A Football Visit to LSU

Kenny and I were fortunate enough to get up to Baton Rouge for the LSU-MSU football game on September 17. Adam and Erin came over from Texas and joined us. We had such a fun time; it was so great to be back on campus again and see all of the familiar places, as well as the many changes.

We decided to eat at Chimes before the game. We nixed tailgating since it was just the four of us and since the weather forecast was very iffy for the whole afternoon. We got really lucky and never saw a drop of rain, but I’m still glad we got to go to Chimes. It was really crowded (we even saw our friends Cynthia and Brock), and we waited a long time. However, we managed to snag a table in the bar area, thanks to a really nice family noticing us waiting. (And two of them ended up sitting right next to Adam and Erin at the game! Crazy.)

 

Cheese fries, blackened alligator, crab cake sandwich, roast beef po-boy, beer, and Florida State getting killed by Louisville on tv in the background, all the while surrounded by a sea of people in purple and gold, excited about another home game. It was a great afternoon.

 

We left Chimes just after 3 and walked down Highland to the epic new bookstore (where there is a plane hanging from the ceiling!!). We said hi to the Campanile on the way and also walked through the Union, which is so different since the bookstore is no longer there. And we ran into Ashley and Greg, who were there with their kiddos.

After that, we made our way over to the stadium and just barely caught the band coming down the hill. Then Kenny and I went to find our bricks and say hi to Mike. He was pacing on the far side of his enclosure, but we found a great spot near a break in the bushes to see him. At one point, he stopped just out of our view and stood there panting. I started talking in my “kitty-cat” voice, and he totally walked forward and looked right at me. It was really cool.

  

I reluctantly said goodbye to Mike so we could head into the stadium in time to see pregame. I really liked where our seats were: they were completely opposite from where we used to sit as students, in the southeast corner.

The game moved a bit slowly and actually got boring at times, but I luckily had something else to hold my attention: an absolutely gorgeous sunset. It just kept getting prettier and prettier.

Adam and Erin were able to move right in front of us early in the second half, so we got to chat more with them as we watched the Tigers beat the Bulldogs. MSU turned it on at the end but we held on to win 23-20. So fun hanging out without any kids around! (No offense, Riley and Rory. Love you boys!)

LSU’s next game wasn’t nearly as good; they lost on the road to Auburn. And then the head coach, Les Miles, and the offensive coordinator, Cam Cameron, were fired. It’s certainly going to be an interesting season.

So glad we got the chance to get to a game this year, though. Big thanks to Nola and Nopsi for keeping the boys for us!