Across the Pond...: Wimbledon

Yesterday, we went to Wimbledon.

Not only did we go to Wimbledon, we sat at Centre Court and watched Andy Murray play in the men's semi-finals.

Unbelieveable.

With the weather being incredibly beautiful this week, we thought we'd take the kids out of school early, spend an hour in The Queue and, hopefully, get a peek inside the grounds at this very British event that happens just in our backyard.

We left Maidenhead at about 3pm and arrived (after train & tube) at Wimbledon a little after 4pm. We headed straight for The Queue, where you can enter the grounds of the All England Lawn Tennis Club as space becomes available. The Queue is really an experience in itself, as some people will camp out all night to get in when the doors open in the morning. It is also common for latecomers to arrive in the afternoon to go in as ticketholders leave after the main matches.

Working against us were several factors... the beautiful weather, a record-breaking long first semi-finals match, and a Scotsman in the second semi-finals match. No one was leaving.

However, it was beautiful weather, we had brought a picnic, and no one was complaining. Our original plan was to wait an hour in The Queue, and head out to dinner if it didn't look like we'd get in. We ended up standing in line for over 2.5 hours.

Honestly, it wasn't so bad. Our kids are pretty good at waiting. We had a picnic and card games. The weather was perfect and The Queue is along golf course with plenty of room for the kids to run around and play tag.

The stewards told us that, although there was room on the grounds, The Hill (where everyone without court tickets goes to picnic and watch the matches on a big-screen TV) was overcrowded, so they did not want to let any more people inside. But soon, they had the semi-finals match on the big screens in Courts 2 and 3, so they let everyone in.

We were excited just to have made it through the turnstiles after our long wait! We headed to Court 2, but Lane and Ryan weren't particularly interested in following the match on TV, so we decided to walk around and check out the grounds.

Most everything was deserted, and they were watering the courts around the periphery. Then, as we were standing at a souvenir stand, a young guy walks up to us and offers us two corporate passes since two people from his office did not show up. YES! John took Lane inside Centre Court with the intention of coming back out for Ryan in a bit. They made it inside for Murray's second set.

Not more than 15 minutes later, a nice couple walks up to Ryan and I and asks if we have tickets. I said, no, thinking they were looking for tickets (as many people milling around outside obviously were) and then they offered us theirs since they were leaving! SCORE!

Ryan and I headed in to section 202, seats 46 and 47 in row E. Great seats! John and Lane could see us from across the court. We were able to watch all of the third set. It was perfect. Although Ryan could not follow all that was happening, he sat very intently (and quietly) watching!

When the third set had finished (which Murray had won!), it was 9pm and we knew we had to go. (Honestly, it was perfect for Ryan... I don't think he could have lasted any longer.) Since the match wasn't over, we easily hopped in a cab to the tube station and the kids were in their beds at 11pm. A late night - but well worth it!!!