Finalizing Our 2014 Baseball Tour Itineraries

Posted by Glenn Dunlap on Mon, Jan 20, 2014 @ 08:30 AM

Yawkey Way, part of Fenway ParkNow that the 30 Major League Baseball teams have released most of their game times, we're able to put the finishing touches on our tour itineraries. Since we've been planning and offering baseball tours to our guests for nine seasons now, we have come to expect certain things, but always have to wait for the times to be published before we can firm up the trip schedules. 

We expect that Thursdays and Sundays are "getaway days" for the teams. Those are usually the last days of a series of games and the days that one or both teams have to get on the road to their next destination. Knowing this, we try to avoid a long trip into a city that could have us rushed on arrival. Sometimes that's the way it works out. Other times, we expect an afternoon game and teams surprise us with an evening game. This happened on our first couple of tours this year, our Southwest Tour and Sunbelt Tour. The Astros are hosting a getaway day game at 7:10PM which just gives us more time to arrive in Houston and get settled before the game.

On our trips to California in June, the game time in San Diego works out perfectly for us. We expected an early afternoon game but the team released it as a 3:40PM game time. We're driving down from LA just for the game and going back to LA that night. This game time will be perfect for seeing the game, grabbing dinner in the Gaslamp Quarter, and then heading back to LA before it's too late. This schedule effects our West Coast June, California Gold June, and Southern Cal June tours. 

On all of our baseball vacation packages, we attempt to minimize the amount of time that you actually spend traveling and to give you more time to enjoy the great cities you're visiting. We also stay in great hotels in the hearts of the cities so that you can immerse yourself in the sites and culture of the best cities in the United States. 

If you're considering a baseball trip this summer, we hope that you'll consider joining us on a tour. We'll take care of the details for you and let you sit back and enjoy the trip of a lifetime!

Top 10 Planning Tips

Topics: baseball vacations, sports travel and tours, baseball tour, MLB road trips

Book your early season Baseball Tour

Posted by Doug Lawson on Wed, Nov 13, 2013 @ 09:38 PM

Two new 2014 tour itineraries give you the opportunity to enjoy early season baseball and bask in the Spring sunshine of the Sunbelt and Southwest.

Our Southwest Tour will start in Phoenix with stops in Arlington and Houston, TX, and then end with a game at Coors Field in Denver. 4 Nights and 4 Ballparks while staying in the finest hotels, sitting in lower level seats, and enjoying the Big League Player Experience. If you would like all the info, click the link below.

Southwest: April 15-19, 2014

The Sunbelt Tour is a 6-night tour that will catch games in Arlington, Houston, Miami, Tampa, and Atlanta. If you haven't been to Turner Field yet, here's your chance to see it before the Braves move to their new stadium in a few years. All the Big League Tours exclusive features are included, along with a lifetime of memories. Here's the link to the web page.

Sunbelt: April 16-22, 2014

Don't forget- book by Dec. 15th and get 5% off your total tour price. Just use discount code EARLY when booking your tour.

Please call or email with any questions. I hope you will join us in 2014.

 

 

Topics: stadium tours, baseball vacations, Rangers, sports travel and tours, baseball tours, baseball vacation package, baseball vacation, baseball tour, big league tours, sports vacation

Alcatraz & San Francisco - West Coast Baseball Tour Part V

Posted by Glenn Dunlap on Mon, Jul 30, 2012 @ 10:30 AM

Major League Baseball teams and stadiums are located in some of the greatest cities that our country has to offer. So it only stands to reason that we allow our guests time to explore these cities while on our baseball tours. That's been one of our basic features since we began Big League Tours in 2006. The other part of that, is we give you the flexibility to see what you want to see, to make the trip what you want of it and not be forced to do things you aren't interested in. 

San Francisco is one of those great cities. And explore it we did. From the moment we touched Alcatraz - main corridordown, we began our exploration. We stayed right in the heart of Frisco. Our guests were given Metro Passports and could ride anywhere in the city for free as much and as often as they wanted. 

We also like to help our guests plan out their free time if they'd like us to. Knowing that Alcatraz tours sell out days or weeks in advance, we asked our guests if they'd like to take that tour and booked it for them. Here's a shot from inside the infamous prison, with our headsets on taking the audio tour. 

Our guests were able to spend time at Pier 39's restaurants and shops, Ghiradelli Square,San Francisco Trolley Car Chinatown, and other parts of downtown San Francisco. They were also able to venture to the north part of the city and see the Golden Gate bridge up close. 

Another thing you have to do in San Francisco is ride a trolley car. Here'a a view of the ride that we took from Ghiradelli Square back to our hotel near Market Street. As you can tell from the picture, the sun was out and things had cleared off this afternoon. We had a lot of fun standing on the platform and getting a unique experience this city offers. 

If you are looking for baseball vacation packages that offer you the advantages of group tours but the flexibility to explore on your own, we hope that you'll consider traveling with Big League Tours. We truly offer the best of both worlds!

Topics: San Francisco, west coast baseball tour, sports travel and tours, ballpark tours

Brandon Phillips Tackles Bizarre Food in NYC

Posted by Glenn Dunlap on Fri, Jun 01, 2012 @ 06:57 AM

New York City has so many locations for dining. When we were just out there for our Big Apple baseball tour, we dined in a couple of restaurants that were suggestions from friends and absolutely loved our experience. 

One major-leaguer who loves his food is Brandon Phillips, All Star 2nd baseman for the Cincinnati Reds. If you follow @DatDudeBP on Twitter, you'll often see tweets about food. On the Reds recent trip to New York, Brandon had dinner with Bizarre Food's host, Andrew Zimmern. 

Check out Brandon's reaction to these dishes... 

Topics: sports travel and tours, New York, baseball tours, Yankees, Yankee Stadium

Baseball Tour of the East Coast Ballparks up to 20% off

Posted by Doug Lawson on Tue, Apr 24, 2012 @ 11:52 AM

Big Discounts on the East Coast Tour

Join Big League Tours and Sports Illustrated writer Will Carroll on our extensive Touch 'em All Out East luxury baseball tour.  The tour will visit all the great East Coast ballparks and make a stop at the Baseball Hall of Fame.  While on the tour, guests will enjoy 4 star accommodations, stadium tours, lower level seats, the BLT exclusive MLB Player Experience, and time on their own to explore. 

In order to fill this tour, Big League Tours is making this special offer to our fans:

  • Once 10 people book the Full East Coast Tour, everyone gets a 10% discount

  • Then for every person that signs up, we'll give another 1% discount until we reach 20%.

It takes 10 people to sign up for this offer to be a go - so sign up today and spread the word! And remember, every person who books the tour, up to the 20th person, means deeper discounts for everyone!!   This offer ends April 27th, 2012.

Click the link below to get all the info:
East Coast Tour Special

Then just click on the "Purchase this Tour" button to book your luxury baseball vacation package.

Citizens Bank Park

Topics: baseball vacations, Luxury baseball, sports travel and tours, bucket list, baseball travel, Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, hall of fame

Cool Foodie App for Travelers - Group Travel Tours or Flying Solo

Posted by Glenn Dunlap on Wed, Feb 15, 2012 @ 06:45 AM

We often talk about how much we enjoy exploring local restaurants when we're on our baseball tours across the country. Besides asking the locals for recommendations or just stumbling into our own finds, we often map out our meals based on places we've seen on Food Network or the Travel Channel.

Now that job has just been made easier...

Cheddar biscuits and gravy at Lucky's CafeHere's a site, TV Food Maps, that allows you to search for restaurants based on the show, the episode or the location of the business. This is great if you saw a show featuring a business that you wanted to see but you couldn't remember the name.

For instance, Guy Fieri featured a Baltimore pit barbeque shop on Diners, Drive-ins & Dives, but I couldn't remember the name of it. A quick search on this app reveals that it is Chaps Pit Beef. So now as I plan my trip to Baltimore on our East Coast Baseball Tour this summer, I can be sure toHiatt w blueberry float at Lucky's Cafe in Cleveland incorporate a visit to Chaps.

We've enjoyed some great dining experience on our tours as a result of these shows. Here are some past blogs that featured our stops: Lucky's Cafe (Cleveland), The Stand (NYC), and Flip Burger (Atlanta).

Here's a shot of the Cheddar Biscuits and Gravy (above) that we tried at Lucky's Cafe in Cleveland last year. They were fantastic. After talking with Chef Heather Haviland for a few minutes, she brought out a blueberry float for my son to try. It must have been good because he didn't let anyone else at the table have a chance to sample it! You know that our tour guide will be making their way over to Lucky's on our Midwest 2 tour again this year!

So check out the TV Food Maps app and use it when you are planning your baseball trips and tours this summer. Or better yet, join up with us on a 2012 baseball tour and we'll experience them together!!

Topics: baseball road trips, sports travel and tours, New York, Cleveland, Baltimore, east coast baseball tour

Indy Knows How to Hold an Event (and Throw a Party!!)

Posted by Glenn Dunlap on Fri, Feb 03, 2012 @ 05:18 PM

Can I brag on my home town just a little? We've been hearing about the 2012 Super Bowl in Lombardi Trophy image on the JW MarriottIndy for quite a few years. But it's finally here and it has been absolutely amazing!

Indianapolis is known for hosting events and doing so very well. After all, this is a favored spot for the NCAA mens and womens basketball tournaments - whether opening rounds or the Final Four. The Big Ten Conference has held both basketball and football championships here. In addition, the city is home to or has hosted world renowned sporting events (Indy 500, Brickyard 400, PanAm games, and Olympic qualifications, to name a few), conferences and conventions and handles them all with ease.

But nothing in the city has compared to what they've done for the Super Bowl. Several square blocks have been closed to auto traffic to create the Super Bowl Village. Stages have been setup along the streets. Super Bowl Village in IndyRestaurants have extended their seating onto the sidewalks. Vendors are all over the city. And the activity is amazing.

Here are a couple of photos from downtown. The first is the image of the Lombardi Trophy on the side of the brand new JW Marriott hotel. The second was taken while walking around the Super Bowl Village.

The city and visitors have been blessed with fantastic weather this week. It's been in the high-50's most days making it very comfortable to be out and walk around. Hopefully things will continue to hold through this weekend so that the world will see Indy at its finest.

Congrats to the City, the Super Bowl Committee, and the thousands of volunteers who have made this all happen!

Topics: group travel, sports travel and tours, sports vacation, group tours

Opening Day - Finally!!

Posted by Big League Tours on Mon, Jan 16, 2012 @ 06:00 PM
April 2010 (Repost) - After a long, cold, miserable winter, Opening Day finally arrived. And none too soon. We made our way to Cincinnati yesterday for the parade, ceremonies (aren't fly-overs one of the coolest things on the planet??), and ball game at Great American Ball Park. The weather was a little iffOutside GABP on Opening Day 2011y yesterday but it didn't deter the 42,000+ fans from taking in the festivities celebrating the first game of the season of the oldest franchise in the Majors.

As a Reds fan, the game started a little, ok, very rough. If I remember right, Volquez had given up three runs before he recorded his first out. Not the way you want to start off the regular season. But after that, he seemed to settle down for several innings.

The topper of the day, though, was the 2-out, 3-run walk off home run by Ramon Hernandez! The Reds had 40 some come from behind victories last year and started off the same way they finished the regular season last year. Here's the box score from the game.

Heading to the ballpark yesterday just made us more excited for baseball road trips that we have planned for the 2011 baseball season. If you are looking for baseball vacation packages that are done the way you want 'em, make sure you check out our site for the details on all of our upcoming tour vacations. You'll be glad you did!

Topics: Opening day, sports travel and tours, baseball trips, baseball travel, baseball vacation package, MLB road trips

Planning for Road Trips

Posted by Big League Tours on Mon, Jan 16, 2012 @ 04:13 PM
USA Today recently printed an article, "How to Plan Your First Road Trip." The author provides nine pointers that would be a good idea for you to incorporate if you're taking family tours or sports vacations of any kind. Here's are the highlights:

Overview
The iconic road trip seems to be reserved for young people, heading out with a few buddies and nary a care in the world. But first road trips can occur at any age and can last from a couple of days to an entire summer. Planning any trip requires a little care and consideration, but in the case of a first road trip, it is especially important to be thorough and leave leeway for the unexpected.
  • Step 1 - Purchase roadside service insurance.
  • Step 2 - 
Bring your car in for a once-over.
  • Step 3
 - Keep a small kit of safety supplies with you.
  • Step 4
 - Buy a paper map.
  • Step 5
 - Make a list of places you want to see and prepare a realistic time line.
  • Step 6
 - Plan overnight stays.
  • Step 7 - 
Record a hefty playlist for your MP3 player.
  • Step 8
 - Keep a small cooler stocked with beverages and a couple of snacks.
  • Step 9 - 
Allow time for the unexpected.
This looks like a great list if you have time to do this on your own and you're interested in looking up all the details for your baseball road trips. But what occurs to me is that we've already done all this work for you at Big League Tours when you purchase one of our baseball vacation packages. That's one of the things our clients tell us they love the most - the fact that they can show up for the tour and everything is taken care of for them.

Topics: sports travel and tours, baseball trips, baseball travel, sports vacation

Baseball Tour Package Weekly Feature

Posted by Doug Lawson on Tue, Jan 10, 2012 @ 09:42 AM

Baseball on the Bay (includes Seattle)

Like several of our tours this season, this baseball vacation package was created based on the requests of our fans.
Safeco Field
Baseball on the Bay, June 29-July 3
We're expecting beautiful weather and exciting baseball on this late June/early July tour to the Bay area. First, though, we'll start in Seattle to catch the Red Sox as they take on the Mariners. From there, we'll jet to San Francisco and check into one of the finest hotels in downtown. That evening you'll be treated to a San Francisco food tour courtesy of BLT.

On Sunday, it's back to baseball and our MLB player experience. There will be plenty of time to explore the city on your own after the 1:05pm game. And then, on Monday, you'll have more time to venture out before we make the short trip to Oakland to see the A's take on the Red Sox. If the schedule allows, we will also add behind the scenes tours of the stadiums.

AT&T Ballpark
Featured Tour Special- Book by the end of the day on Jan. 14 and receive $200 off per room booked. *
Use coupon code 200BAY when booking your tour.
CLICK HERE to reserve your spot. 

*some restrictions apply/not valid with any other offer


We're excited to present this baseball tour for the first time. Below are the links to the tour page, brochure request and stadiums. We hope you will join us.

Baseball on the Bay Tour Page

Baseball on the Bay Tour Brochure Request

AT&T Ballpark

The Oakland Coliseum
 
Safeco Field

Topics: stadium tours, baseball vacations, sports travel and tours, baseball trips, baseball travel, baseball vacation package, sports vacation, AT&T Park, MLB road trips