An Atlanta area Catholic parishioner and her birth daughter are competing in this season’s “Amazing Race,” so I’ll be watching this fast-paced Sunday show as my journalistic duty.

Read about Andrea DeKroon and birth daughter Jenna Sykes as they attempt to win $1 million on the 17th edition of the series here. And here’s their introductory video.

My posts will be my own biased observations. Of course, all of it is Monday morning quarterbacking, so naturally I’ll be much smarter and wiser than the contestants are in the heat of battle.

My first observation. Booyah. Good for them to agreeing to this endeavor. The duo hadn’t had time to develop a relationship before the series so they will be seeing each other’s faults and strengths for the first time in a pressure cooker.

This season started with the 11 teams arriving by lobster boats to the port of Gloucester, Mass., one of the oldest seaport in the country. It is also the place from which the fishing crews from “The Perfect Storm” sailed, but I digress.

All the teams raced in tiny cars from Gloucester down to Boston’s Logan International Airport to try and make the first flight to England.

The drive can be terrible – I know because I lived the area for several years – so I thought point for Team Andi/Jenna, hereby dubbed Team A/J, who are likely familiar with driving in Atlanta, which as we all know is notorious for traffic snarls.

The team made it on to the second flight to jolly old England from Boston.

Cars became a problem for Team A/J in England. Andi was behind the wheel, which meant she changed gears with her left hand and drove on the left. Ugh.

Not a shining moment for the team. Andi’s gear grinding eventually helped kill the engine in the middle of busy English roadway. But they kept their cool. Point for Team A/J.

They found Stonehenge and then moved on to Eastnor Castle, for a series of challenges, like “storming a castle” up ladders while doused with dirty water and crossing a river on a turtle-looking boat. Jenna took up the challenge to fire a watermelon using a giant slingshot to knock over a suit of armor 50 feet away.

Team A/J arrived at the pit stop in ninth position, despite the car setback. The eliminated team included friends from Los Angeles.

Here’s a video of them arriving at the pit stop and talking about working together:



The global scavenger hunt’s second leg sends the remaining 10 teams to Ghana.

Did you think the car breakdown was a sign of grace under pressure? Suggestions for a better team name?

-Andrew
Staff Writer

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