SoCal hockey

Like I mentioned in my previous post, part of the reason for our SoCal trip was to check out a couple hockey games. Being that my husband is a big hockey fan, we try to visit as many hockey arenas that we can. Luckily, there are two quite close to each other in SoCal--Anaheim and LA.

Our first game was Anaheim vs. Boston. We cheered for the home team and they won!

Our second game was LA vs Boston. Something rubbed us the wrong way about the Kings and LA, so we cheered for Boston. They lost, though. Bummer!

Because Charles is a New Jersey Devils fan, I have a NJ Devils jersey. I wore it both nights. The second night a guy complimented me on my jersey and was talking about how awesome Jersey girls are. I kind of felt like a fraud because I have never even been to New Jersey.

Teddy bear toss!

For MLK weekend, we decided to visit Stockton, CA for a night. They have a hockey team that is part of the ECHL. My husband loves hockey! Our hometown has an ECHL team, so it was fun to check out another team in the league. Saturday night's game was the Teddy Bear Toss. I have only heard about this and never experienced it. Fans can bring teddy bears into the game; some people brought other types of stuffed animals, too. When the home team gets their first goal everyone throws their teddy bears onto the ice. The bears are collected and donated. It was a lot of fun.

We visited Target to find some teddy bears before the game. First we went to the toy section. No luck there. Then we looked in the baby aisle. No teddy bears there either. Finally I thought to check out the Valentine section and we found a myriad of teddy bears!

The Stockton Thunder ended up winning the game after the overtime shoot out.

Michigan vs. Northwestern

I was raised a Michigan fan by a Michigan Alumni, my dad. Living in Ohio is a little like living among the enemy, but I survive. My Dad has season tickets to the Michigan football games and sent us tickets for this past weekend's game against Northwestern. Charles and I have only been to one game in the past and that was back in college when my Dad took us and my sister Courtney. Ann Arbor is only about 3 hours from here, so it was a short drive for us.

We ended up staying in Toledo for the weekend which was a little over half way there. It was a lot easier and cheaper to find a room there. And it gave us an excuse to check out Toledo.

The game was a good one. For a while, it seemed like Michigan wouldn't be able to do much to stop Northwestern. But in the final minutes, Michigan pulled out a tie. And in overtime they stopped Northwestern very well. It was very exciting to watch.

After the game, we checked out the Maumee Bay Brew Club in Toledo. We had a HUGE pretzel as an appetizer. It was a neat place with a variety of locally brewed beer.  I'm not a beer drinker, but Charles enjoys beer. He had the Irish Stout and said it was tasty.

Yesterday we spent the day exploring Toledo. We ate lunch at Tony Packo's, a Toledo staple. Very good chili and hot dogs! I guess they have a Hungarian influence, so they had some unexpected items on their menu. It was definitely worth a visit.

We ended our weekend with a visit to the Toledo Walleye arena to see them play the South Carolina Stingrays. Being from Charleston, we were cheering for the Stingrays. We were just a little outnumbered. South Carolina pulled out a 2 to 1 win against the home team. It was awesome!