The CaddyShack #12 - The road to Cabot: Part I
A new written series for 2024, by Pat's Ten Pence.
I’ve lost some traction with the CaddyShack entries the last couple weeks. But, the Masters is around the corner and we want to get back on track. Trying something new with this week’s entry, hope you enjoy.
The journey to Cabot (Part One)
You may wonder how a couple of English people ended up working at Cabot Cape Breton. The golfers certainly wondered. Well; we drove. Always a good answer walking up the first fairway to the ‘so what brings you here?’ opening question. We didn’t set off from England. Although the total distance travelled was a lot more than the flight would’ve been. We took the long way round from Kamloops, BC, Canada, and it was pretty life-changing.
There were various reasons to take this route, the Grand Canyon, Route 66, Texas - and I was fortunate enough to secure a media pass for the Zurich Classic in New Orleans thanks to the guys at Golficity, for whom I’d been writing for over a year.
We saw the Northern Lights on the 23rd March 2023, packed up on the 24th, left the job on the 25th and headed South, yes sir, on Sunday 26th March. First stop was Seattle, Oregon, then Crescent City CA, a snowstorm, some redwood trees, and then to San Francisco. California brought bears, baseball and beers and we ended up in LA in April. It’s here we pick up this entry.
So LA was four days of new experiences.
We enjoyed the fact that it was hot. Mid 20s and counting. On the downside, a 20 mile drive suddenly became an hour commute due to the thousands of cars taking the same path from Pasadena.
Day one had us in the Warner Brothers Studios, staring at Harry Potter World, touring the sets where they film Young Sheldon, Pretty Little Liars and plenty more. We sat in Sheldon’s spot on the Big Bang theory set, re-enacting some quotes from the show. We saw where they filmed some scenes from Inception, Dunkirk and Jurassic Park. Then it was the Hollywood sign, Chinese theatre and Hollywood Boulevard Walk to pick out some big names. In ‘N’ Out burger to finish capped off a good day.
Day two was rugby on Venice Beach, Santa Monica Pier, Long Islands on the loungers and a visit to the Cheesecake Factory. Chucked the pigskin around with some locals and surprised them with the solid arm. Can’t go wrong.
The third day we spent at Universal Studios for a solid 14 hours. Commitment to the early get up was worth it and we managed some quick laps of the rides before the chaos ensued around midday. Harry Potter World was a sight to behold and got me nerding out once more. During the day we fit in every ride (unlike some Californians) a stunt show, a drone show, a studio show around the set of Jaws, the car from Chamber of secrets, Dom Torettos Dodge Charger, the whole shebang. What a day.
The final day we sauntered around Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, saw a few famous people and their houses, got our car fixed, drove to San Diego. Overall, a great holiday and we’d all go back. We had a few more miles to put in.
Key Takeaways:
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Managed to fit in the Masters golf tournament as well as enjoying a weekend in LA, some serious multi-tasking required at times. Had to squeeze in a few golf articles to keep the eye in.
-       L.A has some seriously nice parts and we didn’t see many bad places. Expected more homeless and run-down areas and we were pleasantly surprised.
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The 2005 Ford Escape (The Beast) is now on her third water pump. Praying we make it across the US of A. 246,000km on the clock and counting.
Pat's Ten Pence is now read consistently by 125 subscribers, garnering over 3,250 views this year to date - across 16 US states and 11 countries. That’s pretty cool, keep telling your friends.
I was recording footage, writing and thinking while we were on the road. We had 100 hours of driving to do. I figured its not normal for a couple of Brits to move from the West Coast of Canada to the far Eastern point of the country, via San Diego, Arizona, New Orleans, Nashville, DC and Boston. I think sharing it here will be fun for me - and some of you.
The trip took a whole host of overtime in the previous job, geographical research and planning, but there was a lot of spontaneity within it. Megan is an economics graduate and between us we could change a tyre and pay cash for a new water pump in Pasadena - shoutout Al’s Garage - I was handy with job securing, logistics and optimism. I made a serious spreadsheet of the trip that I wish I’d kept. Between us, I was nervous, excited, incredulous, hopeful.
If this post is well-received, next week we’ll be in Texas, or New Orleans. If not, it’s back to the caddy stories. But this journey deserves a mention -or two - in the resulting book that I hope comes of this East Coast adventure.
Brilliant, what an adventure