Our first morning in Scotland…. and we slept AMAZINGLY! A long day of travel always aids in a night well rested… that and the back up batteries I thought to bring for our plug in brookstone noise maker, apparently it didn’t like the voltage adapter I plugged it into the night before… it fried itself right away!

We woke around 6:30am so we could enjoy the morning; wash up, pack up and take advantage of the breakfast included with our stay; all before Nate’s 9:30 tee time at Royal Troon.

Nate, excited for his first round of golf in Scotland, ate a light bite and headed off to warm up at the driving range. I stayed a bit longer, sipping my coffee and taking it all in! …soon it was time to check out of the Marine Hotel and make my way down the grass path leading from the hotel to the course, to meet Nate at the 1st tee. I arrived earlier than planned so I found a seat in the Clubhouse, enjoying the cozy old world charm that surrounded me.

It was time… Nate & I met the other two singles he’d been paired with and off we went. I always enjoy watching Nate play, but this time was different …he wasn’t just in his zone or in his element… he was in his happy place and THAT made me so happy to see! I loved walking those 18 holes watching him soak up this experience and sharing in his enjoyment as he played.

The day started out a bit foggy but as the hours passed, we enjoyed sunshine amongst the clouds, little to no wind and no rain. So often Nate would comment about how lucky we were to have THIS weather … I knew it too! Granted we would have been happy in ANY weather… but to experience such a glorious day for his first round… we were euphoric!

Four hours, 5.23 miles and countless photos later, the round was done and it was time to climb into our little Toyota Yaris and head to our next stop….the golf Mecca and true apex of this trip for Nate – St. Andrews!! He was so looking forward to this part of our trip… and we had no idea just how good this leg of our journey would have!!

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St. Andrews

After our trusty and faithful GPS (we really should have given her a name) guided us the 2 hours and 15 minutes to St. Andrews… We parked the car near our hotel and immediately made our way 2 blocks down the street to reach St. Andrews, The Old Course. The sun was shining, the sky blue, the temperature mild …. The day was perfect!

It became apparent very quickly – that Nate was in the presence of greatness!! He was quiet, thoughtful, taking it all in while snapping photos, and I could tell he was awash with awareness that he was truly “here” and what “here” meant to him. The energy radiated from him, it was contagious and I fully soaked in!

After we walked the grounds by the along the 1st hole, in front of the R&A and along side the 18th hole, we found our way to (surprise) a pub, the iconic Jigger Inn. The Jigger Inn, part of the Old Course Hotel dating back to the 1850’s, sits off the 17th hole approach, overlooking the green. It was A GEORGOUS DAY and we lucked out to find an open table outside. We grabbed a pint, our first taste of the local Belhaven Ale we came to love, and set up shop, watching those lucky enough to experience play on the this historic course. …little did we know that this time tomorrow, WE would be the ones others were watching!!

Our people watching done, our pints finished, we enjoyed another walk along side the course as we made our way back along the course and up the hill to our accommodation for the next 2 nights… the Golf Inn. We didn’t know much about this place, in fact I booked it because it was the option we liked best from those available to us while booking through my Chase Sapphire Rewards (your points/dollars are worth 1.5x when redeemed through them) but we truly found a gem with this place! It was absolutely the ideal location, it had a great look and feel, it was just the right size for us with the perfect mix of historical charm and modernization, not to mention it had a pub on the ground floor! (though we never stopped in for a drink!)

It was time to eat…again! We ralrey dine where we stay with our travel style…. world wind describes it best. We like to experience as much as we can in what time we have, rarely keeping us in one place for very long. ….that and Nate is amazing at finding so many places to try.

While we regrouped in our room, Nate began looking online for somewhere we might enjoy to eat that evening. The places we choose to eat can vary depending on where we are, our mood, our cravings… it didn’t take long for him to find one that looked just our speed and was only a block from us… The Playfair’s Restaurant. Once again, he found us a winner!

We ordered a bottle of wine and chose a few items form the menu that would give us a little tasting of this and that – and of course being our first night in Scotland… we had to try the haggis! So we enjoyed the haggis appetizer, shared an amazing cesaser salad, crunchy and light onion rings and a burger… and the burger was AMAZING! This was one of the best meals we’ve had in a long time – and we eat a lot!! If we had been able to fill our bellies with anymore we totally would have, there was so much on the menu that interested us, especially watching plates of food pass us on their way to other diners. Oh well.. can’t do it all! (Yet!)

Dinner was done and the night was beautiful, we were not ready to retire just yet. Luckily for us on the way back to our room we passed a corner pub with a lively scene inside (our kind of tamed liveliness) and an outdoor table for two available. PERFECT! … and when we saw a pup sitting at the next table – there was no doubt this was our next stop. The Dunvegan!

We took one more lap around the Old Course before calling it a night! Another perfect ending to a another perfect day! …and an early start ahead us tomorrow…. very early for Nate!!!

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…side note, we have recently been in touch with the Playfair’s to make a reservation for 16 months from now, just to be sure we don’t miss out dining with them again our one night back in St. Andrews next year!