Travel Tuesday: Notre Dame

My dad treated my sister and me (and all of our kids) to a trip to South Bend, IN, for Notre Dame’s last home game of the season. This trip felt extra special since we didn’t get to go to a game last year. Of course, it’s always magical being back on campus and sharing that excitement with the kids, but we really savored every moment of this trip.

Our flight Friday morning was super early…

Travel Day

Emery and I got Notre Dame nails before the trip

Nice touch, Delta! Emery, Bodie and I were each given hand written notes thanking us for being loyal customers.

We met up with Dad, Alison, Hayes and Kelsey during our layover in Atlanta. We chose to fly into Indianapolis and rent cars. Flying into South Bend on a football Friday is very expensive. Chicago is another option, but by the time you factor in rush hour traffic, we prefer Indy. Our flight was quick and easy and the drive was seamless. We went straight to campus without even stopping at our hotel. We always stay at the Aloft Hotel. It’s downtown and close to the stadium. Plus, the breakfast situation is excellent. I highly recommend. I want to say they offer a shuttle on game days, but we had parking passes so we didn’t take advantage of that.

University of Notre Dame Campus

We typically go to a game early in the season because we are cold weather wimps (how did we survive college???), but the biggest bonus to attending a late November game is getting to see campus and the bookstore all decked out for Christmas. It’s been ages since I’ve had that pleasure.

As much as the game is, my absolute favorite thing to do every game day weekend is to have drinks in the lobby of The Morris Inn and dinner at Rohr’s, also in The Morris Inn. The Morris Inn is the hotel located right on campus. It’s an excellent spot for people watching! I have never stayed there as reservations are impossible, but I’ve seen Lou Holtz in the lobby as well as plenty of NBC and ESPN crew members. And a few famous alum. Booking a dinner at Rohr’s on a football weekend requires calling at the crack of dawn once reservations for the season are opened. It’s a lot like booking a dining reservation at Disney, to be honest. But totally worth it.