2019 at The Masters and DIY Round Up

Happy Masters weekend, friends!  Last July, I received one of the most amazing emails ever: I was selected for the random Masters ticket lottery.  If you haven't heard of it before, this is how tickets are distributed for the tournament; someone in your household can enter the free lottery in the spring, and in the summertime, you hear if you were accepted or not.  Well, we were selected for 4 Tuesday practice round tickets, and I've been looking forward to this week ever since.

We arrived before the 7am gate opening (even though every website will tell you 8am, you can actually get in an hour earlier to go to the gift shop, concessions, and practice range before access to the course opens at 8am).  We ate chicken biscuits, shopped for ourselves (and all of our families), and checked all of our purchases to pick up later.

As you can probably tell from my first few photos, it was a rainy morning, but we made the most of it and got great seats in Amen Corner to watch the couple of groups come through.  While Mike drank a couple beers, I had the famous Stand 12 punch (lemonade, blue powerade, and Sprite) along with plenty of sandwiches and peach ice cream sandwiches.

 Around 11am, we did get kicked out for a couple of hours as a line of thunderstorms was in the area, but at 12:45 when they let us back in, the sun came out and the rest of the afternoon was perfect!

I'm unsure if we will be back next year after our little dude is born, but we will definitely still be entering the lottery, just in case!

Whether or not you're headed to August this weekend, if you plan on celebrating this weekend, click on the photo below to visit my post and get in the spirit!

 

 

Maui Babymoon: Where We Stayed

Three weeks ago, Mike and I flew to Maui for our last trip "just the two of us."  Shortly after we found out we were expecting, we realized we hadn't gone on a real vacation in almost two years (when we went to Oahu).  We've had dreams of going to London, Cuba, and Central America, but since our time was limited (traveling in the winter before I can't fly anymore) and with the Zika risk, we decided on Hawaii as the perfect spot.  The weather was amazing (even though they were having a "cold snap" - hahaha), and we could choose to either relax or be active as much as we wanted. 

After we decided on a location, we started researching on what parts of the island to stay.  For the most part, we found six resort areas: Kapalua, Ka'anapali, Lahaina (all on the leeward - western - side of the island), Kihei, Wailea (on the southern beaches), and Paia (northern, at the start of the Road to Hana).  Needless to say, we were a little overwhelmed.  Luckily, some of our best friends had just planned their honeymoon with an amazing travel agent (I had no idea they still existed!!) and gave us her information.  With only a few weeks to plan, she gave us a ton of ideas, and we decided to split our time between the Kapalua and Wailea areas.  The island of Maui isn't too big (Kapalua and Wailea are just over an hour from one another), but with only one road to really get to any given place, it was nice to not have to drive too far to explore each part of the island while we stayed there.  Like when we were on Oahu, we wanted to drive every road on the island and really feel like we did everything (which we did!).

Ritz-Carlton Kapalua: We stayed our first five nights at the Ritz up in Kapalua.  One of our main goals of being on Maui was to play the Plantation Course (which we snuck in right before they closed for a 9-month renovation), and this allowed us to be right there and also play Kapalua's Bay Course.  I absolutely love how all of the hotels on the Hawaiian islands are so open and airy, especially the main lobbies and restaurants.  This one also had an awesome koi pond out front!

When we arrived in our room, we had the sweetest chocolate-covered surprise.  Way to my heart right there!  The Ritz also has a bunch of great restaurant options from a breakfast buffet with pool and ocean views to the cutest little coffee shop (with amazing brown butter donuts), to a beach bar with over-the-top shakes and delicious burgers.  There is definitely something for everyone.

If you're looking to leave the resort to eat, there are a few great options less than five minutes from the resort, in the Kapalua area.  We received some fantastic recommendations from our bartender at The Pour House on one of our first evenings.  Our favorite was definitely the Whale Watcher's happy hour at The Sea House.  What we found interesting is that happy hours on Maui start as early as 2pm, so we enjoyed their happy hour more as a late lunch and ordered almost one of everything (see photo below).  Other recommendations were received were: The Gazebo for breakfast, Kitchen 5315 for dinner, and Cane & Canoe for any meal of the day.

Now for Kapalua golf: it is absolutely unmatched.  Not only is the Plantation Course consistently the #1 golf course on all of Hawaii, there is also a PGA TOUR event played there each January, and it's ranked in the top 50 public golf courses in the country every year.  It was built on an old pineapple field and actually uses the same irrigation system that the farm once did.  You also have ocean views from every one of the 18 holes.

Plantation's sister course, Bay, does not have the same prestige as Plantation but was equally as beautiful.  We played it in 40 mph winds, during a crazy winter storm, but we had the best time.  Many of the views are equally as spectacular as Plantation, and I really liked the trickiness of the fairways and sloping greens.  At both golf courses, we received a discount for being resort guests - so that was definitely a bonus, too!

Fairmont Kea Lana: After our five nights in Kapalua, we headed south to the Wailea resort area.  All of the resorts are beautiful in Wailea, and honestly, we chose Fairmont because it was the least expensive option - haha!  Seriously, having a travel agent is amazing.  We arrived to an upgraded suite and the absolute sweetest babymoon package, complete with tons of snacks and an adorable gift for Baby Boy.  The patio outside was huge with a full ocean view, facing south, towards Makena Point. 

Another bonus of booking through a travel agent were the deals.  She got us free breakfast each morning at the Fairmont, and it was delicious.  If you ever go, make sure you get some of their signature pineapple coconut bread (more like pound cake!).

Between the two hotels, we liked the pools and outside dining better at the Fairmont.  Both were fantastic, but the pool complex at the Fairmont was bigger, had a water slide, and even a swim-up pool bar. 

We would absolutely stay at both places again and recommend them to all of you.  If you have any questions about where to stay in Maui, please let me know!

September Review

September was a great month!  We went on a few trips, got super lucky when Hurricane Florence missed up, and enjoyed our 4th anniversary!

Darlington - To start Labor Day weekend, we went to a Nascar race at Darlington Raceway, just north of us in South Carolina.  We had never been to an Xfinity race before, and it was such a blast!

Ocean Course - We finished Labor Day weekend with a round of golf at the beautiful Ocean Course on Kiawah Island!

Florida weekend - My parents came to visit us for a week, and we spent the second half of the trip in Florida, visiting my aunt in St. Pete Beach.  We made a stop in Disney, visited a couple of breweries, and watched the most beautiful sunsets.

Hurricane Florence - Charleston boarded up and got ready for the Flo.  We got lucky this time as it slid north of us, but the northern part of SC and NC are both still dealing with intense flooding.  If you would like to help, please consider finding an organization to donate to here. 

4th anniversary - Our anniversary was low-key and perfect!  We decided on NO GIFTS this year and bought some chocolate-covered fruit to share.  We went out to dinner, too!

Richmond - We went to a second Nascar race last month!  This time, it was to the short track at Richmond Raceway with a couple of our friends for a Monster Energy Cup series playoff race. 

Pebble Beach - Our last trip of the month was for my work to California.  We had such a blast seeing Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur, and everything in between!

July in Review

It's time for another monthly recap!  This summer is seriously flying by, and now that the sun is finally back out after nearly 20 straight days of rain, I plan on making the most of it!  We will be traveling to some weddings later this month, but in the mean time, I'm soaking up all the sun I can.

The month started with a beautiful lady's bachelorette party in Charleston!  If you're looking for tips and suggestions for your own girls' weekend in the Holy City, you can click here for my full list!

It was another awesome month of kickball - we finished up the spring season (yes, I know it was July - haha), and one of our teams won another championship!

It was also my 30th Baseball Hall of Fame induction weekend in New York.  We had the best time, and you can read the full recap here.

In between raindrops we also played a bunch of golf (and clearly made some new friends!).

We also joined our friends for a romper "pool" party.  Pool is in quotes because it was supposed to be a party/barbecue at our friends' house, but well, thanks, rain!  Instead, we turned it into a pub crawl and wound up at a great pool and games bar!

Last, but not least, we also tried a bunch of new, awesome places around Charleston.  @Hushupandhustle opened a new smoothie bar, featuring their amazing Blender Bombs.  Their smoothies are so good, and I love the homemade granola on top! We also had Kwei Fei Sichuan Cuisine for the first time at our favorite brewery, Charles Towne Fermentory.  I also spent mornings with @holeycitybagels and @bkedshop as well as an evening at a Wicked Weed Funkatorium pop-up at Kudu!