Princeton University Athletics
Men's Lacrosse Trip: Bargains, Beach And The Travel Lady
June 08, 2008 | Men's Lacrosse
The hat is not the ugliest hat ever. The watch might be. None of that mattered to Princeton assistant men's lacrosse coach Greg Raymond. He loved both purchases.
So what do you do with your Sunday in Southeast Spain, when the sun shines, temperatures are the in the 80s and there's a day off from lacrosse? You head to the beaches of La Manga, for a quick run through the open air market and then an afternoon on the beach.
The men's lacrosse team has been staying at the La Manga Club Resort, which is in La Manga as well, about seven miles or so from the public beaches of the Mar Menor and Mediterranean Sea. Some members of the team had gone to the private beach at the resort earlier in the week to jump of the cliffs that surround the small, rocky shoreline.
The beach at La Manga, though, was more like the beaches one sees in shore towns all over the United States. On this Sunday afternoon, it was bristling with activity, beginning at the marketplace.
The plan was to stop for 30 minutes before heading over a few blocks to the beach itself. The market was jammed, with vendor after vendor hawking everything from fruits and vegetables to toys to clothes to jewelry to hats to music. The Princeton players were more than happy to cough up some Euros. They were set up in rows and rows of booths, one next to each other, with locals and tourists swarming.
Raymond went first, buying a watch with a thick black band and giant face for 10 Euroes (roughly $16). Immediately, the teasing began, running from the lack of aesthetic quality of the hat to questions about how long it would keep time.
Next up was the hat, something one might see in a Country & Western bar or, in this case, on a caballero. Raymond asked the man behind the stand how much the hat was, fully expecting to be able to bargain for it.
"Nine," the vendor said, with no room for debate. Nine it was, as Raymond quickly parked it on his head.
By this time, most of the 30 minutes had ticked away, and it was time to try to get back to the where the bus had parked. Unfortunately, traffic was moving at a sort of one-way pace, with no real ability to turn around. Gradually, the Princeton contingent filtered back to the bus, and as they arrived, it seemed each had made a more outrageous purchase than the group before it. Among the items? Speedo bathing suits. Capri pants. Wild shirts. On and on it went.
Finally, with everyone back on the bus, it was off to the beach. The bus driver, due to the heavy traffic, chose the Mediterranean side, instead of the much smaller and quieter Mar Menor side, which would have featured the possibility of jet skis and windsurfing.
The main beach access road feature shops and restaurants on either side and then a short walk to the beach itself. It was well-attended but not crowded, with mostly families out for the day.
The sand was clean (though the area just off the beach was cluttered by litter and graffiti, and the water was clear blue-green and about a perfect temperature. The players, many in their Speedos, went right in, while others hung out on the sand and read or slept. This went on for two hours, and none in the group would have complained if it had been 10 times that long.
One of the members of the group who was quite contented on the beach was Phyllis Chase, wife of assistant coach Bryce Chase and travel coordinator for the Princeton athletic department. Phyllis does not have anything to do with overseas travel, but she is the queen of sending Princeton teams throughout the regular season contests, especially in the Ivy League. She probably knows every hotel and restaurant from Dartmouth to Penn, though she has rarely if ever been to any of them.
It is the second marriage for both of them, and they are closing in on 30 years together. They complement each other perfectly, she constantly checking her husband's boasts and tough-guy persona, and it obvious that they are on each other's side at all times.
"In all the time we've been together, we've only been away by ourselves one time," Phyllis says. "He loves to be around people, lots of people. I'm still waiting for my honeymoon."
There is some irony in being the travel coordinator and not having been on too many trips. She did not accompany the lacrosse team to Japan four years ago - "it was too far," she says - and she rarely goes to the road games. She's on this trip, though, and Sunday afternoon was just a perfect day at the beach for all.
Then it was back on the bus and back to the resort for the final time, the last night on the Spanish leg of the trip.The team will wake early Monday morning, leaving the resort at 7:30 for the bus ride back to the airport in Alicante. It's an 11 a.m. flight to Dublin, and the Tigers will arrive there at 1 p.m. local time, or right around the time that people on the East Coast start returning to work.
The Tigers will take with them great memories of Spain. The consensus is that Spain has been a great first stop on this trip, with two close, well-played games against the English national team and a good mix of relaxation and sight-seeing.
Greg Raymond's new watch continues to count down the final hours for the team in Spain and its trip to Ireland. Seven hours after its purchase, it was still ticking just fine.