaitie's list was at least a page long). We were there for a good hour and half and since the boys all ditched us in favor of food I found myself asking a lot of random strangers "If you were my Dad, do you think you would like this shirt?" and begging them to try things on.
We made it over to the food pavilion and ate quickly to make John Daly's tee off a little after 12. It just so happened that we were walking over just as he was walking out and we ended up being right on the ropes so I got to shake his hand. Luckily before hand I had dutifully applied lip gloss, knowing that if my mother saw me on TV with John Daly without any on...she'd kill me. Lana kept yelling "Hey John, I'm from Tennessee." while I just sat in awe...
We walked around for a while just looking at the course and watching bits and pieces of play until we found a sunny spot on the 5th green. We watched John (I can call him John now because we're obviously great friends after the handshake business) come through again, along with Sergio Garcia, Ernie Ells, some cute guy in a turquoise sweater and another French guy in tight pants who does one handed push ups on the green while lifting his leg like he's about to water the grass. We got up for beer and obviously lost our spots so we walked around for a while until we found another nice spot right off the 14th green.
We hadn't been there more than 10 minutes when the French guy hit a ball right off Lana's foot. We had to move back to he could play through right in front of us. We were all so excited we were going to be on TV (check your Tivo or YouTube for footage of the 14th green...I'm probably there) we probably looked like huge tools smiling nervously and acting all interested in the ball angle and the club number, and then finally nodding our approval when he hit a good shot.
We left grudgingly to pick up our purchases and make the bus on time. This is when Kaitie and I realize that we think we've bought the wrong size shirts for our respective Dads, and so ensues panic, nail biting, and wine drinking the whole ferry ride home. This was followed by an endless fashion show starring every boy on our trip who had to try on said shirts while we made comments like "Well he's a little bigger than you considering he's about a foot taller, but since it comes down to your knees, being a boy, do you think this would fit?" Until everyone got so sick of our worrying they went to bed (or maybe it was we got so tired of worrying that we went to bed....either way it turns out I got the right size. So no worries...)
Sunday we slept in a little bit and had breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Most everyone else went home, but Kaitie, Corrie, Andrea, William, and I decided to stay and do a Black Cab Tour. The tour takes you through the major points of The Troubles. The hotel recommended a balanced cab company (some only take you through the Catholic side while others only take you through the Protestant) so ours included major points of both. It was eye-opening, to say the very least, and very informative. We saw the murals that are painted along the giant 48ft wall that divides the city and our cab driver got out and explained everything in detail, taking time to answer even the most basic of questions. We saw memorials, churches, and political buildings that still house killings and hatred. Ya'll will be very happy to know that we learned that the hotel right across the street from ours is the most frequently bombed in the entire city (going on 32 times now)...I saved that little tidbit from my mom until we got home. We took pictures, but respectfully decided against smiling in a sorority squat in front of some of the more horrific things we had ever seen (so basically our pictures are just of things....monuments and murals...instead of people). I honestly have never wanted to go to church so bad in my life.
Finally we grabbed the bus home and were back in time for Sunday Night Dinner and a Movie (featuring mexican and Juno this week) at Kaitie's. This past weekend was easily one of my favorites. Being so anticipated I figured it couldn't possibly turn out as great as we imagined, but it definitely did.
Fortunately we found out over the weekend that our website finally launched...just in time for our last week of work. GREAT.
Cheers, E
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