Angela and I make at least one trip to South Florida every year, and 2008 started with a trip to a major BCS game. Our beloved Hokies won the ACC and were to face the upstart Kansas Jayhawks in the Orange Bowl.
When Angela wrote me to say we had tickets while I was at OCS, it made me that much more motivated to get out of there. We decided to drive to the game, as I had plenty of leave to take and we had just moved, so a quick vacation was deserved.
We love road trips together, and we have been on plenty in the short time we’ve been married! For Christmas we received a Garmin, which was AWESOME for trips and finding places. We drove to Jacksonville NAS and stayed cheap and the Navy Lodge there right off the interstate.
The Garmin had found a great alternate route around a closed I-95 near the Florida border, so we got to the base with plenty of time to get some rest. The next day we headed to Fort Lauderdale.
Florida is a great place to visit, with its vibrant colors and green landscape, so the drive was pretty until we hit Palm Beach… then the traffic chaos that is South Florida began. BUT we got to our hotel in Pompano Beach and hooked up with some other alums for dinner.
There was a tiny strip of restaurants on the beach near where the MV’s were staying, so we figured it would be a good spot for bowl travelers to meet. WRONG. Miami is the worst bowl city we’ve been to (Jacksonville was better). There was no center of bowl events as everything was very spread out. It was not like New Orleans which is the best place EVER
for a college bowl game as everything one could possibly desire is within walking distance, including the actual game. But we managed to find something to eat… and it was COLD. Very cold for southern Florida. But the beach was neat as it was a protected habitat in the winter for sea turtle eggs. I hope they hatch by Spring Break as I’m sure revelers would smash them up.
The next day we slept in then found a Jimmy Johns for food, and headed to Dolphins Stadium. We actually miss the old Orange Stadium, which had a personality. The generic Pro stadium was very boring… and it was only accessible from a toll interstate. Instead of parking in lawns and gas stations of Little Havana, we paid a parking attendant to plot out a spot of cracked concrete.
We tailgated a little bit, but it was cold. The Kansas fans were very nice, but obviously were not used to football. We found the band and found our seats. The game… well, we choked again. Nothing new there, but I guess the team had fun, but they certainly were not very focused. The game atmosphere was a let down too.
The Sugar bowl was packed and rowdy in 2005… but there were several thousand empty seats at the Orange Bowl. The BCS picked a bad match up or people simply did not come. Another thing as Band Alums that annoyed us was the fact that the marching bands were only allowed to play one song before the game. Half time was reserved for ZZ Top?!?!?!?!
I guess it really was a NFL experience… which is why the Dolphins only won one game last year? The game was disappointing, but it was nice to see old friends, like Saxxxy who we dropped off at the airport on his way back to grad school at UCLA. The next day we checked out of our hotel and decided to explore a bit!
Angela and I make at least one trip to South Florida every year, and 2008 started with a trip to a major BCS game. Our beloved Hokies won the ACC and were to face the upstart Kansas Jayhawks in the Orange Bowl. 
When Angela wrote me to say we had tickets while I was at OCS, it made me that much more motivated to get out of there. We decided to drive to the game, as I had plenty of leave to take and we had just moved, so a quick vacation was deserved. 
We love road trips together, and we have been on plenty in the short time we’ve been married! For Christmas we received a Garmin, which was AWESOME for trips and finding places. We drove to Jacksonville NAS and stayed cheap and the Navy Lodge there right off the interstate. 
The Garmin had found a great alternate route around a closed I-95 near the Florida border, so we got to the base with plenty of time to get some rest. The next day we headed to Fort Lauderdale. 
Florida is a great place to visit, with its vibrant colors and green landscape, so the drive was pretty until we hit Palm Beach… then the traffic chaos that is South Florida began. BUT we got to our hotel in Pompano Beach and hooked up with some other alums for dinner. 
There was a tiny strip of restaurants on the beach near where the MV’s were staying, so we figured it would be a good spot for bowl travelers to meet. WRONG. Miami is the worst bowl city we’ve been to (Jacksonville was better). There was no center of bowl events as everything was very spread out. It was not like New Orleans which is the best place EVER 
for a college bowl game as everything one could possibly desire is within walking distance, including the actual game. But we managed to find something to eat… and it was COLD. Very cold for southern Florida. But the beach was neat as it was a protected habitat in the winter for sea turtle eggs. I hope they hatch by Spring Break as I’m sure revelers would smash them up. 
The next day we slept in then found a Jimmy Johns for food, and headed to Dolphins Stadium. We actually miss the old Orange Stadium, which had a personality. The generic Pro stadium was very boring… and it was only accessible from a toll interstate. Instead of parking in lawns and gas stations of Little Havana, we paid a parking attendant to plot out a spot of cracked concrete. 
We tailgated a little bit, but it was cold. The Kansas fans were very nice, but obviously were not used to football. We found the band and found our seats. The game… well, we choked again. Nothing new there, but I guess the team had fun, but they certainly were not very focused. The game atmosphere was a let down too. 
The Sugar bowl was packed and rowdy in 2005… but there were several thousand empty seats at the Orange Bowl. The BCS picked a bad match up or people simply did not come. Another thing as Band Alums that annoyed us was the fact that the marching bands were only allowed to play one song before the game. Half time was reserved for ZZ Top?!?!?!?! 
I guess it really was a NFL experience… which is why the Dolphins only won one game last year? The game was disappointing, but it was nice to see old friends, like Saxxxy who we dropped off at the airport on his way back to grad school at UCLA. The next day we checked out of our hotel and decided to explore a bit! 
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