I've always enjoyed visiting America and love watching programs of the American way of life. Since meeting our California friends in 2004 we are just back from our 6th visit with them. This time, I managed to tick another of my ambitions off the list.
To experience a real American Thanks Giving (Sorry, my Canadian readers) as portrayed in American programs such as Cheers, Frasier, Friends and many more.
So, when we were planning our annual break earlier this year we decided we would re-visit California and so I asked it if would be ok for us to go over for Thanks Giving, the last Thursday of November.
I was so pleased when our friends said we could and the flights were booked back in June and I have been ticking the days off ever since, well Virgin Atlantic have as everytime you open up their website to manage your trip there is a large banner across the top telling you how many days, hours and minutes until you fly. And, if it wasn't for this, we would have been at the airport a week too early as I had all my dates wrong in my head and thought we travelled on the 12th, not the 19th - ooops!
In the run-up to our trip Lynn emailed to say their kitchen re-model was running behind schedule and as we arrived there would be no-where to sit downstairs, all the kitchen items being stored throughout the lounge and dining area, no where to sit in the family room as that too was being re-decorated as it runs on from the kitchen and no-where to sit outside as the furniture from the family room was out in the yard.
There was no-where to cook and no tv, but we were still very welcome to stay as the upstairs was untouched and so we could still sleep and even watch tv in one of the other bedrooms where there grandson stays when he's on his weekly overnight visit.
Effectively we would be camping out indoors. No problem, we said, we're coming to spend time with you, it will be fun whatever we do.
I admit there was an element of me that thought Lynn may have been over-exaggerating a little so that when we got there we were prepared for the worse - but she wasn't.
The re-model was originally planned to start in May. Delays meant it had to be postponed until after the family re-union in August. Once started, with plenty of time for completion before we arrived, there were snags and un-expected jobs that kept cropping up. Result - nowhere to sit, eat, cook ot watch tv.
Our first couple of nights were spent in a local hotel as Lynn & Andy were both away for the weekend and we booked a game of golf for the Monday after which we would make our way to their house. The golf was good and although it was the first time my golf clubs had been out in over a year, I was surprised to see I could still whack a good ball down the middle of the fairway.
When we finally arrived at the house we were met with an exact match to Lynn's description with one addition - Andy was very unwell, with manflu - and getting worse. He battled on being sociable serving drinks in his office while we all perched on a variety of chairs, stools and desks. Afterward we ate out, as we planned to do for most of the holiday due to the lack of cooking facilities in the house.
While out, they received a phone call about there grandson, he too was very unwell and needed taking to the doctors in the morning, could Lynn take him as his Dad was also down with man-flu and his mom was working. Result - he was brought through to stay the night and our tv priviledges were withdrawn as he would now be sleeping in the room with the tv.
American man-flu certainly seems to hit hard, that was 3 generations of men in one family - wow!
Showing posts with label Golf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Golf. Show all posts
Sunday, 4 December 2011
Sunday, 25 September 2011
Celtic Manor Golf Resort
Several years ago, in what feels like another life, I once visited the Celtic Manor Resort in south Wales when I attended an annual conference. In my former life I was involved in Estate Agency. The company was part of a network which covered the whole of England and once a year there was a conference and awards dinner to attend.
As the network grew, the numbers that attended swelled and the venues changed to accomodate the ever increasing numbers.
Our conference was held a few years before the Ryder Cup was played there but it was already showing the top standards of facilities expected for somewhere hosting such a significant competition.
Unfortunately, although my visit was in the middle of my golf playing days, there was no time for me to play there.
Earlier this year I had a golf break deal email drop into my inbox and it was for 2 rounds of golf, an overnight stay and evening meal and breakfast, all for £123. That is a very good deal and I made the mistake of giving the details to Neil. Within the week he had a group of 6 all keen to take advantage of the offer and off they went in late July.
They had a brilliant time, the facilites were first rate and they talked avidly and openly about it in the golf club to enyone and everyone that would listen.
It wasn't long before some that hadn't been decided they really would like to go and a second trip was being planned.
Again, Neil made all the arrangements and got the same deal as before. On the day before they all travelled he reminded them all to take their swimming trunks so that they could make good use of the pool and spa area after golf.
Neil and I always contact each other when travelling just to let the other know we have arrived at our destination safely. Neil rang me from the on-site shop - after reminding the others to pack their swimming things he had prompty forgotten to pack his and was now buying some to ensure privacy was maintained.
On his return I, as always, listened to him enthuse about his 2 days of golf, the fabulous meal they had been served and how much they had all enjoyed their trip.
For no other reason but to show interest and make conversation, but with no real wish to know, I asked how much he'd spent. He made a show of counting through the notes in his wallet before announcing it was in the region of £100.
He'd only been gone 1 night. It's his money to spend as he wishes but it did seem rather a lot. So we did a little reckoning up.
His swimwear was £20.
I knew he'd had a few drinks, probably more than he realised, and definitely enough to mean he was incapable of sending me a 'Goodnight text' (for which he was adequately chastised the following morning) and reckoned about £40 would cover drinks, hotel prices being what they are.
But this still left £40 unaccounted for........
Or so I thought.
Neil sheepishly left the room and returned with his golf shoes. I couldn't work out why until he told me that, not only had he gone on a golfing holiday and forgotten his swimwear, he had also gone on a golfing holiday and forgotten to pack his golf shoes and the pair in his hand, which he had to buy in order to play, represented the missing £40!
So much for a good deal on the golf trip!
But for anyone interested here's the link
http://www.celtic-manor.com/golf.aspx
As the network grew, the numbers that attended swelled and the venues changed to accomodate the ever increasing numbers.
Our conference was held a few years before the Ryder Cup was played there but it was already showing the top standards of facilities expected for somewhere hosting such a significant competition.
Unfortunately, although my visit was in the middle of my golf playing days, there was no time for me to play there.
Earlier this year I had a golf break deal email drop into my inbox and it was for 2 rounds of golf, an overnight stay and evening meal and breakfast, all for £123. That is a very good deal and I made the mistake of giving the details to Neil. Within the week he had a group of 6 all keen to take advantage of the offer and off they went in late July.
They had a brilliant time, the facilites were first rate and they talked avidly and openly about it in the golf club to enyone and everyone that would listen.
It wasn't long before some that hadn't been decided they really would like to go and a second trip was being planned.
Again, Neil made all the arrangements and got the same deal as before. On the day before they all travelled he reminded them all to take their swimming trunks so that they could make good use of the pool and spa area after golf.
Neil and I always contact each other when travelling just to let the other know we have arrived at our destination safely. Neil rang me from the on-site shop - after reminding the others to pack their swimming things he had prompty forgotten to pack his and was now buying some to ensure privacy was maintained.
On his return I, as always, listened to him enthuse about his 2 days of golf, the fabulous meal they had been served and how much they had all enjoyed their trip.
For no other reason but to show interest and make conversation, but with no real wish to know, I asked how much he'd spent. He made a show of counting through the notes in his wallet before announcing it was in the region of £100.
He'd only been gone 1 night. It's his money to spend as he wishes but it did seem rather a lot. So we did a little reckoning up.
His swimwear was £20.
I knew he'd had a few drinks, probably more than he realised, and definitely enough to mean he was incapable of sending me a 'Goodnight text' (for which he was adequately chastised the following morning) and reckoned about £40 would cover drinks, hotel prices being what they are.
But this still left £40 unaccounted for........
Or so I thought.
Neil sheepishly left the room and returned with his golf shoes. I couldn't work out why until he told me that, not only had he gone on a golfing holiday and forgotten his swimwear, he had also gone on a golfing holiday and forgotten to pack his golf shoes and the pair in his hand, which he had to buy in order to play, represented the missing £40!
So much for a good deal on the golf trip!
But for anyone interested here's the link
http://www.celtic-manor.com/golf.aspx
Saturday, 23 July 2011
Sit, Stand or Walk?
Having looked at the order of play we were lucky to see a clump of matches following each other which had players we wanted to see. The likes of Lee Westwood, Phil Mickleson, Tom Watson, Darren Clarke to name but a few.
We could choose to follow one match and walk the course with the growing crowds but this would restrict the players we would see. Or we could stand at some point along the course and watch them go by or we could look for a seat in a stand at one of the greens and settle in for the duration while the players played their approach shots and then putted out and moved on.
We opted for the latter and found ourselves a couple of good seats on the 2nd green and zipped open the picnic bag.
The atmosphere was quite calm early on and each set of players was greeted with polite applause as they approched the green. Lee Westwood's appearance raised the noise level a little but his dropped shot made for subdued exit applause. Especially as his dropped shot followed a brilliant birdie by Jim Furyk from exactly the same place. It gave us a bad feeling for Lee's game - he just wasn't on form.
After a couple of hours we decided we would have a wander around a few different holes, find somewhere for a coffee and decide where to settle next. The obvious then came into mind - where were the toilets? By now the crowds had grown considerably and I anticipated a long wait in the queue for the ladies. As we approached the block of toilets I could see that there were 4 ladies and 4 gents - but oddly enough no queue.
As I opened the door I was amazed to see behind it not a single toilet but a whole block of them - at least 40 cubicles stretching ahead of me. The organisers had certainly got this aspect right.
Within minutes I was back in the sunshine, coffee cup in hand. At £2.40 for a paper cup of coffee we were glad we had taken a picnic lunch and decided to find a new perch where we could watch some more golf while tucking into lunch.
We found we had walked to the 15th green and decided we would sit there for a while. Once seated we realised that in a few minutes the first set of players we had watched on the 2nd would begin to come through the 15th so we managed to catch up with the progress of them all once again.
There was a continual migration of people onto the stand and off again as those that were following one match took their seats while the players putted out and then moved on as the players left the green.
When we booked the day 12 months earlier we had chosen the Friday for one very specific reason. We would be able to see all our favourite players who were taking part before the cut which narrowed the field for the weekend play. That was the sole reason for not going down at the weekend. And it meant that out of 4 days play we were there on the one day when they had warm sunshine and not cold torrential rain.
By the end of the day my face was the colour of a lobster and I knew I needed lots of 'aftersun' to stop my skin peeling too badly. But, I'd suffer that any day rather than spending 8 hours in cold, driving rain as there is only so much rain waterproofs can keep out.
Early afternoon we walked over to the 1st tee to see Rory McIlroy tee off. By now the crowds around the tee were 20 deep and there was a huge wave of people walking along the fairway as he followed his tee shot - his was going to be a busy match and we decided we would not join in the melee.
We decided, instead, to go and browse around the 'merchandising' area. We needed some little trophy of our day out and so we 'ummed' and 'ahhed' over ball markers, bag tags, towels etc and finally settled on a bag tag and towel for Neil and a pitch repairer and golf shirt for me - all badged and logo-ed up with the 2011 British Golf Open. If nothing else, they will impress the Americans when we visit later this year.
And so, 8 hours after arriving, over another cup of coffee, we decided we had seen enough players and experienced enough atmosphere and we would make tracks back to the Park & Ride bus to start our 4 hour journey home.
Again, by leaving early we missed the crowds and within half an hour we were back in the car and on the road heading towards London. We had no choice but to do the Dartford tunnel. The traffic warnings meant any idea of going the long way round the M25 to avoid the tunnel just wasn't going to work.
This time though, traffic moved well and there were no hold ups and so we even managed to miss 5pm Friday madness on the roads around London.
By the time we got home we were both ready to collapse. It had been a long, but enjoyable day and we were both glad to kick of our shoes and relax.
We watched the final 2 days play on the TV and I lost count of the times I said how glad I was not to be there on those 2 days because of the rain. I doubt I'll go again now I've been once. I'm happy to watch it from the comfort of my settee but I'm so glad we went - just for the experience.
We could choose to follow one match and walk the course with the growing crowds but this would restrict the players we would see. Or we could stand at some point along the course and watch them go by or we could look for a seat in a stand at one of the greens and settle in for the duration while the players played their approach shots and then putted out and moved on.
We opted for the latter and found ourselves a couple of good seats on the 2nd green and zipped open the picnic bag.
The atmosphere was quite calm early on and each set of players was greeted with polite applause as they approched the green. Lee Westwood's appearance raised the noise level a little but his dropped shot made for subdued exit applause. Especially as his dropped shot followed a brilliant birdie by Jim Furyk from exactly the same place. It gave us a bad feeling for Lee's game - he just wasn't on form.
After a couple of hours we decided we would have a wander around a few different holes, find somewhere for a coffee and decide where to settle next. The obvious then came into mind - where were the toilets? By now the crowds had grown considerably and I anticipated a long wait in the queue for the ladies. As we approached the block of toilets I could see that there were 4 ladies and 4 gents - but oddly enough no queue.
As I opened the door I was amazed to see behind it not a single toilet but a whole block of them - at least 40 cubicles stretching ahead of me. The organisers had certainly got this aspect right.
Within minutes I was back in the sunshine, coffee cup in hand. At £2.40 for a paper cup of coffee we were glad we had taken a picnic lunch and decided to find a new perch where we could watch some more golf while tucking into lunch.
We found we had walked to the 15th green and decided we would sit there for a while. Once seated we realised that in a few minutes the first set of players we had watched on the 2nd would begin to come through the 15th so we managed to catch up with the progress of them all once again.
There was a continual migration of people onto the stand and off again as those that were following one match took their seats while the players putted out and then moved on as the players left the green.
When we booked the day 12 months earlier we had chosen the Friday for one very specific reason. We would be able to see all our favourite players who were taking part before the cut which narrowed the field for the weekend play. That was the sole reason for not going down at the weekend. And it meant that out of 4 days play we were there on the one day when they had warm sunshine and not cold torrential rain.
By the end of the day my face was the colour of a lobster and I knew I needed lots of 'aftersun' to stop my skin peeling too badly. But, I'd suffer that any day rather than spending 8 hours in cold, driving rain as there is only so much rain waterproofs can keep out.
Early afternoon we walked over to the 1st tee to see Rory McIlroy tee off. By now the crowds around the tee were 20 deep and there was a huge wave of people walking along the fairway as he followed his tee shot - his was going to be a busy match and we decided we would not join in the melee.
We decided, instead, to go and browse around the 'merchandising' area. We needed some little trophy of our day out and so we 'ummed' and 'ahhed' over ball markers, bag tags, towels etc and finally settled on a bag tag and towel for Neil and a pitch repairer and golf shirt for me - all badged and logo-ed up with the 2011 British Golf Open. If nothing else, they will impress the Americans when we visit later this year.
And so, 8 hours after arriving, over another cup of coffee, we decided we had seen enough players and experienced enough atmosphere and we would make tracks back to the Park & Ride bus to start our 4 hour journey home.
Again, by leaving early we missed the crowds and within half an hour we were back in the car and on the road heading towards London. We had no choice but to do the Dartford tunnel. The traffic warnings meant any idea of going the long way round the M25 to avoid the tunnel just wasn't going to work.
This time though, traffic moved well and there were no hold ups and so we even managed to miss 5pm Friday madness on the roads around London.
By the time we got home we were both ready to collapse. It had been a long, but enjoyable day and we were both glad to kick of our shoes and relax.
We watched the final 2 days play on the TV and I lost count of the times I said how glad I was not to be there on those 2 days because of the rain. I doubt I'll go again now I've been once. I'm happy to watch it from the comfort of my settee but I'm so glad we went - just for the experience.
Saturday, 16 July 2011
A Grand Day Out
In July 2010 we sat watching the British Open Golf Championship on TV and decided that one of the benefits of moving back to the UK was that we would now be able to go and watch it live.
A quick Google and we found out that this year's Open was in Sandwich - a good 4+ hours drive away. We would need an overnight stay. And so plans began to form.
If we went down on the Thursday afternoon for an overnight stay we would be close by for Friday's play, and could spend the whole day there before driving home.
1st task - find somewhere to stay.
Not as simple as I thought. A few hours searching the internet and I found everywhere was already fully booked. The plans looked as if they had stalled before they had even got off the first base.
Then I realised that Travelodge were not showing dates for July 2011. A little more digging around and I discovered that they only release their rooms 12 months in advance and so, July 2011 rooms would be released in August 2010.
I had only to wait a couple of weeks and we were in with a shot of getting our overnight stay which would put the ability to see the Open live back on track.
I put a reminder in my diary and on August 1st 2010 logged on to the Travelodge website and saw available rooms. Now, we all know that big events influence prices. Our Travelodge advert claims rooms available from £19.00, but of course we were going to pay a bit more.
Well actually quite a lot more. Infact, 500% more. Yes, we got our little basic travelodge room for one night in the week of the British Open Golf Championship for the princely sum of £95.00
It didn't matter, without the room the whole trip wouldn't happen. Credit card in hand the room was booked.
And so, some 11 months and 2 weeks later we found ourselves on the long drive down to the Kent coast. We would have made good time except for an hour and a half's delay trying to get over the Dartford Crossing. What a complete nightmare that was, and try as we might we could not see any reason for the hold up other than sheer volume of traffic trying to get south of the river.
We finally arrived at the Travelodge at 8pm and checked in. We were asked if we wanted a Continental Breakfast in our room, but we thought with a long day ahead of us a full breakfast in the nearby Little Chef would set us up for the day, so we declined the offer.
As we were pretty much in the middle of nowhere, we decided we would just go to the Little Chef for dinner. They're not the greatest place to eat but they are consistent and you know what to expect.
While in there we saw a number of groups of people who had obviously spent the day at the golf - a great telltale sign was those wearing their golf shoes. Daft as it sounds, they really are the best footwear for watching golf as well as playing and we had ours packed ready for the following day.
We got into conversation with one couple who gave us great information about the facilities and the Park & Ride we would be using the following day but the best piece of information was to get there early. Earlier than even we had been planning. Play started at 6.30am so it would be well under way by the time we got there. We asked what time the Little Chef opened and when they said 7am we began to think breakfast in our room may be something to consider.
And so we found ourselves up at 5.30am, with breakfast at 6 so we could be on the road by 6.30am.
The route into the Open was very well signposted and despite the previous night's conversation, we were pleasantly surprised by the lack of traffic. Within 20 minutes we were pulling into the Park & Ride field and 20 minutes later, after passing through security we were on a double-decker bus heading through the narrow country lanes around Sandwich.
By 7.30am we were entering the grounds to the Royal St George Golf Course along with a few hundred more people. The sun was out, the sky was blue and we knew that we had chosen the best of 4 days, as far as the weather was concerned.
Program and map in hand we set about working out our strategy for the day.
A quick Google and we found out that this year's Open was in Sandwich - a good 4+ hours drive away. We would need an overnight stay. And so plans began to form.
If we went down on the Thursday afternoon for an overnight stay we would be close by for Friday's play, and could spend the whole day there before driving home.
1st task - find somewhere to stay.
Not as simple as I thought. A few hours searching the internet and I found everywhere was already fully booked. The plans looked as if they had stalled before they had even got off the first base.
Then I realised that Travelodge were not showing dates for July 2011. A little more digging around and I discovered that they only release their rooms 12 months in advance and so, July 2011 rooms would be released in August 2010.
I had only to wait a couple of weeks and we were in with a shot of getting our overnight stay which would put the ability to see the Open live back on track.
I put a reminder in my diary and on August 1st 2010 logged on to the Travelodge website and saw available rooms. Now, we all know that big events influence prices. Our Travelodge advert claims rooms available from £19.00, but of course we were going to pay a bit more.
Well actually quite a lot more. Infact, 500% more. Yes, we got our little basic travelodge room for one night in the week of the British Open Golf Championship for the princely sum of £95.00
It didn't matter, without the room the whole trip wouldn't happen. Credit card in hand the room was booked.
And so, some 11 months and 2 weeks later we found ourselves on the long drive down to the Kent coast. We would have made good time except for an hour and a half's delay trying to get over the Dartford Crossing. What a complete nightmare that was, and try as we might we could not see any reason for the hold up other than sheer volume of traffic trying to get south of the river.
We finally arrived at the Travelodge at 8pm and checked in. We were asked if we wanted a Continental Breakfast in our room, but we thought with a long day ahead of us a full breakfast in the nearby Little Chef would set us up for the day, so we declined the offer.
As we were pretty much in the middle of nowhere, we decided we would just go to the Little Chef for dinner. They're not the greatest place to eat but they are consistent and you know what to expect.
While in there we saw a number of groups of people who had obviously spent the day at the golf - a great telltale sign was those wearing their golf shoes. Daft as it sounds, they really are the best footwear for watching golf as well as playing and we had ours packed ready for the following day.
We got into conversation with one couple who gave us great information about the facilities and the Park & Ride we would be using the following day but the best piece of information was to get there early. Earlier than even we had been planning. Play started at 6.30am so it would be well under way by the time we got there. We asked what time the Little Chef opened and when they said 7am we began to think breakfast in our room may be something to consider.
And so we found ourselves up at 5.30am, with breakfast at 6 so we could be on the road by 6.30am.
The route into the Open was very well signposted and despite the previous night's conversation, we were pleasantly surprised by the lack of traffic. Within 20 minutes we were pulling into the Park & Ride field and 20 minutes later, after passing through security we were on a double-decker bus heading through the narrow country lanes around Sandwich.
By 7.30am we were entering the grounds to the Royal St George Golf Course along with a few hundred more people. The sun was out, the sky was blue and we knew that we had chosen the best of 4 days, as far as the weather was concerned.
Program and map in hand we set about working out our strategy for the day.
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