When it comes to the Super Bowl, the game may or may not live up to the hype, the commercials may or may not be worth the $2.6 million 30-second spots, but the pre-game festivities will never disappoint.

Miami, the site of this year’s big game, is one of the two most popular places to hold a SB. It's tied with New Orleans for a total of nine times each. Each host city brings its own special flavor to the table. As for Miami, there was something unbelievably cool about hanging out and talking football while basking on the beach. Watching all the major news stations camped out all day on the beach while bikini clad babes and Speedo wearing (yes, it’s South Beach, so lots of Speedos) Adonises rollerbladed by, took football to a new level.

But the very first SB I went to was in New Orleans in 1997, featuring the Green Bay Packers against the New England Patriots. I was working for CBS Sportsline (just called Sportsline at the time) and we were doing some streaming video on the pre-game festivities (really new technology then, so we all thought it was cool and cutting edge). Sportsline was kind enough to send me out there for the week, but what they didn’t tell me was that I’d be spending the week in a house with 10 guys. I had just gotten married, so as you can imagine, my husband was not too pleased. Since I grew up with three older brothers, we always had a household full of guys, so until someone pointed it out to me, I’m not sure I would have even noticed I was rooming with 10 members of the opposite sex. I have to say, these guys were so great. They treated me like a younger sister and played the role of way over-protective brothers. I felt like I had bodyguards the whole week.

New Orleans was (and I know will again) be an incredible place to host a Super Bowl. There was such energy in the city, and all the restaurants and people went out of their way to welcome the crowds of visitors. Of course, some of that enthusiasm comes from people drinking themselves into oblivion (after all, the main drag is Bourbon Street), but as far as I could tell, the city was more than equipped to handle it.

In addition to the special flavors of the host city, the one constant is the endless activities. Every major advertiser and corporate sponsor wants a part of the action, and there’s no shortage of cool parties. As with any celebrity studded occasion (and yes, there are plenty of celebs hanging out during the week) some parties are more exclusive than others. The one bonus for us gals though is women are way more likely to get into a party than a guy -- even if he’s on a guest list). Approximately 50 million women will watch the Super Bowl, and about 40% of the SB attendees will be female, but the Super Bowl is still overwhelmingly overrun by guys.

Read on for more Super Bowl Week highlights...