Mayor's Master Reception at the Botanical Gardens

For those non-golfers and non-Augustians, this week is the Master's Golf Tournament. The city of Augusta thrives during this time as golfers, celebrities, tv networks and fans flock to be a part of such a prestigious event. As we've noticed over the past few weeks, if you live in Augusta, you either hate Master's week, or you love it. Many people will go on vacation this week just to get away from all the hustle and bustle or leave so that they can rent their home out. Then there are others that enjoy all the business that the week brings. This one week brings so much to the city that it's hard to not want to get involved!!

Last week, we started to notice the first signs of Master's week.

Fans and ticket scalpers started to set up camp all over the city. They even invaded our only Dunkin' Donuts!


Then we started to notice the "Golf Traffic" signs all over town...



Dood and I decided to hang around town and see what all the fuss was about. Although we didn't have tickets to any of the practice rounds or the actual tournament (we were able to go to a practice round a few years ago - and it was amazing!), we still wanted to take part in the action.

Each year, the Mayor holds a Master's Reception to honor one of the golfers. This event is held at the Augusta Botanical Gardens in downtown Augusta. We were familiar with the gardens as it was right next door to the hotel we called home for a few months! The reception also brings out food vendors all of the city and they are all equipped with booths and free samples! This year, over 50 restaurants came out with food and wine - everything from the small restaurant / business owners such as the White Elephant and Wine World to chains such as Blimpie, Red Lobster and Sticky Fingers. With the free food, also comes the free food partakers...and they seem to come out from the woodwork. I remember waiting in line at the Sticky Fingers booth as they were handing out free ribs (only 1!) and the lady in front of me complaining that there wasn't any meat on her rib and she should get another one!



We were lucky enough to meet up with some friends and really spent time chatting and people watching. I do not recommend coming to this event if your sole interest is the free food. It is absolutely NOT WORTH IT! But, if you're there for the people watching, socializing, the ceremony and the gardens, and only partake in the food because it's there, it really is a great experience! The gardens are beautiful and the atmosphere (aside from the greedy food fiends) was laid back and relaxing. A total Southern experience!



We were able to see the honoree and two time Master's Champion, Mr. Ben Crenshaw, and hear all about his life and golf accomplishments as the Mayor presented him with a key to the city.



Next year, if you happen to be in Augusta around Master's week, I highly recommend gathering a group of friends and heading over to the Botanical Gardens to the Mayor's Master Reception!