The Complete Guide to Waterbury

Hello one and all. I am going to take it upon myself to be your official tour guide to assure you get the full Waterbury experience on the weekend of April 24. ENJOY.

Part 1...How to get there.

Courtyard by Marriott
63 Grand St.
Waterbury, CT 06702

From New York. Take I-95 North to 8 North to I-84 East to exit 22. Take a left at the end of the ramp. Entrance is immediately on the left.

From Mass take I 91 South towards Hartford to I-84 West to exit 22. Take a left off the ramp and turn left at your fourth light onto SOuth Main Street. Hotel is on the right.

From the east take I-84 West to exit 22. Take a left off the ramp and turn left at your fourth light onto SOuth Main Street. Hotel is on the right.

From the north take Route 8 South to I-84 East to exit 22. Take a left at the end of the ramp. Entrance is immediately on the left.

From the south take route 8 North to I-84 East to exit 22. Take a left at the end of the ramp. Entrance is immediately on the left.

From the west take I-84 East to exit 22. Take a left at the end of the ramp. Entrance is immediately on the left.

Part 2...Where to stay.

Simply put...driving to Waterbury the day of the event is a pain. You want to give your A-Game all day long and this can not be done on 3 hours of sleep and a 3 hour drive.

My personal reccomendation obviously is to stay at the Marriot...I set it up so if you mention "Magic Tournament" you can save $30 by getting a pecial $79 room rate instead of $109 per night. Furthermore, you will be right on sight and have no worries about finding the sight in the morning...that is unless you havent mastered the fine art of elevator button pushing yet. Please use this thread to hook up with other magic players/group in the fine art of room splitting. 4 per room makes a easily done $20 per person accomodation.

Second choice would be a local Howard Johnsons, or the Holiday Inn, both within one street of the Marriott(though HOJOS is quite a ways down.)

If you could swing it...hook up with some local Connecticuter. A fair exchange would be that you pay their tourney entry in exchange for hospitality the night before. Plus, you can playtest and hang out all through the not, not having to worry about driving a long distance the morning of the event.

Part 3...What to eat.

I suggest personally that you fill your belly with a huge breakfast before the event. Best bet...the Courtyard's $10 Breakfast Buffet. You guys have not had a breakfast buffet until you have had this thing...it is INSANE. Every thing you would expect on a regular buffet plus more. Let me see what I can do from memory.
Bacon, Eggs, Sausage, Hash Browns, 3 kinds of Bagels, 4 kinds of Muffins, Belgian Waffle Station, Omelette Station, 4 Kinds of Fruit, 4 kinds of Fruit Juices, Water, Coffee, Decaf, 6 Kinds of Danish, English Muffins, and soooo much more.

If this is not for you...and you are coming down 84 West through Hartford, try the Dennys off exit 32 in Southington. If you are coming from 84 East, Try the Diner off exit 10 near Newtown. If you are coming up route 8 from 95...try HOJOS for breakfast off exit 29.

Pizza will be served for lunch. Additionally, Chips and Soda will be sold all day for 50 cents each.

Across the street out the main entrance of the hotel is a subway. Up the road is the Mall with many places to eat.

For dinner, assuming you are out of the tourney, or for after the tourney, you can head up the road toward the mall to Chille's, TGIF, or Hops and Ruby Tuesday's in the Mall. There is also a McDonalds for the quick meal on the go. I would not recommend eating dinner in the hotel as the food is very expensive as compared to the amazing breakfast.

Part 4...TO BE FINISHED...

I got writer's block at this point...so you guys have to tell me how to finish...what other info would you like to see posted here...let me know and I will give as many details as I can...

Thanks
Ray