The weekend that was

All in all, it turned out pretty well I really must say. Despite driving 11 hours in 2 days and sleeping way too little, I got to see my team win live and in person for the first time in 11 years. You can't beat that.

So, Saturday morning I drove down to Jacksonville. It was a lovely day and the drive was just fine despite a little traffic in the city near the exit for the stadium. I drove past that and met Sam on Amelia Island, where our hotel was located. If you've never been, Amelia Island is one of the mostly unspoiled Florida beach towns that is about a polar opposite of places like Daytona and Panama City that are tacky and dirty. In contrast, the beaches here are beautiful, there are hardly any touristy shops or clubs or hotels, and the trees lined with old mossy live oaks are just quintessential old Florida. Anyhow, we met there, changed into our gear, and headed to the stadium with little time to spare.

After my post on Friday about her concern about clothing attire, you might be wondering what Sam wore. I'd brought about 4 FSU t-shirts or tank tops for her to choose from, but none of them were really what she had in mind. Sam was wearing a skin tight miniskirt and wanted a shirt that was girly and flattering, but also a little forgiving over the top of that miniskirt. Everything I had was either too big or too small, but she ultimately selected the stretchy baby tee that I wore to every single game last year. I had decided that shirt was cursed, so I was hesitant to let her wear it.

We got to the stadium midway through the first quarter due to a serious difficulty finding parking, and headed up to the top deck where our seats were located. Due to the demand for this game, not all FSU season ticket holders who requested them were able to get seats, so even though I'd been willing to pay more to sit in the lower deck I was happy that I got tickets at all. And surprisingly, as you can see from the photo above, the seats were still pretty good. It's a nice stadium, though I was surprised to hear that yesterday's game was better attended than the recent Super Bowl hosted at this stadium. What's up with that?

So we arrived to find a sputtering FSU offense and a 0-0 score. Up in our section the fans were rowdy, young, and largely very very drunk. I tried to explain to Sam that unlike at regular FSU games where everyone tailgates and gets shitfaced but then they sober up during the game because of the lack of alcohol in the stadium, that here everyone is not only shitfaced but has access to as much alcohol as they want so the situation was likely to continue to degenerate. At least 4 different people fell down the stairs while we were in our seats, including one girl who plowed right into the back of me and nearly knocked me over, then burst out laughing, then announced "let's try that again!" and proceeded down the stairs.

Shortly after we arrived, an orange T-shirted guy who stuck out like a sore thumb showed up and sat almost directly in front of us. Yes, that's right, a Gator fan game to an FSU-Alabama game and wore a Gator T-shirt. I have decided that the Gators are now the college equivalent of the Yankees. They're cocky, obnoxious, but unfortunately have been insanely successful lately. And everyone hates them, except for the douchebags who are their fans. This guy was a supreme douchebag, standing up and loudly insulting our team and openly seeking the hostility he quickly got. Being that most of the people in our section were pretty hammered, the jeers were of questionable hilarity. "Santa Fe Dropout" was a nice touch (for those who don't know, Santa Fe Community College is located in Gainesville near UF and is where the wanna be Gators who can't get or stay into the university usually go), as was "don't tase me, bro!" but the one that really stuck was "he wears jean shorts!" Apparently this is a massive faux pas, and even though I was sitting with a former fashion editor we really didn't get it. Things were tense for awhile, with security even coming up the steps to see what was going on. (This prompted one guy to say "he's right there, officer, get him!" while pointing out the Gator. That was freaking hilarious.)

Midway through the second quarter I noticed that suddenly Xavier Lee was playing at quarterback, which I was thrilled to see. I don't know how it translated on TV, but the energy of the offense totally changed when he took over. And as we know from the results in the second half, Lee definitely got it done. I don't want to say I told you so, but I FUCKING TOLD YOU SO! So happy for Savior Lee and I hope he gets the start at NC State. If I never see Drew Weatherford throw a pass again it will be too soon.

Somewhere in the second half Sam disappeared for about 20 minutes. Turns out she decided to go buy an FSU shirt and try to rip it up into some sort of halter top. Lacking in scissors, she did this with her teeth and it didn't really work out as planned. So, she ripped the back of my cursed T-shirt up and tied it into something...strange. Let's say it was a work in progress. Anyhow, she takes credit for breaking the shirt's curse and I think she's slightly insane.

So, we won the game and it was awesome, and the people around us were fun and hilarious. Sam and I each had 2 Foster's oil cans and since we are lightweights with the booze we were pretty well hammered by the end of the game. Somewhere in the third quarter this really hot guy standing behind us started getting seriously flirtatious, and in my younger and dumber days I probably would've gone for it. But in my heart, I knew that he was really drunk and way younger than me and that it wasn't worth it. Call it maturity or getting fucking old, but despite Samantha's exhortations to me to make out with him (because there were people making out all over the stadium--like it was a nightclub at 2am, seriously) I ultimately declined. But I have pictures of him, because he was seriously fucking hot. So, yeah.

After the game we eventually made our way back to the hotel, and stayed up talking til the wee hours. We also had to listen to all the voicemails left by the drunk boys after we suddenly and mysteriously disappeared. Finally we got to sleep, but then crazy early this morning we both had to get up and head back to our respective homes. Sam left before I did, so I headed to the beach for my first taste of ocean air in 2 years, and soaked it up for awhile before beginning the long drive back. (Beach photos will be in a separate post.) It was glorious.

I feel so rejuvenated by the whole weekend--by seeing my team win, by seeing Sam again after over 6 months, after getting hit on by a hot guy who probably would have run screaming if he'd known my real age, and by sitting on a beach soaking it all in. Even though I am exhausted, I am recharged too. Bring on October.