Fond Farewell

As mentioned in a previous post, we planned to be in NC for a week.  We've accomplished 2 out of 3 major things we planned while here.  (Football game in Chapel Hill and dinner with friends.)  Now it's time to clean out the cupboards and fridge, get outdoor furniture put away and start closing things up. 

What was originally scheduled as our end of the season Pot Luck Supper Club dinner, turned into a casual dinner hosted by the Pucks.  All the regulars (minus Bonnie and Ray) were there, plus some other couples the Puck's invited.  Fortunately, we will see many of the regulars (including Bonnie and Ray) in Florida!

Bob Puck, Bob Schubert, Frank, and Don Neary

Brenda Puck and Toby Schubert

Mark, John and Betsy

Bonnie Alter, Terry Ainsworth, Leann and Barbara Neary

And in the words of Mr. Neary...."Thank you very much, I had a wonderful time." 

Comeback Kids

The Noles were on the road this week to play the UNC Tarheels in Chapel Hill.  We were very excited because Ray and Bonnie (both FSU grads) were coming along.  We all planned to spend a few days before the game in Boone and then ride together.

Many people did not have high expectations for the Seminoles, but we were looking forward to cheering them on.  We got situated at the hotel and then had a yummy lunch of tasty bison burgers at Ted's. 

After lunch, we headed to Durham where we planned to meet up with several other Noles at the Carolina Inn where the Boosters were staying.  The plan was to go to a local restaurant (owned by a Nole), nosh a bit before the game and then walk to the stadium. While we were at the hotel, we had the opportunity to meet William Floyd.  (He's Gene Deckerhof's side-kick and participates in the radio commentary.)

The Jones Brothers with William. 

The game was scheduled to kickoff at 8:00pm.  What a perfect night for football!  We anticipated the weather was going to be chilly, but it turned out to be very pleasant!

The Bell Tower, a significant landmark in the Chapel Hill-Raleigh-Durham area, sits in the middle of the UNC campus.

We had great seats!  (Well as great as you can get when you're the visiting team, in the corner of the stadium - 12 rows up.)  There were several 'firsts' for UNC - this was their first Thursday night game and the first time they were wearing dark blue uniforms.

 

Ray, Bonnie, Frank and Leann.

Spotted him!  "Fabio" was sitting 8 rows behind us. 

Unfortunately none of the other usual spotters were at the game, so I win!

Christian Ponder, the Seminoles Quarterback.

Coach Bobby Bowden.

For the first 3 quarters, and part of the 4th, the Seminoles did not play very well.  Ok, they looks horrible!  It seemed there were flags on every play, the TarHeels kept scoring and it was very frustrating!  At one point, the only thing we had going for us was the terrific weather.

But things turned around, and the Seminoles were playing like a well-oiled machine!  Passes were being caught, touchdowns were being made, and in the end (literally the last second), they came away with a much-needed win!

Instead of watching the last few seconds of the game, I should have had my camera on the scoreboard.  No sooner than the game ended, the board was wiped clean! 

Christian Ponder cutting a piece of sod from the sideline. 

We had a nice time in Chapel Hill and the win certainly made for a much more enjoyable ride back to the hotel and the 3 hour ride the next day to Boone.

Congrats to the Seminoles on their win!

Bucs game - great weather, fun tailgate, not so good game

We had been looking forward to another tailgate in Tampa.  Organization duties had been passed to John and Jay.  We rendezvoused down the street from the stadium so we could get into the lot together and be able to park next too each other.  (That plan worked fabulously!)

The day promised perfect football weather!  Cooler temperatures, a bit breezy but sunny.  Turned out to be too windy for the tent, but that didn't stop us from having a great tailgate!

Jay, Tyler, Tyler's Dad, John, Leann & Frank

Girls rule!  Tyler and I had so much fun at the tailgate.  We both had our beads and had to get creative when finding toys.  (Note to self....a plate doesn't do so well as a frisbee when it's really windy.  But Koozies make great kid-sized footballs!)

The first tailgate in a LONG time where we actually sat down. 

The Tailgate Guys!

By the end of the tailgate, we had nearly another half dozen people that stopped by.

Snapped a picture of the flyover, from the parking lot.  (Another first....we weren't in our seats at kickoff!)

As mentioned, it was a great tailgate!  Ate well, met new friends and enjoyed the beautiful weather. 

Wish the stars had aligned for the Bucs. 

Update to recent post: The internet is amazing!

The day after posting the pictures and flyover video from the FSU-GT game, I received an email from my sister-in-law and fellow blogger, Kathy who is in Portland, OR.

She received a message from someone inquiring about the flyover video: 
"I am in the US Army and was a crew for the flyover at the GA Tech @ FSU game. I found a good video on it on one of your friend's pages, but have no way to message them to ask if I can have a copy. Their names were Frank and Leann. If you could direct me to them or pass along this message, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you for your help."

Well, this guy was pretty resourceful.  In the beginning of the blog, I had the "comments" activated.  But I started receiving a lot of spam messages and so deactivated.  Kathy had activated her comments.  Since her fabulous blog is one of our favorite links, he must have read one of her entries and contacted her.

Kathy LOVES these kind of connection stories so I knew she was anxious to see what would transpire. :o)  I tried emailing the video to Mr. Mullins (who was in Alabama), but it was too big.  So I uploaded it to youtube.com and then sent him a message with a link:

"Hi Robert - My sister-in-law (Kathy aka MamaMooregon) forwarded your message about the flyover from Saturday's game. Gotta love the internet - Frank and I are in Florida and you contacted my sister-in-law in Portland, OR!


First of all, THANK YOU!, for all you do in service to our country. I always get chills when there is a fly-over, no matter where we are. So again, Thank you!

Here is a link to our blog, specifically to the FSU-GaTech game: http://crazy-travelers.blogspot.com/2009/10/watching-game-in-style-fsu-vs-gatech.html.  I've also attached the file. (update....I just tried to send and it's too big.) I'll try to post on Facebook and/or youTube.

Which helicopter were you in and what seat? I would love to update our blog with this wonderful connection story."

After a few hours, I received a response.  (Guess he had to get some flying done.):

"Hey Leann, Thank you so much for posting that. You have a great video of the event. I was on the very back of the first one that went by. It was my job to clear obstacles on the left and rear of the helicopter making sure the pilots didn't take out the flagpoles. It was a great experience for me and the school really treated us great.

One of my co-workers texted me this morning to let me know the video is now on youtube, so thank you again for the video. I now get to add it to my facebook for my family and friends back home.



Thank you for your patriotism,
SSG Robert Mullins"


Always remember, never forget...have your camera!.  And then once you have the pictures or video, do something with it!  You never know, there may be someone out there who might really appreciate your efforts.

Watching the game in style! FSU vs GaTech

All of the "Usual Suspects" we normally tailgate with did not attend Saturday's game where FSU hosted Georgia Tech. So, no need to do what we normally do for tailgating. Instead, we did something we haven't been able to do this season...visit some of our other neighbor tailgaters! It was great to see the Gordon, Jeannie, Manny, et al.


Not only did we not have to do any setup/cleanup/cooking for a tailgate, we got to 'dress up'! (Usually we're wearing shorts/polo shirts.) Our friends, Flash and Bette extended a very generous invitation to be their guests in the skybox they share with Tom & Ginny Futch. Kickoff was set for 8:00pm and it had been threatening rain the whole day. (Needless to say, given the rains and heat during the last game, we were very thankful we'd be under cover.)

Ginny, Brandon, Elizabeth, Bette, Tom, Frank, Leann and Flash
(This was the 'early' group. Throughout the game, many more people visited.)

It was so nice to spend time with Flash and Bette and to meet more of their friends. Quite the spread of tasty food and cold beverages! Great tunes and several TVs to keep up with other games around the nation.

Is that Bobby in the box?

Ginny & Bette

Bobby leads the team to the sideline.

"Umph"! Chief Osceola and Renegade flawlessly execute the pre-game tradition.

Pretty cool flyover by 2 helicopters. Watch the guys in the first helicopter.

Kickoff was 8:00pm. Ten minutes into the game, it was called for lightening. Nearly 2 hours later, the game resumed. Thankfully we were inside with plenty of provisions and TVs.

The Marching Chiefs put on a pretty spectacular half-time show with the finale being a tribute to Michael Jackson and their performance of "Thriller".

Unfortunately the Seminoles did not win the game. But we had a good time with good friends!

Crappy Football Season

We had a GREAT tailgate for the FSU-USF football game, one before the game and one after! It was a lot of fun to have family (Richard) and several friends from Tampa (many who I have known for a LONG time) make the trip to Tallahassee.

The outcome of the game was not in our favor and was a horrible loss for the Seminoles. And to top it off...pictures from the tailgate are on another computer that had to go into the shop!

We haven't been around for any of the Bucs games, which also have been disappointing.

But unlike some fans, we are continuing to show our support and attend the FSU games and Bucs games when we're in town.