Yesterday, I attended what will be my last game at Yankee Stadium.  For those who do not know, after this season, they will be tearing down 'The House that Ruth Built' and next season they will be playing in a new stadum right next door.

First, let me say that this is kind of bittersweet for me.  As a kid, we would go to Yankee games several times a year and I have fond memories of beign there with my entire family.  But, if we are being honest, Yankee Stadium is a dump.  It outgrew its usefulness long before I even knew it existed.  I have been to baseball games at Coors Field in Denver and Camden Yards in Baltimore adn those stadiums are simply amazing. That being said, the new stadium looks like it will be absolutely astounding.

As I said this was the last game I will see at Yankee Stadium, but it was also the first time my kids have seen the Yankees play a home game.  They seemed to enjoy the experience, but, what made it best was that at one point during the game, the kids were shown on the 'Jumbo-tron' at the stadium as part of what they call 'fan-cam'.  Unfortunately, I was unable to get a picture of them on the screen.

All in all, it was a great day (the Yankees wound up winning in extra innings).  I got to take my kids to a place from which I have such wonderful memories and they seemed to enjoy it as much as I remember enjoying it. Here are some pictures I snapped before and during the game.

These are the kids, pretty good looking if I do say so myself.

Here is a picture of Joba Chamberlain throwing a 101 MPH fastball. If you look closely at the umpire, you can see the ball.

Here is a picture of Brett Gardner about to get caught in a rundown.  He was trying to steal second, put the pitcher threw the ball to first base.  You can see the ball on its way

One thing I was hoping for with our golf trip to Scotland was that we could play the Old Course and I could get a photo of the 4 of us on the Swilcan Bridge which is in the 18th fairway.  Well, I was just going through all my digital pics and found this one.

If you click the photo, you can see the full sized image.

Today was the last day of golf and boy did we end it the right way.  We got to play the Old Course at St. Andrews (the oldest course in the world).  What a magnificent day.  It was sunny for most of the day, but we got a taste of true Scottish golf when it rained for about 2 holes.  I wish I could have played better, but I was so entraced by the place, it really didn't matter.

We each had a caddy, which was wonderful. Playing a course like the Old Course, you want to have someone there to tell you where to hit the ball, or, more importantly, where not to hit the ball.

When we first started this trip, the Old Course was #1 on our 'must play' list.  To be able to play the Old Course with my dad, brother and uncle is something that words could not express adequately. I had to choke back tears as we walked up the 18th fairway, and afterwards, I pretty much lost it when I was talking to my wife about the experience.

Speaking of my wife, one thing I have not yet mentioned here, but tell everyone, is that she is a main reason for this trip. When it was first discussed about me speaking at Scotch on the Rocks, I had asked her if I could stay a few extra days to play golf.  She suggested asking my father if he would like to fly over for a few days to play.  The idea morphed into a week and asking my brother and uncle as well.

We played 3 Open Championship courses, 4 courses in the world's top 100 in 6 days. This was truly a trip of a lifetime and one I will cherish forever.

Tomorrow we head back home and I plan on blogging about things I discovered about the Scots purely by playing golf here.  I also plan on weeding through the hundreds of pictures to post some.

Goodbye Scotland, I will truly miss thee.

I have been to paradise, and its name is Turnberry.

Today we played Turnberry, the site of next year's Open Championship and let me say, I find it difficult to believe that there is a golf course in the world with better scenery.  This was by far the most beautiful course I have ever played.  The view of the Irish Sea was simply stunning.

I shot a 94 today, not bad considering at one point I was playing so bad I said I was not playing tomorrow.  I parred 17 & 18 3rd day in a row I finished with a par), as well as the #2 handicap hole (2nd hardest hole on the course) directly into a 30-40 miles an hour wind, uphill.

This has been an amazing experience, which will be made better by the fact that we actaully got a tee time at The Old Course tomorrow at 11:00 Am GMT.  This will be the perfect ending to what has been, so far, a perfect trip.

Today we played a course named Longniddry.  It is not a very well known course like some of the others, and was in good condition, but will suffer by comparision.  If you plan a golf trip and a course like Longniddry is the worst course you play, it would have been a great vacation.

The rough was incredibly tough to get out of and we finally got some real Scottish weather with consistent 20-25 miles per hour with gusts of up to 35-49 miles per hour.  It also semed like the wind was always in our faces. On the second day in a row I parred the last hole into a strong wind.

Next up is Turnberry, another Open Championship course (the Open will be played there in 2009).  From the weather report, it looks like we will have some stereotypical weather there as well.  They are calling for winds of 15 MPH and light rain.  We are really looking forward to this course.  We have been told by several different people that Turnberry is spectacular.

We have a few more options for playing the Old Course.  We have entered the daily lottery for tomorrow and the current plan is that if we do not make the lottery, we will drive up there and try to get on by breaking up into 2 twosomes.  Keep your fingers crossed, pray, meditate, or whatever it is you do that we can get on one way or another.

Today, we walked in the footsteps of legends at Carnoustie.  To those who do not know, Carnoustie is one of the courses in the Open Championship (British Open) and was last contested there in 2007.

First, let me say this was the most difficult course I have ever played.  The bunkers are almost impossiblt to avoid and ever harder to get out of AND advance the ball. You either had to hit the ball sideways, or as happened to me frequently, backwards.

Second, this course was awesome!  Playing a course I have seen on TV during the Open Championship was incredible.  Hitting some of the same shots I have seen pro golfers play was humbling.  However, I did do something the Jean Van DeVelde could not do on 18 in the final round...I hit it right down the middle of the fairway. 

Lastly, the weather was perfect.  We were told they had a 'warm wind', which apparently means that it was blowing from inland rather than off the Firth.  On 18 the wind changed and started coming of the firth and the temperature dropped about 10 degrees.

So far, this has been an amazing vacation. Next up, Longniddry.  I will post pictures soon, I promise.

Today we played North Berwick.  I must say, this is one of the most underrated courses I have ever played...and its rated in the top 100 courses in the world by GOLF magazine. It was easily the most scenic course I have ever played. I will post pics soon...I swear.

Tomorrow, we tee of at Carnoustie.  If you want to see us embarass ourselves at one of the toughest courses in the UK, check out this link at 3:20 GMT (10:20 EDT).

Scotch on the Rocks wrapped up today and I must say Fuzzy Orange did a fantastic  did a fantastic job.  I highly recommend this conference next year to anyone in Europe (or even the US).

Alos, we started the golf part of our vacation.  My dad, brother and uncle arrived around 1:30 PM and we headed out to St Andrews.  We were not able to get on the Old Course, but we did get a tee time at the New Course.  Just playing golf there was amazing...and seeing parts of the Old Course was astounding.  We still have 2 more chances to get on the Old Course.

Time for dinner...pictures to come later.

I am sitting in Newark Airport waitng to board my flight to Edinburgh.  It only took about 6 hours to get here from Dulles.  That means I could have driven to NJ from home to catch this flight, and my wife would just about be home again.

Let's hope the rest of the trip in uneventful.

I am currently sitting in Dulles airport waiting for my delayed flight (about 30 mins late) to start my trip to Scotch on the Rocks.  I am really looking forward to this conferecne as I have heard such wonderful things about it.

Oh, and I am looking forward to gofl as well. ;)