All Saints Sunday

The closest we were to getting into the Super Bowl was about $1000 each and just outside the perimeter of the security fences (see picture above). We didn’t actually go to the game, just too expensive, but we thought we had a good idea that would help us get some tickets. Unfortunately time and supplies impeded the process. Our idea was to make two signs and stand in front of one of the main entrances or parking lots; one sign would read something like this:

“Season Long Fundraiser: $7,000 donated”
“31 NFL Stadium Tour in one season: $50,000 spent”
“Seeing the Super Bowl with two free tickets: Priceless”

The second sign would read:

“Need Two Free Tickets”

We thought it was unique signage that told some of our story and might get people to laugh and at least stop to talk to us. Actually, we thought this was genius! So with that plan in mind, we set off to the nearest Publix, one mile away, on foot. To our surmise, Publix did not have any poster board, so we booked it back to catch the train, and were pretty discouraged at that point. The triple decker train was packed full of mostly Saints fans but almost entirely of people going to the Super Bowl. But I was impressed with the process from getting to the stadium from the train; they had scores of free buses to take us to the stadium. It was much cheaper (only $5) than taking a taxi. I had a parking pass but no car (no RVs were allowed for the Super Bowl), so I gave the pass to our neighbors in the RV park who were going to the game.

So with no real plan and a few beverages in Nolan’s murse, we just mainly took in the sites and people and asked around for tickets. We found one for face value ($800) but that was only a single. I trusted that guy because he was sitting next to the ticket, I think one of his friend’s bailed or couldn’t make it in. Some others were a little more suspicious so we were hesitant to purchase anything. We ended up having no luck, so we took a cab to the Hard Rock Casino complex to watch kickoff and the game. Table limits were down, people were scarce, and we had a direct view of the game and audio, so it was a unique way to watch the game. And with that, our season came to an end with an anticipated machtup of the two best teams in the NFL. I don’t need to recap the game since many people had a better vantage point than I, but the Saints fans were pretty excited about their first Super Bowl appearance and win. We constantly heard “Who Dat?” all night long. We are actually heading to New Orleans now to take part in the Victory Parade today that starts at 5pm. It should be a week-early Mardi Gras party tonight.