I’ve never flown before and thought I would never get the chance. And I am scared of heights.
I’ll always remember the day I won for two reasons. The first was because the morning before I received the news; a friend and I were talking about how you could not pay us enough to fly. We believed that we would just never do it. That afternoon, when I returned the call I received from the Maryland Lottery to see what I won, I never thought it would be the Away Trip with the Team to Carolina. Of all the prizes I entered to win, what were the chances I would win that. I was so happy because I had never seen a live NFL game before. At that moment I did not care that flying was involved because purple and black run though my veins. I think “free” was the only way to get me to fly. The second reason was that I was able to bring my mom on the trip with me. She was the one that got me started on Ravens football, well her and Ray Lewis! My dad is also a fan, but he wanted mom to go because he knew it would be a once and a lifetime adventure for us.
The trip with the team was amazing! The food on the plane was delicious and the players were right there with us. I didn’t like the take off, but landing was the best. The hotel was the Renaissance and it was beautiful. Our rooms were so beautiful and the bed so soft. In the lobby you got to see a lot of the players. I met Joe Flacco and he was so nice to us. The players that I really wanted to meet were Ray Rice and Ray Lewis.
The night prior to the game we were introduced to Le’Ron McClain. He was so kind. He talked with us, signed shirts and took pictures with us. After that we had dinner at Biro Tuscan Grille and the Ravens treated us. The food was out of this world! We had appetizers, followed by the main course and dessert. My mom and I had so much fun. After dinner, the night was ours to do as we please. We stayed in the lobby and took more pictures with players.
The next day I woke up at 8:00 AM; I was just too excited to sleep any longer. I went down in the lobby to try and see who out of our group was up. I was not surprised to see that almost all of them had on their purple. We saw some more plays, but I did not want to bother them as they looked in the zone and ready to go. I went back-up to our room for awhile and had room service, again complements of the Ravens. We packed and headed down ready to go the game. I had missed Ray Rice again, the other winners told me as soon as I went up to my room he came down. Then all of a sudden Ray Rice came out and I got to meet him! He signed my shirt and I got some pictures with him. It was amazing.
At the game we got to go on the field with the players to see their pre-game warm up. This was the first time I had ever been on a football field and it was amazing. The players were so intense and I was taking every picture I could get. Although the seats could have been better, I still enjoyed the experience. The Panthers Stadium had more purple then blue that day, which was cool. We won 37-13.
My mom and I lived the dream. We met a lot of nice people and had a blast. The entire group of 20 winners are still exchanging pictures. It’s back to reality, but I’ll be coming down slow from cloud Raven. Thank you Maryland lottery for giving me this once in a life time trip.
Felicia Peddicord
Baltimore, MD
Felicia won a trip for two (2) to Travel with the Ravens to an Away Game.
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