Breakfast for Champions
 

Rookie team here. We're on our way to Atlanta as a recipient of the Portland Regional Rookie All Star award, and I have a question about feeding my team. Being a stickler for having the kids eat breakfast, and the buffet at the Westin Peachtree waaaaay outside their budget (not to mention we don't have time!), does anyone have suggestions for feeding a pack of hungry teens in the morning? I'm looking for what your team will be doing or what you've done in the past. Thanks!

Brian
Coach, Team 3145
The TeraViks

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

We generally feed them in the CNN foodcourt a few hundred feet from the Dome.
Several places are open for breakfast and the students can choose what they want.
It's full of teams...

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

We are a local team, and so drive up (or take MARTA) to the Dome, usually we stop at Chick-fil-a or Dunkin Donuts, or you eat at home before you leave. What you might try is just get a couple boxes of cereal, poptarts, whatever and have a quick breakfast in the hotel rooms. Might be a bit crazy, but hey, it's cheap!

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

Brian, if your team is staying at the Westin Peachtree, there are a few close and easy options.

1) There is a Starbucks in the Lobby of the Hotel, and the prices aren't anymore expensive that a regular Starbucks as far as I can remember.

2) There is a McDonalds, right across the street, literally. Usually this fills up pretty fast though, especially if you go too late. We used to get up to try to be there before 7am so we didn't wait in line.

3) There is also a Diner about 300 feet away from the Hotel as well. It's in an obscure location that's kind of easy to miss, it's actually behind the Hardrock, and connected to the little mall that's across from the Westin. This is where I usually get Breakfast.

Those three are the preferred places for my team since they're so close. Those three places are kind of an "Understood" okay place to go in the morning, as long as there are three students or more going together.

On the way to the Dome you'll pass the CNN center which also has a bunch of places to eat too.

Feel free to PM me with anymore questions.

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

Thank you for all the great suggestions! Eating before we leave won't work as we're coming from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho... but it would be nice!

McD's and food court sound like the right idea. I also like the idea of "understood" places that I can let a small group go to instead of herding 13 cranky (morning+hunger=cranky) teens to one location.

*Just heard from the hotel that the McD's across the street is gone (moved, out of business?). Can anyone confirm this?*

Thanks again.

Brian

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

We are a small team; we pass out fruit and granola bars at the hotel and then everyone can buy whatever they want to supplement that.

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

Exploding Bacon goes to Sams or Costco and stocks up on muffins, granola bars, yogurt, cereal and milk and of course Pop Tarts. We keep them in my room and everyone stops by and grabs something before we leave the hotel. We have a team of 37 going so my room gets pretty crowded but I'm with you on making sure they all eat a decent breakfast. We do the same thing for lunch. A picnic on the green. The bus brings our coolers. We find that we can feed everyone for about $5 bucks. I like it because I can head count and see that each kid is doing ok and is eating something somewhat healthy. Have fun at Champs. If you need any help come by Bacon and find me. Also I would suggest sending at least one parent or mentor to the NEMO meeting on Friday morning. You will get all kinds of Non Engineering tips like this there and meet some pretty cool people.

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

Last year my team purchased a bunch of bagels, cream cheese, peanut butter, Juice and other breakfast foods on the way down. We ate breakfast in the hotel before leaving for the dome. Worked well for us last year.

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

May I not recommend copious amounts of Rockstar. You will have screaming teens at 8am that are knapping in the stands by noon.

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

Ideas that may be helpful in "Tips for Travel" on NEMO Resources page
http://www.firstnemo.org/resources.htm

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

We fly so we are very limited in what we can carry in to the hotel with us!

We often have a chaperone volunteer to go our early and retrieve bagels for who ever wants them. The evening before we collect the orders (flavor preference - buttered, cream cheese or plain) and collect $2-3 per person. I'm not sure exactly where they go for the bagels, but I think it must be close to the hotel.

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

The peachtree center mall is also about a block east of the Westin, and has a food court. It opens at 7.

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

I have totally banned any energy drinks! My experience is these things are nothing but bad news for kids...

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

Can someone please make the Wheaties joke already? I can't keep it bottled up inside much longer!

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

I don't know about you guys, but I find competition food way tooo expensive. I usually bring some food to regionals vs. buying it there. I rather pay a buck for a can of coke than four dollar. Anyways what I am getting at is your team should all pitch in some cash to buy food in bulk. Mabye Costco or Sams club, buy tons of food there. I am sure your group will be satisfied.

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

Just remember you cannot carry food into the pit area or the dome.

They will check bags to be sure you are not "smuggling" :)

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

When we've traveled to Atlanta, we've scouted out the area on-line in advance and/or by calling the hotel to ask - and figured out where the grocery stores, etc., are. In recent years, we've had a bus and have been lucky to have one or two chaperones with a car for running errands. One of the first nights that we are there, we take the team to the grocery store and let them stock up on their snacks and drinks, individually. We stock up on water, lunches, snacks that the Parent Association supplies for the team. We have coolers that fit under the bus and a small folding table and at the event the bus has been able to park close enough for the team to walk out to it for lunches.

We have also spent time (which a lot of teams don't have when they find out they are going) shopping around for hotels that provide a good breakfast that is included. Like you, we are team that eats healthy as much as we can and we've actually had great experiences with the students wanting to go that route so they can tolerate the demands placed on them by the competition.

Have an awesome time!
Jane

P.S. If you are unsure or don't have a way to shop in ATL and can bring some portable breakfast bars with you - go that route. It is important for the students to know that the trip can be expensive and to plan for that, if it has to come out of their pockets. The Parents Association and some traveling adults have also learned to bring extra to make up for shortages that occur and (if it isn't considered a donation on an individual's part) then the receipts are kept and the amount of needed reimbursement given to the responsible adult upon the return home.

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

We'll also be staying at the Westin, even though we're based in Atlanta.

As far as breakfast goes, we bring food to our hotel rooms and have the kids eat whatever's there. There is a Starbucks downstairs in the lobby, but if I remember correctly, it doesn't open until after all the robotics teams are gone.

Congrats on Rookie All-Star! If you'd like someone to walk over to the Dome with you, to introduce you to Atlanta and show you around a bit, my team is more than willing. PM me if you're interested. Our teams can hang out at the Westin together :) along with the other tons of robotics kids that will be around.

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

Well! Our team adopted Wheaties after we saw how well they worked for Team 973 in LA last year... They even let us have some! When we went to the AZ Regional 2 weeks later, we packed up our Wheaties and had them for breakfast Saturday morning. Well, I'll let the picture speak for itself. :)

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

We only stay at hotels for travel competitions that have free hot breakfast (eggs, sausage/bacon/etc, waffles/etc). They aren't that expensive (especially if you have a travel-savvy person doing your booking) and they are easy and convenient.

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

We did the costco thing this year when we went to DC. We actually filled two plastic totes with granola bars, muffins, nuts, trail mix and brought them as luggage. We kept them in the hotel and made them available each morning and students ate and/or loaded up their pockets/backpacks. I know, the event sites don't allow food.

Only down side of this is if you may have to pay luggage fees. We lucked out and got ours waived. Also, a parent has to go out and find somewhere to buy fresh juice/milk.

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

The CNN Center is close by and a good place to eat. I eat there before every Atlanta Thrashers home game. While I always eat the same thing, it has a variety of choices. It is close to the Georgia Dome.

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

Make an omelete for every one, 4 eggs each, thats pretty cheap if you think about it, a hearty meal for about $10

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

Bread + cheese slices + ironing board +2 irons = grilled cheese (Atlanta 09 Ingenuity of a MORT eagle scout).

.

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

Why 2 irons?

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

Its faster than 1.

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

We've brought instant oatmeal packets and hot cocoa/cider/tea for at least the first morning, before we make a grocery run. There's always a coffee maker for hot water, and reconstitutable foods give the most fill for carried volume (gotta save some room in the luggage for spare parts).

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

We also use the coffee pots to make ramen if we're hungry late at night lol

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

Now I know to check the hotel iron for cheese and butter before using it on my shirts...

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

Where would you cook the omelets, and how would you recommended transporting hundreds of eggs to Atlanta. While eggs are pretty cheap they aren't really practical here.

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

Atlanta is a city, I assume they have a big super market and cook it on a frying pan

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

Reported.

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

Frying pan on what? Most hotels don't have kitchenettes in their rooms.
And how long will it take to feed two dozen hungry students who need to get to the Dome ASAP?

At my college, using both the large griddles (we're talking commercial kitchen griddles here!) at full capacity, you *might* get a dozen or so egg-only omelettes in the first couple of minutes. Then you've got to do the next dozen. Call it 5 minutes all told.

Using the three hot-plate/frying pan combos that would also be available at the same cafeteria, you'd get about 2-3 minutes each time, and 3 at a time. That's about 16-24 minutes for the lot.

Remember, I'm talking about the equipment in a college cafeteria. This stuff is designed to handle lots of food cooking very fast. You get household equipment, or hotel-room equipment, figure half an hour, minimum, to get everyone fed. Especially if you only have one frying pan (in which case, triple the above time...)

And then you get into the "Could I have X ingredient in mine?" scenario, which adds to the total time, and Murphy is sure to pipe up somewhere...

Meanwhile, half the team went to McDonalds or the CNN Center.

If you're going to do eggs, do 'em scrambled, then you get 3 servings or so per panload, and it's as fast or faster than an omelette.

Just saying, there are better options out there, and more practical ones.

Re: Breakfast for Champions
 

A chick-fil-e chicken biscuit and a coke from the CNN Center food court is Li'l Lavery's official breakfast of FIRST champions.


[this message has been brought to you by the Sean Lavery association for delicious breakfasts]