Category Archives: Sports fans

Sporting Events While on Vacation – Nationals Stadium

  By Anne Patrone | June 20, 2011 - 10:31 am | , , , ,
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Nationals Park in Washington DC

With Wimbledon starting today in London, a record finish by Rory McIlroy at the US Open yesterday, and all sorts of sports events occurring throughout the summer, I thought I’d post about how fun it can be to take your kids to a sporting event while on vacation.

In our family, we’re car racing (check out my posts on the Indy 500 and ALMS race at Limerock, CT) and baseball fanatics, so we tend to gravitate to those venues. The food is kid-friendly and there’s usually entertainment in addition to the game.  Plus, it’s a great break from all the sightseeing.

“Screech” at Nationals Stadium

During our recent trip to Washington DC, I took my guys to the Nationals vs. Mets game at Nationals Stadium.  After all the museums and monuments I had dragged them to, it was nice to sit back with a hot dog and some peanuts and enjoy a baseball game.

Yes, tickets to these events cost money.  But during the summer, you can often take advantage of the availability of cheaper seats during the week since you’re on vacation.  Stadiums will often offer two-for-one promotions to fill seats.  Tennis fans can purchase (relatively) cheap grounds passes that offer access to a variety of matches.


For a good choice of hotels with discount prices, visit Where to stay in Washington DC for more information.

Twitter Travel Trivia: And though I’ve only mentioned two sports, don’t forget about a variety of other sports played during other times of the year – soccer, lacrosse, basketball, and football – just to name a few. Or think outside the box when it comes to sports and competitions – I certainly try to.  When our family heads to Wyoming this summer, we’ll be going to a rather unique sporting event – a rodeo in Cody, WY – my guys can hardly wait!

Photo Friday: The Presidents Race at Nationals Park

  By Anne Patrone | June 17, 2011 - 9:00 am | , , , ,
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George and Teddy at Nationals Park

Considering we’re already hearing tons about the 2012 Presidential race, I thought I’d show you our version that we saw at Nationals Park in Washington DC . . .

Lincoln wins again!!!

Twitter Travel Trivia: It was a close run, but “Abe” Lincoln cut some corners and edged out “Teddy” Roosevelt, “George” Washington, and “Tom” Jefferson at Nationals Park “Presidents Race” – a promotional event held during the fourth inning of every Washington Nationals home game!!  Poor Teddy – he has yet to win a race!

And They’re Off! The Indy 500

  By Anne Patrone | January 31, 2011 - 10:08 am | , , , , , ,
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Yeah!  After a fabulous Saturday getting driver autographs and wandering around Gasoline Alley and the Indy 500 Hall of Fame Museum, it was finally Race Day at the 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500.

If you recall in my previous post, I had mentioned that I was skeptical that we needed a group tour/police escort to the race – but OMG!

Spectators parking on people’s lawns

The place was nuts. People were everywhere . . . parking everywhere (including on people’s yards) . . . walking everywhere.

I was trying to figure out why there were so many people and then hubby told me that the track holds something like 250,000 people attend the race.

Whoa.  A quarter of a million people???

Yup, and I think the record was around 400,000 back in 1981.

Pace car for the 2009 Indy 500 – the Chevy Corvette

So, okay . . . thanks for the police escort.  We got there with plenty of time to wander around for a bit and check out the pace cars – Chevy Corvettes.

Then it was time to find our seats and watch the race. We sat opposite the pits (and yeah! under the overhang) to avoid the sun and get a view of the action.

Opposite the pits at the Indy 500

It took a while for the stands to fill up, but we were entertained with the pre-race activities like marching bands, the introduction of celebrities, and the singing of “God Bless America” by Florence Henderson (a tradition since 1991).

Florence Henderson singing “God Bless America” at the Indy 500

At last the festivities were over and the race was ready to begin!  Racers, start your engines!

The noise is unbelievable and we all wore earplugs – you absolutely have to and the cars go by so quickly that you get used to watching a blur.  There were spectacular crashes and even a fire in the pits – wow! they moved fast!
One of our favorites, Graham Rahal, crashed

A little over two hours later, the remaining drivers had traveled 500 miles and Helio Castroneves crossed the strip of bricks at the finish line first!

Helio winning the 2009 Indy 500

Wow!  What a day!  The kids experienced another item on Frommer’s 500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up, hubby was thrilled with a day at the racetrack, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the weekend and ESPECIALLY the Indy 500.  

Yes, at least once in your lifetime – if you have the opportunity – go to the Indy 500.
Forty places visited, 490 to go!

Start Your Engines! Indy 500 Pre-Race Activities

  By Anne Patrone | January 27, 2011 - 1:00 pm | , , , , , , , ,
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Gasoline Alley at the Indy 500 Raceway

When I was planning our trip to the Indy 500 in 2009, my hubby suggested we go with a group tour.  I was a little hesitant because I’ve never been a fan of being told where to go and when to be somewhere, which is kind of what they do with group tours/packages. (And yes, I’m aware that’s exactly what I do to my own family, but somehow it’s different when I’m the one in charge!)

However, when I started looking into Indy packages, I realized that besides providing a hotel room, a ticket to watch the race, and transportation to and from the raceway, going with a group would allow us to easily participate in some pre-race activities the day before (which, again, hubby and boys were keen on doing).

After quite a bit of research, I settled on Indy Hosts, Inc. for three major reasons:  1) they provided a variety of options from hotel rooms to number of days (we only needed three nights), 2) they were based locally in Indianapolis and specialized in races at the Brickyard (so if there were problems they would BE there rather than somewhere in Oklahoma), and 3) they included a free lunch to take to the race (I know this sounds stupid, but when you have kids, especially boys, food is a big priority).

So on Saturday morning, we piled into an air-conditioned bus and went to the raceway for some of the pre-race activities.

Our police escort to the Indy 500

Oh, and did I mention we had a police escort?

I guess off-duty police officers contract with various tour groups to escort them to the raceway.  I know our police officer wasn’t the only one who brought a tour bus to the raceway, but I bet ours was the only one who did part of the journey while STANDING on his motorcycle.

Needless to say, the kids loved it.

Waiting in line to get autographs

We got to the Brickyard just in time for the driver autographs (apparently the Indy series is big on fan-driver interaction).  Even though we got there early, the lines were LONG, so hubby grabbed one boy, I grabbed another and we stood in separate lines to maximize our autograph potential.

I stood in the line for Helio Castroneves (who was sitting at the table with Ryan Briscoe and Dario Franchitti, Ashley Judd’s hubby).  Not only was he was a hottie, he was racing in the pole position (that’s the top position for you non-racing people).  And he had won Dancing With the Stars in the Fall of 2007.  So, duh, it was a no-brainer.

Hubby got Scott Dixon, Graham Rahal, and Tony Kanaan.  His line went so fast that he then tried for Danica Patrick’s autograph (sigh, what is it about men and those GoDaddy.com ads?)

And me?  We got to within two – yes, two people – before the officials whisked Helio and friends away for the Driver’s Meeting.

Sob.  At least I got some pre-signed pictures . . .

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame

The rest of our day was devoted to visiting Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum, filled with all the winning cars from previous Indy 500 races as well as some other notable cars.

As for the car the boys are standing in front of . . . sorry, I have no idea what it is except that I thought it looked cool!

After enjoying the museum and looking at the Indy 500′s PAST winners, we wandered over to the Garage area where one of the cars would win the 2009 Indy 500 Race.

Practicing a tire change in the Garage area

We weren’t sure if the kids would be able to walk into the Garage area.  Everything that I’d read said you had to be 16 and older, but apparently on the day BEFORE the race, kids were welcome (including the biggest kid of our group – you guessed it – dear hubby!)

Getting to see these amazing cars was by far the coolest part of the day.  We saw pit teams readying engines and practicing tire changes.  The cars were out in the open and for the most part, the pit crews were more than happy to answer questions.

By the end of the day, even I had caught Indy Fever and could hardly wait for the race to begin!

More about that in my next post!

Memorial Day in the Midwest – Our Trip to the Indy 500

  By Anne Patrone | January 4, 2011 - 9:39 am | , , ,
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Gateway Arch in St. Louis, MO

Half the fun of taking a trip for me is the planning – where to go, what to see . . .  It’s actually a lot of work and I’m not sure my hubby and kids always appreciate the amount of time I spend making sure everything is just . . . right.  At the end of our trips I always imagine my children and husband falling to their knees and thanking me – telling me what a fabulous job I did . . . I’m the best mom ever . . . I am a QUEEN.

Unfortunately, this scenario rarely (okay, it never) happens . . . except when I planned our trip to see the 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500 (which also happened to be the Centennial Year of the track’s construction) in May, 2009.

For a few short minutes . . . I was the QUEEN!!!!

And while watching a car race was not the first choice of my list of activities for how to spend our Memorial Day weekend, I quickly caved to my pleading men once I realized how many of Frommer’s 500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up were located nearby.

So with a bit of compromise and some creative planning, I created a trip itinerary that made everyone happy:

Day 1: Fly to St. Louis, MO, rent a car and go visit the Gateway Arch (which strangely made the first edition of Frommer’s, but not the second) and maybe take a ride on the Mississippi.  If we had time, stop by the Cahokia Mounds in nearby Collinsville, IN, then motor along Route 66 up to Springfield, IL.

Day 2: Spend the day visiting sites along the Lincoln trail (his home, law offices, and Presidential museum), then book it to Indianapolis where we would join a prepackaged tour group.

Indy 500 Race

Day 3: Spend the day at the track and visit the Speedway Hall of Fame Museum. (I had an alternate activity of visiting the Connor Prairie Farm just in case my guys didn’t want to spend their day around cars, but I wasn’t holding my breath)

Day 4: Watch the 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500.

Day 5: Fly home.

Whew!  A busy weekend, but one which I knew was do-able and best of all, no one was complaining about ANYTHING because they were so happy to be going to the race.

Next up, a visit to an engineering feat – the Gateway Arch.