Patriots Out

Finn had a pretty early hockey game in Woburn on Saturday morning and I took advantage of the time in the passenger seat to delete tons of emails.  While scrolling through my inbox, I found an email notification from the Patriots announcing their plans for a Super Bowl send-off party at Gillette stadium.  With some extra time in the car as Finn and Freddy went into the rink to get ready, I decided to book a hotel and surprise the boys with a quick overnight trip to Patriot Place to be a part of the action.

I’m so glad I did.  After a really long week the quick family trip was just what we needed.  After Thatcher’s Sunday afternoon hockey game we drove to Foxboro.  We checked into our room at the Renaissance Boston Patriot Place and the boys were thrilled to see the bright blue sign of Gillette Stadium shining right outside our window.  After getting settled, we walked through Patriot Place and down to the NRG Plaza in front of the Pro Shop at the entrance to Gillette.  The boys were able to walk up onto the stage that was set for Monday’s festivities and then spent an hour skating on the Winter Skate Ice at Patriot Place.  After working up an appetite we had dinner at CBS Scene. Unbelievably, all of Patriot Place was like a ghost town.  I had made dinner reservations, but we were one of only a few full tables there.

After dinner we walked back to the hotel and the boys decorated signs to show their Patriot Love.  We were in bed by 11:00 and up at 6:00.  After turning on the news we realized that the crowds were already gathering so we quickly got ready and went back down to the plaza. We scored great standing room directly behind the media pit and enjoyed the show!

The boys were interviewed by both radio and TV news personalities and were psyched to be a part of the excitement.  They had the opportunity to hear from several Patriots greats and I hope that, as huge sports’ fans, they’ll look back on yesterday fondly for a while.