Last minute opportunity to see a game at the legendary Doak Campbell Stadium against your favorite team in blue? Yes please!
The only stipulation is that I make it to Jacksonville by Sat 2pm to hitch a ride the rest of the way. So on a beautiful fall day, I put the windows down for an rare road trip up to northern Florida. I was warned upfront that if Duke pulled off the major upset that I would have to fend for myself getting home. Duly noted…..
I was the lone “devil” at a late lunch in the local dive bar but I was steadfast in my devils fandom. Not too painful and only one snarky comment from the waitress. Then we made the 1 mile trek into Seminole territory and the biggest tailgate I’d ever seen.
Our seats were exactly on the 50-yard line 26 rows up – just wow! Before I settled in as a sardine in enemy territory, I easily found the Duke supporter section….. not joking, out of a sold out crowd of 79k+ Florida State diehards there were less than 300 royal blue brave souls = .03%!!! My extended family of course was there too to cheer on #3 BJ and we enjoyed pre-game from their end zone.
And the twilight glow over Tallahassee was a mesmerizing shade of pink as the flyover ignited the crowd. Play ball!
The first half was a BLAST! Not only did Duke score first but they caught an interception to really rub it in to a stunned sellout crowd. I couldn’t be too obnoxious, as I knew it was way to early to be celebrating victory against the higher ranked and undefeated Seminoles.
And as the minutes ticked off the game clock, Florida State ended up dominating most of the second half (as expected). We even had to brave the start of a crowd brawl between the 3 young cowboys next to me who bought their tickets that morning and the 2 drunk regulars who were a little too friendly with their high fives. Testosterone was in high gear!
Fireworks capped off a hometown victory and we joined the massive herd ready to get on the road back home. The miles added up and thankfully the uneventful road trip finally expired at 3:55am and the hope of sleeping in without an alarm.
Forever a blue devil fanatic, but I’m a new believer in the power of the garnet and gold.
FearlessAdventures 