This was going to be a big trip. 10 days, 6 states, 3 barns and a whole bunch of fun. Mary is along for the first part of the trip as we left the Ontario cold and headed to Florida on Boxing Day. Not a great day to travel as it is pretty crazy busy but everything went well and we landed in Fort Lauderdale safe and sound.
Tuesday, December 27th, 2016
It was a nice day so we spent some time being tourists. A great idea if you have the time is a canal boat tour. You can do it a number of ways but we choose to go on the water taxi that took us all around the canals and water systems of Fort Lauderdale. There were some amazing boats and beautiful houses…a little glimpse of the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous!
Sweet house 
J.K. Rowlings boat. 
Bird
After a nice dinner at Margaritaville on the beach in Lauderdale, we caught the sunset and headed back to the hotel.
View from the beach. 
Sunset 
Adam having a bite.
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
Today was a game day so we hit the beach for a bit and then headed out to the BB & T Center, home of the Florida Panthers. It is located in Sunrise, Florida and was built in 1998. It seats just over 19,000 for hockey but most of the time has trouble filling the seats.
We were able to get some good seats for a really good price and headed off to the rink. Mary was more than happy to drop us off as there is a great shopping centre called Sawgrass Mills right across the road.
As we entered the rink we were surprised at how many Leafs jerseys there were in attendance. It felt like there were more Leafs fans than Panthers fans. I guess the timing of Xmas Break when there were a lot of Canadiens in Florida probably contributed to that anomaly. The Leafs fans ended up going home happy as the game went to overtime and then a shoot-out and the Leafs won on a sweet goal by Mitch Marner.
View from the seats. 
After the game.
Thursday, December 29, 2016
The Leafs and us both headed to Tampa Bay for the second game in two nights. The arena is a huge change from the Panthers arena the night before. The atmosphere was really exciting, There is an area just outside the main entrance that has a stage with live music, a bunch of comfy chairs and a bar. A great place to hang out and get ready for the game.
Outside the rink 
On the big screen 
Lightning bolts…cool!
It was another close game with a similar result as the Leafs came away with another victory winning 3 – 2 in overtime on a Kadri goal.
The arena was really loud and, in contrast to the Florida Panthers the night before, there were way more Lightning jerseys than Leafs jerseys!
Friday, December 30, 2016
We had a good relaxing day and rented bikes on the Gulf Coast. We rode around town and then spent some time on the beach. Not exactly suntanning weather but there was lots to see and do.
Mom and Son 
Nice pose. 
Happy couple. 
Creature 
Pretending it’s warm 
Bike Gang 
Riding the beach. 
Gator
Saturday, December 31, 2016
We spent the day cruising around and did a bit of shopping. The weather was great and we got to enjoy the convertible.
The sunset was nice as we went out for dinner and then had a quiet New Years Eve celebration.
Sunday, January 1, 2017
The first day of the new year was great weather so Adam and I headed out to catch the Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Carolina Panthers at Raymond James Stadium. We were able to get some great seats and had a very fun afternoon. Tampa ended up winning 17 – 16 so it was a good close game with a home victory!
View from our seats. 
Gotta love a stadium with a pirate ship!
Monday, January 2, 2017
Time to bid a fond adieu to Mary as we dropped her off at the airport and Adam and I headed out on one of the longest road trips of all the Tate Boys Barn Tour. If you ask Google, Tampa to Dallas is about a 16-hour drive. If you have a son who is trying to see all the US states however, it adds a few more hours when you “pop” into a couple more states.
The trip was pretty normal except we did get to play “Cruise” as we
We kept driving straight into the storm. There were many cars in the ditch some with tow trucks trying to get them out and the lightning seemed like a fireworks show. It was almost constant and at times felt like it was right above us.
Darkness on the Edge of Town
We made it safely to our destination and went to bed only to wake up the next morning and find out from the local news that a tornado had hit during the storm and unfortunately 4 people lost their lives. Mother Nature can be pretty crazy sometimes.
Tuesday January 3, 2017
Nothing much exciting happened on this day. We were mostly driving. The only interesting part was when Google Maps took us on a bit of a “rural” detour and we wound up in a pretty sketchy part of Oklahoma. We managed to make it to Dallas and our hotel. The trip had been over 26 hours of driving in roughly 36 hours since we left Tampa…crazy!
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
This was a game day but also our only day in Dallas so we filled it with a couple of fun attractions. First was a tour of the Dallas Cowboys Stadium. An engineering marvel, it was awe-inspiring both because of its size but also the technology that had gone into the construction.
One of the fun things about these trips is when other people give us tips on things to see in some of the cities we are visiting. My friend Mark let us know that one of the highlights in the Dallas area is a gas station called Buc-ee’s. Now normally we wouldn’t be too excited about a gas station but I’ve known Mark for a long time so we gave it a shot.
It was amazing! Easily the coolest gas station we have ever seen. Well worth the visit if you are in town!
The Throne
After a busy day of trying to see as much of Dallas as we could, we headed back to the hotel, got changed and headed over to the American Airlines Arena to watch the Dallas Stars host the Montreal Canadiens.
It was a great game with the visiting Canadiens coming out ahead 4 – 3. Strangely enough, all three games we saw on this trip went to extra time. Always good when you get bonus hockey!
Thursday, January 5, 2017
We headed to the airport and caught a flight home. One of the longest trips in terms of both miles travelled and days spent. It was an awesome experience!
