Tennis, Anyone?

Day 2 of our Desert Classic Vacation took us to Indian Wells Tennis Garden, home of the BNP Paribas Tennis Open. Thanks to a thoughtful invitation from good friend Susan Jacklin, Teri, Tom and I were able to experience the hoopla for an entire day.

Every March this 2-week tournament attracts the top professional singles and doubles tennis players and over 350,000 spectators. Under the leadership of Charlie Pasarell, the Paribas Tennis Open moved from Tucson to La Quinta in 1981. With a construction pricetag of $78 million, the Indian Wells Tennis Garden is phenomenal!

Sitting on 89 acres, the venue boasts multiple tennis courts, state-of-the-art technology, and a center court stadium that seats over 16,000. The Paribas Tennis Open is just short of becoming one of tennis' Grand Slam events.

Our near-Wimbledon experience started with lunch and superb Margaritas. Surrounded by huge video screens, we could literally watch 4 matches at one time without having to leave our Margaritas for a minute!

Of course the real excitement came from seeing these world-class athletes up close and personal. With Susan's VIP badges, we could enter any venue like we owned the joint.

Until that day, I had never seen a live professional tennis match nor had I ever seen Roger Federer warming up in a practice court. Quite honestly, I've never even played tennis - but we had a ball, and I felt lucky to see all the action.