On to the Championship Game

Hello fellow travelers,

Sad to say I am back home in Connecticut. What a whirlwind weekend from CT to Houston then back again in 36 hours, but MAN WAS IT WORTH IT! University of Connecticut in the Championship game against Butler… as if you didn’t already know!

I shot some crappy video on my dad’s smartphone to showcase the massiveness of the crowd and noise in the stadium

I was very fortunate today with traveling back, all my flights were on time, traffic from the airport was light, and everything (starting at 5:00 am) went off without a hitch. What more could a traveler ask for?!

Before you get to the pictures of last night’s events, I’d like to share a story about the travel out of the stadium in Houston. It was the most terribly inefficient system for moving mass amounts of people I have ever seen. The Final Four game hit a record attendance with over 75,000 people last night. At the end of the second game my father and I were directed to a ‘taxi stand’ whose line was estimated to be 10,000 people long. We waited almost 2 hours to get a taxi, with no other form of transportation available. Unbelievable right? You would expect a better system to be in effect, considering they had over a year to prepare.

Regardless of the transportation issues, the entire night was AMAZING. Although I was disappointed with the lack of UConn fans, I met so many wonderful people, a lot of Kentucky fans, who I must admit, were overly respectful.

The atmosphere of the pre-game tailgate and the games themselves were well well worth the extreme exhaustion I am currently feeling. If you ever get the chance to go to a national sporting event (even if you don’t like sports) DO IT! It’s an experience unlike any other.

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Valentine’s Day Vineyards

What could be more romantic for Valentine’s day than a small vineyard getaway with your special someone?

The one thing that people don’t often realize about travel is that it is merely GETTING AWAY. A one hour car ride can be a  whole vacation.

My sister and her husband, for example, live in Syracuse New York. Since they are very fond of wine, they often take weekend trips to the Finger Lakes and Seneca Falls, where there are many small vineyards and cute little B&Bs. They get to experience the intimacy and privacy of being a couple, while meeting interesting new people, and learning more about wine and grapes and the area around them. They participate in wine trails, wine tastings, intimate walks through the grapevines and the surrounding areas. Sounds like a perfect vacation.

thank you Becki for letting me steal this picture ❤

Even though the above picture was not at all related to Valentine’s day (rather the day my brother-in-law proposed to my sister in August a few years ago), does it not look like the perfect gift to give your lady? A bottle of wine and some beautiful flowers (seriously fellas, this is above and beyond the things we love). After all, Valentine’s day is all about romance.

Whatever coast you are on there is somewhere within hours that makes wine. For the West coast, head towards Napa Valley, and for the East Coast head towards New York or Connecticut wineries.

So it may be too late to book a room for today, why not look into a vineyard getaway for next year, or next weekend.

In case I have done a horrible job convincing you to go on a winery vacation, here is a video I found on Youtube of a public commercial for the Napa Valley wine tours.

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