My apologies ... it's been some weeks now and we still have not "gotten to the nitty, gritty" ... let me get there in this post. (Well, close enough)
We arrived on a Thursday and spent the long weekend in a Ramada hotel in Green Bay, about 2-3 miles from the stadium. I picked this hotel because it had a pool and water slides. This is Green Bay, remember. No Four Seasons' here. Five people crammed into two beds. Clark Griswold even splurged for two rooms on his famous vacations, but he didn't have half the fun we had.
Friday was kind of a dull, rainy day. We found a great bakery within walking distance. As we walked in, they immediately knew we were not from around there (we were not wearing green and gold). As we saw everywhere we went in Green Bay, they were grateful for visitors and were very warm and personable. Of course, they loved their Packers, too. Finding out that we were from North Carolina, our hostess pointed us to the sausage bread ... "You're not going find this in North Carolina" ... while the boys eyed the sweet scent of the cinnamon breads - both fresh and filling for a long day.
Our plans for the day were scuttled because of the weather. We drove by a local railroad museum and through a nature preserve, but the rain made either endeavor less than worthwhile ... we just were not prepared with umbrellas or rain gear (Mark is nodding ... remembering our visit to NYC a couple of years ago when it was raining and his first visit was to a Walgreen's for three umbrellas). Okay, we're a bit pathetic, but no use ruining the whole weekend on day one.
We did have a chance to meet with Lisa Weghe, Coach McCarthy's assistant, later in the afternoon, which turned out to be scheduling genius on our part. She provided us with all of our tickets we needed for the weekend ... for the stadium tour, hall of fame tour, pre-game passes, and game tickets. It also gave us a chance to visit the Packer Pro Shop to buy our Packer gear - hats, souvenirs, shirts, etc. As it turns out, the lines just to get into the Shop on Saturday and Sunday are hours long, so Friday was the perfect day amidst all the rain to get prepared for the weekend.
Saturday was a great day. We started by visiting the Packers Hall of Fame, which was one level below the main level at the stadium. As one of the oldest franchises in the NFL, the Hall of Fame was a history of football in America - and a tribute to the loyal fans and shareholders of Green Bay's franchise for being able to maintain a team in such a small market.
Here are several pictures from our visit to the Packers Hall of Fame
Will ... the man. Shelly ... the mom. Max ... the complainer, "Where are all the Chargers stuff!"
Green Bay has an interesting tradition. Their locker room and administrative offices are located at Lambeau Field. Their practice facility is a giant enclosed / outdoor structure across the parking lot and across the street from the stadium. Thus, during training camp, players suit up in the locker room then have to make a trek (not even a third of a mile) to get to the practice facility. The local kids would offer their bikes to the players and ride along with the players on their back.
Max being silly ... about to be run over by a big football player.
Obligatory picture of Charlie, since I've already shown pictures of Will and Max
Max, lining up to rush the quarterback
Will ... "Dad, look, my jersey"
Every time I saw a Rodgers jersey, I would say to them ... "Rodgers, along the sideline ... another one ... they're still in deep trouble at midfield ... they tried to do a couple .... the ball is still loose! ... as they get it to Rodgers ... they get it back now to the thirty ... they're down to the twenty ... Oh, the BAND IS OUT ON THE FIELD ..."
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