Weekend At Gainesville

Went to visit the younger heir at University of Florida last weekend. 

Little did I know when I booked the flight and trip that it was Homecoming Weekend.

Traffic was rather interesting as a result.

Made it through the traffic jams, and had a great weekend.  Took the kid shopping and errand running as I had a car and she did not.  We hit her favorite restaurants as well.

We also went to watch the Gators play the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

I got us some decent seats in the end zone.

A field goal narrowly passed over our heads.

A crowd of over 90,000, mainly Gator fans, with a sprinkling of diehard Mississippi State fans watched it with us. Lots of good-natured banter went back and forth.

It got rather loud whenever a penalty was called on the Bulldogs: 

 

The Gators seemed on the cusp of defeat when they were leading 23-21 in the 4th Quarter, with the Bulldogs inexorably advancing down the field into easy field goal range with little time remaining on the clock.

All seemed lost, and then the Bulldogs threw a pass and it was intercepted, and the Gators won!

 A very exciting game, and I''m now 2 wins watching for Gators football live.

It was a great visit and a great time with the younger heir.

University Of Florida Visit - Go Gators!

So, this weekend I went to Gainesville to visit the younger child at University of Florida.

With the weather being sunny and in the low 80s it sure beat the wet and cold of Michigan this early April.

Flew into Jacksonville and drove the couple hours to Gainesville.

Met up with the kid and we watched the Gators advance into the finals.

Victory for the Gators was assured as Leah took us out that night to feed the campus feral cats. 

Quite a few ferals around and apparently it's lucky to feed them prior to exams for good results, and during various sportsball games to ensure the Gators do well.

The offerings to the cats must have worked, as the Gators ended up beating Auburn to earn a place against Huston for a shot at the national championship in b-ball. 

Much cheering throughout the dorm was heard when they game resulted in the Gator's victory.

The next day we did more sportsball, in this case Gator Baseball.

 Got some grass seats on the left berm, inside the foul ball danger area and had a great view of the game. Gators vs the Vanderbilt Commodores.

Initially during the warm-up, it appeared it was unclear to the Commodores as to what sport they were there to play.

 Yes, he's throwing a football around.

The game got off to a good start with hits by both teams in the first but no runs.

By the third inning it was tied 1-1.

 

That would change.

Sadly, an offering to the cats had not been made, as the Commodores swept the series and harvested the Gators 11-3 in the game we watched.

Still, even ending in a loss, it was a lot of fun to watch and the atmosphere at the ballpark was very family friendly and had great sportsmanship.  The crowd applauded for great plays regardless of which team made them, and it was a highly enjoyable time.

After that we head back to her dorm where she studied preparing for an exam that was set to occur tonight - right at the same time as the championship game - and I did some work.

She then found out via email that the prof, recognizing the historic nature of the championship game was offering all students the opportunity to defer the exam so they could watch the game as part of the college experience. This was happy-making and she'll be viewing the game with friends tonight and taking the exam another day.  Pretty cool on the part of the professor.

So she had three classes today so I did some work as she did and then took her to lunch. 

On the way to lunch we passed by the pond near her dorm.

 

They're serious about that sign.

Did you see the gator to the lower right in the picture?

 Gilbert, the dorm gator, was back from brumating for the winter.  He's been known to sunbathe on the grass and even hang out by the dorm entrance at times.

That he's back has been declared to be a good sign that the Gators will do well tonight. 

It was a great visit.  Good luck to the Gators tonight.

Go Gators!

This weekend I went to Gainesville to visit Leah.

This was the UF Scuba Club Parent-Student dive weekend.  Leah has decided she want to get certified and she just earned her Open Water Certification last week through the club, so of course I had to be there for her first dive as a certified diver.

We had a number of activities planned, including attending a tailgate and going to watch the Gators play LSU.

The tailgate, hosted by the UF Scuba Club was a ton of fun.

Good food, fun people, and a good time had by all.

And, of course, there was a keg of beer. As no tailgate is complete without one.

After watching the kids do keg stands, there is a rumor that I was challenged to do one, and a further rumor that I then set the standard. Rumors only of course, but someone had to show them how it was done . . . .

After the Tailgate, we met up with some of Leah's friends and wandered into a frat house for some food which was also a fun experience. 

Then we headed to the game.  We had seats in the upper level endzone and it was a fun experience.

90,000+ fans. The energy was incredible.

Having 90,000 people belting out Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' "I won't Back Down" was quite the experience.

The Gators, while not favored to win, recovered from a rocky start and beat LSU 27-16.

It was an amazing game to attend.

 And quite the celebrated win

Quite a great day.