Planning Warnie and Hails Week of Fun
For those of you that know me, you know that I love traveling around the United States. At 21 years of age I have been to 26 states already. My qualifications for "visiting a state" are buying something and using the bathroom at least once in each state. I will admit a few of the states I counted are states where I just stayed the night in a hotel on the way to another destination, but I met my qualifications so I will count it for now.
In addition to visiting the states, my dad and I are trying to visit all the Major League Baseball stadiums. To accomplish this goal of ours we have been taking trips the past couple of years to go to baseball games. I have proclaimed these trips as Warnie and Hails Week of Fun, and let me tell you they are so fun. So far we have been to 15 stadiums together, and we will hit three more on our spring break trip next week.
The way the trips generally work are I do majority of the planning and my dad picks the lodging and provides all the financial support. Planning these trips takes extra time because of the whole baseball teams being in town and stuff. So here's a look at how we plan awesome baseball oriented vacations with all other sorts of fun mixed in.
The first order of business is picking teams that are a reasonable distance from each other because we will drive. Once we've picked the teams, we have to compare their schedules to find a week where all three teams will be in town and a week where we are available to go on a vacation. In addition, since our favorite team is the Chicago Cubs we try to find a week where one of the teams is playing the Cubs. This part is always really tricky but we have found a way to work it out all three times. The first trip we took we went to see the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, and Pittsburgh Pirates. We got lucky that the Pirates were playing the Cubs. The second trip we went to see the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, and Philadelphia Phillies.
After last year's trip we agreed that this year's trip would most likely be going to see the Atlanta Braves, Miami Marlins, and Tampa Bay Rays. When the schedules came out at the beginning of 2019 we started to develop a plan. Our first order of business was trying to see if and when the teams were going to play the Cubs. The Rays and Braves don't play the Cubs at home all year and the Marlins only play them at home one time during April. Normally April wouldn't be a suitable option because I would be finishing up my spring semester and starting to get ready for exams. But now that I am not in college and working in the public school system, my spring break lines up with my dad's spring break, who is a teacher. It worked out that the Marlins play the Cubs on our spring break and the other teams will also be in town. Warnie and Hails Week of Fun was officially set for spring break 2019.
Once we've decided on the dates of the games, we decide how long we will stay in each city. For this trip we decided on Atlanta, GA for one day, Newberry, FL for one day to visit family, Miami, FL for two days, Tampa, FL for two days, and Savannah, GA for one day.
The next step is to research each city and find out what there is to do. I usually start by asking around and posting on Facebook asking for suggestions of places to go and what not. Then I will search places to eat, things to do, and beaches to go.
This is where my travel journal comes in. Since last year I have been keeping a travel journal which helps me plan out the trip and record the memories we make. My first page is always the research page. Here I can write down all the results of my research categorized by city. Next I will have a page where I can make lists of what I need to do before leaving. I split it into three lists for one month before we leave, one week before we leave, and one day before we leave. The next page is the itinerary. This page is where I can write down the whether for each day of the trip and finalize the things we will do each day. The next page is a packing list including lists for each bag that needs to be packed (suitcase, backpack, purse).
Planning this trip was super awesome because there are some special things going on. For starters, my 22nd birthday is the third day of the trip when we will be in Miami. Because of this, my boyfriend will be joining us for the first few days to celebrate my birthday with me. We also get to visit my dad's sister who we haven't seen since around Christmas-time in 2017. She moved to Florida and this is our first opportunity to see them. Then, one of my best friends Caeley lives in Tampa, so we get to hang out with her for two days.
I can't wait for this trip which is now only 4 days away! Stay tuned to see more posts from each day of the trip!
Honestly,
H
In addition to visiting the states, my dad and I are trying to visit all the Major League Baseball stadiums. To accomplish this goal of ours we have been taking trips the past couple of years to go to baseball games. I have proclaimed these trips as Warnie and Hails Week of Fun, and let me tell you they are so fun. So far we have been to 15 stadiums together, and we will hit three more on our spring break trip next week.The way the trips generally work are I do majority of the planning and my dad picks the lodging and provides all the financial support. Planning these trips takes extra time because of the whole baseball teams being in town and stuff. So here's a look at how we plan awesome baseball oriented vacations with all other sorts of fun mixed in.
 |
| Fenway! |
The first order of business is picking teams that are a reasonable distance from each other because we will drive. Once we've picked the teams, we have to compare their schedules to find a week where all three teams will be in town and a week where we are available to go on a vacation. In addition, since our favorite team is the Chicago Cubs we try to find a week where one of the teams is playing the Cubs. This part is always really tricky but we have found a way to work it out all three times. The first trip we took we went to see the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, and Pittsburgh Pirates. We got lucky that the Pirates were playing the Cubs. The second trip we went to see the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, and Philadelphia Phillies.
 |
| Seeing the Cubs at the Pirates! Joe Maddon got thrown out after the first at bat over a foul ball vs. homer call. |
Once we've decided on the dates of the games, we decide how long we will stay in each city. For this trip we decided on Atlanta, GA for one day, Newberry, FL for one day to visit family, Miami, FL for two days, Tampa, FL for two days, and Savannah, GA for one day.
The next step is to research each city and find out what there is to do. I usually start by asking around and posting on Facebook asking for suggestions of places to go and what not. Then I will search places to eat, things to do, and beaches to go.
This is where my travel journal comes in. Since last year I have been keeping a travel journal which helps me plan out the trip and record the memories we make. My first page is always the research page. Here I can write down all the results of my research categorized by city. Next I will have a page where I can make lists of what I need to do before leaving. I split it into three lists for one month before we leave, one week before we leave, and one day before we leave. The next page is the itinerary. This page is where I can write down the whether for each day of the trip and finalize the things we will do each day. The next page is a packing list including lists for each bag that needs to be packed (suitcase, backpack, purse).
Planning this trip was super awesome because there are some special things going on. For starters, my 22nd birthday is the third day of the trip when we will be in Miami. Because of this, my boyfriend will be joining us for the first few days to celebrate my birthday with me. We also get to visit my dad's sister who we haven't seen since around Christmas-time in 2017. She moved to Florida and this is our first opportunity to see them. Then, one of my best friends Caeley lives in Tampa, so we get to hang out with her for two days.
I can't wait for this trip which is now only 4 days away! Stay tuned to see more posts from each day of the trip!
Honestly,
H
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