Blackpool, British Open, and Manchester! (July 16, 17, 18, 19)

Sorry it has been so long since an update, it has been another great and busy 3 days in England. On Monday I woke up early and went to do laundry at the laundry mat. After doing getting a couple loads done, I went back to the hotel and had lunch before catching a train to Blackpool. In Blackpool, we are staying at the Metropole hotel. This is the strangest and creepiest hotel I have ever stayed in. It seems like it is straight out of the Shinning with Jack Nicholson. After checking in, a group of us ate dinner at a local chicken place that had so many different sauces to choose from. It was pricey, but great food. I went to bed soon after because we had an early morning at the practice round of the British Open.

Tuesday morning we woke up early and got cabs to the practice round of the British Open at St. Annes. It was a little cold and rainy, but was amazing to see so many of the top golfers in the World just practicing their games. Our group also got to speak with Nike Golf executive Mark Thaxeon. He talked about what he does for the company, and what a week like this is like for him. It has really been great to hear from so many top sports executives from so many different areas of the sports industry on this trip. Because it was only a practice round, I left before the crowd and headed back to the hotel.

Later that night, a new friend Nathan and I went to play some blackjack at a local casino. After playing for about an hour, two guys came and sat at the table to play with us. They saw Nathan wearing British Open gear that he got earlier in the day. One of the guys said he was actually playing in the tournament. Neither of us really believed he was actually playing in the tournament, until we got to talk with him for a while. Turns out we were playing blackjack with Dale Whittner, a recently turned pro golfer from England. It was the first time I walked out of a casino not winning money, and having a smile on my face.

Wednesday we had an opportunity to go to the second practice round for the British Open, but I decided to catch up on some sleep because I was able to attend the first round of the tournament the following day. I laid low and relaxed for the majority of the day. In the late afternoon, a couple of us went down to the south pier to check out an amusement park that has the largest roller coaster in England called “The Big One.” On the roller coaster, I sat behind a man named Richard Rodriguez, who was 49 days into setting a record for consecutive days riding a roller coaster. He only had to get to 104 to set the record, couldn’t imagine doing that myself. We then went to grab dinner and went to bed early for the early and eventful next day.

Thursday was one of the most memorable days of the trip so far. We woke up early and headed to the first round of the British Open. Traffic heading there was insane, but we managed to make it there at a decent time. When we arrived, we went straight to the 5^th hole where we had an awesome view of the green. We watched a couple groups with players like Bubba Watson, Earnie Els, and Tiger Woods. After Woods finished the 5^th hole, we followed him through the 8^th tee, and then headed to explore the rest of the course. After grabbing lunch and going to most every hole, we sat at the 18^th green to see about eight groups finish their days. We saw most of the groups that we saw at the beginning of the day on the 5^th hole, including Tiger Woods. We then quickly caught a cab to the train station to head to Manchester.

When we arrived in Manchester, we put our stuff in the room and had a quick meeting about a work/volunteer opportunity near the end of the trip. As soon as I can release information about this opportunity, I will be sure to let everyone know. After the meeting we hurried over to Manchester Arena to watch the USA Men’s Basketball team play an exhibition game against Great Britain. As a fan of basketball and of the NBA, this was one of the coolest sporting events I have ever been to. Seeing so much NBA talent that I am familiar with play on the same team was really something special. At one point Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Kevin Durant were playing on the floor at the same time, a seemingly impossible lineup to defend. One thing is for sure, they are going to be really hard to beat this year in the Olympics, should be fun to watch. We went back to the hotel after the game and prepared for a long day of travel the following day.

Today is Friday, and we are on our way to Paris. We are going to Coventry, picking up the rest of our luggage, and then catching a bus to London. We will drop our bags at the dorm where we will be staying for two weeks following our brief stay in Paris. I will make sure to give another update after returning from France. It going to be a very exciting time once we get back to London for the days leading up to the Olympics. (I will make sure to upload some more photos when I get reliable internt).