Mike has always wanted to take me to a big ten football game... So on Saturday morning we woke up at the crack of dawn and began a five hour drive to State College. The drive up was awesome! We went through West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania and saw absolutely beautiful country side. We got out a couple times in WV so I could say I've actually been to the state (a hot tamale run for me and a Dairy Queen blizzard run for Mike were included in our adventures). Finally, a little before noon we arrived at PSU.
I'm going to take a second here to share a few facts about the weekend and about the Penn State football experience before I go any further...
- Over 100,000 people come to these games
- Hotels sell out years in advance...
- Duke and Courtney (my brother and sister and law) and their 1 year old little girl, Lexie, found a room at Motel 8 for $300 a night
- Duke is a Penn State Alum
- Mike and I did not have a hotel room
- None of us had tickets - the plan was to scalp them at the tailgate
- It was Lexie's first birthday
I'm going to take a second here to share a few facts about the weekend and about the Penn State football experience before I go any further...
- Over 100,000 people come to these games
- Hotels sell out years in advance...
- Duke and Courtney (my brother and sister and law) and their 1 year old little girl, Lexie, found a room at Motel 8 for $300 a night
- Duke is a Penn State Alum
- Mike and I did not have a hotel room
- None of us had tickets - the plan was to scalp them at the tailgate
- It was Lexie's first birthday
- The Penn State Nittany Lions were scheduled to play Notre Dame (big game)
So back to the afternoon...
After picking up the other Bucys at the Super Motel 8, the five of us headed to campus and did a quick tour of Duke's undergraduate experience. We toured the Beta house, went to the famous stone Nittany Lion statue, ate lunch in the student union, and walked through the main quad... All of this touring started on the West side of campus, and our progressions eastward eventually led us to Beaver Stadium (the PSU football arena).
Beaver Stadium is unlike any football stadium I have ever seen. It's on campus, but there is probably a 1 mile wide strip of land that surrounds it on the outside. This open space lends itself quite well to NASCAR-like pre-gaming. People bring in campers. They have grills and flat screen TVs. They are dressed - um - spirited. (Nothing like the couture outfits we would wear to a UNC game. I'm talking paint, socks, bags, t-shirts... I even saw a pair of boobs dressed for the occasion.) Duke knew two different groups of tailgaters partaking in the fun, so we spent our 4 hours before the game bouncing back and forth between the spreads.
Mike, on the other hand, hit the scalping circuit the minute we got to Beaver Stadium. I am not exaggerating when I tell you he spent the full four hours looking for tickets. The game had started, Duke had found tickets for his family, and I was sitting on a curb waiting for my husband to return. We were tired, hot, and ticket-less.
We never ended up getting into the game. It was so sad! But while I was manning my curb I did manage to help a group of undercover cops catch a criminal...
Yes, I know it sounds totally outrageous, but it's true. I was sitting on my curb and heard this stampede of people behind me. Freaked out, I turned around and in that very second some kid comes lunging into me. He trips and falls into the street. Within seconds a swarm of cops were on top of him... They slammed his head into the pavement and handcuffed him. Even though I was more ready to cry by this point than I had been throughout Mike's failed ticket search, I managed to snap a pic for the blog!
Since we never got in the game, Mike and I headed to a famous ice cream shop (the Creamery), grabbed me some dinner, and then made the 6 1/2 mile walk back to our car and headed to Charlottesville. We got home around 2 am and - crankily - went straight to bed.
Here is a photo journal of the experience.
So back to the afternoon...
After picking up the other Bucys at the Super Motel 8, the five of us headed to campus and did a quick tour of Duke's undergraduate experience. We toured the Beta house, went to the famous stone Nittany Lion statue, ate lunch in the student union, and walked through the main quad... All of this touring started on the West side of campus, and our progressions eastward eventually led us to Beaver Stadium (the PSU football arena).
Beaver Stadium is unlike any football stadium I have ever seen. It's on campus, but there is probably a 1 mile wide strip of land that surrounds it on the outside. This open space lends itself quite well to NASCAR-like pre-gaming. People bring in campers. They have grills and flat screen TVs. They are dressed - um - spirited. (Nothing like the couture outfits we would wear to a UNC game. I'm talking paint, socks, bags, t-shirts... I even saw a pair of boobs dressed for the occasion.) Duke knew two different groups of tailgaters partaking in the fun, so we spent our 4 hours before the game bouncing back and forth between the spreads.
Mike, on the other hand, hit the scalping circuit the minute we got to Beaver Stadium. I am not exaggerating when I tell you he spent the full four hours looking for tickets. The game had started, Duke had found tickets for his family, and I was sitting on a curb waiting for my husband to return. We were tired, hot, and ticket-less.
We never ended up getting into the game. It was so sad! But while I was manning my curb I did manage to help a group of undercover cops catch a criminal...
Yes, I know it sounds totally outrageous, but it's true. I was sitting on my curb and heard this stampede of people behind me. Freaked out, I turned around and in that very second some kid comes lunging into me. He trips and falls into the street. Within seconds a swarm of cops were on top of him... They slammed his head into the pavement and handcuffed him. Even though I was more ready to cry by this point than I had been throughout Mike's failed ticket search, I managed to snap a pic for the blog!
Since we never got in the game, Mike and I headed to a famous ice cream shop (the Creamery), grabbed me some dinner, and then made the 6 1/2 mile walk back to our car and headed to Charlottesville. We got home around 2 am and - crankily - went straight to bed.
Here is a photo journal of the experience.
1 comment:
Ash- you are a better wife/woman than me for sure! 1) I wouldn't have gotten up at the crack of dawn to go with my hubby to a football game (not without some major complaining IN THE LEAST) 2) What did the bloody kid do? 3) your hair looks cute and 4) Lexie is a cutie. I love your stories! I sware you are always on an adventure.
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