It’s 5 hours from me. I haven’t played there but will put it on the too do list.
March Madness - Likely Destinations
- Thread starter RUDieHard
- Start date
One question and one comment on this.
Comment - ridiculous Bama can play in Birmingham - I get giving preference but way too close
Question - I know unlikely but if Houston were somehow able to pass Bama as number one overall seed and Bama remained a 1, wouldn’t Bama the pick Orlando?
The way it works is there are 8 first-weekend sites. They'll assign the sites to the top 16 seeds in order of their seeding (putting them as close to home as possible), such that each of the 8 sites are assigned to 2 top-16 seeds.
So you can (and likely will) have two 1 seeds playing in Birmingham.
So the only way for Albany or Orlando would probably be to win out Regular Season & Get to BTT CBS Saturday.. that should at least get us to the 6 line..
Something like that. The problem is, Albany/Orlando are not geographically close to any of the projected 1 or 2 seeds compared to the other 6 sites. So they'll end up falling to 3/4 seeds by default.
Do they always go by geographically closest versus easiest to get to? If I was a Houston fan not driving I would easily prefer Denver (sorry for all the q’s I just really don’t want to go to Birmingham, Sacramento or Des Moines).
Yeah I'm with you there. But Birmingham is easiest drive and it's where all the bracketologists are putting them.
going to the Sweet 16/Elite 8 in KC so im selfishly hoping RU lands in that region in the chance we find ourselves into the Sweet 16. would be electric.
with Birmingham figuring on flying to Atlanta, & driving. Fly back from Birmingham though. Already have point flight reserved on SW going back on the 19th..
I generally stay in Westminster, Broomfield area. I like the Omni in Broomfield and either the Westin or Origin in Westminster. Just a nice distance to Ball and far enough away to be a little less congested. Great golf close too.
I'm sure some of you guys will look up stuff online and do your own research if you're planning a trip, but I've lived in Denver for a little over a year and a half (31 years old) so take it for what you will.
Denver is actually very similar to San Diego in the sense that there's the downtown area, and then surrounding it there are a bunch of cool neighborhoods that have their own vibe and culture.
1. Cherry Creek North - affluent area that's essentially the "Beverly Hills" of Denver. Lots of great restaurants and shops, it is definitely the cleanest and safest area of Denver. If you have a family and can afford the hotels here, I highly recommend it.
Downside to Cherry Creek is there aren't many bars to go out and have a night at other than the Cherry Cricket, and Choppers (a few blocks away from the shops and restaurants). Mostly just good restaurants with good happy hour scenes.
2. LoHi (Lower Highlands) - definitely the younger area, more young professionals here. Lots of cool beer spots, and some solid restaurants with a couple of them having skyline views of Denver. Area is probably most well known for it's ice cream spot "Little Man Ice Cream," which is impossible to miss.
Avanti is a really cool food and beverage hall with lots of different options there. Cool spot to go during a nice day, grab some lunch and a couple beers with friends and hang out on the patio area. Across from Avanti is a cool bar called Happy Camper, was there this past Halloween and had a blast.
3. LoDo (Lower Downtown) - this is pretty much directly across the Platte River from LoHi, and there's a bridge connecting the two neighborhoods so you can walk between them if you want to skip out on the uber. There's the train station here, but obviously an uptick in homeless and it's more of an urban environment.
It's kind of right next to Coors Field as well. If you're with a group of dudes in your 20s, you'll enjoy this area. Definitely more of a college/younger area, but Blake St is where all the bars are. It's probably about 3 blocks of nothing but bars and food trucks. I wouldn't consider this a casual night out lmao. Dierks Bentley just opened a bar over here not to long ago as well. Viewhouse Ballpark is a cool spot. 1Up Arcade Bar is probably my favorite here, basically a bunch of arcade games in a basement of a building with a bar in the middle.
3. Five Points/RiNo (River North) - Don't come here often, but there's a bunch of cool breweries here as well. Little more of a hipster feel to it, but there's a cool pool hall (Gerards) here as well if you want to grab some beers and play pool with some friends. Used to be a really rough neighborhood, but a lot of the riff raff has been pushed out. Death and Co is a cool spot for drinks and bar food, Uchi is a really good sushi spot as well.
That probably covers most of the areas you'll want to check out.
If you're looking to play golf, I'd recommend Arrowhead (slightly above average golf with AMAZING views) and Fossil Trace (my personal favorite with dinosaur fossils on some of the holes). Denver City Golf Course is also shockingly really nice, great practice facility and they just revamped the clubhouse so it's a cool spot for a drink).
Not really my thing, but people also like to do drugs and go to Meow Wolf. I think it's really bizarre and weird, but people that find art cool love it.
Of course, if you get a chance to take a trip to Red Rocks, I would recommend that. There's a cool hike that goes around the amphitheater and you can walk right into the amphitheater up until 3PM I believe. Last time I went there was just a random jam band practicing or playing, it was pretty cool.
Feel free to DM me or reach out if you want.
Yeah, I think most of the jersey guys will feel like Westminster/Broomfield won't have much going on. Remember, Jersey is the most densely populated state, they'll feel like that area is like upstate NY LOL.
I haven't played Omni yet, but it's on my list for this spring/summer.
Forgot to mention Tom's Watch Bar in LoDo area. By far my favorite spot to watch games and grab a beer with solid food options.
It's right next to Coors Field. Go catch a baseball game at the silver bullet bar (top of RF in Coors Field) and then head to Tom's for the rest of the games afterwards.
For as bad as the Rockies are, they normally grab a solid crowd. It's a nice ball park
Also I normally do Vegas every year for the 1st and 2nd rounds, but if we are placed in Denver I’ll be cancelling my flights and sticking around for the games.
If there was enough interest I would totally be willing to plan something with Tom’s Watch Bar to do a watch party for the late night games or something for this group.
Tom has done these in the past, so I know it’s a good option. Plus they have a Top Golf simulator in there as well we could reserve
If there was enough interest I would totally be willing to plan something with Tom’s Watch Bar to do a watch party for the late night games or something for this group.
Tom has done these in the past, so I know it’s a good option. Plus they have a Top Golf simulator in there as well we could reserve
I can’t remember what the bar is but it’s not far from Coors Field. It’s a college setup with a lot of Big 10 fans always around. They have watch parties for every school when playing in somewhat their own room. I watched NU vs Illinois there this year and there were several Illinois folks along with NU folks. It was a lot of fun. It’s a huge place.
Probably Tom’s.
It’s right in McGregor Square which they built out for the MLB all star game.
They have two massive floors and an outdoor area.
I’ve had some all time nights there. Bartenders giving me a hard time watching Padres games with my Machado jersey on and all that.
Also watch the Avalanche Stanley cup games there, place was a mad house and the servers there were absolute rock stars.
Frequented Denver a lot in the late 90s, usually based at the Grand Hyatt off the mall. Ate at The Brown regularly but never stayed there. Beer at Wynkoop Brewing in LoDo. And downtime at The Tattered Cover bookshop uptown in Cherry Creek.
Perhaps Jackson's is the place you're talking about? I went there before a Rockies game a few years ago. It had a nice vibe.
https://www.jacksonslodo.com/
That’s it. I was there before game 3 at Ball arena for the cup finals. Went to the game but it was a great atmosphere while we were there.
Booked cheap Delta point flight to Atlanta, so both ways covered for Birmingham..
Have SW point flight to Denver, & flight credit (United) flight to Raleigh that I could shift around (to Sacramento) if necessary..
Have SW point flight to Denver, & flight credit (United) flight to Raleigh that I could shift around (to Sacramento) if necessary..
I thought the committee tries to put the top four seeds in the nearest venue, but it doesn't always work out that way. I think having the Big 10 and Big XII getting so many seeds may mess up placement.
Never heard of either haha. Google says those are in Solana Beach. Maybe I need to take a drive up and check them out
If you're in San Diego, a couple of people from the board are planning on getting together for the game on Sunday... if you're interested DM me
I live in DC. I also spend about 100+ nights a year in Seattle on business and have a second place there. San Diego (Carlsbad) has become a vacation spot for me and my family when we are looking to travel from the West Coast. We love it there and recently invested in a property in the Carlsbad area as well. Solana Beach has some good restaurants. Rare Society (Solana Beach) and The Pony Room (in Rancho Santa Fe) are two of my favorites. Both are a bit pricey but pretty darn good. Tony Jacals and Fidel's are known in the area for having the "best Mexican" food. I have eaten at both and enjoyed both. Not pricey and good Mexican food.
If you are ever in La Jolla I'd also recommend checking out the Modernist Cuisine Art Gallery (link below). Nathan Myrhvold was the first Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft and before that studied physics at Cambridge under Stephen Hawking. Fascinating guy. He now focuses on his art and I found his gallery in La Jolla pretty darn cool.
https://modernistcuisinegallery.com/the-gallery/lajolla/
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Thanks for the recommendations. My parents and sister are all artists actually and my dad taught photography so I will definitely have to check the gallery out
Switched the United one way To Raleigh to Sacramento instead . Rate was good. It will be Much easier to get last minute to NC flight, & Sacramento now just as likely. So now set to get to Birmingham, Denver, Orlando, & Sacramento & back from Birmingham.
Still holding the Wolf Rd hotel at Albany just in case..
Still holding the Wolf Rd hotel at Albany just in case..
Cool scenario would be to get (2 year overdue) revenge on Houston in Birmingham for ticket to Sweet 16 in Vegas..
You think more Rutgers fans would show up in Des Moines than Denver? LOL. Sacramento would have far less than Denver too. Plenty of direct flights to Denver and also a very fun downtown to hang out in.
Orlando looks like the likeliest destination at this point, which would work well too.
That is indeed the pro move. Book your flights late Saturday or early Sunday and you can cancel by the time the pods are released. Same with hotels.
Hellllllo friend!
Yes…I do….why? It’s NOT just about flying from NJ. We have plenty of alumni who will drive to Des Moines both from NJ and the “Chicagoland” area (where we have a decent # of alumni). Sacramento? Tons of alumni in Cali which is why I think it would draw better than Denver.
Yes, Orlando would be a very good draw for us. No question.
Des Moines last on multiple fronts..
Could mean a second round matchup with Kansas
Not a realistic driving distance from NJ
Uninteresting site
Weather could play a factor in air travel..
Could mean a second round matchup with Kansas
Not a realistic driving distance from NJ
Uninteresting site
Weather could play a factor in air travel..