| FEB-01-2004
4am EST - We wake up in Boston Hilton at Logan Airport.
5am EST - Make our way Logan Airport terminal for our charter. Everybody is in Patriots gear - except Donnie Wahlberg who was catching a ride on our flight. Since he shunned showing the colors - Larry shunned him for a photo that could have helped his acting career.
7am EST - Take Off
Flight had more food than any flight I've been on in years. Saw "Master & Commander" and some Local Pats hype from channel 5 in Boston.
10 am CST- We land at Ellington Field - old Air Force. Get off the plane and finally our seats our distributed right on the tarmac. We got sect 140, row DD.
 Board buses and head to Reliant Stadium. Our buses had pats logo on front and said Patriots Team/Family -- so many people freaked seeing us drive in (thinking & hoping we were players) to and from the stadium. We were cheered the whole way... pretty cool.
Patriots fans were everywhere. Panthers people were few and far between. The stadium sounded like a home game most of the time.
Flight was a bit early and we were at the stadium very early with nothing open yet. We walked all the way around the stadium trying to find the NFL Tailgate Party. We found it but it didn't open till 1pm either. So we stood in the parking lot for a couple hours behind the Astrodome. Larry mingled and we all chatted with security, some houston natives and many fans. We were first in line at one of the gates.
1pm CST - Gates finally open!!! But then we just find ourselves in another line because the NFL Corporate Hospitality Pavilion in the Reliant Center didn't open till 1:30.
1:30pm CST - Yay! Doors to tailgate party open so we finally have something to do. The tailgate party blew away all expectations. Ballroom the size of an airplane hanger full of food stations, open bars, pool tables, all sorts of NASA stuff, games, and a stage with live music. We chowed and drank and then chowed and drank some more.
|
