Iowa City road trip?

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BigMan'sGame

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The wife and I are contemplating a road trip to Iowa City. Leave Saturday morning, watch the game (hopefully a win), part-A, then stay overnight and drive home Sunday.

Anyone else going? Any suggestions on where to stay/what to do?

Is it a given we'll see Tucker at the bars?
 

Weather permitting, am making the trip. Weather forecast sounds good so far. With all of Iowa at the Orange Bowl, gotta' be a fighting chance there will be more Gopher fans than Iowa fans. Let's turn it into a mini Barn.
 

Staying in coralville, heading down Friday night, hotel is cheap, tickets are cheap, 4 day weekend, couldn't be more perfect.

And isn't a minibarn a shed?
 

FTB, I can hear it now..."Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Carver-Hawkeye Shed!"
 

We've gone to Iowa City most of the last 10 years...partly because I graduated from Iowa before I moved to Minnesota and got a second degree here. Even learned to boo Iowa. We've always driven down the day of the game and driven back when it's a day game, stayed over for night games. It's an easy drive, only complicated by snow but that's part of winter in Minnesota. I've always gotten my tickets before but this year there will be plenty available outside or even walk-up. Never an easy W on the road but this year will be fun.
 


We're thinking about staying at the Holiday Inn Express in Coralville. Anyone have hotel insights they care to share?

Also, what route is best? 35 all the way to 80 East?
 

I am also heading down Saturday morning. We'll be staying at the Heartland Inn. It was recommended by a friend of mine who grew up in Cedar Rapids. The hotel is only a 10 - 15 minute walk to the arena.

My friend also recommended a place called Sluggers for a good burger. There is also a pizza joint called Tomaso's in Cedar Rapids, just off I-380 that was highly recommended as well. I'll probably stop on the way down and have an early lunch.

As far the route I usually hop on US Hwy 218 which eventually turns into I-380.
 

BigMan'sGame said:
We're thinking about staying at the Holiday Inn Express in Coralville. Anyone have hotel insights they care to share?

Also, what route is best? 35 all the way to 80 East?
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The "Avenue of the Saints" is now complete and cuts a good hour/hour and a half (depending on how fast you drive) off the trip. Exit I35 just South of Mason City. It's four lane all the way to Cedar Falls/Waterloo (there are some stoplights through those cities) and then you can take I380 to I80 and a quick trip East to Iowa City.

My favorite pre-game spots are the Wig & Pen and/or the "new" Vine on Highway 6. We always walked up the hill to CHA from there.
 

Driving down Sat. morning. Wig and Pen is the place to go. Get there early and you can leave your car and walk over to Williams Arena South. I hope we have a ton of people there. I've also heard the Vine is pretty sweet.
 



StPaulHawkeye said:
The "Avenue of the Saints" is now complete and cuts a good hour/hour and a half (depending on how fast you drive) off the trip. Exit I35 just South of Mason City. It's four lane all the way to Cedar Falls/Waterloo (there are some stoplights through those cities) and then you can take I380 to I80 and a quick trip East to Iowa City.

My favorite pre-game spots are the Wig & Pen and/or the "new" Vine on Highway 6. We always walked up the hill to CHA from there.
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Any ideas for dinner tomorrow night?
 

Wig & Pen has great pizza & The Vine has the best wings. That's what makes going there prior to games so convenient.
Texas Roadhouse has the best steaks (and it's more entertaining than an Outback or Timberlodge).
As far as "bar food" goes, the Airliner, Mickey's, and the Mill were always my favorites.

Those are my suggestions...
 

There really isn't a bad motel in Coralville. The new Marriott is nice if you want to spend a little more $.

My recommendation on going out is the Mill.

It will be a little weird I think for Gopher fans who go. Don't expect to see more than 8,000 hawk fans, and they will be quiet. Watch for Matt gatens - he is a *good* player.
 

If you want to go to downtown IC, the Aviator restaurant has fantastic pizza.
 



If this is the roll call, consider me in. Driving down Sat. morning and finding tickets at CH arena. We are staying in Ceder Rapids Sat night. I'm looking forward to a tough win on the road.
 

My son and are are going to head over from Dead Moines for a quick day trip to the game.

I like a burger/steak/beer place as much as the next guy. And there are plenty around. But if you're in the mood for something a little more "hippy-chic", the New Pioneer Coops have some really good food and if you're trying to eat a bit more healthy than you have in the last few weeks, it will serve you well. In truth, it's probably better for a quick lunch than a fun dinner though.

There's one on Van Buren and there is one on 2nd Ave. in Coralville. Bon Appetite.

I see that Hotwire has a 3 star hotel for $59 and a 3 1/2 star for $84. I'd guess the latter to be the Marriott.
 

Anderson8284 said:
There really isn't a bad motel in Coralville.
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I'd agree with this now that the Ramada is torn down. That was the skankiest place I ever walked into. I booked a room for a football game there once. Walked in, checked in, saw room, checked out - all in about ten minutes.
 

Anderson8284 said:
There really isn't a bad motel in Coralville. The new Marriott is nice if you want to spend a little more $.
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I wouldn't say that. For the football game, some friends booked a room at the motel 6 on I-80 and Mormon Trek/First, and it was the biggest crap-hole they'd ever stayed in (and these guys have stayed in some fleabags, so I believe them). Apparently a prostitution ring had been busted the day before they came down.
 

I had forgotten about that one. I've nver stayed there. Sounds like a good reason to avoid the M-6!......The Hampton Inn is one I've stayed at that is nice; the Holiday Inn is fine. There's an AmericInn which is also nice; I stayed at once. The Radisson is nice and only three years old.

The abr scene might be a little weird this year with the Orange Bowl bid, some of the diehard Hawk fans probably did the math and thought hmmm 75 degrees in Miami, minus 5 in Iowa City. Hmmmm..... there will still be a lot of folks out in the bars at Saturday night though.....
 


StPaulHawkeye said:
Wig & Pen has great pizza & The Vine has the best wings. That's what makes going there prior to games so convenient.
Texas Roadhouse has the best steaks (and it's more entertaining than an Outback or Timberlodge).
As far as "bar food" goes, the Airliner, Mickey's, and the Mill were always my favorites.

Those are my suggestions...
Click to expand...

What is the best bet for parking at the game? Just grab food and ditch the car?
 


GopherRock said:
I wouldn't say that. For the football game, some friends booked a room at the motel 6 on I-80 and Mormon Trek/First, and it was the biggest crap-hole they'd ever stayed in (and these guys have stayed in some fleabags, so I believe them). Apparently a prostitution ring had been busted the day before they came down.
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So your friends were a day late?

(And how many dollars short?)
 

I see that Hotwire has a 3 star hotel for $59 and a 3 1/2 star for $84. I'd guess the latter to be the Marriott.[/QUOTE]

FYI, the 3 1/2 star on Hotwire is the Sheraton on Dubuque Street. Just tried it and that's what we got.
 

rosevillegopher said:
I see that Hotwire has a 3 star hotel for $59 and a 3 1/2 star for $84. I'd guess the latter to be the Marriott.
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FYI, the 3 1/2 star on Hotwire is the Sheraton on Dubuque Street. Just tried it and that's what we got.[/QUOTE]

Apologies to you rosevillegopher. I hope that didn't put you sideways on anything you were planning. The Sheraton is a better location and that seems like a fair deal to me. However, that half star is a bit of a gift to the Sheraton IMHO. I haven't stayed there for a few year, but that's my recollection.

Again, I hope I didn't cause you any inconvenience by my bad guess.

Safe travels.
 

minimax said:
FYI, the 3 1/2 star on Hotwire is the Sheraton on Dubuque Street. Just tried it and that's what we got.
Click to expand...

Apologies to you rosevillegopher. I hope that didn't put you sideways on anything you were planning. The Sheraton is a better location and that seems like a fair deal to me. However, that half star is a bit of a gift to the Sheraton IMHO. I haven't stayed there for a few year, but that's my recollection.

Again, I hope I didn't cause you any inconvenience by my bad guess.

Safe travels.[/QUOTE]

No problem. Sounds just fine. Especially after a Gopher win.
 

minimax - nice to meet you and the young one Saturday night.

Thanks everyone for their road trip suggestions. We scalped first row seats in section JJ - nice view of the press. Got to chat briefly with Tim Doyle at halftime. I told him his Cats are a cute story, but they're not a tournament team. He responded by saying they will go 1-1 against the Gophers this year.

Afterwards my wife told me Doyle was good looking and I almost threw up.

Wig and Pen was great for dinner. Then we went to the Vine for a drink. Kind of surprised at how young/slightly trashy it was. All in all, an excellent trip.
 

"Afterwards my wife told me Doyle was good looking and I almost threw up." Pretty funny.
 

BigMan'sGame said:
minimax - nice to meet you and the young one Saturday night.

Thanks everyone for their road trip suggestions. We scalped first row seats in section JJ - nice view of the press. Got to chat briefly with Tim Doyle at halftime. I told him his Cats are a cute story, but they're not a tournament team. He responded by saying they will go 1-1 against the Gophers this year.

Afterwards my wife told me Doyle was good looking and I almost threw up.

Wig and Pen was great for dinner. Then we went to the Vine for a drink. Kind of surprised at how young/slightly trashy it was. All in all, an excellent trip.
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Good to meet you and your wife briefly as well BigMan'sGame. Would have visited with you more, but it looked to me as if you and your wife had made a new best friend at the Vine. Local character, I guess. You did better on your street gotten seats than we did (Sec CC row 29), but we went and watched the second half from the fourth row just across from the Gopher bench.

Can't believe that your wife would even give Doyle a second look. For cryin' out loud . . . .she's got you!

I like Iowa City, but really no place is much fun when it's that cold. My son and I did enjoy wearing the maroon around town though.
 

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