My Favorite Place!

Or at least one of them is St. Andrews, Scotland. My Dad owns a place there called The Dunvegan Hotel so it is very special to my heart. This summer I had the opportunity to visit during The 2010 Open (British Open) and let me tell y'all it was so much fun! I had the time of my life and met tons of amazing people that I will never forget for the rest of my life! Plus for a single girl it's not so bad of a place to be! If I had to guess I would say the ratio of guys to girls was around 20:1....and even that friends may be a little low! One night a guy tapped me on the shoulder and said "Do you realize your the only girl in the pub?" See what i mean by a great place for the single gals? My favorite memory from The Open would have to be the night my crush walked through the doors...

Be still my beating heart! The town had not picked up yet because it was still a few days before practice rounds were scheduled to start so it was a slower night at The Dunvegan when Dustin walked in with this caddie. Once again I was the only girl in the pub that night (oh darn) and after a quick introduction from my Dad they invited me to join them. Excuse me did I hear you correctly? Did you just ask me to sit down at your table? Oh yes, he did! This is not a dream Joy, this is for real! (AHHHHH!)  As I answered "yes" I could feel my face turning about 10 shades of red I was forced to give myself a little pep talk. "Get it together Joy, he's a normal person who just happens to swing the golf club really, really well. He's just like anybody else." So I did. I sat down in the corner booth and enjoyed an evening with the guy I had watched on TV and dreamed about meeting on my trip! See--St. Andrews is the perfect place for a single girl during The Open! So great that you might even get to hang out with your celebrity crush for a couple of hours. 

That's what's so great about St. Andrews. The golfers just blend in. They are "normal people" I met so many other famous golfers that week and made tons more memories but this one by far took the cake! I can't wait to go back to my favorite place really, really soon to make many more memories. The home of golf is a place that is undesirable. You'll have to experience it yourself just to get a feel of just how special it is!

On The Swilcan Bridge

First and 18th hole with the R&A in the background

My Daddy & I

Midnight Tour of Old Tom's Grave with Jim Nantz 

"The King" Arnold Palmer

These two couples adopted me as their "daughter the week and half they were there

Dustin and my Stepmom...I was trying to play it "cool" so I didn't' ask for a picture....epic fail!

Bye, Bye Scotland...sad the tournament was over