2023 NFL Season - Week 11

 

Mid November finds me in Central illinois. what I love about Illinois is that there is a great mix of Americana. you want left, go to Chicago.  you want right, go to Quincy. You want to stay in the middle lane, go to Peoria.  Illinois is a microcosm of America. Please visit if you have a chance, and DON'T fly.  Drive. Take it in, trust me...

I'm starting my week in Quincy.  Not going to name the hotel, but I am here, and its Monday night.  I am READY for some #MNFonDIRECTV.  This hotel is not part of any national chain and has NO Television service to the bars and restaurant. The Restaurant TVs are off.  the Bar is empty. This is because the staff do not know how to use the TVs. No training.  I politely offered to show them how to use their TVs, but the request was denied. When you tell me "no" i'm good with that. I move on, but I move on with my wallet and potential revenue for the bar/restaurant and the hotel.  I ended up at the Riverside BBQ joint and had some of the best ribs in the midwest as I witnessed the Bills lose a stunner to the Bronco's.  Thanks to the staff at the Riverside for the great conversation and even better food. 

I did refer this hotel in Quincy to our Commercial team as a possible sales opportunity. Fingers crossed.

I finished up my week in Peoria, at the historic Pere Marquette Hotel. this is a Marriott hotel and is on the National Register of Historic buildings in Illinois.  This is my "goto" hotel in Peoria. I love hotels with history. I enjoy celebrating our great country's history and I do that by staying at hotels that embrace our storied past. If you are ever passing through central Illinois, you should absolutely stay at this hotel, have lunch at Portillo's and dinner at Jim's Steakhouse. The "Pere" is located across the street from the Peoria Civic center, so those who travel to see concerts usually stay there and try to get a reservation at "Jims" in the hopes of seeing one of the performers or celebrities at dinner before or after their performance.  Jim's Steakhouse is adorned with hundreds of photos of celebrities who have enjoyed a great steak and good times with friends over the years. I was recently able to take #2 son to dinner here and was honored to be treated so well by the staff who were gracious enough to give him a tour of the room and share some of the stories of famous people who have frequented this fine establishment.  

I am on a first name basis with the staff at the Pere, and as soon as I checked in they mentioned that that three of their bar tvs are out of service. Because this is a #DIRECTV property, I reached out to our team to check it out and get the public viewing TVs operational. Thanks to #JeffFox for the help. I am so grateful to have a team as committed to our customers as I am.

This week #ShowtimeOnline announced that they are discontinuing their streaming service effective December 14th.  Please read their presser HERE. #Showtime will be folded into the Paramount+ platform as a value added service.I expect much more aggregation of the streaming services in 2024 as only a small handful of them make a profit. Disney+ recently dropped hundreds of shows from their lineup as they try to "Right the ship" financially.  The questions is, who can holdout the longest until the rest of the competition folds? Hard to tell. 

On a personal note, I will leave you with this...

"Probably the greatest achievement you can reach is when you're able to forgive the most heinous thing in your life. I forgive anyone. That's where I've arrived. And if i'm not successful in that, I forgive myself." ~ Tom Petty ~

Home next week for the #Thanksgiving moratorium.  I have so much to be thankful for!

To learn more about John and the work he does for DIRECTV please click HERE. 

The views expressed in this blog post reflect the experiences and opinions of the author only and are not meant to be any official correspondence from DIRECTV, its Dealers, affiliates or any related entities. Copyright John Mac's Travels 2023