Catholics and Baptists

Well now, that sounds like the start of a really inappropriate joke. Good news though, it's just the description of the football game we attended. Though some could argue, that was a bit of a joke as well.

 

We traveled down to South Bend for the game on Saturday, knowing what the likely outcome would be. Part of the fun for me was just to experience ND's campus - I had a lot of friends growing up who were big ND football fans. I never really understood why but just recently someone on Facebook asked a mutual friend who is a ND fan why so many people from Rochester love them. His explanation was simple enough: "Irish Catholic connection." That does make sense - my hometown has a very large Catholic population and a pretty robust Catholic high school system. I just never made the connection. But the allure of ND had always been so built up for me and I was just curious to get to experience the school and a football game there.

 

It was pretty neat to walk around the campus, especially since we were with two friends who were alum. Matt's college roommate Jason had attended law school there and his fiancé, Ting, had gone there for both undergrad and law school. I always like visiting other people's colleges - it's such a little bubble of life experiences and I always find myself imagining how my life would be different had I experienced those formative years in this bubble versus my own.

 

We stopped at all the important sites - the shiny gold dome, the basilica, the grotto and of course, Touchdown Jesus. I'm not sure he was taking Demon Deacon prayers that day.

 

Even though we got absolutely womped on the field, it was still a pretty cool experience. (Embarrassingly womped. Painfully womped.) It was an interesting seeing a game that was just so deeply entrenched in tradition. And, as a double bonus, the weather gods were kind to us still. It was cold but I was prepared to be miserably cold. With all my cold weather gear on and my hot hands in my mittens, it was tolerable. Which is more than I can say for our football team.

 

Weekend Update

Holy cow, this was a crazy busy weekend. At least busy by new standards which is "events that require me to blow dry my hair and/or wear pants with a button." This weekend that was THREE events.

Friday, Bo and I drove down to Charlotte for my sister's birthday part. Charlotte is the perfect road trip distance for us right now - Bo's on a 3 hour feeding schedule and it takes me almost 2 hours to get to my sister's house. I try to time long distance drives with when he naps best, so that meant I got down to Katie's before she was home from school.

We made ourselves at home while we waited.

We had dinner and some playtime with Aunt Katie, and then Bo went down for bed right before the party started. (Perfect timing!) The party was fun and it was great to meet a lot of the friends I've heard Katie talk about before, although I could have done without being referred to as "older Claffey." We stayed up way too late - after the guests left and Dylan and I cleaned up the kitchen, I briefly considered just hanging out for another 30 minutes or so for Bo's middle of the night feeding. (I didn't and he gifted me by sleeping for an extra 2 hours past his usual wake up time!) I was sleepy when the Bo alarm went off for real in the morning, but it was worth the trip to celebrate my baby sister's birthday!

When I got back to Winston, Matt's sister Micah met me at home for a Bo hand off. She had mentioned she wanted to some playtime with the Bo, and somehow Matt convinced her to babysit while we tailgated and went to the Wake game. Sister in law to the rescue! I'm not sure she knew she was signing up for a full day with the Biscuit, but she was a total trooper. Hopefully he paid her in smiles and giggles, since I know there was at least one outfit change that occurred.

Our tailgate - the last one of the year! - was super fun. It was a perfect fall day - just a little crisp, but warm in the sun. Ever since we did our low country boil at the beach, we had talked about doing one for a tailgate. It worked out great - and it was lots of fun standing around the table eating together. Usually people are all over the place at our tailgates - someone is grilling, other people are playing washers or cornhole, the girls are usually sitting in chairs and chatting. We realized we rarely eat together and it was a nice change of pace.

I also brought back my new favorite fall drink that I had in Charlottesville - the snakebite! Half cider and half beer. I love cider but I get so overdone on the sugar... and I'm not a big fan of beer anymore. This is the perfect half and half.

And for once... we had a winning team! A solid win for the Deacons. About time!

We came home from the tailgate and crashed hard. I put the baby to bed while Matt made pizza and I think we both got to bed around 9:30. I'd blame parenthood for our exciting Saturday nights, but I think we've always crashed early after tailgates. Standing around in the sun eating and drinking will take it out of you!

Finally, on Sunday morning, we met up with Anne and Locke for breakfast at Mary's Gourmet Diner. That's on our Dining in the Dash list, so I'll have to save my thoughts on that for a separate post. Bo came with us for that and was in pretty good spirits, despite the long wait eating up most of his precious "alert time" and running into what needed to be the next nap time!

I wrapped up Sunday night with a great dance trance class led by Anne. It's funny how much I used to dread Sunday nights... and now, they are just like any other day. In one way, it is kind of weird how the weekends don't feel different than any other day. There's no sleeping in on Saturday mornings or staying out late on Friday. (Well apparently there is, but there is major payback to the piper when that is done.) But on the other hand, it's an amazingly great feeling not to have the Sunday night dread. I love going to bed on Sundays knowing that my little alarm clock will certainly wake me up bright and early, but the first thing on our agenda will be to do tummy time (for Bo) and coffee time (for Mom.)

It was a super fun weekend, but busy busy busy. The next few days will be much more laid back, which means getting Bo back on a good nap schedule and getting me back into yoga pants! (It's all about balance, of course.)

Deacs on the Road

I can't believe we took off on another road trip so soon after our last one, but Grandma had so much fun with Bo she just insisted we go away again. I swear.

The idea of traveling up to Charlottesville to watch the Deacs sounded great at the start of the season. It's an easy road trip to a city we both love visiting and a game we were likely to win. However, by the time the game rolled around I think everyone was a little hesitant to put the miles on their car to watch the Deacons play anywhere. It's been a tough season.

Fortunately, Charlottesville is - hands down - one of my favorite places to visit. I never would have known about it if Jess hadn't lived there for so many years, but she introduced us to so many great things about Charlottesville. It has the most amazing restaurants, wonderful vineyards within driving distance and it's really just a beautiful and fun city to visit. (It is also the home of the hardest race I have ever run - the Charlottesville 10 miler. Ugh.) It's a short, easy and scenic drive from Winston-Salem, too. So on Friday afternoon, we kissed the Biscuit good-bye (again) and hit the road with Anne and Locke.

We arrived late Friday night and had a fantastic dinner at Michael's Bistro on the corner. Afterwards we went to a nearby bar to meet up with the rest of our group, but I had learned my lesson in Memphis and called it quits early to take advantage of getting some serious SLEEP.

The game was at noon which meant breakfast tailgate which in Charlottesville means one and only one thing: Bodo's Bagels. We tailgated for a little while before heading into to the game and finding spots on "the hill" to watch. The Deacs actually did win, but it was not what you would call a comfortable win. And this is certainly a team that they should have had a nice, cushiony win. Deacon football can really toy with one's emotions.

We did win though, and on the road, so we'll take it. After dinner, we went out for some appetizers and happy hour drinks at South Street Brewery before heading over to the mall. (For those who haven't been to Charlottesville, the mall is actually a pedestrian-only brick street of restaurants and stores.) We continued the happy hour at a wine bar called Positively Fourth before heading over to a "burger bar" for a late dinner. Pimiento cheeseburger? You are my best friend.

There was talk of continuing the evening but I reminded myself of my Memphis lessons again and Matt and I packed it in for the night. We had a great time away with friends, but I think we were both so eager to hit the road Sunday morning. We were up, showered and packed before 9 am! It was a fun weekend in a beautiful city and I know we still love to travel, but it is now just as exciting to go back home!

Just Another Fall Weekend in the South

Another fall weekend spent doing what we love: tailgating!

This was a noon game so we did a breakfast tailgate - mimosas & Bloody Mary's, eggs & bacon on the grill and the most ridiculous pecan rolls from Camino Bakery. Despite the fact that noon games mean shorter tailgates, we can still manage to squeeze a few thousand calories in during those short hours.

This was Bo's first tailgate AND game. We only stayed for half the game because it was super hot - even on the shaded side of the stadium! Despite the heat and the noise, he did great and slept through most of the game. Around half time, I figured my luck would probably run out soon and we should pack up and head home. My instincts were right on - as soon as I hit the parking lot, my snoozing Deac fan woke up and stared SCREAMING. (Maybe he was just mad I made him leave the game?)

It was insult added to injury when we got home from the game and I walked in the door expecting the relief of the a/c to hit us.... and discovered it had broken. This doesn't sound so bad in September but it was 84 outside. And 86 inside.

Bo got a quick bath and was swaddled up with just his diaper on and a fan blowing for a nap and I poured a cold glass of Pinot Grigio and retreated to the porch, which was actually cooler than my house. (In fact, that was where Matt ended up sleeping that night!)

Ahh, fall. Nothing like sweating your bum off in your own house in the middle of September to remind you that even though there's football games and Halloween candy in the store, it's still practically summer in the south.

Kickoff!

Tailgate season is upon us once again!

Or as some people like to call it: football season.

The fact that there’s a game we attend is really just a minor detail in my grand scheme of thing. (This is where my husband starts to wonder why he bothers to buy me a season ticket...) Don’t get me wrong – I actually enjoy watching football now and can for the most part keep up with what’s happening on the field. But I am still partial to the action that happens before we get into the stadium: the meal planning & preparation, the picking out of my black & gold outfit each week and of course, the eating, drinking and schmoozing once we arrive. Go Deacs!

For the first game, my sister and I popped by the tailgate for an hour and brought Bo to introduce him to tailgate life. It was a little hot out, so we didn’t stay for the game. Bo was on his best behavior and enjoyed getting passed around and snuggled by all his aunties.

Last week our tailgate was a little more involved. The game was at 3:00 which meant we got to do a two meal tailgate: breakfast around 10:00 (mimosas, of course) and then a later lunch before heading into the game. Matt’s parent’s came up to watch Bo since we were going to be gone the majority of the day. The tailgate was a great success with about 22 people attending and we even had extra reason to celebrate since 2 friends had gotten engaged the night before!

(I borrowed this picture from Anne. Don’t mind Kelley wearing the wrong colors. She doesn’t know any better.)

We were packing up the tailgate to head into the game when all of a sudden the skies opened up and let loose. It was quite a torrential downpour.  Good timing that we had barely gotten the tailgate packed up! Although it only lasted about ten minutes or so, we learned there would be a game delay of 45 minutes to see if another storm cell was going to pass over us.

So we did what seemed most logical: pulled out one table, one tent and a bunch of solo cups and started a flip cup tournament. Those 45 minutes standing in the drizzle with everyone crowded around the table, cheering, yelling and spilling beer (and then champagne) everywhere will go down as one of my favorite tailgate memories. Usually we’re all spread out among our three tents, eating and chatting or people are off playing cornhole or washers. Despite the bad weather all around us, it was so fun to have everyone squeeze together under one tent and hang out together before heading into the game.

I was honestly a little disappointed when the fun was over and it was time to head into the game! Looks like I wasn’t the only one who felt that way, as the student section remained pathetically empty the whole game.

Fortunately though, the Deacs won and it turned out to be an exciting and close game against our I-40 rivals, the Tar Heels. And in just a few weeks, we’ll get to do it all over again… minus, hopefully, the pre-game monsoon.

Go Deacs!

Honky-Tonks and Bowl Games

Nashville!  We packed a lot in to our one day in Nashville.  I had breakfast in the morning with my high school friend, Tamara and her boyfriend, Max.  I haven’t seen Tamara since my wedding and had never met Max, so breakfast turned into wandering over to the coffee shop next door to linger a little longer…

Then I headed back to the hotel to pick up Matt, and we turned around and came back downtown… to eat again!  We went to this place over near Vanderbilt’s called Jackson’s Bistro.  It was so, so good.  I wanted at least ten things on the menu, but since I had just come from breakfast a few hours earlier I stuck with a Caesar salad and tomato soup (which coincidentally, happen to be two my favorite foods anyways.)  But before I could sign that meal off as being too healthy, Matt and I split what the restaurant is famous for – a cookie dough egg roll.  It was as amazing as it sounds.

Now, thoroughly stuffed, we drove over to the Broadway area to see the infamous stretch of Honky-Tonks.  The road was blocked off near the river for a pep rally for the game, and the streets were packed with Wake Forest and Mississippi State fans.  Sadly, more Miss St fans than Wake fans…. my ears were already bleeding from the sound of cowbells which threatened to drown out the noise of the live bands playing in each of the bars.  We wandered for a bit, then settled in to one bar with some live music that was a Shania Twain-Patsy Cline cross.  (Side note: you don’t realize quite how much you appreciate the smoking ban in bars until you are someplace that does NOT have it.  Ugh.)  We tapped our heels to Any Man of Mine and I Go Walkin’ for a few rounds, then packed it up to head over to the stadium.

The stadium was surprisingly full – and the cow bells were once again in full effect.

There’s something different about being at a bowl game (or away game, for that matter) with your fellow fans.  There’s a more intense camaraderie than there is even at a home game.  (That feeling didn’t stop me from wanting to “accidentally” dump my $8 soda on to the fan sitting next to me who thought it was her explicit job to let the defense know it was time to TACKLE TACKLE TACKLE on every single play.) 

We cheered and we cheered, but alas the Deacs didn’t go home victorious this game.  It was a pretty close back and forth game, so it definitely wasn’t a complete embarrassment unlike some of other losses this year.  Disappointing to lose but a fun experience nonetheless. 

Go Deacs!  And now…. time to wrap up this adventure and Go Home!

8 Points

I can’t think of one thing that would have made this weekend better.

Okay, wait.

That’s not totally true.  I can think of 8 things that would have made this weekend better.

8 teensy, tiny little points would have made this weekend better.

But seriously, other than Wake Forest’s loss to Notre Dame, it was a perfect weekends.  Three of Matt’s college roommates – Jason, Mark and Mike - came into town, along with Jason bringing his girlfriend Ting for us to meet the first time.  Pam and Craig came down from Boston, Jenny came from Raleigh and my sister came up from Charlotte.  Along with our usual tailgating crew and Winston friends, I think we had 20 some people come to pregame Friday night at our house and tailgate (for EIGHT hours!!) Saturday before the game.  I just felt like every time I turned around that weekend there was a friend I wanted to hug and talk to and clink glasses with and cheer on our football team with.  (Oh, Wake Forest. Oh, oh, oh, Wake Forest.)

Despite the loss, such a happy happy weekend.