OT(ish) Indy to New Orleans travel and/or Michigan bars in New Orleans?
I'm sure many of us are also Lions fans. I have been planning on going to the game in NO for a while now with no intention of going to Indy since I went the last 2 seasons. Now that we're back in the championship the though of skipping seems hard.
With that said, can anyone come up with a feasible way to see attend both games? Indy airport doesn't appear to fly to New Orleans and it's a 12+ hour drive which does not work with the 8PM/2PM kickoffs.
Failing that, anyone gonna be in New Orleans or know a good spot in New Orleans to watch?
November 26th, 2023 at 6:54 PM ^
No connecting flight? Early morning flight via ATL should do it
November 26th, 2023 at 6:58 PM ^
You can connect but it seems like it's gonna be tough and it requires a 7 AM flight which arrives at 11 AM with a 1 hour layover in HOU. While that could work, that's a brutal travel schedule since the game will get out way after midnight and if you misconnect you'll be screwed. New Orleans airport to the Superdome takes a bit of time as well so even with the 11 AM arrival that doesn't give a ton of time (less than an hour). I also misspoke in my first post. The Lions play at 1ET which is noon in New Orleans, not 2 PM.
EDIT: There's a nonstop from Cincinnati at 9AM which arrives at 10 AM. That airport is actually in KY so you wouldn't be flying from Ohio.
November 26th, 2023 at 6:54 PM ^
Never been to NOLA but I've heard Bourbon Street is popular.
Jet pack it
November 26th, 2023 at 6:56 PM ^
American Sports Saloon on Decatur is best place to watch football in French Quarter. Double decker bar, couches and TVs on 2nd floor balcony.
November 26th, 2023 at 7:00 PM ^
There’s a small alumni group and as of last year would watch the game at Prytania Bar (dive bar, great bartenders/owner). If you search the alumni club of New Orleans on Facebook you can find the page and contact them to see if they’ll be having a watch party
November 26th, 2023 at 7:04 PM ^
I caught some of michigan vs nebraska at tracey’s original irish channel bar on magazine st in the garden district last year. good vibes. lots of michigan fans watching. very pretty area to walk around.
November 26th, 2023 at 7:19 PM ^
I'm flying into New Orleans next weekend for the Lions game. Not sure where we're going to watch the Michigan game though but we'll be watching it somewhere.
November 26th, 2023 at 7:19 PM ^
There’s lots of early flight leaving Sunday that will get you to NO in time for the game
November 26th, 2023 at 7:24 PM ^
1 hour connection, 11 AM arrival, and 7 AM departure knowing I won't get back to hotel until 1 AM at best (so...3 hours of sleep?) makes for a very long day although this might be the only option.
November 26th, 2023 at 9:13 PM ^
Why do you need to get up to get to the airport at 4? Don’t you have pre check?
November 27th, 2023 at 12:02 AM ^
I have precheck but assuming I have a rental car...
I have to wake up, get dressed, brush my teeth. Even if I don't shower that's probably 15 minutes (4:15 now). I then have to drive to the airport. Even if I'm just a mile or two away that's gonna be 15 minutes (4:30 now). I now have to drop off the car and get to the terminal which probably takes a minimum of 15 minutes (4:45 now). Add in 15 random minutes for something not going to play (5:00 now). I guess you're right, I have precheck so showing up 90 minutes early is probably good enough so I can sleep in til 4:30. I took a picture of the scoreboard last year and it says the game ended at 12:30 AM. It's going to take an absolute minimum of 30 minutes to get from the stadium to an airport hotel so that's 1 AM with a 4:30 wakeup which gives 3.5 hours of sleep. I could probably sleep in a bit later as you suggested, but I'm also not going to fall asleep the exact second I arrive at the hotel so I think 3.5 hours is still the best case.
EDIT: It's also worth nothing that this option arrives in New Orleans at about 11 AM. Kickoff is noon. As I'm currently in Michigan but don't live here I have no choice but to bring my checked bag that I'm traveling with which means I have 1 hour to go from airport to Superdome and also get rid of my luggage. I guess I could "forget" to pick it up and retrieve it after the game, but that's still cutting it extremely close.
November 26th, 2023 at 7:20 PM ^
Drive to Champaign and take the Amtrak City of New Orleans?
November 26th, 2023 at 7:26 PM ^
Amtrak website says it's a 17 hour train ride so I'm not sure that will work.
November 26th, 2023 at 7:29 PM ^
Yeah, I just checked the schedule. It would normally leave Chicago at 8pm, get to Champaign at 10:30 pm, and arrive in New Orleans at 2:45pm the next day. But, for the next month, push all those times back 1 hour.
November 26th, 2023 at 7:22 PM ^
Gonna be in NOLA to watch lions saints.Will catch the good guys either in hotel room or restaurant in uptown or quarter.Last result will be on phone.Live 4 hours away and meeting up with brother and the caboose of our kids who lives there.
November 26th, 2023 at 7:32 PM ^
IND is my home airport. I've always flown through ATL to get to MSY. It's going to be tough to get to both games (also, remember there is an hour time difference between the two cities).
An alternative is to fly from Louisville, as I think they have a direct flight to MSY. It's about a 90 min drive from Louisville to Indy.
November 26th, 2023 at 7:36 PM ^
Yeah it looks like Louisville/Cincy are the nonstop options. Chicago also does it, but that starts to be a long drive. But I think the degree of difficulty is high as you mentioned. Maybe I'm old but leaving Indy at 7 AM or Cincy at 9 AM the next day while technically doable, is really hard. I'm fine with 5.5 hours sleep, but I quickly turn to crap going below that. There's also zero chance I can sleep on the plane.
I really hate how this game is at 8PM. Makes Sunday planning so complicated.
November 26th, 2023 at 8:01 PM ^
I will be there with the whole family. One Pride! Peggy and I will be there early Tuesday AM, and leaving on Tuesday of the following week. Alumni association lists the Prytania Bar as their watch party, but there will be no other “Michigan” bars in town. Manning’s inside of Harrah’s will be a good bet to find fellow Michigan brethren, but remember, many Lions fans are also Sparty folks. Going to be hard to get from Indy to the Big Easy and get some sleep for a noon central kick. That gives you about 12 hours between end of B1G Championship game, and kickoff at the Superdome.
November 26th, 2023 at 8:33 PM ^
I live in NOLA. We’ve got a good group of UM folks who go to Prytania Bar for every game, and the bar is happy to have us. They accommodate us with the sound and play the victors after every TD, etc. Prytania Bar is about a block from the streetcar line coming from downtown through the garden district and a 7-10 min Uber from the hotel district. Plenty of actually good NOLA stuff to do in that area after the game too. Tipitina’s or Bon Temps for music e.g.
November 26th, 2023 at 9:12 PM ^
There’s a 7 am flight out of Indianapolis that should have you in New Orleans by 11 am according to Google Flights.
November 26th, 2023 at 10:41 PM ^
Yeah I saw that but a 7 AM flight following an 8 PM kickoff (realistically 815) means the game will be over around midnight (at best) and I would get to my hotel at 1 AM (at best). Even if I stayed right at the airport I'm going to need to be up by 515 at the absolute latest which gives a best-case scenario of 4 hours of sleep which is pretty brutal.
Kickoff is at noon which leaves almost no margin for error.