You couldn’t have paid us to walk into The Greatest Bar.
Our U-turn to get out there was so fast it made me dizzy.
Walked 1.5 blocks to Johnny's and had a great time - ended up chatting with Matty Benier's uncle, aunt, & cousin.
The Union Oyster House Saturday was awesome and great to meet you, thanks for stopping by!
The opinions on the Frozen Four host cities will vary depending on what your expectations are. We are not foodies and our drinks of choice are beer, so we set a low bar for our dining experience. For my wife and I, we love to on Thursday get to a bar near the arena at 11 am or so, and hunker down. Have a few beers, eat some bar food and mingle with fans from across the hockey universe. We know that the food won't be great, and because it most likely is a "team" bar, it will be really busy. But, we are ok with that. Fridays consist of exploring the town, and up grading our food experience. So, if you don't like a packed bar and bar food, The Greatest probably isn't a place to go. That said, the Weds night Gopher pep rally was an absolute blast. Yes, it was busy and loud, but it was so much fun and the anticipation was through the roof for Thursdays game. The bottom line is, when you get home after the Frozen Four, was it a great experience and did you have a great time? For us it was a HUGE YES and I looks it it was the same for you and that is all that matters, even though we took different paths.
True. My problem is I have a real crowd issue. I hate being packed in, loud noise and places like the Greatest just set me off. I’ve heard plenty of folks loved the GB or something similar. For me, my claustrophobic anxiety rockets through the roof and I would barely last 5 minutes. We did the Black Rose, Mr Dooleys, Ned Devines…which were busy but not shoulder to shoulder. La Familia for Italian, Union Oyster House for seafood, Frenchies for brunch, both Mikes and Bova the 2 other mornings. We loved Boston. The aquarium was terrific, they had a ray touch tank. I practically had to be dragged away :dup:
What have I got? I got no snacks and I got no respect.
Travis-age 6
We landed about the time the Wednesday pep rally started. Really wish we could have been there for that experience.
“When your best friend is the son of God, you get tired of losing every argument.”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
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I loved DC. We went all over the place. Granted, us being able to stay at my aunt's place in Silver Spring helped a lot with that. Opened up finances for a rental car, which we took to Annapolis and Gettysburg. When we went into DC itself we just hopped on the red line. We didn't hit up many bars near the arena, but instead further out along whichever metro line we were on at the time, so we missed the understaffing issues.
We did something similar but stayed in Alexandria. Went to an Orioles game in Camden if I recall correctly. No issues with long lines there. ?. DC was a really cool place to host the Frozen Four. The Caps arena is good, but not nearly as nice as the Garden or the Xcel. The area around there is fantastic and very easy to find small hole in the wall restaurants that serve food from all over the world.
Another fun thing about where we stayed (Silver Spring) is that it was right across the street from the Discovery Channel HQ and they got an early start on promoting Shark Week. Right outside our window was a huge great white shark that was seemingly swimming through the top of the Discovery Channel building. It was alarming the first couple times you opened the shades.
Off topic: when I was in South Arica 3 years ago we went shark cage diving near Seal Island and the group on our boat after us were filming a Shark Week Air Jaws special. If we didn't need to drive 5 hours back to Capetown the GF and I were going to pay to join them. (it was an open tour so they said we could) She guaranteed next time it would happen.
As for Frozen Fours...Buffalo did a very nice job hosting and we Gopher fans really took over the town especially the day of the championship. Great fan fest, fun marches down the street to the game and very nice people. Plus, after we beat Michigan you could find tickets for like $10. [mention]Keith[/mention] was like a ticket broker that weekend. Grantzky and LW drove 15 hours to get to the title game because of it! Plus Buffalo Wings at the Anchor Bar :dup:
Tampa was fun...Columbus was b-r-u-t-a-l!
I think the hard part with these NHL cities is the local bars expect a buzz before and after a game. But for the FF there an extra 17,000 people in town for several days.
We made it to the Gopher bar for the Wed pep rally but same as some others on Thursday - walked in and right back out. Zero room. Everything around the arena was so full we just went into the arena.
Once in the arena, half the vendors weren’t even open yet which I thought was weird
We stayed til Monday and our hotel was across the street from the arena. Very few bars were even open on Sunday at all near the arena. North end was still insane.
After the game Saturday it was a little challenging as we had a group of 15 but we ended up at Ward 8 just a few blocks away from the arena on recommendation of some local girls who told us where it wouldn’t be a 22yo dance party. Great cocktails and had room for all of us.
I thought Boston was a ton of fun and will look forward to it being in the rotation again!
I can’t believe DC is not on your list?
My ranking was based on all the following:
- nice host arena (ie modern nhl arena)
- easy access flights wise
- available hotels and bars around arena
- ability to put on a show as a city (activities around frozen four)
- things to do in city other than event
- nice weather is a plus
- tradition of hockey in the state / ability to get non-attending teams fans to show up
I never went to DC so not sure. I am adamant that being a good frozen four site is a combination of factors. For instance chicago is an awful FF site even though it is a great city. No bars around arena, city didn’t care. Sketchy part of town.
After the game Saturday it was a little challenging as we had a group of 15 but we ended up at Ward 8 just a few blocks away from the arena on recommendation of some local girls who told us where it wouldn’t be a 22yo dance party. Great cocktails and had room for all of us.
On our walk back to the hotel after Saturdays game, we walked past The Harp and the line was as long as it would have been at First Avenue circa 1985. The line was almost a half a block long to get in.
I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
Oh I remember the Chicago arena area! Yikes. I was glad that thousands of people were heading to and from the same place as I would NOT have been anywhere near there alone.
What have I got? I got no snacks and I got no respect.
Travis-age 6
After the game Saturday it was a little challenging as we had a group of 15 but we ended up at Ward 8 just a few blocks away from the arena on recommendation of some local girls who told us where it wouldn’t be a 22yo dance party. Great cocktails and had room for all of us.
Good duck wings. SUPER loud at dinner time
Oh I remember the Chicago arena area! Yikes. I was glad that thousands of people were heading to and from the same place as I would NOT have been anywhere near there alone.
If the Bears leave Soldier Field, it would be cool to see the Blackhawks put an arena downtown in the old soldier field site. I can’t believe how sketchy UC is.
We landed about the time the Wednesday pep rally started. Really wish we could have been there for that experience.
Same, didn't get to our hotel until 20 to 7 and wouldn't have made it to the event until after 7pm. Would have missed the band and such.
Oh I remember the Chicago arena area! Yikes. I was glad that thousands of people were heading to and from the same place as I would NOT have been anywhere near there alone. If the Bears leave Soldier Field, it would be cool to see the Blackhawks put an arena downtown in the old soldier field site. I can’t believe how sketchy UC is.I don't think the Blackhawks/Bulls could do that if they even wanted to. I believe that's part of the problem why the Bears are even looking at leaving Soldier Field; the city of Chicago has rules against construction so close to the lake, hence why they had to remodel Soldier Field rather than build a new stadium on the same footprint that could keep them competitive economically with the other franchises & their stadium revenue.