A few years ago one of my friends went to the Newport International Polo Series in Rhode Island with her mom and when they returned, it all sounded so glamourous.
Since first hearing about their adventure, I've wanted to experience it myself. After several summers of work travel, weddings and family vacations, our schedules finally lined up so we could all go together.
On a Saturday afternoon we piled into my friend's car and headed south for Newport. Thanks to some Taylor Swift concert traffic, the ride took a bit longer than expected, but when we pulled into the lot, we handed over our cash and easily found a parking spot.
Tickets to a match are $12 dollars per person and that includes parking. I don't think there is a single ticketed event in the entire city of Boston that only costs $12 dollars.
The scene at the field was everything I hoped it would be - grand and fabulous. Along one side of the field they fly the flags of all the countries that compete in the series.
It's hard to tell from these photos, but seeing all the flags waving in the breeze was really a marvelous sight.
We bought general admission tickets, but if you're feeling swanky, you can pay extra to sit in the fenced, tented area (sponsored by BMW).
Personally, I think it's more fun to sit amongst the people. The tailgating scene at the field was unlike anything I've seen. It definitely rivals the set ups at Gillette Stadium before the Patriots games.
It took us a bit to find a patch of grass to call our own. We wanted to have enough space to sit, but also wanted to be able to see the match. Though we arrived a full hour before the start time, the place was already packed.
We did finally secure a prime patch and in just a few minutes we had chairs, a table and a picnic blanket set up. Here's one of my gal pals pouring each of us a glass of champagne.
You may have noticed these wine glasses are plastic. If you don't own a set of these, you must get one. They are perfect for outdoor entertaining. No risk of breakage!
Since the polo match would overlap with dinner time, we packed a picnic dinner. My friend Stephanie (who cooks for all the parties I host at my house) prepared a delicious feast.
To start, we had hummus with toasted pita chips (I was so excited to eat them I forgot to snap a picture).
Next we enjoyed a salad of spinach, strawberries, blue cheese and pecans with a homemade balsamic dressing. The dressing was a mix of summer peach white balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Each of the salad's ingredients were so fresh. I loved the combination of the strawberries with the blue cheese.
Our third course was cucumber sandwiches (so posh!). Stephanie used a rosemary loaf, veggie cream cheese and thickly cut cukes. She described to us, "I wanted to slice these cucumbers thick, like steak."
These were excellent finger foods!
For all the recipes from that meal and her recap of the day, visit Stephanie's blog.
The first half of the match was fascinating, mostly because I didn't understand the rules. I was trying to make some sense of who was gaining and scoring and missing shots, but admittedly, I was pretty clueless.
At half time, everyone storms the field to stomp the divots! All my "Pretty Woman" fantasies were coming true! If only I had that beautiful light brown and white polka dot dress Julia Roberts was wearing in that scene.
While stomping the divots you could also stop to meet or pose with the referee and his horse. It was hysterical watching people's drunk reactions to being so close to the horse.
The second half of the match seemed to fly by. Team USA won, defeating visiting Italy.
Apparently it's a tradition at the close of the match for both teams to ride along the edge of the field and greet the fans. It was really cute to see how excited all the little kids got to hold out their hands and receive high fives from the players.
Naturally, USA went last and took the final victory lap.
After years and years of waiting to experience the Newport International Polo Series, I must say, I loved it! We had such a fun afternoon.
Next time we go, we all agreed we should arrive about an hour earlier than we did (say, 3:00pm) to get a killer spot, close to the field. We also thought it would be fun to invite additional people and form a compound. We saw some folks with intense set ups - tents, grills, blenders, generators. It got us feeling a little competitive.
If you're interested in experiencing Newport Polo this year, there are matches every Saturday between now and September 26th. You can view the full schedule here.
Have you ever been to a polo match? Did you tailgate like it was a football game?
