Justin and I had been quoted many times saying we would go to the Super Bowl if both of our teams made it. I heard those words after the AFC Championship game and knew we had a great chance of just that happening. The Seahawks made it interesting in the second game of the day, but with a timely defensive play that was their staple all season, they were the NFC Champions! Now it was time to put our money where our mouths were - literally!
I began searching for tickets as soon as I received an email as a Broncos season ticket holder. I had already booked airfare and hotel on the off chance it would happen after both teams secured the number one overall seeds (both reservations fully refundable so really no risk there). This turned out to be one of the smartest decisions I made because we saved big on both. Once I got home from practice (I had to "watch" the end of the NFC Championship on my phone), I purchased our tickets. I cannot really put into words how excited we both were once everything was confirmed.We fielded a ton of questions about who we each would be rooting for. In case someone is still confused - I am a die hard Broncos fan and Justin is an avid Seahawks fan. We are Broncos season ticket holders and Justin was a co-season ticket holder for the Seahawks. There never was a question about the colors we would wear nor our relationship status after the game. It is only a football game after all - even if it is the biggest stage!
We checked the weather (the number one topic before the game), made sure we had all the right layers and that our jerseys fit over said layers. And yes, that last one was vital - have to rep our teams! All was set and ready. Then came that seemingly never ending two week break between the conference championships and the Super Bowl.
Early Friday morning we boarded a plane in Portland - final destination: Newark, NJ! I was wearing my Rod Smith jersey and decked out in orange and blue from head to toe. Justin had on his Seahawks sweatshirt and was covered in blue. Justin was on the receiving end of some heckling from a couple of 9-year-olds; they were really just Manning fans but it was kinda funny. I got it from all sides as Portland (and probably most of Oregon) are 'Hawks fans. It was certainly good for some laughs!Once we arrived in Newark, the Super Bowl craziness began as soon as we walked through security. Hand warmers with SB48 logo and pocket map of Times Square, host of the Super Bowl Boulevard. We grabbed a Super Shuttle into Manhattan and 2 hours later we arrived :) The cross country flight, even leaving at 6am, left us arriving right during the heart of rush hour traffic. It is amusing, at least as a passenger, to watch all of the cars going everywhere. One of the other passengers actually "ducked" as we went by a truck in the other lane! I love Manhattan - all of the traffic and constant activity!
As soon as we checked into the hotel, we headed for Times Square and Macy's. We wanted to get the souvenir/gift shopping out of the way before we really immersed ourselves in all of the festivities. That turned out to be somewhat of a mistake - the crowds were insane. Crowd mentality is just not good but it was cool to be down there and part of everything. The Macy's Super Bowl store was huge and very cool. We took a few pictures and found most of the items we wanted. We grabbed "a slice" and headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest.
Saturday morning we headed out to "experience" the Boulevard - in opposing QB jerseys. It was much less crowded and enjoyable. We tried to get toboggan ride tickets however they were almost sold out with probably 2000 people in line ahead of us. On to the next experience which was taking pictures of all the cool mannequins at Macy's and finding lanyards for our tickets. While there, we decided to have our picture taken with helmets and have MetLife Stadium added to the background. Here we encountered our first 2 minutes of TV air time. Justin was joking with people in the line that "he got me to change my name but not my colors". This prompted the Denver Fox station to ask if they could interview us. It turns out we ended up on the local broadcast! People loved our divided house and we had fun playing it up with people all over Manhattan. We stood in line to kick an extra point. Okay, so really we just attempted to kick it - it is much harder than it looks!We made reservations at an upscale restaurant for dinner Saturday. After a power walk back to the hotel, we shed our colors for dress attire. I even took off the orange and blue eye shadow for a few hours! Ai Fiori (Italian for among the flowers) turned out to be fabulous. We opted for the 4 course menu and it was well worth the 2 1/2 hours we spend dining. The food was melted in our mouths and we would highly recommend it!
Sunday, well Sunday was Super Sunday! We turned on the pre-game shows and started our own pre-game preparations. I had purchased a long, orange wig just for the occasion. By the time I finished the "Broncos" makeup and donned the wig, I was well on my way to epic fan status. I had chosen a white Decker jersey for game day. Justin suited up in his "usual" gear with a minor swap to his Wilson jersey. The weather was fantastic - I didn't even need my coat as my base layers were warm enough.
A stop at burger joint, a hole-in-the-wall restaurant inside one of the hotels, was next up on game day. The burgers were good and actually cooked to order. The highlight though of the stop was sitting less than 4 feet from John Travolta as he was pitched a movie. I totally wanted to geek out and get a picture of him but he was clearly trying to have a conversation in peace. He said hello to Justin on his way out. Of course, then he got stopped by several people asking for pictures. He was gracious however you could tell he wasn't really into it. Obviously Manhattan is a chock full of celebrities and we saw several throughout the weekend however this was a cool experience because it wasn't at an event or expensive restaurant; just him being an average Joe.
Okay, so back to the main event! On to the bus ride to the stadium. They actually closed down the streets of NYC to allow the buses direct and easy access all the way there. It was a quick 20 minute ride and then we were there. MetLife Stadium and Super Bowl XLVII! We arrived about 4 hours before game time so we would have time to take everything in. We stood in line to get our picture taken with the Lombardi trophy (and met some Jets season ticket holders who were very cool). We listened to live bands and music. We debated face painting until we saw the sub-par results! I was interviewed by E! TV because they loved team spirit - apparently everyone thought my wig was my actual hair! Then we headed for our gate and realized that Eli Manning was greeting fans and taking pictures with them. He actually shook the hand of and spoke to every person who came on stage. Sadly, they cut the line off just before I made it up! I grabbed a great picture of him anyway. Say what you will, the Mannings are a classy family.We climbed up to our seats in the upper decks. Although we were high in the sky, we could see the entire field really well. We found our "Warm Welcome" packs on the seats - seat cushions, receiver hand muff, ear muffs, gloves, hand warmers, radio, lip balm, tissues and a halftime show beanie. We took tons of pictures as warm-ups and pre-kick hoopla. During the coin flip, we shook hands with a smile. Then the ball kicked off and we both preceded to cheer (read: scream) our heads off in support of our respective teams.
the final ticks on the clock, it was so much fun. The halftime show with Bruno Mars was fantastic - we were part of it with our LED beanies! The weather was gorgeous - I literally only put on my winter coat after the game just so we didn't have to carry it. We even got to see some of the commercials on the big screens! The trophy presentation was in the far end zone but facing us so we could see it. Confetti rained down on us even in the third level. My beloved Broncos did not win the game (and honestly didn't even play very well), but Justin was ecstatic to see his Seahawks bring home the Lombardi for the first time in franchise history, in person! And we have everything on our DVR so we can relive it all again at home...
