WAR EAGLE!!! (Sorry hubs ...)

This weekend, while I should have been studying for my board exam, Stuart and I traveled to The Loveliest Village to watch the Tigers (and the Dawgs)!  It had been a year since I had been back, and Stuart can attest to the fact that I was basically giddy as we rolled into town.  Unfortunately I am old and all my college friends have moved on to different parts of the country, but our memories are still at AU in full force!  Here's a not-so-quick rundown of the weekend:

Thursday night, I slaved over a hot stove (literally ... I was sweating) and concocted some pumpkin cupcakes with salted caramel buttercream frosting.  They were delicious and had just the right subtle orange-ness for the tailgate.  Friday morning my dad had neck surgery, so we headed up to Bham at 4 am for that.  The surgery went wonderfully (dad can swallow again, hooray!!) and after we visited with the post-op Morphine-intoxicated dad for a while, we drove down to Auburn.

Saturday morning we headed out bright and early to my old stomping-grounds.  The highways on the rolling plains of Dixie were covered with cars which were covered with tiger tails and flags.  We came into town and parked at the Arboretum, where I used to host College of Science and Math events.  The sky was cloudless and the weather was perfect!   

Our first stop, after dropping off the aforementioned cupcakes at our tailgate, was to get a gameday button from the Haley bookstore.  These are one of my favorite gameday traditions.  Students send in cheeky gameday slogans and the winner gets featured on a button which is mass produced and free to all fans!  This game's slogan: Bulldozed.

Can you guess what game this was from?

After that my wonderful husband suggested we go see Tiger Walk!  I almost fainted but immediately accepted the offer!  You can read a chill-inducing article on Tiger Walk here, but I'll give you the short story.  The AU athletic dorms are a short 1 block walk to the stadium.  The players used to walk from their dorm to the stadium as a team on Saturdays.  In the 1960s, students started running down the street and lining up to watch and encourage them.  The Tiger Walk has been in full force since then!

The band getting everyone fired up

Large amounts of people ... usually can't see the players but still fun!

After Tiger Walk came the main event!  Stuart and I, nervous that our marriage wouldn't survive the game (just kidding), headed up the stadium ramps to our upper deck seats.  I was overjoyed to find that in the MSU section where we were sitting, half the seats were filled with Auburn fans!  I felt right at home.  Stu had some MSU people beside and behind him, so we both had some camaraderie.

The pregame show contains two of my other favorite gameday traditions.  One is the AU band ... first marching once around the stadium and playing the fight song, and then afterward spelling out Auburn on the field.

Look at us in our opposing colors!

Pregame fight song

Band marching on for the pre-game festivities

After the players ran out (carrying the American flag, I might add!)

Of course the other favorite is the Eagle's flight!  There are several stories as to how this tradition got started ... I don't think anyone really knows.  But all you really need to know is that "War Eagle" is a battle cry, NOT a mascot!!!  It's really rare for me to get through this without a tear in my eye.  And Stuart, a non-AU fan, even admits it's one of the coolest football traditions out there.  This week though, was a flight I will never forget.  See the video to find out why!

Ummm ... what just happened??!  Bobby Lowder must have been in that box seat.  I don't know what I would have done if Spirit smashed a little harder into that window!  He gave some people in the crowd a scare, but I have never seen a more intense flight!

Of course if you watched the game, you know the results.  It was basically a shoot-out, and Auburn won ... literally in the last 5 seconds of the game.  Stuart and I cheered our guts out (my fingers "swol" up around my rings from clapping so fiercely) while sitting right next to each other and didn't even exchange dirty glances.  I'll call it a success!

After the game was over ... I gently persuaded Stu to come witness the toilet papering of Toomer's Corner.  For his sake, we just watched from the outside because I didn't want to rub anything in.  This tradition (started as a way to notify the townspeople after Auburn away game victories) is still going even after Harvey Updyke.  He may have ruined our trees but he can't break the Auburn Family spirit!  The two oaks were noticeably thinner and brown at the top compared to last year.  Hopefully they can hang on ...

Is this a postcard picture or what?!  =)

After the game, we headed to Provino's, a local family owned Italian restaurant that has these garlicky buttery rolls that will make your breath stink for days.  The next morning we headed out bright and early to the Auburn CoC to hear a wonderful sermon from Jim Brinkerhoff - the man that married us just over a year ago!!  And what is a good sermon if you don't get a good Sunday meal afterward?!  Well, we headed on over to Opelika to Whispering Oaks plantation house where they do some mighty-fine soul food cookin on Sundays!

Entrance to Whispering Oaks.  You know this is a good sign.

With our bellies full of lima beans and dressing, we made the trip back to our little place on the shore ... with some new memories and secure knowledge that our marriage is based on more than college football  =)