Royalty Tours USA

Friday, December 27, 2013

Royalty schedule w/o 12/30

Here's the game plan:

Monday, December 30th Charlotte Checkers at Rockford IceHogs 7PM

Tuesday, December 31st Cincinnati Cyclones at Kalamazoo K-Wings 7:30PM

Wednesday, January 1st Winter Classic Toronto Maple Leafs at Detroit Red Wings at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor 1PM 

Thursday, January 2nd Blackhawks at Islanders 7PM

Friday, January 3rd Blackhawks at Devils 7PM

Saturday, January 4th Saints at Eagles NFC Wild Card Game 8:10PM

Check back to see how it turned out.

Hope all my readers and followers have a great week.

I want to personally wish everybody a very Happy & Healthy New Year. 


As always, if you need assistance don't hesitate to ask.

Stay tuned as I plan to do some special posts that will go into detail about the rest of my adventurous month of November as well as December. Please bear with me as I try to find time to catch up. I keep falling further behind. Please be patient. It will be worth the wait.


If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Royalty w/o 10/28 in review

After work on Monday I came home to rest up from the exhausting weekend I wound up taking to the Buckeye State. 

Tuesday night after work I met up with my Cousin Andy at Newark Penn Station. We walked through the Gateway Center & we stopped off at Subway to have dinner together. After we ate, we continued walking over to the Prudential Center where we saw the Devils play the Tampa Bay Lightning. We were joined by the King when we got up to our seats in section 226 row 6.  My Cousin was so happy to see us. Unlike us, he doesn't get to go out that often so it's a real treat for him when he meets up with us. We always have a great time together.

As for the game we saw, the Devils beat the Lightning, 2-1. As a result, my Cousin was thrilled. He couldn't thank me enough for getting him the ticket for the game.

Wednesday night after work I went to the completely Transformed Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks open their new season against the Milwaukee Bucks. 

First & foremost, I want to mention all the additions in the final phase of the three year transformation process. Upon entry to the building, you'll notic the newly designed lobby & box office area which is more spacious than it was in the past. They've also added a team store so you can pick up souvenirs before and/or after the game. When you go inside I strongly suggest that you take a ride up to the tenth floor. That way you can check out the new Chase bridges that they've added which are connected to the West Balcony on the 8th avenue end of the building. The seating on the bridges is like the West Balcony. In other words, they have a few rows of seats that are protected by very thick glass as well as a row of bar stool seats behind them that have a ledge for you to put food and/or paperwork like I do when I sit at one of them. As long as you're not afraid of heights, you'll love the aerial view these seats have to offer. The Bridges are made so you feel like you're right on top of the action. They overlook the court for basketball & the ice for hockey. These seats are pricey & they're not sold on a season ticket basis. I recommend that if you have some money to burn that you try to get a seat up there. By doing so, you'll appreciate what they did to transform the building. The other change they made that stands out was they added a new massive HD scoreboard which hangs over the court and/or the ice. If you happen to be sitting on the side on the 200 level in the higher rows, the scoreboard is partially blocked. But they wisely added big screens on the side of the Bridges so you can see whatever you miss. Overall, I think they did a nice job in transforming the building. This may be a short lived process though since I've heard that in ten years they may be forced out of Penn Station which is built below the Garden. If you want to see the building as it is now, you should get there sooner than later.

As for the game I saw that night, the Knicks got off to a fast start. They lead by 25 points at halftime, 56-31. The Bucks fought back in the second half but the Knicks were able to hold them off as they went on to win their first game of the season, 90-83. Carmelo Anthony lead the way as he scored a game high 19 points & he grabbed 10 rebounds. Raymond Felton added 18 points.

Thursday night after work I spent my Halloween night doing my laundry after I made myself dinner.

Friday night after work I met up with the King at the Barclays Center where we saw the new look Brooklyn Nets open their home slate with a nationally televised game against the defending two time World Champion Miami Heat.

As for the game we saw, the Nets wound up beating the Heat in a drawn out game that took nearly three hours to play. The Nets won, 101-100. The Nets got 19 points from former Celtic Paul Pierce while Kevin Garnett aka KG who was also acquired in the same deal had just 6 points. Joe Johnson helped the Nets' cause by scoring 19 points as well. As for the Heat, LeBron James lead the way with 26 points but he didn't do anything exciting on this night as his team came up short.

Saturday afternoon the King & I took a ride via subway, Ferry & bus to see a college football game on Staten Island as the Wagner Seahawks were hosting the Blue Devils of Central Connecticut at Hameline Field. We were joined by our pal Eddie Pelle who met us there.

As for the game we saw, the Blue Devils beat the Seahawks, 52-17. The game actually was 24-17 with 13:09 to go but the Seahawks fell apart as they gave up four unanswered touchdowns as running back Rob Hollomon lead the charge for the Blue Devils. He finished the game with 147 yards rushing & he scored four touchdowns.

After the game, the King & I went out to the Prudential Center to see the Devils take on the Flyers. Eddie couldn't join us since he needed to take care of things at home. It was nice to see him again. 

As for the game we saw, the Flyers scored the only goal of the game in the first period. They held on to beat the Devils, 1-0.

Sunday the King & I went into Midtown Manhattan where we met up with our pal Larry Peim who drove us out to MetLife Stadium where we saw the Jets host the New Orleans Saints.

As for the game we saw, the Jets surprised the Saints as they beat them, 26-20. They were lead by former Saint Chris Ivory who ran for a game high 139 yards on the ground.

After the game, Larry drove us back to into Midtown. I went to see the Knicks play the Timberwolves at the Transformed Garden while the King decided to go home. 

As for the game I saw, the Timberwolves  played well & they beat the Knicks, 109-100. They got a monster performance out of Kevin Love who scored 34 points & he pulled down 15 rebounds. Kevin Martin added 30 points to help lead the charge for the Wolves. As for the Knicks, Carmelo Anthony poured in 22 points & he grabbed 17 boards while Metta World Peace finished with 17 points in the losing effort.

Stay tuned as I continue to attempt to play catch up.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Royalty schedule w/o 12/23

Here's the game plan:

Monday December 23rd Pacers at Nets 7:30PM

Wednesday December 25th Bulls at Nets 12 Noon

Friday December 27th Blue Jackets at Devils 7PM

Saturday December 28th Fairfield Stags at Bucknell Bison 2PM

                                         Wilkes/Barre-Scranton Penguins at Hershey Bears 7PM

Sunday December 29th Browns at Steelers 1PM

                                     
Check back to see how it played out.

Hope all my readers and followers have a great week.

I want to personally wish everybody a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year. 


As always, if you need assistance don't hesitate to ask.

Stay tuned as I plan to do some special posts that will go into detail about the rest of my adventurous month of October as well as November & December. Please bear with me as I try to find time to catch up. I keep falling further behind. Please be patient. It will be worth the wait.


If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Monday, December 23, 2013

Royalty goes to the Buckeye State unexpectedly for football over the last weekend in October!

In the middle of October, my pal Eddie Pelle who I met thanks to my blog a few years ago got in contact with me. He wrote me a text message & he asked me if I wanted to go to Cincinnati with him to see the Jets play the Bengals. I told him no instantly since I had to get back to work that Monday morning. The game was starting at 4:05PM & he was going to rent a car for the weekend he said. He told me he would get me back to NYC so I could get to work. With being said, I decided to reconsider his idea. 

I did some research & I noticed there were other games that we could make that Saturday in Ohio. We had a college football doubleheader as it turned out. The Ohio Bobcats were playing at home at 2PM in Athens, Ohio at Peden Stadium against the University of Miami (Ohio) Redhawks. That was followed by a prime time game in Columbus where the Ohio State Buckeyes were hosting the Penn State Nittany Lions at 8PM. Since I was planning to stay home that Friday night October 25th, I knew we could leave after I got home from work. I told Eddie about it. He said that would be fine. 

I mentioned it to the King & he decided to join us. With that being said, I proceeded to book hotels for us. I reserved a Super 8 in Hancock, Maryland which was half way to Athens, Ohio. Eddie's only concern was that the road to Athens was a two line road that went through the  mountains. He said he went there once to see a college basketball game. As a result, we needed to allow extra time to get there. In addition, he told me he may need help with the driving. I told him the King & I would be able to help him out. 

As it turned out, he got stuck at work late so he didn't come to pick us up in Astoria until 9PM. While we waited I made the King & I dinner. We stopped off at an ATM machine so Eddie could get some money. He wound up renting a Jeep. After he drove to get the money, he asked me to take over for him since he was tired from an extra long day of work. I wound up driving us to Hancock, Maryland which was 287.5 miles away. We got there around 1:30AM. We checked in & we got some sleep. We also ate breakfast at the hotel in the morning before we continued on to Athens, Ohio. Eddie drove us there. We arrived shortly before kickoff. He bought tickets for us & he had to pick them up at the will call window. Once we got them, we went inside just in for the start of game one. The Redhawks came into the game at 0-7. When the game ended they were still winless as the Bobcats whipped them, 41-16. The game was competitive early on then the Bobcats capitalized on turnovers as they cruised to an easy victory. I was thinking of my pal Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge because he went to school at the University of Ohio.  Unfortunately, he couldn't join us. He was there in spirit.

After the game, we drove to Columbus to see game two at Ohio Stadium aka the Horseshoe as it's called. On the way, we stopped off at Arby's for dinner. 

When we got in the vicinity of the Stadium, parking looked hard to come by. We drove closer & closer, Eddie then saw a garage that was supposed to be reserved for permits. He decided to roll down his window & he offered the young lady money to let us park there. She was kind enough to let us in for free. We lucked out big time. When we walked out of the garage, Eddie gave him some money for doing his a huge favor. We wound up being only a short walk to the Stadium. We had tickets already thanks to Eddie who secured them on Stub Hub for us ahead of time.

As for the game we saw, we expected it to be a decent one. It wound up being a wipe out as the Buckeyes demolished the Nittany Lions, 63-14. 

After the game, we stayed at a Travelodge five miles from the Stadium which worked out well since we had a long day. As a result, we were able to get a real good night sleep before we drove to the Queen City of Cincinnati. 

Sunday morning we got later since the football game was starting at 4:05PM as the Bengals were hosting the Jets. We wound up driving towards Cincinnati before we stopped to eat a late breakfast at Bob Evans in Wilmington, Ohio. Since we had extra time it worked out well. After we ate, Eddie drove us to downtown Cincinnati & we parked the car at 2:45PM. We then walked over to Paul Brown Stadium to see the game. Once again, we had tickets thanks to Eddie who wanted to sit on the lower level. He got us seats on the 35 yard line 11 rows from the field. 

Before the game started I took a walk upstairs so I could see my pal & fellow Jet fan Lieberfarb aka Ira from Staten Island who was there as well. In fact, he's seen every Jet home & away game since 2006. 

As for the game we saw, the Jets didn't show up. They got destroyed by the Bengals, 49-9. 

After the game, we drove all the way back to NYC. We wound up driving 681 miles in ten hours. Eddie & I wound up splitting the driving. I started & closed it out for us. We stopped off for a fast dinner to go from Steak N Shake in Mansfield, Ohio shortly after 10PM. We also got gas there.

We finally arrived back in Astoria at 5:45AM. I barely slept in the car when Eddie took over for me. I decided to unpack. I took a shower & I ate breakfast then I proceeded to go to work.

Stay tuned as I try my best to play catch up on my whereabouts.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Monday, December 16, 2013

Royalty schedule w/o 12/16

Here's the game plan:

Monday December 16th Wizards at Knicks 7:30PM

Tuesday December 17th Pittsburgh Panthers vs. Cincinnati Bearcats 7PM Florida Gators vs. Memphis Tigers 9:30PM Jimmy Valvano Classic at MSG

Friday December 20th Ducks at Devils 7PM

Saturday December 21st Grizzlies at Knicks 12 Noon

                                        Ducks at Islanders 7PM

Sunday December 22nd Browns at Jets 1PM

                                       Wild at Rangers 7:30PM

Check back to see how it turned out.

Hope all my readers and followers have a great week.

As always, if you need assistance don't hesitate to ask.

Stay tuned as I plan to do some special posts that will go into detail about the rest of my adventurous month of October as well as November & December. Please bear with me as I try to find time to catch up. I keep falling further behind. Please be patient. It will be worth the wait.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Friday, December 13, 2013

Royalty sees the Giants play the Vikings on MNF at MetLife Stadium!


After work on Monday night October 21st I went to New York Penn Station where I met up with my pal Eddie Pelle for dinner at Subway. He told me just before I left work that his brother got him a ticket for the Giant game. I told him I was going so we arranged to meet up.

After we ate, we took NJ Transit out to MetLife Stadium as the Giants were hosting the Minnesota Vikings in search of their first win of the season as they started off 0-6. We wound up meeting the King & my pal Sean MacDonald who Eddie met up with when he was on the road a few weeks prior to that game. We all needed tickets except for Eddie who was waiting to meet his brother to get his.

Sean decided to get one for $40 outside shortly after we all met up because he wanted to get in early so he could take pictures & notes for his NFL Stadium Journey  blog as he continues his quest to see all the different gridiron across the country.

As for the King & I, we wound up getting tickets for $20 each just before kick off. Since we've been to MetLife Stadium numerous times, we weren't in a rush to spend more money if we didn't have to. Thankfully we came across a few people who were willing to meet our demands price wise. We wound up staying downstairs on the lower level in section 146 row 48 which is the last row in corner of the end zone.

As for the game we saw, the Giants found a team that was worse than them on this night. They finally got in the win column as they defeated the Vikings, 23-7 in a sloppy played game.

After the game, I took the bus back to the Port Authority Bus Terminal. I got home at 1:14AM. That wasn't bad all things considered. 

Stay tuned as I try my best to continue to play catch up.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty sees the Jets play the Patriots at MetLife Stadium!


Back on Sunday October 20th after I went back home after returning the car I rented from Dollar rent a car early in the morning,I went to sleep for a few hours. After I woke up, I made myself breakfast. After I ate, I took a shower. When I got done, the King & I took the subway into Midtown Manhattan & we met up with our pal Larry Peim who drove us out to MetLife Stadium as the Jets were hosting the Patriots that Sunday afternoon. We did see the Red Sox win the American League Pennant at Fenway Park the night before. We were hoping that the Jets could find a way to beat another New England team on this day. Before the game started, we got to meet up with a few friends of ours who were also there. I'm referring to Alan Gimpel who sold me one of his season tickets in section 306 & our buddy Rich Wolber aka Staten Island Rich. Later on during the game we got to see fellow roadtripper & pal of ours, Sean MacDonald who was there as part of his ultimate NFL Stadium Journey. Sean was in the midst of season long excursion to see every NFL Stadium. As always, it was great to catch up with him again. 

As for the game we saw, it was a good one. The Jets hung tough with their division rival. The game wound up going into overtime tied at 27. The Jets emerged victorious as they got a game winning field goal from Nick Folk. Moments before he made that kick, he missed one. The Jets appeared to have caught a break as the Patriots were penalized for trying to get leverage to block the kick by climbing up on another player's back . With a new rule in effect this season, the officials decided to enforce it on this particular play. Controversial or not, the Jets were given a reprieve. As a result, they took full advantage of their second chance as Nick Folk booted the ball through the uprights to give the Jets an improbable 30-27 victory. Being a Jet fan, I was happy with the result. Let it be know I do have the utmost respect for the Patriots. I actually love watching them play. They always give you your money's worth if they win or lose.

Stay tuned for another special post that will recap the Monday Night football game we saw the very next night at Met Life Stadium.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman


Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Royalty is closing out 2013 on the road in Pennslyvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois & Michigan!

Here's the game plan:

I'm renting a car Saturday morning December 28th from Avis for a week to close out 2013.

The King  & I will be driving out to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan before we return home late New Year's Day night.

Saturday, December 28th Pinstripe Bowl Notre Dame vs. Rutgers at Yankee Stadium 12:15PM

                                          Kalamazoo K-Wings at Reading Royals 7PM 

Sunday, December 29th Browns at Steelers 1PM

Monday, December 30th Charlotte Checkers at Rockford IceHogs 7PM

Tuesday, December 31st Cincinnati Cyclones at Kalamazoo K-Wings 7PM

Wednesday, January 1st Winter Classic Toronto Maple Leafs at Detroit Red Wings at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor 1PM 

In addition, I plan to meet up with Paul Swaney, co-founder of the website, Stadium Journey.  

If you're interested in going on this exclusive getaway royalty style just let me know so I can arrange to have you join us.

It's going to be a blast so why not come for a "royal" ride.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Monday, December 9, 2013

Royalty schedule w/o 12/9

Here's the game plan:

Tuesday December 10th Celtics at Nets 7:30PM

Wednesday December 11th Bulls at Knicks 8PM

Thursday December 12th Clippers at Nets 8PM

Saturday December 14th St. Bonventure Bonnies at Iona Gaels 2PM

                                      
                                         Lightning at Devils 7PM

Sunday December 15th Seahawks at Giants 1PM

                                      Flames at Rangers 7PM

Check back to see how it played out.

Hope all my readers and followers have a great week.

As always, if you need assistance don't hesitate to ask.

Stay tuned as I plan to do some special posts that will go into detail about the rest of my adventurous month of October as well as November. Please bear with me as I try to find time to catch up. I keep falling further behind. Please be patient. It will be worth the wait.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Monday, December 2, 2013

Royalty sees the Red Sox clinch the American League Pennant at Fenway Park!

Back on Friday night October 18th, I came home from work & I made myself dinner. After I ate, I watched game 6 of the NLCS between the Dodgers & the Cardinals with the King on TV. Our weekend plans were contingent on the outcome of the game. I didn't want them to play a game 7. Since the Cardinals were up 3 games to 2, I had to pull for the Cardinals to win. Thankfully they did & they made it easy for us as they took such a big lead early in the game. As a result, the Red Sox played the Tigers in prime time as opposed to late in the afternoon. By doing so, I was able to rent a car from Dollar Rent a Car by LaGuardia airport for the day early Saturday morning. I wound up getting a Dodge Avenger. I went back home to pick up the King. We drove to Kingston, Rhode Island to see a college football game that afternoon on the way to Boston. The Rams of the University of Rhode Island played the Richmond Spiders. It was a battle of two bad teams. The Rams held on to win the game, 12-10. 

After the football game I drove us to Fenway Park for Game 6 of the ALCS between the Red Sox & the Tigers. The Red Sox were up in the series, three games to two. The winner was going to play the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. When we got outside Fenway Park, we met up with our pals Bryan Gilligan & Phil Butleman who drove up there too. I decided to go to Popeye's up the block to have dinner. Everybody else decided to go inside the park. When I finished eating, I went inside. Thanks to our friend Phil for getting us the tickets. When I came home from work the week before the King was talking to him on the phone. He asked me if I wanted a ticket for that game assuming the series went at least six games. Phil went on their website & quite amazingly some tickets popped up. He wound up getting the King & I tickets in the bleachers. I had no intention of sitting there. I did what I always do there, I gave myself an upgrade. Did I ever. I lucked out big time. I wound up sitting on the aisle in section 24 loge box 137 row MM seat 1. What a view I had. Since I wanted to see another pennant clincher in person, I was rooting very hard for the Red Sox to win. Thanks to a grand slam home run by Shane Victorino in the bottom of the seventh inning, the ballpark erupted. The ball landed just over the Green Monster in left field. The Red Sox went on to beat the Tigers, 5-2 as they did indeed win the American League Pennant. It was an amazing experience to be there live to witness the history that took place. After the game, they had the trophy celebration on the field.

We all met up after the game. Bryan drove himself home & I took the King as well as Phil Butleman back. We dropped Phil off at the subway in Astoria then I drove the King & I home. We got home at 5AM. I decided to return the car rental to Dollar after I dropped off the King. I wound up driving 465 miles safely. I took a bus to the subway & I finally got back home at 6:30AM. I went to sleep for a few hours before the King & I went to MetLife Stadium to see the Jets play the Patriots. 

Stay tuned for the details of that memorable day.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty schedule w/o 12/2

Here's the game plan:

Tuesday December 3rd Nuggets at Nets 7:30PM

Wednesday December 4th Canadiens at Devils 7PM

Thursday December 5th Knicks at Nets 7PM

Friday December 6th Red Wings at Devils 7PM

Saturday December 7th Texas Longhorns at Temple Owls 12 Noon (Wells Fargo Center)

                                       Tennessee State Tigers at Drexel Dragons 4PM

                                       Nuggets at 76ers 7PM

Sunday December 8th Raiders at Jets 1PM

                                      Capitals at Rangers 7PM

Check back to see how it turned out.

Hope all my readers and followers have a great week.

As always, if you need assistance don't hesitate to ask.

Stay tuned as I plan to do some special posts that will go into detail about the rest of my adventurous month of October as well as November. Please bear with me as I try to find time to catch up. I keep falling further behind. Please be patient. It will be worth the wait.

If you like to tweet you can follow me on Twitter too. @royaltytoursusa

Furthermore, we can hook up on Facebook and/or Four Square as well.

With all the ways to communicate these days, we should always be in touch.

Remember team work makes the dream work.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman