Super Bowl 38
Patriots are Super Bowl Champions ... Again!

Friday, January 30
We arrived in Houston.  My travelling party consisted of Christianna, my best friend Dave, and good friends Jon and Jenn.  We headed to the Hertz counter, picked up our car and were off to meet people at the Tavern.  It was probably about 40 degrees warmer than Boston ... and while the Houstonians were dressed warm, we were walking around in short sleeve shirts (or jerseys in my case). The only problem wass ... Craig was not there.  I called him up and he was downtown, and planned on staying there.  Since we had no idea where in downtown, and we knew the Tavern was close to his place, we decided to head there anyway, and either have him meet us, or just catch up to him at his place.

The Tavern was well set up for Patriots fans, giving away Boston Globe Go Pats signs, as well as the Patriots paper hats.  Nice bar set up outside was great for those of us coming from chilly Boston.  Unfortunately when we got there, no one else from the group was there.  We grabbed a couple of beers after walking around inside, and hung around on the outside patio.  A few minutes later, I got a call from Laureen and Larry, asking us where we were.  Being an expert on Houston, I passed the phone to the bouncer and asked him to give them directions.  A few minutes after that, Darren and Kendra called, and they were going to join us as well.  I grabbed a couple of cigars and saw Laureen coming in.  Perfect timing.  We all said our hellos, then Laureen went into the bar area.  She came out a bit later and informed me that Ed, Steve and Dan were all inside as well.  I hadn't noticed them during our walk through.  Once everyone arrived, we hung out, took this picture, and at closing time, finally all (except Darren and Kendra who had a hotel room) headed to Craig's house.  Luckily for all of us, Ed knew where he was going, and Craig had left the door open.  We walked into Craig's and noticed a lump on the couch on the first floor (which proved to be Kim) and the rest of us moved some furniture around on the second floor, set up beds, and passed out.

Saturday, January 31
I woke up and see Craig walking around quietly.  He apologized for not coming to hang out with us, and had woken up desperately hoping that he'd walk down from his room and see all of us had made it to his house.  It was about then that I remembered I didn't have my cell phone charger with me.  Not a good mix considering a good group of people on the trip already had my number anyway.  Anyway, we head out of Craig's in three cars following Ed to the Rib Tickler.  The plan had been to meet there around 10:30 in the morning.  Once there, we reunite with Darren and Kendra and meet up with George and Mark for the first time.  We sat down to lunch after having extended our table, with Jenn and Jon sitting across from Chris and I. The amount and quantity of food was fabulous and everyone was rather happy with their meals.  We had Mr. Ted Johnson Senior and his wife come and talk to our group, and Mr. Johnson even had to explain to our resident NYer how football works (j/k Larry).  Ed Fackler and George Richman both happily took pictures with the Johnsons.  Once done our meals, Jon and I took a quick tour of the kitchen and Jon was very happy just looking at the grill.  We then proceeded outside and took a group picture with the Rib Tickler sign and then another with just Pats list members that were present, including the just arrived Bosco and the long time lurker Elizabeth, whom most of us had no idea about till we hit the first bar. 

After lunch our caravan, which now included a couple more cars, headed towards Brian O'Neill's, the home of the Sam Adams Patriots party.  Since we got there early (only losing one car, poor Elizabeth, who luckily was able to find us later), we headed to a Pub across the street.  The Miller Lite girls came and kept some of the single guys happy with some eye candy, while all of the attached men were very polite (right George?) and never even looked at the attractive nubile young ladies ... ahem ... we did get a nice shot of the Pats babes that were with us at the time.  After a few games of pool, I finally got the call that Karen, Al, Jim, Charts and the infamous Zip were on their way.  Everyone in our group fixed up their hair and in the case of the women, make up, since we figured if Randy was on his way, the TV cameras must be coming too!  We were hugely disappointed in the lack of coverage, but consoled ourselves by thinking the paparazzi must have lost Zip on the way .  We said our our hellos, and we headed across the street to a half filled (at the time) Brian O'Neills.  The lines at the bar were long, and we set up in the outer part of the bar.  Steve DeOssie came in with his Harley, and took a nice picture with the Media Queen Karen.  As the Sam Adams (a Brewer & a Patriot) started to flow, the flashes started going off.  Pictures of the Pats babes again, and then a picture of Jenn and Chris together.  The smiles got a bit bigger as the Pats cheerleaders showed up.  As usual, the handsome blond got their attention, and Randy tagged into the picture with poor Ostend who was so ashamed at his camera hungry master he tried to duck out of the picture.  I tried to console the poor pup, but then Jon and I decided that we deserved to get a picture with the cheerleaders too... but not being stupid we made sure it was okay first!   A nice list picture developed after that.  I also got a very nice picture with Chris and then of course, Jenn wanted in.  After a couple of hours, we decided to head back to Craig's, eat dinner, and then head to Main Street to party and look for tickets.  Unfortunately, while we saw this nice sign, the street was jam packed and as you can see, it wasn't exactly easy to get around.  Having had no luck with tickets, we walked around a few blocks along with Jose, and then headed back to the house, hoping to have better luck on game day.  Before going to sleep, we check online and find a seller on eBay in Houston who has two tickets for 2,000 total in the upper deck.  The group goes to bed hoping that prices continue to drop.  One of the best quotes of the trip came at Craig's, as Chris turned to me, and said "I miss Randy ... turn the TV on!"

Sunday, February 1 -- Super Bowl Sunday
My group of five headed out a bit early as I was fortunate to find a place where I could get a cell phone car charger.  After that we quickly drove to Zip's hotel, where I picked up the ticket he had for me. Prior to leaving Craig's, we had agree to meet up with everyone at the Hyatt in downtown.  Once there, we caught up on "no luck with ticket" stories and decided to head down to the stadium.  Once we got to the stadium, it started to hit people that tickets are going to be tough.  There were about a hundred Pats fans looking for tickets, and hardly any scalpers were to be seen.  We split up into groups hoping that someone could find something.  I felt bad as I was the only one in our group that had a ticket.  I was conflicted whether to go to the game or give my ticket to Jose, but was convinced to go by the group (and most importantly Chris) I was helping to search tickets for.  At about 3, with long lines in my future, I said my goodbyes, and headed into the entrance line.  Surprisingly the lines weren't too long, and I made my way to Reliant.  I first walked over to where Zip's seats were, figuring I'd say hi, before I'd find my seat in Section 111.  I walked over to 118, in the endzone and saw Charts, Karen and Al.  Charts had the other half of the pair of tickets that we had received from Zip.  I said hi to the three of them, and we took a couple of pictures with the field in the background.  One with Charts, Karen and I, and one with the Media Queen, Al and Charts.  Zip walked in a bit later, and after saying hello, Charts and I headed off to our seats.  We got there just in time for the warmups.  The pregame show wasn't too bad, (Jacob, this was a pretty nice sight).  I had totally forgotten that I had Zip's Visa tickets, so I was a little surprised to see the Panthers Fan of the Year walk in and sit next to me.  While he was a nice enough guy ... I was surprised at his lack of football knowledge.  But such is life.   Once the team came charging on the field, all was forgotten and I was ready.  I don't really need to recap the game for all of you, but the first and second TDs were directly in front of us.  The club section behind us got a lot of attention as P Diddy, Kid Rock, Steven Tyler, and the rather attractive Cameron Diaz were there.  Right before the winning kick, I got a shot with the Panthers FOTY.  As you can tell from his face, he wasn't too happy, and the reason is this picture which was taken immediately after.  As soon as the kick went through (did anyone doubt?), and the celebration began, Charts and I decided to head off and join the other 2/3ds of our group.  After doing some quick Super Bowl Champions T Shirts and hats shopping we found Karen, Al, Zip and Jim.  Hugs, hi-fives and more hugs were exchanged with the entire group.  After that, we split up and I headed back to the Hyatt, happily smoking a cigar on the way back to the trains.  I received a bit of luck when I saw the long lines and realized that I could hop on a bus that would take downtown without any stops, so proceeded into town that way.  At the Hyatt, I got a few more hugs as everyone was just ecstatic.  I had my first beer of the day, along with my second cigar, not breaking out the Cuban till Zip joined us.  I sat down and was soon joined by Laureen and Larry who had managed to get into the game as well.  Darren, Laureen and I celebrated with a beer, and then got a group shot of everyone who was there at the point.  Once Zip arrived we had a nice bottle of champagne, thanks to his generosity, and I got one more very nice picture, before we all headed out after a long and tiresome, yet very fulfilling day.  We headed off to bed as Two Time Super Bowl Champions.

Monday, February 2
While the euphoria hadn't died down, we had one more day to relax in the world's largest strip mall ... that being the City of Houston.  We met up with Jose at the Flying Saucer, and then as a thank you, we took Craig out to dinner.

Epilogue
The Trip was more than just a blast ... it's hard to describe the satisfaction of not just seeing your team win the ultimate prize in it's sport, but also the joy of being able to be with such great friends and loved ones.  Zip, for your help with my ticket, I can never thank you enough.  For all of you that made the trip, while the Pats made it great, you made it perfect.  And Craig ... for your hospitality, thank you ... so damn much.  It was greatly appreciated.  Go Pats ... let's do this again in Jacksonville.