The 41st in out 118-part series.
The 1997 All-Star Game
At some point during our first season of being season-ticket holders we decided it would be a fantastic idea to road trip to San Jose to see the All-Star Game. We knew All-Star Games are pretty pathetic but we’d so enjoyed road tripping to Hartford, Washington and exotic Long Island, we figured why not extend our horizons a little further West? We booked the trip through Road Trips in Winnipeg and were told, cloyingly, that we would be staying at the same hotel as the players. Schnookie declared that by that they must mean we’d be staying at the Wishing Well Motel with Pat Verbeek, but even that thought couldn’t keep us from spending January poomerdoodling over the up-coming trip. When the big travel night finally rolled around, a giant snowstorm hit Philadelphia. After hours of floating listlessly around the Philly airport, we were finally sent home by the airlines. Dejected we drove home, our dreams of fun in the sun with Pat Verbeek fading into the snow clouds. The next morning things were clear enough for us to fly, so off we went, only to be met with the world’s most difficult and hassle-ridden rental car experience. Somehow, though, it all worked out and we found ourselves at the hotel. Which was distinctly not the Wishing Well Motel. And that wasn’t Pat Verbeek standing in the lobby. That was Kevin and Darien Hatcher. That was Gordie Howe. That was Dale Hunter.
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