Magnolia Mamas : NFL

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Super Bowl Weekend {Part 2}

If you missed it, yesterday I shared day one of our time in Houston for the Super Bowl and moving right along, today I'm sharing day 2!

Remember yesterday when I mentioned that we had to wake up at the crack of dawn...3:45 AM to be exact. Well all I wanted to do on Saturday was sleep. Seriously. I did not want to be woken up early and had no desire to set an alarm. It didn't help that we woke up to an overcast day so sleeping was just what I did all morning long.

After a quick workout (with Thomas Rhett and his crew working out in the same small hotel gym...totally crazy and awkward at the same time) we got ready to hit the streets of Houston. Along with all the other Super Bowl fans!

We had commented on Friday afternoon that there didn't seem to be that many people in town yet because everywhere we went was pretty dead. Well that all changed over night because there were people EVERYWHERE!

We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then made our way to the NFL Experience. It was so crowded and so busy, but wen wanted to see what it was all about.

There were a ton of fun exhibits and things to see. Everything from team gear, to the Super Bowl trophy and even a display were you could see all of the Super Bowl rings over the years.

The only problem though were the crowds. We didn't want to wait in line for close to an hour for each exhibit, so we just kind of walked around and took it all in.

There were a lot of fun interactive activities were you could try to catch footballs, kick a field goal, run obstacle courses, etc. The whole time we watched I kept thinking how my kid would have loved to try that stuff and there were a ton of kids trying it out. It reminded me a lot of the College Football Hall of Fame Jen and her family went to not long ago.

We were told by a few of the people working there that we came on the wrong day. Apparently, if we had come during the week you could have walked up to every exhibit, every interactive activity and not had to wait at all. Atlanta peeps...take note. When the Super Bowl is here in a few years, take your kids during the week to experience the fun with little or no wait times. We still had fun being there in the middle of all the excitement and surrounded by fans everywhere we turned!

After our time there we walked back to the hotel and got dressed for the happy hour, dinner and concert that evening.

I wore my favorite black skinny jeans again and this fun top I bought not long ago. I loved that it was a flowy floral print, and I especially loved the lace detail on the back!

Before going to dinner we saw the famous Atlanta Falcons Super Fan, The Bird Lady. She was nice as could be and had no problem snapping a pic with us!

Most of the restaurants we ate at during the weekend didn't seem to be prepared for the crowds that would be in town for the weekend and we experienced long wait times, but good food and dinner was no different this night. After dinner we made our way to White Oak Music Hall for a VIP concert featuring the Goo Goo Dolls and Sting. It was such a neat venue and a great show!

Be sure to check back tomorrow for the real reason we were there...the Super Bowl!!!

Monday, February 22, 2016

San Francisco: Day 4 {Super Bowl 50}

To read about the other days our trip to San Francisco see Day 1 HERE, Day 2 HERE, and Day 3 HERE.

When Sunday rolled around in San Francisco, we were so excited for the real reason for our trip...Super Bowl 50!!!! When we got the invite a few months prior we knew we had to make this trip happen because it was such a once in a lifetime kind of opportunity.

We took a shuttle from our hotel in downtown San Francisco about 40 miles outside of the city to where the new stadium is. Walking up and arriving with all of the buzz about the Super Bowl was so exciting.

First up was the Super Bowl tailgate. It was set up in the largest tent I've ever seen complete with three sections and three stages. Performers like Sam Hunt and Seal were giving concerts.

There were 50 food stations set up with appetizers, desserts, and other goodies so our group snagged a table and started taste testing from all of the stations. The food was really delicious.

There was also a large bar with a Super Bowl 50 ice sculpture that was pretty neat, but it was melting quickly because it was so warm that day!

Outside of the tent, but before entering the stadium there was all kinds of entertainment and excitement. From performers to photo ops, we tried to take it all in!

Once inside the stadium we found our seats and we were right in the Bronco's end zone. The seats were great and our view inside the stadium was amazing.

Waiting on the game to start it was such a surreal feeling. We love football and of course we always watch the Super Bowl, so to actually be there was such a cool thing!

Lady Gaga sang the National Anthem and I thought she did AMAZING. I actually really like Lady Gaga and despite some of the critics I read about her outfit or whatever the next day, I thought she did fantastic and her performance was a great tribute to our country.

That followed by the fly over at the end was just awesome. Seriously it gave me chills!

The actual game was not too exciting. It was low scoring and there weren't a ton of big plays, but it was still so much fun. When it was time for half-time we got our colored signs that were in our seat when we arrived. Every seat in the stadium was assigned these cards and we were instructed to hold them up during certain times of the half-time show. They had little cutouts so we could still watch. Ha!

The show was really bright and colorful and pretty exciting to watch happening right in front of us. I know there was a lot of talk about Beyonce and her performance, but to be honest, the acoustics weren't great inside the stadium and she performed on the opposite end zone from where we were and as she started singing the jumbo screen went out so I didn't really see or hear much of her performance. As she was ending we realized there was another jumbo screen behind us that we were able to turn and see, but it wasn't until the next day that all of the negative things about her were said by viewers and critics. We thought it was a fun show to watch and be a part of.