Today we had to check out of the villa so we could head to Tampa and see the Caps take on the Lightning... the impetus for this entire trip! We had another leisurely morning without an alarm. We packed up, checked out, and headed to the local Sizzler for the $4.99 breakfast buffet. Woo hoo!
Next stop was Pirate Cove Miniature Golf, where we had to decide between the easier, hillier course and the more difficult course. J-Mav chose more difficult. None of us thought it was all THAT difficult, but we had fun! The 16th hole ate both J-Mav's and Hubby's golf balls, which was rather humorous. But a guy came with a leaf blower and got them out of the tubing and play resumed. We also had fun chasing some little lizards around at one of the holes.
After we were done, we got in the car and turned the A/C up full blast to try to cool down. And then programmed the GPS and headed for Tampa. It took a little longer than it should have due to traffic around Disney, but not much, and it was a nice drive. We arrived at our hotel without incident, handed the car over to the valet (the only parking option we had), and proceeded to the desk to check in.
While we were checking in, I saw Joe Benenati (the Caps TV play-by-play guy) walk through the lobby in workout clothes, and at that point we knew the Caps had stayed in the same hotel the previous night. Pretty cool. We checked in and went to our room (on the 15th floor), passing (in the glass elevator) a skinny little pool outside on about the 8th or 9th floor.
We got situated in our room, changed into our Caps gear, and headed down to the lobby to try to find somewhere close by to grab an early dinner before the game. While perusing google maps in the computer kiosk in the lobby, we saw Karl Alzner and John Carlson (Caps defensemen) heading out to the team bus to ride the whole block to the arena. We didn't see anyone else, but we didn't go searching, either.
Also while we were standing there, a woman came up to us and asked if the Caps were staying at this hotel. We told her yes, but that it appeared they were heading toward the team bus and on to the arena with suitcases, so it didn't appear they would be staying that night. She went on to tell us that they were from England and her grandson plays hockey and is a huge Ovechkin fan. They were in Orlando and drove to Tampa to try to get his book signed. They didn't even have tickets to the game! We told her to go out by the bus and see if they could get it signed. We left to go find food, but I hope that he got to meet his favorite player! :)
We walked to the other side of the arena, to an area that is essentially the Tampa cruise port. Several restaurants that had been there appear to have closed down, so we just ate at a Hooters. Our food was actually very good. :-) After dinner, we headed back over to the arena. The doors weren't open yet... we had about 15 minutes. But there was a band and a little fan appreciation festival going on outside the arena. We were surprised at how many red jerseys we saw. :)
Once they opened the doors, we headed in, stopping (against J-Mav's wishes) to get a picture with Thunder Bug, the Lightning's mascot. The arena is fairly new, and it's very nice. We found out seats and they were awesome! Right by the tunnel from the Caps locker room. J-Mav even got a puck from one of the Caps trainers!
While we were waiting for warmups to start, we chatted with other Caps fans, and even ran into teammates from home... one kid from J-Mav's winter house team, and a kid from Keeper Boy's travel team. Small world, hockey fans. :) When the Caps came out of the tunnel for warm-ups, J-Mav leaned over the rail and got to do fist bumps with almost all of them. How cool. :) We also saw Olie Kolzig (who is now the Associate Goalie Coach for the Caps). Love him!
The game didn't end up in our favor, but we had a great time... and we were on TV during the first intermission. (One of John's friends sent a text with a picture of his TV, and there we are in our Caps jerseys... later, several other friends texted or posted on Facebook that they'd seen us on TV. Too funny.) We picked up a souvenir puck for Keeper Boy at the end of the game, and walked the block back to our hotel.
Another fun day in Florida done.
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