University of North Carolina Athletics
The Carolina Fan's Guide To Omaha
June 13, 2011 | Baseball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
June 13, 2011
By Adam Lucas
See below for bolded updated flood information
We kick off a full week of Carolina baseball coverage with a visitor's guide to Omaha. It's a one-of-a-kind experience made more unique by the fact that it's the first year for TD Ameritrade Park, and a fun way to celebrate one of the most fun Tar Heel baseball seasons in recent memory.
Keep checking TarHeelBlue.com throughout the week for new stories each day, and contact us if there are stories you want to read. There's also the possibility of a baseball Mailbag column later this week, so if you have a question or comment for that feature--or some Omaha favorites that you'd like to share with other fans, as we'd love to pass along any Tar Heel finds--use that same email address and include your name and hometown.
The Tar Heels will face Vanderbilt on Saturday at 2 p.m. Eastern. Former President George W. Bush is expected to be on hand and throw out the first pitch.
Getting there
At some big events, like the Final Four, getting tickets is the biggest challenge. That's not the case for the College World Series. Somehow, some way, you'll find tickets. But getting there? That's a challenge.
If you're brave, you can drive--it's about 20 hours each way. Potential stopping points along the route include Louisville (see the Kentucky Derby Museum) and St. Louis (unfortunately, the Cardinals are out of town until Friday).
But let's say you want to fly instead. Going from RDU, roundtrip flights will exceed $500, and this is the rare case where Southwest Airlines is often more expensive than the traditional airlines. As of this writing, American and US Airways have the lowest-priced RDU-Omaha itineraries. Going to Kansas City instead of Omaha could save you around $60 roundtrip, but it will also require an approximately three-hour drive to get to the home of the College World Series, and you might run into problems with local flooding. Going to Lincoln on United (again, from RDU) might be a better option. It'll save you roughly the same amount and necessitate just a one-hour drive.
If you're going to be doing any driving at all, it's worth checking the above-linked story and the Iowa DOT's flood information and map page.
Updated flood information: Thanks to friendly Carolina alum Cliff Mosteller, the director of the Nebraska Business Development Center, we have some updated flood information straight from Omaha. Here's an email from Cliff, a Hickory native, in its entirety, and he later added that one major TD Ameritrade parking lot, Lot D, is already flooded. We will update this page periodically if new reports come in, so you might want to bookmark this page. If you're even thinking of going to Omaha, you'll need to read this:
"The full effect of the Missouri River will hit this weekend. The Corp of Engineers stated in today's paper that the river will crest at five feet over flood stage Saturday.
Traditional "hot spots" such as the Old Market, just across the street from the team hotel will not be impacted, except for increased traffic.
The Missouri River should not impact the stadium EXCEPT parking will be limited. Many parking lots are close to the river. The city has contracted buses to pick up and return fans from various malls and hotels. Based on personal experience, I strongly recommend the bus option. I live only eight miles from the Rosenblatt Stadium and fourteen miles from TD AmeriTrade. I will be using the bus!
Don't fly into Kansas City and expect to drive on I-29 to Omaha. I-29 is expected to close today from mile marker 10 in Iowa to Rockport, Missouri. There are NO good alternative roads between KCI and Omaha. If you have already purchased an airline ticket, at St. Joseph, Missouri exit west on Missouri 36 into Kansas and take Kansas/Nebraska 75 north to Omaha. The road is two lanes and in fairly good condition. However, expect traffic to increase in Auburn, Nebraska where traffic from I-29 North will be forced onto Nebraska 75 North. DO NOT STAY ON I-29 to Rockport, Missouri. Missouri / Nebraksa 136 is a terrible road until Aururn, Nebraska."
When to go
The first weekend is essentially a big party. All eight teams are there, the opening ceremonies are Friday night, and you're getting the full pageantry. Things start to slow down at midweek as teams are eliminated and some of the tourists start going home. In the middle of the week, and even on the second weekend, it has more of a local feel. When the championship series begins, there's a new influx of fans from the two participating schools--these are usually the folks who didn't come out on the first weekend and gambled their team would advance until the end.
How to get tickets
This is the easy part. Your best bet is to call the UNC ticket office at 800-722-HEEL. They will have tickets for the Carolina games only. If you want to see some of the non-UNC games or if the Tar Heel allotment sells out, you can order general admission seats through the NCAA or buy them from a secondary source (also through the NCAA) online. A word to potential buyers: no one knows how this will translate to the new park, but the general admission seats at Rosenblatt could get a little rowdy depending on the time of the game and how long fans had been standing in the hot sunshine.
The new stadium
This is the first year that TD Ameritrade Park will host the College World Series, which means everyone will be learning as the event progresses. If you're going, the best preparation you can do is reading this story and this story to get a feel for the area around the ballpark. It sounds like event organizers are attempting to keep the county fair atmosphere that surrounded Rosenblatt Stadium, which is a step in the right direction. Both those stories come from the Omaha World-Herald, where the CWS coverage is a must-read every day of the event. They've also added a history site this year that is packed with every possible College World Series statistic.
Moving the venue downtown brings Omaha's Old Market into play, and puts many more restaurants and pregame/postgame establishments within walking distance. You can get a good feel for that district by visiting the Old Market website. Since Carolina's team hotel is downtown, and the ballpark is within a mile of the hotel, it's conceivable that you could park your car downtown and never move it for the duration of the event.
The old stadium
It's going to be mentioned frequently during the College World Series, so even if you've never been to a game at Rosenblatt Stadium, you'll need to be able to talk intelligently about it. The best way to do that is by watching and reading ESPN's coverage of the park last year during the College World Series.
Do I need a car?
Probably, yes. The only possible exception would be if you're staying downtown and content eating and hanging out in the Old Market area. There's probably enough variety there to entertain you, but it would mean hitching a ride with someone to get to The Drover (see subsequent section). If you're staying anywhere other than downtown, you probably will need a car.
If I have a car, where do I park it?
At Rosenblatt Stadium, you simply parked in someone's front yard. At TD Ameritrade Park, there are a variety of parking lots available. The city also adds additional bus service, called the Stadium Circulator, during the College World Series.
Where to eat
The Drover is the restaurant you'll hear the most about from the Carolina regulars who have made this trip since 2006. Get either the whiskey filet or the whiskey strip. The manager, Buddy, is a closet Carolina fan and has even been known to hold the restaurant open late for parents of Tar Heel players. It's a steakhouse, but don't feel like you have to dress up.
Rumor has it there are other restaurants in town. The onion rings at Fleming's Steakhouse have gotten some rave reviews. In the past, Upstream Brewing Company in the Old Market has been a reliable location to watch other games and grab a wood-fired pizza. Roy Williams likes The French Café (also in the Old Market). There's a branch of Vincenzo's downtown, which is probably the best Italian in town and also a place where you can take the kids. You owe it to yourself to have breakfast or lunch at least once at WheatFields, which has a giant menu and food to match. In addition to the original spot, they have an Old Market location as well.
What about those milkshakes?
Zesto has taken on a near mythical quality, and you're going to hear a lot of people talking about it. For those of you from the Triangle, it will remind you a little bit of a Cook-Out, and with the same variety of flavors of milkshakes. It used to be located just across a parking lot from Rosenblatt Stadium, and according to the story linked above, there will be a Zesto tent directly across from TD Ameritrade Park while they finish building their permanent location. Keep in mind that you can mix any two flavors on the menu--for members of the Tar Heel traveling party, chocolate/vanilla has been a favorite pairing, as has strawberry/banana. Butterscotch is worth a try, also, and depending on how you can handle your sweets, hot fudge/peanut butter (better known as "The Mandy Forbes") is very good.
Where to stay
The team hotel is the Embassy Suites on 10th St., and all team sendoff and welcome-back events will take place there, so you'll want to familiarize yourself with the location even if you aren't staying there. It's less than a mile from the stadium, so unless it's the middle of an Omaha monsoon--and those will happen occasionally--you can walk to the game from the hotel.
Beyond the team hotel, the trick with rooms is that many teams book well in advance--like a year in advance--and before they know if they're actually going to make it to the College World Series. So if you started checking on Saturday night and found few vacancies, it's worth a try again today or Tuesday as some of those teams start canceling. From some informal research, it appears that some downtown hotels have jacked up their rates to the point of gouging. Don't be afraid to look in Council Bluffs, Iowa, (just across the river) or Bellevue, Nebraska, for other possibilities. You won't be right in the center of the activities, but you can always drive downtown, park the car, and spend the day walking around the stadium and downtown.
What to do
Within an hour of your arrival in Omaha, someone will ask, "Have you been to the zoo?" Omaha natives are very proud of their facility, the Henry Doorly Zoo. You should probably go, if for no other reason than to confirm to the natives that you've seen it. The giant dome you used to see just beyond right field in ESPN's wide shots of Rosenblatt Stadium is part of the zoo. It's known as the Desert Dome, and it's the world's largest geodesic dome.
If you get to town on Friday, Carolina will practice at TD Ameritrade Park and then sign autographs (time for both events is TBA, but we'll have Twitter updates as they're available). There's some information on opening ceremonies available from the NCAA, with the actual event itself scheduled to start at 8:30 (remember, Omaha is on Central time). At some point, either on Friday or before a game, you'll want to get a photo with the Road to Omaha statue, which has been relocated to the corner of 13th and Cuming Streets.
On gameday, arrive an hour or two before the first pitch so you'll have time to walk around Fan Fest, the NCAA's interactive area. They've basically constructed the stadium to provide the best possible experience for Fan Fest, so it will be interesting to see how it works out in the inaugural year. At Rosenblatt, every t-shirt and souvenir could be found within sight of the stadium. Based on the above story, it sounds like the downtown area might require a little more patience and walking, but with (potentially) more variety available.
The city of Omaha does a terrific job of ensuring the participating teams see a little bit of the area's history while they're in town. Previous Tar Heel teams have made a trip to Boys Town. If your tastes run a little faster, you could check out the Strategic Air & Space Museum. If you're up for a road trip, the site of the movie Field of Dreams is approximately a four-and-a-half-hour drive away in Dyersville, Iowa. The Omaha Botanical Gardens are worth a visit.
If you're looking for stuff to do with the kids, try the Omaha Children's Museum, the Amazing Pizza Machine, or yes, the zoo.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of six books on Carolina basketball, including the official chronicle of the first 100 years of Tar Heel hoops, A Century of Excellence, which is available now. Get real-time UNC sports updates from the THM staff on Twitter.
