Memphis, TN

AutoZone Liberty Bowl - Georgia vs 25 UCF

Nothing really to report about the game. Business as usual.






When we got back to the hotel, it was a deluge of rain. There was talk of going out for New Years… but the rain would not stop.

We all met in the hotel lobby bar.. and stayed there. Rang in the new year.

Kinda did it twice since we are all from the eastern time zone and we were in central. Wouldn’t ask for a better group of people to do so with. Can’t say enough how much I love this crew!

Here is a shot of the girls on the crew

Cara ~ Steph ~ Jill ~ Nic

Memphis, TN

Today was our set day. It’s so nice to be back with the crew! It’s been almost a month.

For lunch we went to a DDD place. Uncle Lou’s

As usual, a place I would of never gone to on my own...  but oh my!  So good!

In the evening, I went to a sports bar with Jill. We got caught up on gossip and such.

Madison, WI > Memphis, TN

Today I traveled to Memphis. Day started out with a sunrise over the Madison airport.

Not quite as lovely as the sunrises & sunsets I enjoyed the past few weeks in Hawai’i. Might have something to do with the snow and frosty air.

I was looking forward to getting to Memphis. We are staying at the Peabody Hotel. I have walked thru the lobby, but never have stayed there.

Upon arrival, it was a madhouse! One of the teams are staying there and TONS of fans for both teams.

Eventually I got all my stuff… room keys, wristbands, etc. We had to wear wristbands so they could identify us. Apparently there is a big New Years Eve party and the hotel will be closed to the public. The wristband proves we are staying here.

Finally got to my room.

Oh my! It’s small! I think I can touch everything in the room, from the bed.

But it’s quaint. There are duck details all over the room. Duck soaps, duck stir sticks, ducks on the towels, etc. A lot like staying at a Disney hotel.





I ordered room service for lunch and guess what?
Duck butter

I met Steph to see the ducks leave their roost for the evening – the lobby fountain. We had NO clue it that it would draw hundreds of people. So we did not get a good spot.

Here is a little background info and photos about the ducks from the hotel website….

Back in 1932 Frank Schutt, General Manager of The Peabody, and a friend, Chip Barwick, returned from a weekend hunting trip to Arkansas. The men had a little too much Jack Daniel's Tennessee sippin' whiskey, and thought it would be funny to place some of their live duck decoys (it was legal then for hunters to use live decoys) in the beautiful Peabody fountain.


Soon, five North American Mallard ducks would replace the original ducks.

In 1940, Bellman Edward Pembroke, a former circus animal trainer, offered to help with delivering the ducks to the fountain each day and taught them the now-famous Peabody Duck March. Mr. Pembroke became the Peabody Duckmaster, serving in that capacity for 50 years until his retirement in 1991.

The original ducks have long since gone, but after 75 years, the marble fountain in the hotel lobby is still graced with ducks. The Peabody ducks march at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily.




Duck is not served anywhere at The Peabody, and has not been seen on the hotel's menus since its 1981 reopening, quite possibly making Chez Philippe the only French restaurant in the world that does not serve duck.


The Peabody Ducks do not have individual names. The hotel recognizes that its resident waterfowl are wild animals, not pets. However, the very first team of ducks were Peabody, Gayoso, and Chisca - named for the three hotels owned by the Memphis Hotel Company in 1932.


The Peabody's lobby fountain is cut from one enormous piece of travertine marble made and shipped from Italy for the hotel's 1925 opening. The colorful flowers adorning the top of the fountain are changed out every other day in the middle of the night.

When off-duty from the Lobby, the ducks live in their Royal Duck Palace on the hotel's rooftop.






The Peabody Ducks are raised by a local farmer and a friend of the hotel. Each team lives in the hotel for only three months before being retired from their Peabody duties and returned to the farm to live out the remainder of their days as wild ducks.


In the evening, Steph and I went to dinner at The Majestic Grille. The food and atmosphere was great!

Originally built in 1913 as the Majestic No. 1, a silent picture house that entertained Memphians for three decades, the restaurant gives diners a glimpse of the heady Hollywood days of ol’.

Madison, WI

December 27-28th


Monday

Got to my hotel on campus midday.
As mentioned in my last post, I didn't sleep much on the flight last night, so I am all wacked out on time of day and sleep.
I walked a block to The Nitty Gritty for lunch.

Apparently it's a game day tradition to eat/drink here.  There are lots of photos on the walls of celebs and ESPN Crews from over the years






Got settled and worked on catching up on emails and such.

It was a total struggle to not take a nap. But I had to get back on track with my sleep hours.

Ate a somewhat early dinner at the hotel and went to bed around 8:30 pm.



Tuesday
Minnesota vs Wisconsin Men's CBB

I was able to sleep thru the night. Yah!

Caught a ride to the arena with my AP, Jason. We actually could of walked, it was that close. But it is frigid!

For lunch the majority of the crew walked to the Nitty Gritty. Had terrible service and it took forever.

The game went well… back to hotel to pack and get ready to move on to the next city.

Waikiki > Long journey back to mainland

Our hotel

We got up early and headed to Hanauma Bay. I was determined to snorkel on this trip. We had brought our gear all this way!

It was a drizzly and chilly morning. The sun would peek out from time to time.  The water was 80 degrees at best.

But we did it! We saw a very big sea turtle, which was cool. As well as several other interesting critters.

After about an hour in the water, mom couldn’t take any more, she was freezing.

So we cleaned up and headed back to the hotel.

We all showered and packed and switched to another room. They needed to get our room cleaned for new guests. Once in there, we hung our snorkeling gear around the room and cranked down the AC. We needed it to dry as much as possible before packing it in our luggage.

Since it was still kind of drizzling, we didn’t sit at the pool as planned. We walked around the grounds of the Royal Hawaiian. Then had lunch at Duke’s.

Headed back to our temporary room and napped until it was time to head to the airport.

Once at the airport, we got all checked in and headed to the SkyClub. Both our flights were delayed, so we had plenty of time to just relax. Eventually mom and dad headed to their gate. I still had another hour until my flight.

The trip back wasn’t as good as I had hoped. I didn’t sleep much.

What a wonderful 2 weeks this has been! I got to go to a new state; a very desirable state at that. I got to relax on vacation. I got to bring my family along so we could be together on Christmas. Wow!

Waikiki

Mele Kalikimaka!

My parents went to 6:30am mass. I slept. I am working the evening shift tonight.

Upon their return, we opened “gifts”. We had taken photos of the gifts we had gotten each other and placed each photo in an envelope. That way we didn’t have to lug the gifts all the way here and home. Yet, we still had something to open on Christmas morning.

I went to work in the early afternoon.

Game 11: Baylor 61, Florida State 68
Championship: Butler 84, Washington State 68

Again, can’t say enough how enjoyable this tournament has been. And what a honor to be given this ‘gift’ – Christmas in Hawai’i. I am very blessed.

When I returned to the hotel, dad and I walked over to the famous Royal Hawaiian which is next door. We had mai tai’s and very overpriced burgers.

Waikiki

Today was an edit day for us. Which means we just go in and work on stuff for the Championship round. Usually we only work for about 4 hours.

In the afternoon, I sat at the pool with my mom.

That evening, the crew and our families went on a sunset cruise.

Our hotel from the water

Diamond Head

We saw a cargo ship coming in to port – it was huge!

It was a very nice time for the crew and families to spend some time together.
And what better way to spend Christmas Eve!

Once back on shore, my parents and I went to a late dinner at Chuck’s Cellar.
As expected it was delish! My parents really liked it.

Even though I grew up in Florida and am accustomed to ‘tropical’ Christmas – I will say, it does not feel like Christmas Eve at all.

Waikiki

Having evenings off is awesome!
But that also means the alarm goes off crazy early!!

That’s ok… I am in Hawai’i. I’ll pay that price

Today’s action….
Game 5: Mississippi State 69, San Diego 52
Renardo Sidney scored 19 points and Ravern Johnson added 18 as Mississippi State cruised to a 69-52 victory over San Diego
Game 6: Washington State 77, Baylor 71
Klay Thompson scored 20 points, including two key 3-pointers down the stretch, and Washington State held on to upset No. 15 Baylor 77-71

I missed the “real” action of the day. During the evening session of the tournament, Mississippi State came back to the arena to watch the games. 2 players on the team, whom are also roommates, got into a fist fight over nachos.

Waikiki

Mom and dad went to North Shore today.

Meanwhile, I did two games.

Game 1: Mississippi State 57, Washington State 83
Klay Thompson scored 28 points to lead Washington State past Mississippi State 83-57
Game 2: San Diego 50, Baylor 83
Quincy Acy and Anthony Jones each scored 14 points, LaceDarius Dunn added 13 and No. 15 Baylor overwhelmed San Diego 83-50

I have to say, the overall “mood” on this event is just wonderful!
I don’t know if it’s because it’s Christmas time or because we are in Hawai’i?
All I know is that I wish ALL tournaments I did ‘felt’ like this.

The nice thing about my schedule is that I have the evenings off to spend with my parents.

I made it back in time for sunset.

We sat at the bar for awhile. There is another ESPN crew here for the Sheraton Bowl. I know several people on that crew – they stopped by our table to meet my parents.

Waikiki

I went to work today at 6:45a.
It was our set day.

Nothing too exciting to report.

The inside of a TV Truck in Hawai’i, looks just like the inside of a TV Truck in North Dakota. But I must say, when you walk outside… it doesn’t look, smell or feel like North Dakota in December!

Maui > Waikiki

Can’t say enough how awesome this Marriott is!

Upon returning from our long journey last nite….

This is just the lobby area...  all open and tropical.







I hope that some day I can return and just relax!

Anyway, this morning we went on a very long walk.
The grounds are amazing!

There are several hotels, time shares and condos along this coast.

Here were a few of our views along the walk.

At one of the other resorts, we spotted the employee’s prepping for this evenings Luau.

Hint: under that pile of dirt is a pig roasting.

After our long walk, we had room service for breakfast and then starting packing up and getting ready to head to Waikiki.

There was slight stress over returning the car.. I had scratched the hell out of it while pulling off the road yesterday and running it along a barb wire fence that was hidden in sugar cane. But I returned it without incident. Yah!!

Quick flight back to Waikiki… picked up rental car and headed into traffic to the Sheraton.

Got checked in to hotel… there was a small battle with me and the hotel. They wanted to charge $40/day because I had 3 people in my room. A resort fee. Well I was going to have NO part of that happening because I was not going to even partake in any of the resort activities. A few phone calls later, I got my way.

Seriously, it was bull because I had already spoken to the sales manager a few weeks ago about needing 2 beds as opposed to the usual ESPN request of 1 King bed on our reservations. During our conversations, I made it clear that my parents we coming with me… if there was going to be an additional charge, I was confident he would of told me then.

Saw a few co-workers/friends and their families in the lobby. Which was cool – my parents finally got to meet them.

We get in the room and I immediately call the front desk…
“Ah yes… I wanted to report this as soon as possible.. it appears that some of the furniture is missing from my room.”

I wish I had taken a photo. There was literally 2 beds, a desk in between on one wall. On the other wall, a floor lamp. That side of the room was empty aside from the lamp.

The front desk assured me it was their new décor.

I am confident they were lying. I have stayed in many Sheraton’s… that side of the room normally has 2 chairs and an end table. OR and end table and a couch.

Anyway… we got settled in. Which was a task… 3 of us in that room for a week.

Later we ventured out for a walk and dinner.

Maui

What a lovely view from our balcony.

All three of us could of slept a lot more, but we had a mission!


Today we are going to drive “The Road to Hana”.

Although Hāna is only about 52 miles from Kahului, a typical trip to Hāna takes about three hours, as the road is very winding and narrow and passes over 59 bridges, 46 of which are only one-lane bridges, requiring oncoming traffic to yield and occasionally causing brief traffic jams if two vehicles meet head-on. There are approximately 620 curves along Route 360 from just east of Kahului to Hāna, virtually all of it through lush, tropical rainforest.

This journey, is my parents’ one regret from their 2 week visit to Hawai’i for their 25th Anniversary - it's the one thing they didn't do.  So when I got this assignment and invited them to join me, I wanted to make this part of the trip possible.

Our plan was to drive to Hana and turn around and come back. The road beyond Hana requires 4-wheel drive in some parts.

We stopped and got a CD guide at a gas station – as suggested by our tour brochures.

Then we got boxed lunches for later…

And stopped at a coffee shop for a fabulous breakfast.

Then we started on our adventure.

All the research we had done was true. The road is insanely narrow and you can literally put your hand out the passenger side window and touch the mountainside.

Out of nowhere, there will be a bridge that is only 1 lane.

So you stop and try to peer around the next curve to make sure there is not oncoming traffic.





I drove for probably the first hour. Then dad took over because I was making him nervous.

One of the stops we made was at a beach that has black sand. I had never seen it before – very weird.

So many amazing sights to see!

Acient Burial Airport? What!?

Look for the waterfall…

It was an overcast day, so most of my video and photos don’t show the true color of the amazing rain forest. And there is TONS of video! Most of it was driving video and it, like most vacation videos, got to be very boring (when watching it later).

Therefore, I had my friend Dave make a video recap of the day. He has much better editing software than I do and actual editing talent.

Enjoy!