The Hawkeye Invasion of Maryland, DC, and Virginia

Prologue

The Big Ten expanded to fourteen teams adding Maryland and Rutgers for the primary purpose of bringing the New York, Baltimore, and Washington, DC media markets into the Big Ten sphere. I think a second reason was to provide the hundreds of thousands of Big Ten alumni living on the East Coast an easier opportunity to see their teams play.  Or provide alumni and others living in their home states (or foreign countries) a reason to take a vacation to Washington, DC or New York City.

When the Big Ten announced their future schedules a year or so ago and Iowa was scheduled to play at Maryland, Garv and I immediately started planning a trip.  Last spring, Garv sent out an email to friends and family and many people planned on joining us.

Most of the group in downtown College Park, MD

Here was the crew:

Me (Estherville, IA)

Garv and Lindsay (my brother-in-law and sister; Santiago, Chile)

Mom and Dad (Remsen, IA)

Ron and Jeanne (Garv's aunt and uncle but they're like family; Okoboji, IA)

Brandee (Ron and Jeanne's daughter; Las Vegas, NV)

Jean and Mark (Dad's sister and her boyfriend; Des Moines, IA)

Lynda and Pat (Jeanne's cousin and her husband; St. Louis, MO)

Betty (Jeanne's cousin; St. Louis, MO)

Nick and Jill (Garv and LG's friends; Des Moines, IA)
Saturday crew:

Brian (Ron and Jeanne's son; St. Petersburg, FL)

Andy (Brian's friend, Univ of Maryland alum; Westchester, PA)

Joe (Andy's friend, Washington, DC)

I asked everyone to share their favorite moments of the trip. Those that responded back I included in the narrative (Garv and LG, get your asses in gear). I arranged them chronologically so as to provide some structure.


You'll notice that there is a "Tony" and a "Tony as narrator" characters. The "Tony" voice will be my impressions of the trip.  "Tony the Narrator" will fill in the gaps in the narrative and provide context and explanation when necessary.  Anything in brackets is also my words.

Introduction

Lindsay: The fact that so many people from so many places met there.  It was especially meaningful to Garv and I because as soon as everyone knew we were going to be there, everyone booked their flights in a matter of days.
Garv:  The response to the email I sent saying we had locked in our itinerary was phenomenal.  Within a few short days, there were a dozen confirmed flight reservations.  In total, 16 people were in our group for the game.  That is an impressive response.

Bee: The fact that we got as many people there as we did, and it all worked out so smoothly.  Must have been the pristine planning. 

Tony the Narrator: Of course it was.

Mom: My favorite part of the trip was that so many of us came together from so many different places. 

Tony: I think the most amazing thing about the entire trip was that we all made it to DC on the evening of Thursday, October 16 or throughout the day on Friday.  This was my fifth trip to DC (and one of those trips was actually a six-week internship for Senator Grassley) so I'm very familiar with the DC area.  This trip, however, was more exciting because so many members of our group had never been to DC.

Thursday

Tony: I enjoyed the first evening when the my parents, Mark, Jean, Ron, Jeanne, the St. Louis crew, and Brandee were drinking Miller Lite and Yuengling, eating room service pizza, and catching up with each other.  There were eleven of us in the "living room" of my parents’ room at the Embassy Suites and since we were fueled by affection and alcohol, it kept getting louder and louder--even surpassing the decibels in my seventh period Civics class...

Friday

Dad and Ron: We enjoyed our Friday morning visit to Arlington National Cemetery and the Changing of the Guard.

Mom: My first best moment was getting off the metro [at the Arlington National Cemetery metro stop after we had visited the Cemetery] to come around the corner and there stood Lindsay and Garv, I thought they were meeting us at the capitol, they are good at surprises!  

Mom: My second best moment was the Capitol tour on Friday afternoon since Tony lined it up and knowing he spent some time in that building one summer. I also liked the Capitol because it was the first event we took as our big group. 

Most of the group after our Capitol tour

Tony: I enjoyed identifying the number of historical errors our tour guide made during the Capitol tour. I didn't correct them since doing so would have made me sound like a know-it-all jackass, and besides, I'm the only one who noticed them.  Here is a very important tip to anyone traveling to DC: arrange tours through your Senator or Representative!!! In some cases, especially with the Capitol tour, it will save you some waiting in line.
Garv: Visiting the monuments and memorials on the National Mall at night.  Something every U.S. citizen should do. 

Nick: Visiting the monuments in the National Mall at night.  I have seen them all in the day before, but it was a unique experience to see them all lit up at night.

Ron: Seeing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Tony the Narrator: Ron is a Vietnam veteran.  Also, the brother of one of his friends was killed in Vietnam and we were able to find his name on the wall.  I know that was also very meaningful to Ron.

Saturday

Nick: Visiting the highest point in DC, Point Reno.  Not only that, but having a lively debate about whether to count it as a state highpoint.
Tony the Narrator: Nick and Jill were the only ones to visit Point Reno.

Bee at the Metro stop

Tony: I really enjoyed pre-game festivities.  We started at a well-known College Park bar which had a bunch of Hawkeye fans.  Then Brian and his friends met us at the bar and we proceeded through campus to a Hawkeye tailgate.  We drank Coors Light courtesy of friendly Hawkeye fans and were very well-prepared for the game.

Meeting Hawkeye fans at RJ's



The Baack's at the tailgate

The Klein's at the tailgate

Dad: The game.

Mom: My third best moment was game day, seeing the university, being together at the game (in spite of the loss).

Tony: In a perverse way, I enjoyed the game.  Did I drop a couple hundred F-bombs? Check (that's NOT an exaggeration). Did I bitch about Greg Davis and Ferentz?  Check. Did Mom and Lindsay yell at me or give me dirty looks?  Check.  Did I yell back at them for somehow thinking I would change my comportment at Hawkeye games?  Check.  Did I threaten some sort of boycott? Check.  Did I pout like a child who's just been grounded?  Check.  Did I put all of my Hawkeye gear in a pile and threaten to burn it?  No, I did not.  I only did that when I was ten.

Bee: And finally, third and two…just because.

Ron: Do not forget "third and two.”

Tony the Narrator: “Third and two” refers to the first play of the fourth quarter when Iowa had the ball.  During that drive, and in the previous drive, Iowa had been running the ball down Maryland’s throat.  So what does Greg Davis (Iowa’s offensive coordinator) call?  A pass! WTF.  What does Jake Rudock (Iowa’s QB) do?  Throw long.  And the check-down was open for the first down.  Ironically, Rudock has been critiqued by Iowa fans for throwing to the check-down receiver too often.  Of course, the time he should have checked down, he didn't.  So for the rest of the trip, Ron kept talking about and asking people about “third and two.”  Especially our next two events of the night...




Lindsay: Our Embassy Suites “Manager's Special”…always fun when mom is there!
Tony the Narrator: No one loves deals more than mom.  The Embassy Suites "Manager's Special" are complementary beverages and snacks for happy hour. And she absolutely loves it. We took advantage of this on Friday night and Saturday night.
Tony: Everyone, and especially me, getting their "money's worth" at the Saturday night Manager's special.  Hey, we had a lot of ridiculous and pathetic Hawkeye football to discuss...

Dad: Eating at Chadwick's on King Street.


Lindsay: Our first night at Chadwick's...


Tony: Listening to Garv critique Lindsay the next day for ordering two $9 glasses of wine when she should have just ordered a bottle.  The wine would have been drunk...(I'm using drunk as a verb and not an adjective.)

Bee: King Street – I wish we could have spent more time down there.
Tony the Narrator: King Street is an area of Alexandria, VA full of shops and restaurants.  At one of King Street was our hotel and the Metro stop.  At the other end was the Potomoc River.

Moms and daughters on the King Street trolley

Sunday

Bee: Coffee with the ladies at that Starbucks on King Street.  I could have sat there for hours.


Tony the Narrator: On Sunday, we took a boat from King Street to Mount Vernon.  If you go to the DC area, Mount Vernon is a must.  The mansion, the interpretive center, the grounds...everything is remarkable.

Bee: Mount Vernon, listening to Martha Washington talk about “her life.”


Jean: Mount Vernon and Mrs. Washington stand out for me.


Tony the Narrator: At Mount Vernon, there was an historical actor who played Martha Washington and she was incredible.  I do a little historical acting in class, but it's about .1% as good as she was.

On the piazza looking at the Potomoc

Our view from the piazza

Bee: The monuments at night, especially the Jefferson (and the others we did on that last night) – there was just a sense of peace there that night.

The Jefferson Monument

The MLK monument

Jeanne: That the last nights walk, with the Jefferson, FDR and the MLK monuments was my best moment.

Monday

Tony the Narrator: On Monday morning, the St. Louis crew left early in the morning by road and Ron, Jeanne, and I left in the morning for noon flight from BWI to MSP.  The rest of the crew was able to enjoy a little more time in DC.

Mark: I most enjoyed the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, especially the fragment of Plymouth Rock, Mohammad Ali’s boxing gloves and the golden spike that joined the two railroads in the 1800’s.

Dad: I enjoyed the Americans at War exhibit at the Museum of American History and the Holocaust Museum.




Tuesday
Tony the Narrator: Mom, Dad, Mark and Jean left Tuesday morning and Garv and Lindsay returned to Chile that night.

Compilations and Summations
Jeanne: Overall what amazed me the most was how the whole trip happened from start to finish. It seemed like it came together in a couple of days. The execution of the plan flowed like a well oiled machine, mostly due to you and Garv. The flights, subway, tours etc. I will never forget "Iowa off" and "where is Lindsay?".

Bee: Getting our entire crew on and off the Metro…Iowa off!

Tony the Narrator: “Iowa off” refers to the phrase we developed so as to facilitate an efficient boarding and unboarding of a Metro car.  “Where is Lindsay?” refers to when Lindsay happened to get on a different metro car (on the same train) than the rest of the group right after the game.




Tony: Everyone immediately panicked.  I was not at all concerned—after all, she has had months of practice in Chile.  My lack of concern did not please Mom in the least.  Between the game and this, I had really made her happy...

Tony: I thoroughly enjoyed flying Spirit airlines.  Ron, Jeanne, and I each paid $180 a piece for round trip tickets.  I love Spirit because they make you pay extra for everything except a personal item.  Carry-on bag? $35.  Checked bag? $30.  On-flight beverages? It will cost you.  Magazines in the seat back?  Nope.  It was great.  I gave my parents a few clothes, but in actuality, everything I needed I carried in my backpack.  And there was actually room in the overhead bin.

Mom: I loved it all, it is hard to pin point, it was a wonderful trip with loved ones. The line of the trip had to be Tony explaining why he could not run for president! Glad he loves all of us!

Jean: I loved everything about the trip. Seeing and walking in the places where our history actually occurred was probably the best part.  Mount Vernon and Mrs. Washington stand out for me. But then, so does the Capitol, the monuments, family and friends.
Garv: Looking forward to the Iowa Hawkeyes at Rutgers on September 24, 2016.

Tony: I'm ready for 2016...Hopefully the Hawkeyes will play better on the road that season.