I've missed it everyday since we've moved. I thought I just missed people and places, but this weekend I discovered I missed a whole lot more. I miss being familiar with a city. Knowing how to get somewhere without consulting mapquest first. Having favorite spots. I miss passing places that hold precious memories for me. The place where I met my husband, where he proposed, and where we got married. I miss laughing at places we drive by because something funny happened there 7 years ago and saying "remember that time...?" I miss the culture of Knoxville and the mountains. Did you know the leaves are already changing color there? Mostly, I miss feeling like I belong somewhere. Going to Knoxville this weekend felt like going home. Coming back to Nashville feels like going on a business trip.
But enough moping. I do too much of that lately.
This weekend was awesome because most of my close friends were also back in Knoxville. If you even have to ask why, we are not friends.
UT FOOTBALL
After trying for hours to get into the opening game last year, we absolutely could not miss this year's first game. What a game it was.
The day started off great. Sunny skies with a slight breeze. Tailgating in the shade. Scalping into the lower level for $20 each. We watched the players warm up and reminisced all our great memories in Neyland Stadium. We could see Leslie and Terry from our seats. The announcer asked a man to move his boat because it was the firework landing zone. Awesome things.
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| Awesome seats. |
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| Our seats came with seat cushions! This would be our downfall later... |
The most wonderful tradition of our band marching up and down the field, playing Rocky Top, and forming the power T for the players to run through was stopped and everyone was evacuated to the concourse. Chris and I held our ground for a little while because it wasn't even raining yet. Wishful thinking that maybe if we stayed where we were, the band would come back out and we would play football. Not so.
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| 20 minutes after the game was supposed to start. Empty stadium. |
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| 94,000 people under the concourse. |
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| RAIN!!! |
When we were allowed to go back to our seats, we were among the first back. We proudly wiped off our seat cushions and sat down. Unfortunately, my seat cushion was full of water. Minor setback, I thought. It will surely dry? No. About 10 minutes later, a slow, lingering drizzle became heavier and heavier. Determined not to retreat to the concourse, we stuck it out.
Boomsday
I have no pictures of Boomsday, mostly because it was raining the whole time. And the opening firework waterfall created so much smoke that we couldn't see 50% of the fireworks. But Chris and I enjoyed our Boomsday traditions of eating funnel cake and counting Native American themed t-shirts. Actually Chris was counting people with visibly missing teeth. He won. We also learned that the exploding fireworks make a cool laser gun sound that bounces off of Thompson-Boling Arena. That made the barely visible fireworks better.
Labor Day...
...was rainy. And cold. And a long drive back to Nashville.
But we did find this little gem on our car window. Thanks Catherine!!
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| It says "I ♥ the O'B's" |
In all, it was so good to see my old friends, visit Calvary, walk around campus, and just enjoy driving around Knoxville. And now Knoxville and I will return to our long-distance relationship of counting down the days til we see each other again and stalking each other on facebook.
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