The next weekend was the biggest football game of the regular season – the much-hyped Alabama/LSU showdown. After some consideration, Phillip and I decided to head to Tuscaloosa – without tickets and (gasp) without a plan. This was actually my challenge for the weekend. Since Phillip wanted to go, I left it to him to make all of the arrangements (or not, you know, whatever, I’m rolling with it). So on Saturday morning we gathered some stuff to put in a cooler, realized we needed a mid-sized cooler, and went to Walmart where we found a lovely blue number with wheels. After this small delay and a Chick-Fil-A run for Phillip’s breakfast, we finally hit the road to Tuscaloosa. On the way there, I asked Phillip where he thought we should try to park to which he replied, “I thought we were parking at Catherine’s.” Nooo, that would be a component of a plan I would make and I’m not supposed to make plans today. But, I made an exception and got in touch with Catherine to ask if we could once again park at her (former) house. Catherine and her family are always so wonderful to let us stash our vehicle, even when we ask last minute! So we get to Tuscaloosa and after a quick visit with Catherine’s parents, begin to wander about, pulling our cooler. As awkward as this seemed to me, we fit right in on game day. Our first actual order of business was to meet our friend Gabe (and whoever happened to be with him). After loitering on a corner for a while, we finally spotted Gabe, our friend Matt, and Gabe’s sister, Audra. Luckily, Audra had a friend who was hosting a tailgate at her house a few blocks away.
Matt and Gabe enjoying the free food.
This actually turned out to be the perfect spot to spend the day – there were games on the televisions outside and some LSU fans were cooking up some jambalaya in a giant iron pot.
Giant pot of jambalaya as prepared by an authentic LSU fan.
We made the front porch our base camp and spent the day catching up with various friends including our groomsman Josh (all the way from Kentucky) and my sorority sister Emily and her husband Matt (all the way from Indiana).
Audra and Gabe
Phillip and Gabe talking shop (i.e., residency).
Josh and Gabe on the way back from visiting Darren's tailgate where we enjoyed even more Cajun food.
Now, there’s just not much to say about the game. It was a tense four quarters. We split from the tailgate pretty quickly and headed back to Catherine’s house. Although the general mood was pretty dismal, Catherine’s dad Roy was incredibly optimistic saying that the loss was the best possible thing that could have happened. He then proceeded to lay out a precise series of events that would lead to Alabama’s appearance in the National Championship game. At that point, everyone in the room had decided that Roy was delirious from disappointment, but when all he said came to pass, we began to wonder what else Roy McCord knew. It was a long, win-less day, but we did enjoy getting to see so many of our friends. I survived without a plan and, of course, we came home with a new blue wheely cooler of our very own.
