Go north young man

This story took place about a month ago, but I figured it was better late than never. Coming off Idaho's second victory of the year (this weekend), I felt like I should tell our tale. It all revolves around an unlikely college football game...October 1, 2011, Charlottesville, Virginia, the University of Virginia versus the University of Idaho.

As Charlottesville is only about 4 hours from our house we decided that we should probably go to the game so the Vandals would have a fan there. I picked up tickets on StubHub for (believe it or not) $13 a piece. We took a leisurely drive to town and took in the sights of the campus that Thomas Jefferson created, prior to the game. Here's a few shots from the campus of the University of Virginia.


The latter photo above was my latest attempt to make my dad's Gingko tree feel inadequate.

Prior to the game, we decided to take in the University of Idaho sponsored "Vandal Tailgate". Jessie and I joked many a time leading up to the event that we may be the only ones at the tailgate. However, I was surprised at the number of east coast vandals. While most of them were in the the visitors section, Jessie and I scored these tickets...a mere 8 rows up from the field.


Here's the visitors section ($40 a piece tickets, mind you). This was about the bulk of them. We were close enough that I could here and finally join in on the cheers about halfway through them.


This was probably the most unimpressive game of football I've ever seen played. This was the only time Idaho led...before the game even started!


That said, the vandals made some pretty good plays towards the end to tie the game with only a few minutes left.


But in the end they tried for a two point conversion and ended up losing the game by one point in overtime, 21-20. Even the Virginia fans were not happy with the game. I consider that a win.

Before we headed back to North Carolina, we decided to visit Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home just outside of Charlottesville. Turns out our third president was a very intriguing man. He created an indoor/outdoor clock, had many natural history artifacts on display, recorded the weather daily, had a beer cellar, and had an impressive garden. I leave you with this.