Our Thanksgiving dinner was a little different this year. (We ate at lunch time, at a country club in Haines City.) It was nice to get together with Frank's Mom, sister/husband, brother/wife - and nobody had to cook or clean! (I'm thinking this might be a new tradition. The only drawback is no leftovers.)
 |
| Jan, Dwayne, Alice, Frank, Leann, Bonnie, Ray |
After lunch, Frank, and I, Ray and Bonnie headed for Tallahassee. The annual rivalry game with UF was being played in Tallahassee on Saturday. Their daughter (Megan) and son-in-law (Joe) were going to come up the next day and we'd all stay in the townhouse.
On Friday, errands were run and preparations were made for tailgating and afterward went to lunch at Jim and Milt's (BBQ). Couldn't help but snap a few pictures of things we saw around town.
 |
| Urban Cryer: Gainesville Finest Weiner |
Typically, we go to Get Down on Friday evening. But the weather was not being very cooperative. After a break in the rain and the Auburn/Alabama game ended, we headed downtown and met up with several of the Usual Suspects.
 |
| Eric, Leann, Joe, Rick, Ray, Frank, Megan, Bonnie and Joanne |
 |
After dinner, there was a band (Eli) playing on the plaza and we hung out for a while.
Bonnie, Leann, Joanne and Bonnie |
GAME DAY!!! We were looking forward to the annual rivalry game - FSU vs UF. I had a tailgate theme in mind the whole season and we were expecting lots of visitors.
 |
| Renegade making his/her way to the stadium. |
We wanted our visitors from Gainesville to feel right at home, so we had a redneck themed tailgate. (It was so much fun coming up with ideas!)
 |
| A little play on the redneck "Git-er-done". |
 |
| Tailgate Menu - self explanatory. |
 |
| Early stages of tailgating. |
 |
| Every redneck bar needs some punch-in-a-pail along with some Gator Whine! |
 |
All our UF visitors were good sports and enjoyed the grub we put out...even the
"Oh I'm glad I'm not an Urban Meyer wiener" weenies. |
 |
| Just couldn't resist. |
 |
| Alden - the youngest "gator hater". |
 |
| Another mixed-marriage. |
 |
"The Real Housewives of FSU Tailgating"
Leann, Bonnie, Lynne and Joanne |
 |
The Usual Suspects and Hosts of the FSUTAILG8ERS:
Rick, Frank, Leann, Joanne, Ray, Bonnie, Ron and Lynne |
 |
The Clarke Family! (Frank's nephew and his family were on their way from Thanksgiving in Fort Walton. And while they didn't have tickets to the game, they wanted to be part of the festivities in Tallahassee!)
Angie, Ross, Hannah and Phil |
 |
This represents about half of the people that visited our tailgate. The weather was perfect!
All the UF visitors were good sports and took all our fun-poking in stride. |
 |
| Fried gator - tastes like turkey! |
 |
| Super Noles! |
 |
Always a treat to see Janie and Duey!
Ray, Janie, Duey and Frank |
GAME ON!!!
FSU and UF entrance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCAPja6hFPc&feature=player_embedded
 |
| Ray, Bonnie, Janie and Leann |
 |
| Warrick Dunn |
We were on our feet nearly the entire game! So exciting!!!
FLORIDA STATE W-I-N-S!!!
Awesome game! Big win for Jimbo and the Noles!!!!
Thank you for what you've done with the program at FSU!!
(Sorry Gators, this just isn't your year.)
And THANK YOU Maryland!!! (For beating NC State.)
FSU is headed for the ACC Championship this weekend in Charlotte and so are we!
We had a great time having Ray, Bonnie, Megan and Joe stay with us and bring friends to the tailgate!
On Sunday, we went to the basketball game - another opportunity for FSU to beat the gators!
It was a very exciting game, but unfortunately it didn't end in our favor.
All in all, it was a great weekend and so much to be thankful for!
