Guy Kilbey
5/5
As well as THFC, my son and I are keen fans of Green Bay Packers, Tennessee Volunteers, Miami Heat, Carolina Hurricanes, Minnesota Twins (me) & LA Dodgers (son). Don't ask why, we just are! Anyway, back in 2011, having only experienced US sports at Wembley (NFL) & The O2 (NBA, NHL), a friend invited us to stay with his family in LA so he could take us to "a proper game of football to see the Raiders!". Not ones to turn down such a gesture we began saving to fly out the following year, but for personal reasons his plans changed & our dreams were dashed.
So, I said to my son, check the forums just to see whether it would be possible for us to go to Lambeau Field instead. He did, and stumbled across SportsTravelTours, managed by Andrew Hill, who it turned out had been arranging just such trips since 1998! We called Andrew & from that moment on, he made everything possible! We ended up booking a trip for September 2012 which Andrew created for us within budget, and we flew out to witness our beloved Packers beat the Saints at Lambeau Field, with tailgate party and Stadium & HOF tours thrown in. Also included were all flights, hotels and a couple of Twins game in Minneapolis, to see them beat the Tigers (that's how I became a Twins fan!). The whole trip went without a hitch and was one of the most memorable short trips of our lives. Andrew and his team organised all the details & itinerary for us and were always available on the phone for information when we had pre-tour nerves and throughout the trip, in case anything had gone wrong. Inspired, we have booked trips every year since, and have now seen NCAA football in Dublin with STT, as well as two more games at Lambeau Field in 2013 & 2014 (Packers won both!), several games at Target Field, Miller Park & Dodgers v Cubs in the 100th Anniversary year of Wrigley Field. In 2015 Andrew helped us get brave & packed us off to Charlotte, NC for a week, during which we endured our first live Packers defeat - but what an amazing host city Charlotte is - Panthers fans welcomed us with open arms, Cheeseheads 'n' all, which made it all great fun. We also got to see the World of Outlaws race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, as well as doing NASCAR HOF Friday and commuting to Ralegh in the evening to see our Carolina Hurricanes lose to Dallas Stars. However, the following day we drove to Neyland Stadium in Knoxville to see our Volunteers beat SoCal which was an awesome experience, and we rounded off our "5 sports in 5 days" trip with NBA in Atlanta to see a Hawks game, which was nice!
2016, was different again, as we attended a one-off event we had been planning to attend since it was announced, namely the Battle At Bristol, where we saw Tennessee Volunteers crush the Virginia Tech Hokies at the modified Bristol Motor Speedway, in front of the biggest ever football crowd. We stayed with our friends for 5 days so we could enjoy the whole town tailgating for days before hand, full concerts and a billion dollars worth of RVs camped for miles around! The experience of a lifetime, which once again Andrew stepped in to help us arrange; this time flights & game tickets only, but still with the same exceptional level of help & service we have come to know so well.
If you're still reading this, I make no apologies for my enthusiastic ramblings, as I can honestly say that Andrew & STT have made so many of our pipe-dreams a reality, so it is only right that I share our experiences with anyone who is considering taking the plunge, and may be hesitating about booking with STT. Hand on heart I can say JUST DO IT! Book a package or speak to Andrew to tailor a trip for you, and you will not regret it - there is nothing he doesn't know about the teams, venues, hotels, flights & cities across the US, so you will be in the safest hands.
Personally, a lot has changed for us now, but if we can make any more US sports tours we'll definitely only ever book through STT.
Thank you so much for everything Andrew, we sincerely wish you & your team a Merry Christmas & successful 2017.
Go Pack Go!!!
