Royalty starts June by seeing three different teams play at Yankee Stadium in consecutive days!‏

Thanks to a rain out on April 30th, the Yankees wound up hosting three different teams in consecutive days at Yankee Stadium. They were scheduled to play Sunday, June 1st against the Twins & Tuesday June 3rd against the Athletics. Since Monday  June 2nd was scheduled as an open date for both the Yankees & Mariners they decided to make the game that night. As a result, it set up a rare occurrence. 

View from Section 420B

‎With that being said, here's how it played out.

On Sunday afternoon, I arranged to get my pal & fellow road tripper Blair Long a ticket for the game in the row right in front of the King & I in section 420B. Since there were a few empty seats by us he got to sit with us for the duration of the afternoon. It worked well. That way we were able to enjoy the game together. It was nice to see him again.  

As for the game we saw, former Yankee Phil Hughes pitched eight strong innings just allowing two runs. ‎The Twins trailed, 2-1 after eight innings. In the ninth inning, Josh Willingham lead off with a solo homer which tied the game & got Phil Hughes off the hook for the hard luck loss. The Twins wound up batting around as Josh Willingham flew out to center field to end the inning. In between the Twins added five more runs as they made a winner out of Phil Hughes who got the last laugh on this day as his new team, the Twins beat the Yankees, 7-2.

‎Monday night marked the return to the Bronx again for Robinson Cano. He & his new team, the Seattle Mariners came back to the Bronx to play the make up game. Not only did the Yankees see their former teammate but they wound up facing Felix Hernandez who's one of the best pitchers in baseball. 

As for the game we saw, the Mariners lead off hitter James Jones played college baseball at LIU in Brooklyn. My pal David Sack has seen him play there. It was a homecoming for him. He had a rough night though. He went hit less in five at bats which included a sacrifice bunt which was part of the decisive four run seventh inning which gave the Mariners' the lead for good. Robinson Cano once again heard the boos as he walked a few times, got picked off first base & he singled in his last at bat ‎to finish the game one for three. Felix Hernandez  pitched well. He gave up two runs in seven innings to earn the victory as the Mariners broke open a 2-2 tie as they went on to whip the Yankees, 10-2.

Tuesday night after work I returned to the Bronx hoping to make it three days in a row seeing three different teams play. Mother nature did her best to put a damper on that but thankfully she cooperated after an hour & twelve minute ‎delay. With that being said, first pitch wound up being at 8:17PM. As they say, better late than never. 

As for the game we saw, the starting pitchers pitched well. Scott Kazmir, a former Met, went six & a third innings. He allowed two runs while he striking out ten. Hiroki Kuroda who started for the Yankees gave up just one run in six & two thirds innings. The Athletics tied the game at two in the top of the eighth inning so neither starter got a decision. The game went into extra innings. The Yankees bullpen sprung a leak as Adam Warren got tagged for three runs in the top of the tenth inning which proved costly as the Yankees fell again, 5-2. 

Wednesday night when I got to Yankee Stadium I went to get my 25 game MLB Pass-Port book stamped at the Guest services booth by gate 6. While I was doing so, I saw a familiar face. It was my buddy Steve Cirvello who works as a business partner with my pal Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge. Steve told me he bought a bleacher ticket off of Stub Hub. I told him to come upstairs with me instead. It worked out well as there were some empty seats near the King & I. As a result, we got to enjoy each others company for the rest of the night. Steve can be found on Twitter. His handle is @FDHNYB. Please feel free to follow him & show him some royal love. 

As for the game we saw, the Athletics overcame a 4-0 deficit as they went on to cruise past the Yankees again, 7-4. 

Stay tuned for some special posts that will go into detail about our weekend getaway to Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Reading & Baltimore.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty meets up with Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge in Cleveland, Ohio in the middle of May!‏

On Saturday, May 17th I woke up early so I could go to Avis to pick up a car rental for the weekend. I wound up getting a Ford Focus since that's all they had left. I drove it back home so I could pick up the King as we drove all day to go to Cleveland, Ohio. We stopped off at the rest area in Pennsylvania just past the Delaware Water Gap just before 1PM. Luckily we got there at the right time. When we came out of the rest room, the line was a mile long. A few buses pulled in for a pit stop on their way to Yankee Stadium. The Yankees were playing the Pirates that day at 4:05PM. There was a mixture of Yankee & Pirate fans. As I say, timing is everything. I was beside myself but I was all smiles when I got there. 

Reason to smile

We got back in the car ‎& I drove to Brookville, PA where we got gas & made to order food at Sheetz around 3:45PM. I wound up eating my chicken fingers & mozzarella sticks in the car as we continued on to Cleveland. We arrived there shortly after 6PM. I arranged to meet up with our pal Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge outside Progressive Field, home of the Indians by the Bob Feller statue. I called him when I was 20 miles from downtown. He told me he was there already. He said he was going to stop off at a local bar so he could watch the Preakness. I told him I'll see him by the statue when he got done. We wound up meeting up around 6:30PM. We had bought some cheap tickets in advance so we were able to head right inside once we met up. We wound up meeting the King who was inside already in section 554 upstairs behind home plate. 

Me by Bob Feller statue

View from section 554

As for the game we saw, the Indians were hosting the Oakland Athletics on this night. Former Met & Indian Scott Kazmir was starting for the A's. Thanks to home plate umpire Jerry Layne he wasn't long for the night. He wound up getting ejected for complaining about the strikeout zone or the lack thereof. He lasted just one ‎& a third innings. He gave up a run on a wild pitch while walking three & striking out one. However he got off the hook for the loss thanks to his teammate, third baseman Josh Donaldson who tied the game at one with a run scoring single in the top of the third inning which was followed by a two run homer by first baseman Brandon Moss which gave the A's a 3-1 lead. The Tribe got a run back in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to a sacrifice fly by shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera to make it a 3-2 game. The Athletics wound up putting the game away with three more runs in the top of the seventh inning when Josh Donaldson & Brandon Moss struck again. This time Donaldson delivered a two run triple & Moss added a run scoring double to give the A's a 6-2 victory. Relief pitcher Dan Otero threw three & two thirds of shutout relief to earn the win. Josh Tomlin who started for the Indians suffered the loss despite getting a quality start as he went six innings allowing three earned runs. The bullpen let it slip away once he came out. 

Regardless of the outcome, it was great to spend some quality time with our pal Rick Morris who's a big fan of the King & I. I want to thank him for always making time to join us when we come to visit. 

After we said our goodbyes to him, we walked back to the car ‎& we drove 200 miles to Somerset, PA where we spent the night at Days Inn.

Stay tuned for another special post that will recap how we spent that Sunday.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

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

Royalty meets up with Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge at Progressive Field in Cleveland!

Friday July 12th I took off from work so I could getaway earlier for the weekend. I went out to Long Island via public transportation & I rented a 2014 Chevy Cruze from Avis which had only 604 miles on it and it was equipped with XM radio.

I went back home & I picked up my bags & I headed towards Cleveland, Ohio. I got off to a later start than I hoped to. I left Astoria at 10:36AM.

Thankfully I was able to get out the NYC area in a timely fashion. As a result, I crossed the Delaware Water Gap shortly after midday. By doing so, I was able to position myself for a gas & late lunch break at Sheetz in Brookville, PA just before 3:30PM. I bought myself a made to order meal of chicken strips and mozzarella sticks which I ate as I was driving once I got back in the car.

I finally pulled into downtown Cleveland around 6:10PM which gave me enough time for the 7:05PM start. I was able to park the car on the street for free by Cleveland State University which is a short walk to Progressive Field formerly known as Jacobs Field which is the home of the Cleveland Indians. I contacted my pal Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge who was meeting me for the game as I was approaching the Cleveland area. He told me he'll be arriving around the same time. We decided to meet up at the Bob Feller statue in right field. We did so around 6:30PM. It worked out well. We proceeded to get our tickets and we went inside the ballpark.

Upon entry, I went to the souvenir stand located just inside the right field gate so I could get my new baseball passport book stamped which proves I was really at the game. These days anybody can buy a ticket online and say they were there without even leaving their home.

Official Stamp

After I did that, Rick & I went upstairs to section 553 which is right behind home plate. We sat down, relaxed and enjoyed the game together as the Indians were hosting the Kansas City Royals in the first game of the three game series over the weekend.

Prince at Progressive Field

As for the game we saw, it was scoreless until the bottom of the seventh inning when the Tribe finally broke through against the Royals' bullpen after starter Bruce Chen threw six shutout innings against them. The Indians got five straight hits to start the inning which netted them three runs. As it turned out, that was all they needed as they went on to beat the Royals, 3-0. The Indians got a great start from pitcher Corey Kluber who allowed just three hits over seven & two thirds of shutout ball. He did survive a scare from the Royals in the fifth inning as he allowed a lead off triple to David Lough. He then walked the bases loaded with one out but he was able to pitch himself out of the jam.

After the game, we were treated to a ten minute fireworks show that had a disco theme to it. It was nice to hear some music from back in the day. With that being said, I'm glad we stayed.

When it was all said and done, Rick & I walked back towards our cars. Once he got by the parking garage where he parked his car, we said our goodbyes. I want to personally thank Rick for making the time to join me for the game. His company as always was a pleasure. I hope to catch up with him again down the road.
Stay tuned for a special post that will go into detail about my post game meal with another special guest.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty returns to Cleveland to see hockey and Rick Morris of the FDHL Lounge!

Me & Rick Morris at the "Q"

Saturday morning I went to Avis to rent a car for the weekend and then some. This time I wound up renting a Dodge Avenger which had a North Carolina license plate. I usually get a car with an out of town plate. Most of the time, it's a state that I may be going to and/or passing through. This time that wasn't the case.
However, I did go to a number of states on my latest journey. I picked up the car just before 9AM. I got it a little early because I knew the weather forecast could be a problem throughout the day with possible snow falling. It turned out to be a wise decision on my part.

Unfortunately the King couldn't make the trip due to his mother still not feeling well. He didn't want to take a chance and go away with me. Our pal Domish decided the week before that he wanted to get away. When he heard the King wasn't going he said he'll keep me company. He's a big hockey fan and since the NHL is still locked out he's been trying hard to find a way to get his hockey fix. I arranged to meet him in Astoria after I went home to pick up my bags. I got him shortly after 10AM and off we went to Cleveland which was the first stop along the way.

It was an adventurous ride to say the least. Thankfully I was smart and fortunate enough to adapt to the driving conditions that mother nature threw our way. We drove over the Queensborough Bridge that took us to the FDR/Harlem River Drive to the George Washington Bridge. We then got on I-80 which we drove all the way out to Ohio. Along the way, we saw numerous cars ride off the road. In addition, a few 18 wheel trucks jack knifed. They flipped over on their sides. They got destroyed and their cargo was also damaged. Domish referred to it as "demolition derby." It was a very scary sight. Fortunately for us we were able to weather the storm and we finally arrived in downtown Cleveland at 6:40PM. We parked the car in a garage for $5 which had a cover so we were able to gather our belongings without a hassle. When I checked my phone as we started walking, I had a text message from my pal Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge. He said he just got off the highway. He told me he would meet us inside.

With that being said, Domish and I went to the box office at Quicken Loans Arena which is known as the "Q" and we bought tickets for the game. We wound getting seats in the upper deck at center ice for $18. It was a great view of the action.

We saw the hometown Lake Erie Monsters who are the Colorado Avalanche' minor league affiliate play the Hamilton Bulldogs, the Montreal Canadiens' farm club.

As for the game we saw, the Lake Monsters lead only 1-0 after the first period despite out shooting the Bulldogs, 22-4 as defenseman Stefan Elliott lit the lamp. In the second period, neither team found the net. It should be noted that right winger Bill Thomas of the Monsters was awarded a penalty shot but he failed to convert on it. With that being said, the score remained only 1-0. The Bulldogs were lucky it did because they were thoroughly out played. They were out shot 33-12 as well. In the third period, the Monsters finally turned it up a notch as they found the net twice in a 18 second span early in the period to put the game away. Elliott added his second goal of the game and he assisted on the third one scored by left wing Mark Olver as well. They added another goal to make it 4-0 as Bill Thomas got his 10th of the season. That's the way it ended. They wound up out shooting the Bulldogs, 47-17. Once the score became lopsided, tempers flared. There were three different fights that took place in the second half of the third period before the game peacefully ended. Instead of seeing a dreaded shootout, we got to see goaltender Calvin Pickard get a shutout for the Monsters.

More importantly, I got to catch up with my pal Rick Morris who joined us for the game. I want to personally thank him as always for making the time to do so. He also represented other members of his partnership with the 21st Century Media Alliance who weren't able to make it. During the game, we spoke and he told me of the big plans that he and the Alliance have in store for 2013.

I hope to be a big part of their game plan. Rick has been a huge fan of what the King and I are about. With his network constantly expanding and his ability to be a team player I foresee some really big developments for all of us in the very near future. I truly believe it's only matter of time before things really take off for us all.
Time will tell but like Rick said with their foundation in place, the sky's the limit. It's ironic that he said that because I feel the same way about the King and I.

Stay tuned for another special post that will recap the day we spent in Motown with another very special guest.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty is closing out 2012 on the road in Ohio, Michigan & Indiana!

Here's the game plan:

I'm renting a car Saturday morning December 29th from Avis for the weekend to close out 2012.

I'll be driving out to Ohio, Michigan and Indiana then I'll be heading back to MSG before returning home after the Knick game New Year's night.

Saturday, December 29th Hamilton Bulldogs at Lake Erie Monsters 7:30PM

Sunday, December 30th Bears at Lions 1PM

                                     Bucks at Pistons 7:30PM

Monday, December 31st Grizzlies at Pacers 3PM

                                      Toledo Walleye at Fort Wayne Komets 7:30PM

Tuesday, January 1st Trailblazers at Knicks 7:30PM

I hope to meet up with Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge as well as some other special guests from his media alliance network. If I do, it's definitely going to be a thrill.

In addition, I plan to finally meet 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 me.

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

Royalty sees more college football at Kent State as part of our MAC doubleheader!

Prince at Dix Stadium for Kent State football

After saying goodbye to our pal Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge, the King, Mike Carroll and I took a short ride to Kent, Ohio where we saw the Golden Flashes of Kent State University play the Broncos of Western Michigan in the second game of our MAC conference doubleheader at Dix Stadium.

We wound up parking in a parking lot area near the stadium then we got on a shuttle bus that took us right to the stadium. We got off the bus right at game time. Since there were people on line at the box office, we decided to ask people who were heading into the stadium if they had any extra tickets. Luckily we find some for $5.00 each. With that being said, we wound up missing the game's first score, a 22 yard run for a touchdown by Kent State's Dri Archer which gave them an early 7-0 lead with 13:36 left in the first quarter. We finally walked in with 12:55 left in the quarter. It was no big deal. In matter of fact, it started raining. Thankfully it wasn't too heavy. We got inside and we sat near the 40 yard line. We got settled in and we enjoyed the rest of the game.

We saw a much better game than the one we witnessed in Akron earlier in the day. The Golden Flashes came in with a 5-1 record and the Broncos were 3-4.

Shortly after we got situated the Broncos got an 81 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tyler Van Tubbergen to wide receiver Jeff Schaffer to tie the game at 7 with 8:48 left in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Golden Flashes regained the lead, 10-7 as kicker Freddy Cortez kicked a 46 yard field goal with 14:50 left. They extended their lead to 17-7 as running back Traylon Durham ran in from 19 yards out with 9:22 left in the half. The Broncos got closer as their kicker Andrew Haldeman added a 27 yard field goal to get them within a touchdown at 17-10 with 4:35 left. That's how it remained at halftime.

In the third quarter, the Broncos marched down the field on the first drive of the second half as they tied the game at 17 on a one yard run by Antoin Scriven with 10:52 left. After the Broncos stopped the Golden Flashes, Antoin Scriven repeated the feat with 5:19 left in the third quarter to give the Broncos the lead 24-17. The natives in the stands were in disbelief. With 48 seconds left in the quarter, the Golden Flashes responded to tie the game at 24 as wide receiver Josh Boyle caught a 17 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Spencer Keith.

In the fourth quarter, the Golden Flashes went ahead for good as running back Dri Archer ran in another touchdown this time from ten yards out to give the Golden Flashes a 31-24 lead with 12:35 left. They extended their lead to ten as kicker Freddy Cortez booted a 43 yard field goal with 11:20 to go to make it 34-24. They finished the scoring with 6:32 left in the game as linebacker Luke Batton recovered a fumble and he returned it 83 yards to give the Golden Flashes the 41-24 victory.

Stay tuned as I will recap the rest of the weekend we enjoyed.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty meets up with Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge in Akron, Ohio for Zips football!

The King and I with Rick Morris

Friday night after I rented a Dodge Avenger from Avis I drove back home to pick up the King.

On my way home, I returned a call from our pal Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge who had left me a voice mail when I was still at work. He wanted to finalize our game plan for Saturday in Akron.

Rick said he was going to get to InfoCision Stadium in Akron which is the home of the Zips around 11-11:15AM. I decided to text him with a progress report when we stopped at a rest area on the way. I wound up parking the car around 11:30AM on the street across from the stadium. I got a text from Rick shortly thereafter he said he was by the will call window. We walked around the stadium and we met up with him.

After I picked up the King at home, we drove to the Post Office on 45th Street and Lexington Avenue where we arranged to met our pal Mike Carroll aka Sabre Mike who joined us for the weekend.

Once we met up with Rick outside the stadium, we went to the box office to see what the tickets cost. They had general admission available for $15 each. Since we had some spare time we decided to see if we could find someone who had extra tickets first for less. Patience is a virtue. We waited a little while and we wound up getting a few free tickets and a few others for $5.00 each. Overall we paid $10 for four tickets. Rick was impressed with the way we operate. When you do as much as we do, you need to cut corners whenever possible. It was a team effort. Like I like to say, teamwork makes the dream work.

When we got inside the stadium, we proceeded to go to the upper deck so we could have a nice elevated view of the action. We sat right at mid field. It was a sparse crowd that gathered for the game on a rather cool nasty day.

We saw a game with two teams that were headed in opposite directions. The hometown Zips of the University of Akron came in with a dismal 1-6 record while their opposition, the Huskies of Northern Illinois University were near the top of the MAC conference with a 6-1 mark. It should be noted that Rick Morris' alma mater Ohio University is 7-0 and they're ranked #23. Too bad we didn't get to see them play. I hope to see them play a home game in the future.

As for the game we saw, the teams played to their records. The Huskies raced out to a 13-0 lead before the Zips got on the scoreboard with a touchdown. At least they didn't live up to their nickname. Unfortunately for them, that was the only score they got as the Huskies went on to beat them easily, 37-7. It could have been a lot worse. Their quarterback, Jordan Lynch threw for 223 yards and he ran for another 131 including an amazing 35 yard scamper for a touchdown.

Since we had plans to go to another game nearby at Kent State University, we decided to leave with 4:54 left in the fourth quarter. We hate to leave any game early but it made all the sense to do so.

In retrospect, we didn't see a good game but the company was priceless so it was well worth being there.
I want to personally thank Rick Morris for sharing some of his precious time with us. It was great to see him again.

Stay tuned as the next installment of this latest getaway continued.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty is going to Delaware, Washington DC & Cleveland over the first weekend of November!

Here's the game plan:

I'm renting a car Saturday morning November 3rd from Avis for the weekend.

I'll be driving to Delaware then to Washington DC after that I'll be heading to Cleveland before returning home late Sunday night.

Saturday, November 3rd Towson Tigers at Delaware Blue Hens 12 Noon

                                     Celtics at Wizards 7PM

Sunday, October 21st Ravens at Browns 1PM

I hope to meet up with Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge as well as some other special guests from his media alliance network. If I do, it's definitely going to be a thrill.

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

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

Royalty is going to invade the State of Ohio and Indiana for some football doubleheaders!

Here's the game plan:

I'm renting a car Friday night October 19th from Avis for the weekend after work.

I'll be driving out to Ohio and Indiana then I'll be heading back to Cincinnati before returning home late Monday night. If the Nationals get to the NLCS and play a Game 7 I plan to stop in Washington DC too before I come back home.

Saturday, October 20th Northern Illinois Huskies at Akron Zips 12 Noon

                                     Western Michigan Broncos at Kent State Golden Flashes 3:30PM

Sunday, October 21st Browns at Colts 1PM

                                  Steelers at Bengals 8:20PM

I hope to meet up with Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge as well as some other special guests from his media alliance network. If I do, it's definitely going to be a thrill.

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

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

Royalty w/o 7/2 in review

Monday night after work I came home and I did my laundry. After I was done, I was able to rest and relax for a short time.

Tuesday I got out of work early which worked out because that morning I got an unexpected e-mail from Steve Cirvello. He works with my pal Rick Morris from the FDH Lounge. He asked me if I had any free time this week. I wrote him back instantly and I told him I'm available this afternoon since I was getting out of work early. It's not easy for me to find free time with my schedule and/or the lifestyle I live. This turned to be a perfect opportunity. I wound up meeting Steve in Midtown Manhattan to discuss a possible documentary plan for the near future. It was a very productive conversation we had. I hope things materialize going forward. For the time being, he wanted to get the ball rolling he said.

After I finished chatting with Steve, I made my way out to Citi Field to see the Mets play the Philadelphia Phillies in the first game of their three game set. In addition, it was fireworks night. It turned to be a fun night that included a record crowd that gradually showed up at Citi Field. They announced there were 42,516 people on hand. Amongst those who joined us was our pal Manny Bonilla. It was nice to see him again. He always enjoys our company.

As for the game we saw, the Mets' bats did the talking as the fireworks started early as the Mets built a 6-1 lead after four innings. In the sixth inning, Mets All-Star third baseman David Wright hit a three run homer to make it 9-1. Daniel Murphy added a two run double in the eighth inning to round out the scoring as the Mets took game one, 11-1. The crowd was so into the game all night which made for a very festive atmosphere. It was great to be apart of it.

After the game, the King and I decided to stick around with Manny Bonilla to see the fireworks show that they were having. It was an entertaining display. They showed highlights and they played brief musical clips that spanned the five different decades of the Mets franchise history which began 50 years ago in 1962.
Wednesday I was off from work as America celebrated Independence Day. I spent my afternoon back at Citi Field with the King, Bryan Gilligan and Vincent Ascanio.

As for the game we saw, the Mets lead the Phillies and Cliff Lee who was looking for his first win of the season, 2-0 after six innings. Mets starter Chris Young was pitching well similar to his start a few weeks ago against the Yankees. Just like the Yankees did, the Phillies struck back in a hurry. After Juan Pierre lead off the seventh inning with a single, Chase Utley followed him with a two run homer that tied the game at two. All-Star catcher Carlos Ruiz followed by hitting a solo home run to give the Phillies the lead for good. They added three more runs in the eighth and ninth innings to even the series at a game a piece as they beat the Mets, 9-2. As for Cliff Lee, he finally picked up his first win of the season. He pitched well as he struck out nine and allowed only two runs in eight innings of work.

After the game, Bryan drove us all to Coney Island where we got to see the Brooklyn Cyclones play the Williamsport Crosscutters at MCU Park.

As for the game we saw, the Cyclones scored four runs in the first inning. The Crosscutters came back with a run in the second inning and they took a brief lead in the top of the fifth inning as they scored four more runs. The Cyclones responded with five runs in the bottom of the fifth which included a three run home run to right field by Brandon Nimmo. That's the way the game ended as the Cyclones won, 9-5.

Thursday I went back to work after having a day off in the middle of the week which seemed rather odd.
After work I went to Checker's for dinner with the King on our way to Citi Field for the rubber game or grudge match if you will since the Mets' R.A. Dickey was facing the Phillies' Cole Hamels.

As for the game we saw, the pitching match up didn't exactly live up to billing as I had hoped it would. R.A. Dickey wound up going seven innings but he gave eleven hits and five runs. Cole Hamels did slightly better. He allowed seven hits and four runs in his seven innings of work. The Mets' bullpen kept it a one run game as they headed to the bottom of the ninth inning. The Phillies' brought in their closer Jonathan Papelbon to try and seal the deal. He allowed a lead off double to pinch hitter Ronny Cedeno. After Josh Thole bunted him to third, Papelbon struck out Kirk Nieuwenhuis for the second out. He proceeded to hit pinch hitter Jordany Valdespin who won a game for the Mets in Philadelphia earlier this year in Philadelphia by hitting a game winning home run off Papelbon. Ruben Tejada battled and worked out a walk to load the bases. Daniel Murphy followed with a smash up the middle that hit off of Papelbon. He tried to recover but he fell down, Murphy beat the throw to first base as the Mets tied the game at five. All-Star David Wright became the hero when he delivered the game winning hit as the Mets beat the Phillies, 6-5. As a result, Citi Field was sent into a frenzy. It was quite a scene.

Friday night after work I met up with the King for some pizza at Taste of Dolly's on our way back to Citi Field to see the Mets who were hosting the Chicago Cubs to begin a three game weekend series.
As for the game we saw, the Cubs drew first blood as they took a 1-0 lead in the first inning off Johan Santana who gave up a lead off home run to Reed Johnson. In the bottom of the second inning, Lucas Duda answered back with a solo home run of his own. The Mets went back ahead 2-1 in the third. The Cubs evened the score again in the fourth. Then they exploded for a five run outburst in the fifth which proved to be too much to overcome as the Cubs hung on for a 8-7 win. Cubs closer Carlos Marmol escaped by getting a double play to end the game.

After the game, we went to Donovan's Pub for a post game meal.

Saturday afternoon the King and I went back to Citi Field for game two of the weekend series. This time the Mets won, 3-1 behind a solid pitching performance by Dillon Gee who pitched eight strong innings to earn the victory.

Sunday afternoon we went back for more hoping the Mets could go into the All-Star Break on a high note.
Unfortunately the Mets fell behind 4-0 before they came up to bat. Jonathon Niese got roughed up then he settled down until the seventh inning when he served up a three run homer to All-Star shortstop Starlin Castro to make it 7-0. That's the way it ended as the Mets couldn't get anything going.

Hopefully they just had a bad day and they can continue their winning ways in the second half of the season.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty meets up with Roadtrippers New and Old in Cleveland at Progressive Field!

Ada Kurinsky

Last year on July 27th when the King and I went to Cleveland to see the Indians play we got to show up and coming roadtripper Paul Derrick the way. It was his first visit to Progressive Field. It turned out to be a very memorable one too. He got a surprise treat and so did we. We all saw Ervin Santana of the Angels pitch a no hitter against the Indians. It was extra special because it was the first one Paul had ever seen.

The King and I unexpectedly returned to Cleveland on August 27th thanks to Hurricane Irene who was bearing down on NYC. The King told me to get him a car rental so we can see some baseball elsewhere. He drove us to Cleveland and we saw the Tribe play again. This time our buddy Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge had the privilege and honor of taking in a ballgame with us for the first time. We met him for the first time briefly at a Cleveland Browns game back on November 14, 2010. Needless to say, Rick had a blast. We saw one of his favorite players, Jim Thome hit a home run as he had returned for a second tour of duty with the Indians. It was a very special moment for him as it brought back fond memories.

This time we made our annual visit to see the Marlins play the Indians on Sunday afternoon. Ironically we saw the Indians play the Marlins back on June 8, 2004 in Cleveland too.

I did tell Rick Morris back on November 20, 2011 when he interviewed me that May 20th we planned to return to the Rock N Roll City. As the day got closer, I got in contact with a gentleman named Keir Kurinsky who started following me on Twitter. He said he was taking his one year old daughter Ada to all eighty one games with him this season. I thought that was rather cool and unique. He said his wife is 100% behind him doing so. I must say he's a very lucky man. His daughter was adorable. As the game got closer, we arranged to meet up. He told me he had two extra tickets available for us. He was kind enough to hook us up and he met us right outside the gate too. We all introduced each other and we proceeded inside the ballpark. It was great to see the royal treatment he received as he saw different employees who recognized him since he's going to all the home games this year.

We started talking and Keir told us that he has traveled around to a number of different ballparks as well. He said he went to Monterrey, Mexico in 1999, Tokyo, Japan in 2000 & San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2001. It was amazing to hear him say that because the King and I told him we were there too.

We proceeded to talk about another guy who we know from Cleveland who went to those places as well. The only difference was this guy went to see the Mets when they played in Monterrey, Mexico in 1996. In addition, this guy saw Major League Baseball in Hawaii in 1997. I'm referring to Mike Trabert aka Mr. Ballpark as he calls himself. The King and I met him when we saw the Mets play in Japan. We've tried to hook up every year since. This time we were hoping to see him at some point at the game. I told him where we were sitting in case he was there. He does share season tickets with a bunch of people. As he's notorious for doing, he came by and he caught us off guard. It was a pleasant surprise to see him again. We got to catch up on our recent travels. He asked us if we've been to the New Marlins Park yet. We said no. We're planning to go there in the middle of July. He didn't know when he was going there yet. I hope we can cross paths when we go there.

Back on September 23, 2000, our pal Andrew Van Cleve met Mr. Ballpark when he was at a doubleheader at Old Milwaukee County Stadium. He ran into this guy who told him about a few guys he met in Japan that see all kinds of games. I asked Mr. Ballpark if he remembered meeting Andrew but he couldn't remember. He said he probably did. It was funny because it took Andrew 10 years to finally track us down. Now we've become really good friends.

The power of sports travel has really improved our lives greatly. The fraternity continues to grow. Now when we go to Cleveland we have more people to see.

As for the game we saw, the Indians fell to the Marlins by a score of 5-3. Ex-Met Jose Reyes did have two hits for his new team.

The Indians threatened in the ninth inning prompting Mr. Ballpark to say and I quote "Mr. Ballpark wants extra innings." That's what I said back in Japan when the Mets played the Cubs as Benny Agbayani delivered the game winning grand slam home run in extra innings to send us home happy. That was such a thrill. This time Mr. Ballpark didn't get his wish.

I want to personally thank Keir Kurinsky for his generosity and company. In addition, I want to thank Mr. Ballpark for taking the time to see us again.

Hope we all can reunite again sooner than later at a ballpark somewhere.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty catches up with Rick Morris in the Mobile FDH Lounge!

After spending the night in Buffalo, the King and I drove towards Cleveland, Ohio where we were going to see the Indians play Sunday afternoon.

On the way there, we went to Cracker Barrel in Willoughby, Ohio which is about 20 miles West of Cleveland. We arranged to meet our pal Rick Morris who happens to be a huge fan of ours.

Despite a cell phone crisis, Rick still managed to make time for us. He e-mailed me Saturday night that he was having trouble with his phone.

He said he didn't know if he could join us or not. It turned out that he decided to have breakfast with us despite this emergency. We greatly appreciated that he showed up.

He was originally planning to go to the Indian game with us too but since this unexpected problem came up he said he had to pass on the game.

We told him it's not a problem. In this day and age, you need your cell phone. That's a top priority. I felt really bad for Rick because I know what it's like not to have my phone working properly.

Later that night I got an e-mail from Rick and he said he spoke to our of his partners who gave him some sound advice on getting a new I-Phone that would be perfect for his needs. Wisely Rick took the advice and he wound up getting himself a brand new phone. I breathed a big sigh of relief knowing that his problem has been solved and he can now move on. I told him you're a new man now. He went from one extreme to another. He'll just need some time to get acclimated to his new toy.

Unfortunately we didn't get to spend a lot of time with Rick this time but we briefly mentioned some of our future plans. He did say that it was great that you guys got some national recognition from ESPN. That's a step in the right direction for you guys.

Rick has been trying to come up with a reality show concept that would benefit us. He thinks our accomplishments are incredible and that we need to find a way to make what we do financially viable for many years to come. I'm all for the idea. I told him I'm trying to figure out a way to make that happen.

In the near future, we plan to reconnect so we can lay the ground work for the future.

I want to personally thank Rick for taking the time to go out of his way to meet us. That meant a lot to us. Despite having a bad day he still found a way to join us.

Stay tuned as I wrap up the weekend getaway with one last special post.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty has been nominated to be inducted in the Stadium Journey Hall of Fame!

If you're an avid reader and/or follower of my blog, you know that my good friend Michael Casiano aka The King and I are pioneers of sports travel as a few people have said on occasion. We've been traveling together for the last 25+ years.

We recently had an article written about us by ESPN. We also have a huge following thanks to Rick Morris Morris of the FDH Lounge and the 21st Century Alliance who he's associated with.

In addition, Kurt Smith, author of Ballpark E-Guides, is always blown away by our accomplishments.

Stadium Journey, one of the premier if not the best sports travel source around has decided to start their own Hall of Fame. They have informed me that the King and I have been nominated for possible election to be in it.

With that being said, please feel free to click on the link below for all the details.

When you do so, make sure you cast your votes for royalty. The King and I will be very grateful you did.

http://www.stadiumjourney.com/news/05-10-2012/61/stadium-journey-hof-nominee-profile:-gary-herman-&-michael-casiano

Thank you for your time and consideration..

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty is heading back up to Western New York, Toronto and Cleveland to visit some special people in a few weeks!

Here's the game plan:

I'm renting a car Friday morning from Avis for the weekend.

I'll be heading up to Western New York, Toronto and then I'll be continuing West through Erie, Pennsylvania en route to Cleveland, Ohio before returning home late Sunday night.

Friday, May 18th Louisville Bats at Rochester Red Wings 7:05PM

Saturday, May 19th Mets at Blue Jays 1:07PM

                                Indianapolis Indians at Buffalo Bisons 7:05PM

I'll be meeting up with our roadtrip buddies from Buffalo, Andrew Kulyk and Peter Farrell of the Ultimate Sports Road Trip aka USRT as well as Sean MacDonald and his pal Peter Sharp.

Sunday, May 20th Marlin at Indians 1:05PM

I plan to meet up with Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge as well as some other special guests from his media alliance network for a memorable breakfast. What a way to start a day.

In addition, I look forward to seeing our friend Bessanne who lives in Cleveland. She's planning to join me for the game as well.

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

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

Royalty 2012 Tentative Baseball Preview

On September 14, 2011, the MLB schedule was officially released.

With that being said, I instantly went to work to plan out the 2012 royalty tentative baseball schedule.
Needless to say, we'll be at plenty of Mets and Yankees games when we're home.

In addition, the King will be reaching another milestone most likely sometime in June when he witnesses his 7,000th live baseball game. He needs only 86 more. He needed 88 but he deducted two from that total when we saw a few spring training games in the middle of March when we were out in Arizona.

We do have a 7K celebration in the works to recognize his impressive accomplishment. Stay tuned for further details. Once we have it figured out, I'm going to do a special post that will tell you all you need to know if you want to join us for this special occasion.

As for road trips and other highlights, here's what we have lined up in our tentative game plan.
Thursday, April 5th we open our baseball regular season at Citi Field as the Mets celebrate their 50th Anniversary season when they play the Atlanta Braves on Opening Day.

In addition, I plan to meet up with a very special person,  Lori Martini who is a big time Met fan and she's from Brooklyn. She recently did a short film called "Caught". She also wrote the song "Believe" that the Mets' Justin Turner used as his walk up song last summer.

After the game, the King and I are going to Trenton, NJ to see the Trenton Thunder, Double A affiliate of the Yankees, open their season on Opening night.

The King also plans to be at the Openers for the Orioles, Phillies and Nationals too.

Friday, April 13th the King and I will be in the Bronx as the Yankees return home to play their home opener against the Angels who signed free agent Albert Pujols from the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals in the off season.

After that game, we're going down to Philadelphia to see the Mets play the Phillies too.

Sunday, April 15th we're going back to Philadelphia in the afternoon then we hope to see Douglas "Chuck" Booth at Yankee Stadium that night. He's hoping to make it in time from Toronto where he'll be seeing the Blue Jays play that afternoon.

Monday, April 16th the King and I will reunite with Douglas "Chuck" Booth and Lori Martini because we'll all be in Fenway Park in Boston for the traditional Patriot's Day game when the Red Sox host the Tampa Bay Rays.

In May, I hope to get a visit from a fellow roadtripper and ballpark chaser, Ken Lee who's planing to see all 30 ballparks this season too. He plans to visit NYC on May 1st for the Yankees and May 6th for the Mets.

The King and I have plans to celebrate the Ultimate Sports Baby's 2nd birthday before we see the Phillies play the Padres on Saturday May 12th with Andrew Van Cleve, the Ultimate Sports Fan and Steve Fekete aka the Padre Punk..

We also have a road trip planned to go to Rochester, Toronto, Buffalo and Cleveland over the weekend of the 18th-20th. In the process, we plan to reunite with legendary roadtrippers Andrew Kulyk and Peter Farrell aka the Buffalo boys USRT if you will. We will also meet up with Sean MacDonald who's coming from Japan to see his Blue Jays. He will be joined by his buddy, Peter Sharp. The last time we all got together was back in July 2010 in Minneapolis at Target Field.

I also hope to meet up with Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge when we roll into Cleveland Sunday morning. I hope to see our friend Bessanne Hustosky too if she's up to it.

In June, I plan to go to PNC Park in Pittsburgh to see the Royals. I hope to see my pal, Chris Coats aka Superfan there too. Hopefully our friends from Pittsburgh, Mike and Alicia Irr will be able to join us.
In the middle of July, we plan to be in Florida to see the Marlins new ballpark when they play the Nationals. While we're there, we look to see some minor league games in Juniper, Daytona and Palm Beach. In addition, we plan to go to Tampa really St. Petersburg to see the Rays play the Red Sox at Tropicana Field. We also plan to drive down to Atlanta to see the Mets at Turner Field. Paul Derrick from Houston plans to meet up with us so he can cross some more stadiums off his list. His company will only enhance the royal experience.

At the end of August and over Labor Day weekend, a road trip to Chicago and Milwaukee is on the slate. We plan to see a few Cub games at Wrigley Field, a few Brewer games at Miller Park, a game or two at Kane County and a White Sox game at US Cellular Field too.

On September 22nd, it looks like I'm going to be able to see fellow roadtripper Bob DeVries and Laura Wall of the SADS Foundation at Citi Field as they come to NYC for their annual SADS awareness event. I'm looking forward to seeing these special people again.

In October, I hope to get to some postseason games if it works out right for us.

In the meantime, batter up, it's time to play ball!

Hope to see you at a ballpark soon.

If you need my assistance and expertise in getting places, I strongly suggest you consult me so I can help make it happen.

If you want to go for a "royal" ride, contact me so I can arrange to accomodate your needs and wants.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty sees the latest Battle of New York on Christmas Eve!

Jets and Giants in Battle of NY

The one and only time I saw the Jets play the Giants in a regular season game was way back on November 1, 1981. On that day, the Jets tossed the Giants a beating as they sacked Phil Simms nine times as they won the game, 26-7.

This time things were different in more ways than one.

First and foremost, this time the game was played in a different stadium that being MetLife Stadium which is shared by both teams. This game was a designated "home" game for the Jets.

In 1981, the Giants were the home team. The game was played at old Giants Stadium that day. The Jets were still playing their home games at Shea Stadium then.

This time the result was different as well. The Jets with their coach Rex Ryan opening his big mouth early in the week got beat on the field as the Giants showed Rex who owns this town and it's not his Jets. The Giants whipped the Jets, 29-14 as they made life miserable for Jet quarterback Mark Sanchez who wound up throwing 59 passes in the defeat. Thanks to the Giant defense that was led by Jason Pierre Paul and Justin Tuck who made Sanchez feel very uncomfortable most of the afternoon.

The win set the Giants up to possibly win their division if they beat the Dallas Cowboys in their season finale Sunday night in prime time.

The Jets on the other hand, have to beat the Miami Dolphins and they'll need three other teams to lose just to get in the playoffs as a wild card team.

On the bright side, the King and I did get a special visit from Steve Cirvello who's from the FDH Lounge. Steve is Rick Morris' business partner. It was great to see him again.

It was frustrating to watch the Jets lose a game they really needed to win but being able to see Steve softened the blow.

In reality, both teams don't deserve to make the playoffs but the bottom line is the Giants have the bragging rights in the area for the time being.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty returns to Cleveland to meet up with Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge and to see the Browns!

Who let the Dawgs out?

Almost a year to the day when we last saw the Browns play the Jets in Cleveland back on November 14, 2011, we returned to scene of the crime if you will. Mind you that's not meant in a bad way. Please don't get me wrong. Please read for further explanation.

That was a historic day for Royalty because the King and I had the privilege and honor of being introduced to a guy named Rick Morris for the very first time thanks to our pal Ira from Staten Island who calls into sports radio talk shows in different parts of the country. It should be noted he's a regular caller on New York sports radio especially during football season.

Ira told Rick about the King and I numerous times in the past. Finally we all got to meet and greet each other in person once and for all.

As a result, the King and I instantly boggled Rick's mind with our sports travel knowledge and stories. In matter of fact, the King told Rick about his unique road trip that he took back on February 14 & 15, 1997 when he went to Washington DC really Landover, Maryland at the time when the Capitals played at the old USAir Arena aka the Capital Centre where he saw the Tampa Bay Lightning play the Capitals that Friday night. Saturday morning he came back to meet me as we were flying down to Tampa via Baltimore to see his Red Wings play in Florida and Tampa Bay. In addition, we saw the back end of the Lightning and Capitals home and home series as it turned out. That trip alone really got Rick's attention. He still to this day tells me how many people that he's told that story to. Needless to say, everybody was blown away.

With all that being said, the King and I and some special company in the form of Frank Anichiarico as well Mike Carroll aka Sabre Mike were also with us as we arranged to meet Rick at a Cracker Barrel in Willoughby, Ohio on our way to downtown Cleveland to see the Browns play again. This time they were playing the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Rick couldn't join us for the Brown game due to a family commitment. After all, even family comes ahead of Royalty.
 
With that being said, I told Rick we'll all get the best of both worlds instead. As usual, I lived up to my reputation, I promised Rick we'll find a way to see him while we were going to be in his neck of the woods.
Rick being a rare breed like myself was very willing to make it work out. We decided to go to Cracker Barrel to have breakfast together. Afterwards, I made some special time for him per his request to do a podcast so he could hear our tentative plans for the remainder of 2011 and the game plan that lies ahead for 2012.

For your listening pleasure, please see the special post that I did previously which has our conversation linked up.

After we said our goodbyes, we all went on with our day. Rick went his way and the rest of us went to see the Browns play.

We arrived in downtown Cleveland with plenty of time to spare before the game started. Another game plan was perfectly executed.

As for the game we saw, it was a battle of two teams that were evenly matched record wise. The Browns and the Jaguars both came in with gaudy 3-6 records.

As the game wore on, the statistics were almost identical. Unlike the Jet game we saw here last year, the score didn't end in a tie like should have.

Despite missing a late field goal in the fourth quarter that would extended the Browns' lead to a touchdown, the Browns were forced to hold on for dear life as they survived a last second scare to defeat the Jaguars as time ran out, 14-10.

With that, it was time to say goodbye to Cleveland as we had to drive back home 480 miles in order to get our friend Mike Carroll back to Grand Central Station so he could make the last train at 1:50AM so he could go home.

In addition, the King had to go to work at 2AM. I managed to stop for a quick dinner break as well as other needed rest stops in order to finish the mission. I got back to NYC with plenty of time to spare as I dropped off Mike Carroll at 1:10AM. He made his train and he arrived home safely. Then I took the King to the Post Office which was a few blocks away.

I proceeded to drop off Frank in Queens where he lives then I took myself home.

Another amazing and memorable weekend was put in the unwritten book.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty visits the Mobile FDH Lounge while in Cleveland on Sunday morning!

Royalty was headed to the Cleveland Browns game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday morning.

On the way we made a pit stop at Cracker Barrel where we met up with Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge in his mobile office.

Rick who's a huge fan of the King and I wanted to catch up in person on our whereabouts past, present and future.

For all the details, please take a moment to listen to what the Prince had to say.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPhbdc9QX7E

As always, I want to personally thank Rick Morris for going out of his way to meet up with us.

It's always a privilege and a honor to speak to someone who truly cares and takes an interest in our unique accomplishments like Rick does.

I look forward to keeping Rick abreast of how the royal game plan continues to play out as we fast approach 2012.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty is heading up to Western New York and Cleveland to visit some special people in a few weeks!

Here's the game plan:

I'm renting a car Friday morning from Avis for the week.

I'm going to pick up The King, our friend Frank Anichiarico and Mike Carroll aka Sabre Mike and we'll be heading up to Western New York and then we'll be continuing West through Erie, Pennsylvania en route to Cleveland, Ohio before returning home late Sunday night.

Friday, November 18th Hershey Bears at Syracuse Crunch 7:30PM

Saturday, November 19th Akron Zips at Buffalo Bulls 12 Noon

                                        Coyotes at Sabres 7PM

We'll be meeting up with our roadtrip buddies from Buffalo, Andrew Kulyk and Peter Farrell of the Ultimate Sports Road Trip aka USRT.

Sunday, November 20th Jaguars at Browns 1PM

I plan to meet up with Rick Morris of the FDH Lounge as well as some other special guests from his media alliance network for a memorable breakfast. What a way to start a day.  

In addition, I look forward to seeing our friend Bessanne who lives in Cleveland. She's planning to join us for the game as well.

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