Royalty goes to Lewiston, Maine for AHL hockey despite Plato!

Prince outside Androscroggin Bank Colisee

After we left Springfield, Massachusetts Saturday night after the game, we drove up to Portsmouth, New Hampshire which was 142 miles away. We got there around 12:30AM. We stayed over at Motel 6 where we got a good night sleep.

We woke up in the morning and we looked out of the window. It was snowing lightly. We put on the TV and we checked out the weather channel. They said a storm called Plato was on its way up from the South. It was heading towards Maine. Luckily they said that the accumulation was only going to be 3-6 inches after they initially said it was suppose to be closer to a foot.

I knew we may have some snow in the area so I planned accordingly. I dressed warm and I brought my boots just in case. It turned out to be the right move as I wound up wearing everything I took.

Once we checked out of the hotel we went to have breakfast at IHOP which was in a shopping center right up the road. After we had a hearty meal, we drove over to Walmart which was nearby so we could do some shopping.

We got done and we drove to Lewiston, Maine which was 85 miles away from Portsmouth and 35 miles past Portland.

We went to see the Portland Pirates, the Phoenix Coyotes AHL affiliate play the St. John's IceCaps, the Winnipeg Jets farm team at Androscroggin Bank Colisee, which is an old barn with all wooden seats at 4PM. This was one of the four games they were playing there this season.

It should be noted that this the same arena where Cassius Clay aka Muhammad Ali fought Sonny Liston in their rematch back on May 25,1965.

This place was the cornerstone for making this journey. Despite mother nature trying her best to derail our plans we managed to get there and back without too much difficulty. We allowed enough time so we could get there without a problem. We wound up parking the car on the street right across from the arena for free at 2:50PM.

We walked over to the box office which was in front of the building. They posted a sign saying the game was sold out. We didn't buy tickets in advance because we didn't think it was going to be a problem. With that being said, we started asking people as they were coming towards the arena if they had any extra tickets.


They're were other people looking too. Luckily after a little while I had an older gentleman ask me how many tickets I needed. I told him two. He said he had one. I told him that's better than none. He proceeded to give it to me. I thanked him and shook his hand. Now we only needed one more between us. Ironically while I continued to ask if anybody had an extra ticket, a young man came towards the box office and he said he needed a ticket too. Shortly thereafter, the King found someone who had an extra ticket and he gave it to him. He asked him if he had another and sure enough he did. So we got two together right near center ice. We took the third ticket we had and we gave it to this young man who thanked us and he said and I quote "today's my lucky day." With that being said, we all got in for free. The game being allegedly sold out turned out to be a blessing in disguise for us. It should be noted they announced a sellout crowd of 3,750 but there were a good number of scattered empty seats which makes you wonder.

Prince at Androscroggin Bank Colisee

King at Androscroggin Bank Colisee

As for the game we saw, the Pirates scored early and often as they lead 3-0 after the first period. After a scoreless second period, the Pirates tacked on three more unanswered goals before the IceCaps broke the shutout with just 29.3 seconds to go in the game. The Pirates went on to win, 6-1.

After the game, we went to have dinner at Governor's Restaurant and Bakery which was conveniently located a few miles away just before the entrance to I-95.

I got to have a great seafood dinner while the King had steak tips before we got back in the car to drive 335 miles back home to Astoria.

As for dinner, I had a haddock chowder soup to go along with broiled scallops, red skin mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables which consisted of carrots, green beans and cauliflower. It was a perfect way to end our visit to New England. Nothing beats having seafood in Maine.

On the way back home I braved the strong winds that were blowing as we wound up getting back home at 1:44AM. With that being said, another exciting and adventurous weekend was complete.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty is spending President's weekend in New England area visiting Massachusetts & Maine!

Here's the game plan:

I'm renting a car Saturday morning from Avis over President's Day weekend.

The King and I will be driving to Springfield, Massachusetts & Lewiston, Maine to see some minor league hockey before returning to NYC late Sunday night.

Please note the NBA All-Star break is this weekend. With that being said, this makes for a great alternative.

Saturday, February 16th Basketball Hall of Fame

                                      Portland Pirates at Springfield Falcons 7PM

Sunday, February 17th St. John's IceCaps at Portland Pirates 4PM in Lewiston, Maine

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 goes to see AHL hockey in Hershey, PA!

Prince at Giant Center

After spending Saturday afternoon in Villanova, the King and I passed through Lancaster, Pennsylvania which is known as for its Amish population. More importantly, my parents live there.

We did stop off at McDonald's for a fast dinner in Lancaster on Route 30 before we continued on to Hershey, Pennsylvania which is called the sweetest place on earth. It's a great place for tourists to visit. They have different attractions such Chocolate World where chocolate is made. In addition, there's HersheyPark, which is an amusement park for people of all ages.

Since we decided to avoid the toll roads, we got to experience the local flavor of the Eastern part of the Keystone state by driving through different country areas which is quite a contrast from the city life we usually deal with day in and day out. A change of scenery is always a welcomed sight. That's why we love to go away.

After dealing with some local traffic along the way, we arrived at the Giant Center, which is the home of the Hershey Bears, the minor league affiliate of the Washington Capitals in the American Hockey League at 6:45PM. We parked the car in the parking lot and we walked over to the arena. Shortly thereafter we rounded up tickets then we went inside to see some hockey.

The Hershey Bears were playing the St. John's IceCaps who are the Winnipeg Jets' farm club. It should be noted that the Bears are celebrating their 75th Anniversary this season.

As for the game we saw, after a scoreless first period, the IceCaps finally broke through 5:19 into the second period as right winger Eric O'Dell lit the lamp to give the IceCaps a 1-0 lead. The Bears got the equalizer late in the period as left winger Barry Almeida scored with 1:14 left in the period to tie the game at a goal a piece.

In the third period, the IceCaps took advantage of a four minute power play as they scored the go ahead and eventual game winner with 13:04 left in the game as defenseman Derek Meech buried the puck in the net which gave the visiting IceCaps a 2-1 victory.

After the game, we drove back to Lancaster where we stayed over with my parents. We stayed up a few hours talking and catching up with them. I want to personally thank them for putting us up for the night.
Sunday morning after getting a good night sleep, we enjoyed a nice home cooked breakfast.

After we ate, we made our way back towards home. On the way back, we made a pit stop in Philadelphia for some football before we came home.

Stay tuned for the special post that will go into detail regarding the way we spent the rest of our Sunday.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman