Great Atlantic Travel and Tour Company Blog

Well it will be upon us very soon as the elite 8 will be decided this weekend. NCAA basketball is one of the most fun things to watch, especially if you have your teams picked out in brackets. My final 4 picks are Tennessee, Memphis, Texas, and UCLA. I realize that North Carolina has been unstoppable so it will be nearly impossible for Tennessee to beat UNC. First games tomorrow night will be great fun to watch, and Im sure will be real nail biters. At Great  Atlantic Travel we have tickets to every NCAA game left, including the NCAA championship game in San Antonio. I have the championship game predicted as Tennessee vs. Texas, a pretty risky pick as Tennessee has been barely squeaking all of the teams, but Im always in for the underdogs, and with the way UNC has been playing everyone is an underdog.

As eluded to yesterday, Great Atlantic Travel has added advanced Washington Redskins travel packages for the 2008 regular season. Limited amount of packages for the NFL's first preseason game between the Washington Redskins and Indianapolis Colts in the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio on August 3rd, 2008. The 2008 NFL Schedule is not expected to be announced until early to mid April, however call and book now to get best price and seating available. Day Trip (Start at $170 per person), Overnight UDrive (start at $195 per person), and Overnight with Bus Packages (start at $235 per person) available for all Washington Redskins games at FedEx Field. The Redskins will host two AFC North powerhouses the Super Bowl XL Champions  Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns coming off a 10-6 record in 2007. Also coming to the loudest, and biggest stadium in the league in 2008 is the Arizona Cardinals, who lost in a thrilling game at FedEx Field last year, powerful running back Stephen Jackson and his St. Louis Rams, as well as Drew Brees, Reggie Bush, and their New Orleans Saints. Of course the Redskins will also host their rivals in the NFL's toughest division year in and year out - the NFC East. Donovan McNabb will bring his motivated Philadelphia Eagles into town as they are coming off being the only NFC East team to miss the 2007 playoffs. The most popular game every year and one of the biggest rivalries in all of sports, the Washington Redskins will welcome back Tony Romo, T.O. and the Dallas Cowboys who suffered a bad defeat to the Redskins in the last regular season game of 2007 where the Redskins impressively made it to the Playoffs with the convincing win. The other NFC East rival are the Eli Manning led Super Bowl XLII Champion New York Giants, who always have a physical and thrilling game against the Redskins. Quite an impressive group of teams to come to FedEx Field in 2008. Don't delay - reserve now as prices are based on availability and subject to change. $75 deposits can be made to reserve the game of your choice at the starting price. Exact dates will be released by the NFL in early to mid April.

Well Tiger Wood's impresssive winning streak has come to an end. Tiger suffered his first defeat since September 3rd, thats six months ago. The four time Masters Champion finished behind tournament winner Geoff Ogilvy, talented Retief Goosen, 2000 Masters Champion Vijay Singh, and crowd pleaser Jim Furyk. Even through defeat it was obvious that all that was on his mind was to not only win the upcoming 2008 Masters, but sweep all four majors. Tiger will get his chance to accomplish this amazing feat he can start by winning his fifth Masters green jacket. However, judging by this weekend's past tournament his competition has made it clear that the 2008 Masters will not be a walk in the park for Tiger. Of course you can never count out Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples, or 2007 dark horse champion Zach Johnson.

Don't be left out of the excitement! Limited number of Badges and tickets as well as packages are still available for all practice rounds and tournament days. You may witness Tiger pass legend Arnold Palmer for second place on the all time Masters victories list with 5, or you may see an upset where a new person such as last year's Zach Johnson comes out of nowhere to put his name in the history books. Theres no better place to see history in the making than right in front of you at the world most famous golf course and tournament!

We have just added new options to our website for the best rivalry in football, Redskins vs. Cowboys. Just click on one of our numerous packages between day trip, overnight u drives, or Overnight with bus. Don't delay on booking this package because it will go very fast, not to mention the price will increase over time and based on availability. We also have new upgrade features such as adding sideline lower level tickets. Check them out and give us a call or fill them out online and we will give you a call.

This is always one of the most exciting times on the sports calender as the Conference Tournaments are in full swing this week on the way to Selection Sunday. Great Atlantic Travel has terrific lower level seats for any and all tournaments whether you are interested in a certain session or enjoying the whole tournament. Great tickets still availble for the SEC Tournament at the Gergia Dome in Atlanta, extremely popular ACC Tournament March 13-16 in Charlotte, Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden March 12-15, 2008, as well as the First and Second Round of the NCAA Tournament at Raleigh March 20-23. These are just some of the most exciting games that we have, however Great Atlantic Travel has tickets available to each and every game from the conference tournaments to the Final Four in San Antonio. Don't miss out on some of the best basketball of the year!

Just finished publishing the new home page layout at www.Greatatlantictravel.com. 

The new layout allows us to advertise more upcoming featured events that we offer to our international clientel including Kentucky Derby Tickets and Kentucky Derby and Oaks Packages, as well as The Masters Golf Tournament, Euro 2008 tickets and packages, and of course the Summer Olympics in Beijing.

We have also pushed up new domestic travel packages to the fore-front including Crown Royal 400 Packages and Tickets, as well as Washington Redskins Travel Packages for the upcoming 2008-2009 NFL Season.  As of yesterday, visitors to GreatAtlanticTravel.com, can now book their Travel Packages for the Crown Royal 400 NASCAR race in Richmond as well.  We will have the same feature, online travel package booking, for our Washington Redskins Packages as soon as the schedule is released in early April.  For the moment, we're thinking that will be April 2nd or 3rd.

 Check back soon for new Sports Travel Packages offered by GAT.

As briefly stated in the previous blogs, Great Atlantic Travel devoted employee Janelle Irrgang's last day here at the company was today. Janelle and her husband Jamie are getting set to move to Annapolis, MD along with their beautiful one year old daughter Isabella. As is the case of the many devoted military families, Jamie's hard work in the Navy has led to him getting a much deserved promotion. I am sure that they will continue to support their native Pittsburgh teams as well as staying kept up with international sports such as the 2008 Euro Cup, 2008 Summer Olympics,  Kentucky Derby, Masters, Rugby World Cup, and NASCAR races. On behalf of Great Atlantic Travel, we would like to thank Janelle for her hard work and devotion to the company and helping clients with their sports travel packages. She was a pleasure and easy person to work with and we wish her and her family all the best.

Back in the sports world we have a few things on schedule. Saturday has some great NCAA college Basketball games on that are sure to have a HUGE effect on the upcoming tournaments. These games include rivals Duke vs UNC for the ACC regular season title (I have UNC winning by 5), Last years 2nd place team Georgetown Hoyas vs the surging Louisville Cardinal for the regular season Big East title ( it will be close but I have Georgetown winning by a single free throw, but Louisville beating Georgetown in the tournament), and lastly the Texas Longhorns beating Oklahoma State handily on Sunday to inch closer to the Big 12 title against Kansas. Keep in mind tickets are available to all tournaments as well as the Final Four. 

Have a good weekend!

Whether you are debating on, or planning on attending the Kentucky Derby , there is much more to do in the fantastic city of Louisville before and after witnessing the most exciting 2 minutes in sports. I was fortunate to take a trip to Louisville earlier this year in preparation for Great Atlantic Travel making the internets most descriptive and user friendly Kentucky Derby ticket and package site.  Aside from learning about one of the sports world's most famous stadiums Churchill Downs, I also learned and experienced the many things available in the area. Downtown Louisville is a pretty clean and well planned out city. It is certainly not that very big which makes it easy to navigate around, however it has as many things to do as a bigger metro city.

One of my favorite areas is Downtown's 4th Street Live which is a pedestrian only area that is Louisville's premier dining, entertainment, and retail destination. I enjoyed a few of these places such as The Pub, Red Star Tavern (bar and dance club), Lucky Strike (a fancy and fun bowling alley; dress appropriate), and internationaly popular Hard Rock Cafe. Other attractions include TGIFridays, Felt Billiards Lounge,  Cold Stone, Sully's, and 4 other nightclubs and bars just to name a few. This is easily the place to go and enjoy a night on the town. Another great thing about 4th Street is that it is one mile away from the Marriott Town Place Suites across the bridge.

Also found in the Louisville area is Caesars Palace which is across the river about 20 minutes away and is actually a riverboat in Indiana. I enjoyed my first gambling experience here despite walking out with less money than when I went in with. The four story casino has all of the games, tables, and slots that you would look for in Vegas - just with Southern hospitality. This is a great destination to make the most of any winnings you may earn from the Derby and Oaks.

Home to greats such as Louisville Cardinal Basketball, Muhammed Ali, Diane Sawyer, and KFC; Louisville makes a weekend at the Derby a much greater experience. There is so much to enjoy whether you are looking for an activity as a couple or hanging out with the guys. With all of the excitement in this city, make sure you don't forget to attend the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks!

We just received some great Lower level midcourt tickets in the office for the 2008 Mens Basketball SEC Tournament at the Georgia Dome, in Atlanta, GA.

Sit in section 106, 30 rows up from the court. We have a group of SEC Tournament Books that just arrived.

Get them now at only $400 per tournament book (All Sessions).