Penguins Fans Meet Actual Penguins in Trip to Antarctica
By
Luke Henne / Pittsburgh Penguins
"That was the sixth continent we visited," Brennan said. "I'm missing Africa, which she's been to a number of times, and she's missing Australia. Antarctica is not a place that a lot of people have the opportunity to go to."
Damm said that she was fascinated by the fact that penguins there have no natural predators on land.
"They're just really not afraid or bothered by our presence," Damm said. "They come close, to a point where you wanted to keep a safe distance, but sometimes we were having to move out of the way so that the penguins could go where they wanted to go and do the things that they wanted to do."
Brennan loved what were called penguin highways, even adding that the penguins "have the right of way" on the continent.
"I was shocked to see how high up on the terrain some of these penguin colonies are," Brennan said. "From water level, they're climbing probably [500] to 600 feet. And they just hop along, and they get all the way up on the terrain. It was really cool getting to see them and how they interact. We actually got to see a couple penguins that were still sitting on eggs, late hatchers, so that was really cool."
"It's their summer time," Damm added. "We got to see lots of babies, and we got to see some eggs and nesting penguins, several different types of penguins. It was a really cool experience. We got to see them swimming in the water, coming up on land and just going about their business and their massive penguin colonies."
Damm said that what stood out from the trip was the "unique and beautiful" landscape.
"There's nothing else like it," Damm said. "I think we've both traveled quite a bit, seen a lot of different parts of the world, but it's just really special. And you feel very small. You don't run into other people there. There's no infrastructure. It's just nature and all of its glory. That part was beautiful. That was a very special experience."
One of the most-interesting parts of Brennan's experience were the expedition guides - known as naturalists in the nautical world - and their pride for the environment that they get to protect.
"They take so much care in ensuring that the tourists that do go to Antarctica maintain the wilderness in exactly the form that it is in currently, to the point that they do not allow you to take a knee or sit down or put your bags on the ground," Brennan said. "They do not want to contaminate that landscape in any way, shape or form.
"It was really nice to see that. I'm a huge outdoors guy myself, so no-trace principles is a big deal. And I was really enthused to see that their entire industry down there, the folks who get to do this, they take conserving the wilderness down there very seriously."
Just weeks removed from that once-in-a-lifetime trip, the pair had more exciting news coming their way. Brennan and Damm officially got married in a courthouse ceremony on Monday, exactly one year removed from their first date.
"We had our first date on Super Bowl Sunday last year," Brennan laughed. "Very classy, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the Super Bowl."
Brennan, a Pittsburgh native who completed his undergraduate work at Army West Point and graduate school at the University of Pittsburgh following his return from service, is currently in his first season as a Penguins season-ticket holder … although it's not his first taste of the experience.
"My father and I basically split a season-ticket package in 2016 and 2017, so I got to see some really great hockey," Brennan said. "And I was home for grad school for that period of time. I had been in the military. I basically left Pittsburgh in '04 and was out of town for more than a decade."
However, Brennan did get to witness the Penguins' success a few years later, when they played in the 2009 Stanley Cup Final.
"One of my best friends was from Saginaw Valley in Detroit," Brennan said. "And he was running his mouth about the Red Wings, back when they were in the Western Conference … We said, 'Hey, okay, we're graduating college this year. Let's pat ourselves on the back if they both make it. We'll get tickets to a Cup game and go. So we did that."
Brennan said he grew up around hockey, getting to witness the Penguins teams of the early 1990s win back-to-back Stanley Cups at a young age. He added that Damm, who grew up in a military family and moved around all over the country, isn't without Pittsburgh roots.
Her grandfather taught at Pitt, while her grandmother volunteered at the Pittsburgh Zoo, and Damm has since adopted a fandom for the Penguins.
Now, even though they're in Virginia, Brennan said he has enough work flexibility that he could commit to a season-ticket plan. He said he's given some tickets away to his dad and to some friends in town, but he's been to roughly a dozen games so far this year.
He said that his commitment has been aided by the organization "putting a phenomenal team on the ice every year."
He also believes that Damm, who's 4-1 in games they attend together, is a good-luck charm. In the first game that they went to together, which came last March, the Penguins dominated the Red Wings in an 11-2 victory.
"It set the bar pretty high," Damm laughed.
