Best Bowl Trip You've Been On

Billso said:
Dorms at UCLA, Westwood, Hollywood, the parties/concerts at Disneyland and Universal, Venice Beach, the Rose parade, the CHIPS escort to the stadium, the stadium itself - you cannot beat the Rose Bowl.
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You know it Billso. Words like "awesome" and "epic" are tossed around pretty cheaply these days. But that was definitely an awesome week. And we put on an epic performance at the Rose Bowl. (not to mention that little 6 mile hike down Colorado Boulevard before hand).

That week in Pasadena...was the beginning of the new era for Iowa football.
 
2008 Outback Bowl - first and only trip, but it will be hard to top that day at the beach and hawkeye huddle
 
Billso said:
Dorms at UCLA, Westwood, Hollywood, the parties/concerts at Disneyland and Universal, Venice Beach, the Rose parade, the CHIPS escort to the stadium, the stadium itself - you cannot beat the Rose Bowl.
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Assuming you mean CHiPs rather than CHIPS, who scooped more fur, Baker or Ponch?
 
hawkfaninTX said:
2008 Outback Bowl - first and only trip, but it will be hard to top that day at the beach and hawkeye huddle
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Do you mean 2009? I thought the 2007 Hawks failed to make it to a bowl game after that defensive meltdown against Western Michigan which has me wondering why there would have been a Hawkeye Huddle at the 2008 Outback Bowl, which would would have been played following the 2007 season.
 
@OK4P - 2008 is actually the season- I arrived in Tampa in 2008, finished the trip in 2009- so yeah 2008 was still the day at the beach and hawkeye huddle.

Smart a$$
 
Probably a contrarian but I liked the 1995 Sun Bowl where we beat Washington. Still remember stopping someplace for gas out in West Texas and Sedrick Shaw was riding back to Austin with his mother. He had the MVP trophy on his lap. I took a picture of him with it.

However for overall environment the Outback cant be beat.
 
Okay, let me preface by saying Bowl trips are family vacations for me. So, I am not reenacting any of the Hangover movies like many of you. That being said, we like the Big Hawkeye Huddle events, sightseeing around bowl areas, and the game.

So, here is the list.

1) Cap One - great game, LSU fans were awesome for the Game Day experience. We had a blast at Disney.

2) Outback - did a whole day, opening until closing at Disney a few days before the game. Then went and stayed on the beach in a little town just above Tampa. Went to the events in Tampa and had a great time at the game. Bunch of coeds basically adopted our kids during the game. No So Carolina fans, but enough Hawk fans to make up for it. Really an ideal destination for Hawk fans. Game kinda sucked USC was a no show.

3) Orange Bowl - did Disney for a couple of days. Then stayed on beach above Miami. Went to game. GT fans non-existent. Bad stadium environment. Freezing cold. GT sucked. But it was a BCS win. Didn't bring kids to the game, because it started so late. Brought a sitter with us. So we had a more adult time. Still game experience kinda sucked. Thanks BCS and TV.

3)
 
We went to the Orange Bowl last year and had a great time in Ft. Lauderdale...for about a day-and-a-half.:)

And we stood on the beach looking southwest saying "whoa...what the hell is coming our way?"

And that was that...The cold front rolled in...we spent the next 4 days inside bars ( we had a gret time at the Elbow Room) and finally froze to death at the tailgate and game. But what a great game. I will never forget it, and we stayed 'til they made us leave the stadium.

Orange Bowl is a great venue, and they love Iowa down there.

So. Let's go back there!
 
imported_PawkHawk1 said:
We went to the Orange Bowl last year and had a great time in Ft. Lauderdale...for about a day-and-a-half.:)

And we stood on the beach looking southwest saying "whoa...what the hell is coming our way?"

And that was that...The cold front rolled in...we spent the next 4 days inside bars ( we had a gret time at the Elbow Room) and finally froze to death at the tailgate and game. But what a great game. I will never forget it, and we stayed 'til they made us leave the stadium.

Orange Bowl is a great venue, and they love Iowa down there.

So. Let's go back there!
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Yeah, it was freezing and windy. That part sucked.
 
The last outback bowl was the most fun I have ever had. Game was awesome, tailgate was amazing and south carolina fans were great.

Orange bowl was fun, but the highlight was eating breakfast on gameday and our waitress telling us Iowa stands for I only want alcohol.
 
Agree that the Outback Bowl is tops.

Rose Bowl is also a blast, but there is so much pressure to win that one, kind of makes it a nervous situation. Iowa has had too much humiliation on that stage last couple of times to have good feelings about it. I was at the '82 game that we lost to Washington 28-0. It was a depressing day... but the activities, parade, weather, and national spotlight was 1st rate as to be expected. My dream for next year is to return to the Rose Bowl and win the darned thing. That would get this program humming!
 
I lived in SA for the last two Alamo trips, so it wasn't really a vacation. But I stayed downtown with some friends from Iowa the second time and it was ridiculously fun.

My favorite trip, which seems like a contrary experience to others was the '02 Orange Bowl. I went with some buddies and we spent most days and nights on South Beach. They weather was awesome and we had a blast (other than the game).
 
Igothawked said:
I'm not going to the game this year but tell us about your best Hawkeye (or other teams) bowl trip.
Mine was the 2005 Outback Bowl (aside from the game obviously). Game was on the 2nd which is a great deal for partying purposes. New Years at Ybor City in Tampa was great, Coyote Ugly was a blast. Rode back to our hotel in the back of a random pickup. Stole a couple of bikes and rode and jumped them into the hotel pool for hours. Went to Howling at the Moon three out of the four nights. Still have one of their rugs I stole as memorabilia. And my buddy pooped on someones car because he felt the guy was tall and stupid.
It was a great and fun trip (oh to be young and stupid again), but Tampa is a great place to go for a bowl trip
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What is your buddy's name? That was my rental car. I got extremely sick the night before the game and I walked out to my rental car with that huge turd on my car and I about threw up right then and there. I am going to sue your buddy!
 
That's a tough one. For me it's basically a tie between two bowl trips. The wife and I went to the 04 Outback Bowl with my brother and his wife, but for just two nights. However we ran into a big party at Howl at the Moon bar. Ended up getting pictures of and or with, Bob Bowlsby, Gary Dolphin, Ed Podalak, Matt Roth, Chad Greenway, Eric Stienbach, Jason Baker, Nate Keading. The 05 Cap one was also a great trip because we made a vacation out of it with the bro and his wife again and of course, The Catch.
 
I've been to both Orange Bowls, the Cap One bowl, and the first Outback Bowl. As has been said, the Outback Bowls are tough to beat. But that Cap One Bowl will always rank first just because of how the game ended.
 
1. Rose Bowl - Met some OSU friends out there for 2010 game against Oregon. Fun game, great weather, good seats, and Oregon fans were actually cool. Shocked that OSU could keep up their speed.

2. Cap 1 - Stadium and area around it was a dump. Orlando is general is a dump but the LSU fans before and after the game were very cool. Went with a great group of friends.

3. Orange Bowl 2009 - Following the great RB trip mentioned above this wasn't fun outside the game. Great seats but cold as hell. Not a fan of Miami.
 
Ten friends (all recent Iowa grads) for a week and a half in Miami for the 2002 Orange Bowl. Ridiculous, ridculous fun. I'm probably outing myself since most of them read this board. We even had pizza delivered on the beach.
 
I don't know that I have a favorite, they are all fun in different ways. A good game with good weather is preferred, but the Orange Bowl a few years ago was cold and still a good trip. Here are some things from each bowl.

Orange.... scenery at South Beach, great club level in the stadium, been to both trips..first one I was sweating at the game and last one shivering.
Outback...great times at Howl at the Moon at Channelside, great stadium/atmosphere, great weather
Capital One....Orlando too spread out, stadium out of date they should have game somewhere else, great weather, too many hurricanes, great finish to game, LSU fans were cool.
Alamo...Riverwalk is cool, it was my honeymoon, it was obvious Austin was close--Texas had a huge crowd, too bad we don't have bowl tie there anymore
Insight...Like Tempe, if stay close to Mill everything is close, like Big Bang Hawk party, cool stadium next to a mountain.
 
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