LS-WHO? Well, we found out the HARD way...

So, the entire crew traveled west to Baton Rouge, LA full of Crimson Pride and Optimisim.  We came home with the pride, but the optimism must have gotten lost somewhere.  Ahem...moving on!

The weekend started with a stay in Houma, LA.  I just love that deep in the heart of Tiger country and "Tiger Bait" my dearest friend Lorie proudly sends her daughter to pre-school dressed like this:

 

No trip to or from Houma should be considered complete without some fresh seafood and there is only one place for top quality...Bayou Side.  Shameless plug here for a family business, but with a family like the Whitneys, you can count on quality!  So we did what any tourists would do -- take pictures!  Notice how we were dressed for the 1 hr ride into Baton Rouge.

Once we got into Baton Rouge, we had so many great plans for revelrie...we were so happy to be in town (remember the mention of optimism?) and we wanted everyone to know we were there (remember the Crimson Pride?)

We stopped by the hotel bar for Happy Hour before going to a lovely Italian dinner at Gino's.  We were pretty sure we were in the presence of celebrities.  There was a toss up--is this guy Will Ferrell or George W Bush?  You be the judge.  Nevertheless, here's the photo montage of our evening:

Now, it had been a loooooooong day and a loooooooong evening.  Happy Hour was very HAPPY!  So the following video should not be viewed by the faint of heart.  We were safe in our hotel and had only to stumble towards our beds.  Therefore, we thoroughly enjoyed our Crimson Pride and Optimism in liquid form.  The only reason I am sharing this with you is because the "Where's Waldo" version of Lorie's cameo near the end of the shot makes me giggle every. single. time...here goes nothing:

It may be hard to believe, but we were up bright and early the next day.  You know what they say, right?  Get back on that horse! Giddyup!  Ugh, get me to some strong coffee STAT!

What were we thinking posing with these LSU balls?  That may have been the beginning of the end for us.  That washed away the mojo.

 This is love...Fun times!

Somebody call PETA!  Those dogs have been shaved to read "Tigers" and "LSU".  Poor creatures.

Okay, you will notice that I have no pictures of inside the stadium.  I don't really want to remember that part of the trip.  I don't want to hear about how well we played and blah, blah, blah.  Just get me out of there. 

I'm not sure who this guy is, but for some reason it occured to us to pose for a picture with him.  So we did.  Twice.

It's easy to be a graceful loser when you know the Cadillac Cafe has reserved a table for you.  It's also easy to keep your Crimson Smile upturned when you are drowning your sorrows.  Geez. 

My mom went to high school with the Cadillac Cafe's owner, Anthony Gallo.  He lives in Baton Rouge now, but still has love in his heart for the Tide.  He gave us the star treatment and welcomed us to his club.  We were the minority there and the victorious home-team-crowd could have/should have been a little rowdy toward us but we didn't care.  The Gallos wrapped their southen hospitality around us and made sure we enjoyed ourselves. A little Aspirin the next morning and some dark sunglasses will help finish that sentiment.

That's a wrap for this weekend.   I have been in Baton Rouge when Bama won and I have been in Baton Rouge when Bama lost.  I think I can honestly say I have seen it all.  Trust me when I say you are thanking me for not sharing ~all~ my stories of this weekend with y'all.  There were some crazy happenings.

As always and no matter what, Roll Tide people!

Urban Legend

I could complete this post with one simple statement: "It takes less than you think to make a Gator cry."  Hahaha...I saw this quoted on a sticker perched upon the lapel of many coeds in Tuscaloosa this past Saturday.  This quote pretty much sums up the day, but what's the fun in a one-line sumation?

This weekend marked the first time Alabama played Florida in a regular season game since 2006.  However, it was as much if not more exciting than the last time these two teams met -- last year at the SEC Championship which ended in a Crimson victory 32-13 and in a hospitalized Urban Meyer.

So, with no further ado, let's go to Tuscaloosa!  In case you need reminding, this weekend was a big one for the Morris family.  Happy Anniversary, Bobby!

We drove to the game as a group...so let's get a group shot:

Yep, that's Matt, Josh, Meredith, Bobby, and me!  Roll Tide!

Now, the day started off beautifully.  There was a crisp breeze in the air and the excitement was palpable.  So after parking and visiting with some of Meredith's sweet family, we headed across campus to meet up with Jonathan and Laura.  Did I mention the excitement?  Just look at the "name" of their tailgating spot:

It didn't take long until we started getting our groove on!

 Well, that was fun, but now it's game time.  Here's how our view of the field looked:

I am so relieved the game is going well!

In fact, some people enjoyed the game so much one spectator decided to kick his shoes off, sit back, and relax!  I'm telling you, folks, you just can't make this stuff up!

 Well, this one's a wrap!  G'night, football fans!  I've got a very important song to sing!

"...Hey Gators!  We just beat the hell out of YOU!! Rama Jammer!  Yellowhammer!  Give 'em Hell Alabama!" 

Welcome to Alabama, Joe Pa!

***Author's Note 8/31/2012 I am leaving this post in tact, changing no words about it. But at the very mention of Joe Paterno, I must offer my prayers to all the victims in the Sandusky crimes, to all the innocent football players whose football careers will be marred by association with this program, and to all the residents of Happy Valley who simply love football and now question every truth they believed about Penn State University and its "respected" leaders.***

This is a recap of a game from 2 wks ago...yesterday the Morrises traveled to Dalton, GA for a family reunion -- more about that later -- and had to listen to the game on the radio.

Am I the only one who was curious as to what qualifies a lion to be a "Nittany Lion"?  Apparently, "the origins of 'Nittany' are a bit obscure, but most likely the word comes from a Native American term meaning, 'single mountain.' (Since a number of Algonquian-speaking tribes inhabited central Pennsylvania, the term can’t be traced to one single group.) The description applied to the mountain that separates what is today Penns Valley and Nittany Valley, with its western end overlooking the community of State College and Penn State's University Park campus. The first colonial settlers in the 1700s adopted this term, or a variation of it, in formally naming Nittany Mountain."  Thank you Penn State for the answer.

On Sept. 11th, Alabama played host to Penn State U's Nittany Lions.  Head Coach Joe Paterno faced the Crimson Tide for the first time since the '90s.  It's kinda an iconic day--"Joe Pa" coached against The Bear and now against Saban.  Also, there was a famous (knockoff) piece of hardware making the rounds on the Quad:

And who was that football player walking around with the trophy?  See below.  We managed to get a quick photo before he and his trophy moved on to other tailgate sites.

And it was hot!!! We were literally wilting.  We all went from "Hey, we are some cuties," to "can someone get me a napkin so I can dab my sweat?"  I think there was 150% humidity!  The poor fans from Pennsylvania looked like they were going into shock.  Even the most "seasoned" tailgaters started looking a little weak and/or sweaty:

This picture cracks me up!!! Jonathan and Meredith are the only ones "ready"...

Phew, it was a long day of tailgating, but it was finally game time!

Looking straight ahead at the new South Endzone

Here are a couple of shots from the pre-game introduction video and of the Boys of Fall doing their warm ups:

One last happy pose before kickoff:

We had a great time!  The final score was 24-3 which helped #1 Alabama stay at the top of the charts with their 2-0 season start.  And, in the words of Eli Gould, "It's good!"