Sunday, May 12, 2013

Tiger wins at TPC

Growing up a soccer player, golf was never in my future.  When I started a career in home building all that changed.  Turns out, golf is really popular for those in construction and banking alike.  I first learned to golf in 2005 and really enjoy it.
Five years ago I got the chance to go to my first professional event, TPC (The Players Championship) in Ponte Vedre.  It was amazing.  The facility is manicured to perfection and there are no other sports I know of where you can get THIS close to the professional players.  Well, five years later it is still one of my favorite annual events.
It starts on Thursday and runs through Mother's Day.  I have been twice on Sunday and this year marked my third Thursday visit.  A small group of us from work went and I snapped a few photos to share.  I watched the final round today on TV and Tiger finished with the win, on his 300th start.  It was pretty neat I was just a few feet away from him on opening day.  

Clockwise: Tiger Woods (orange), Phil Mickelson (white), KJ Choi (blue)

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Florida Resident Perk: Theme parks!

I have a couple friends that work at theme parks in Orlando and Sunday we were treated to some passes to go to Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure.  My friend Rob is building the new Transformers ride and got tickets for my nephew Shane and I to join him and his son for a day of park-hopping.
My stepsister Mariah has annual passes so she joined us and since she is an expert, she was the navigator.

We had a fun day but I was quickly reminded why I don't go too often....the rides make me sick.  :(
What a bummer.  The weather was perfect and I was excited since we don't go very often (and we live less than an hour away) but after going on a few simulated rides I wasn't feeling very well.

We did manage to catch a quick Blues Brothers performance, eat some caramel apples and hit the scariest roller coasters and make our way through two parks in eight hours.  Our last stop was the new Harry Potter area and it was really neat.  I had high hopes of trying the Butter Beer but that ride was the toughest of the day for me and I wasn't feeling up to it once the ride ended.  After the day I have reconfirmed that I am best suited for the night life Universal offers and will keep my visits limited to the nightclubs.  :)