This is the one that I’ve been looking forward to all year as we are headed to a new state: Michigan! It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a new FBS stadium (2012 to be exact) and I was determined this season to get one. Originally, the plan was to visit the Queen City for a Cincinnati Bearcats, Reds and Miami of Ohio trip. That didn’t go so well for the home teams (0-3) and I had several other reasons a few months ago that made me want to look elsewhere. I stumbled upon a great college football doubleheader instead, with Eastern Michigan playing Wyoming this Friday Night and the Wolverines taking on Penn State Saturday Afternoon. I’ll be leaving Jersey on Thursday with a family overnight stop in Rochester, NY. My brother is accompanying me on this trip as we’ve started setting up a solid twice-a-year roady: Fall Football and Late Winter Hockey.
We’ll start the journey early Friday morning, cutting through Canada in the process. Hopefully the border crossings are quick as we’ll meet up with Paul Swaney for lunch in Ann Arbor. Paul is the owner of Stadium Journey and we met up once before when he was living in Chicago. He’s a great guy, fellow stadium/sports lover and he has done wonders building a website for those looking to partake in sports travel and I’m looking forward to seeing him again. We’ll then check out of some downtown A2 and campus before heading to Ypsilanti, about 20 minutes to the east. Our stay in Ypsi is short, but enough to see their primary sights like Depot Town and a famous structure perfect for a college town. Rynearson Stadium is the site for the 7:30 start for Eastern Michigan’s game against Wyoming. On Saturday, it’s back to Ann Arbor, where we’ll attempt to take in the full game-day experience around Michigan Stadium before heading to the 107,601-seat bowl for their game against Penn State. Sunday, is drive back day and originally, we were going to be heading to Orchard Park for the Bills-Cardinals game, but circumstances have changed those plans. I haven’t been back to the Ralph (err…New Era) since 2013 and it’s probably for the best given the potential debacle. Yes, I want to see the stadium post renovations, but No, I don’t want to be out $100, depressed and angry at a team that seems to do that to me every Sunday.
(EDIT…My brother got free tickets and parking! In the club section no less. So we are back on to see New Era Field and while I still likely will walk out of there sad because of a dysfunctional 0-3 team, at least I’ll see the stadium renovations with no cost involved)
The weather looks nice and pleasant for this trip and I’m pumped to add these two new Michigan Stadiums to the list of visits!
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Stadium and Arena Visits 