A Day Trip Into Enemy Territory
If you follow me on Instagram, then you know that last Saturday the husband and I made the 2 hour journey east from Austin to College Station. One of my cousins is a recent Aggie alum and the other is a proud Ole Miss Rebel, so the football game between the two teams presented an excellent opportunity for a little family reunion. When my aunt told me she was throwing a "House Divided" family tailgate, you better believe David and I were in! Besides, I was raised by a family of "whooping" Aggies, so certainly this proud Longhorn could handle an afternoon in "enemy" territory.
The day started with the realization that I had forgotten to set my alarm, sending me into an immediate and panicked rush to get ready. We were supposed to leave at 10, but we didn't even wake up until 10 (which NEVER happens by the way). Not to mention I had no idea what I was going to wear, and the cooler and drizzly weather threw me a curve ball. Stress.
It wasn't until we made the obligatory stop at Buc-ee's at the halfway point that I started to relax a bit. If you're not from Texas and are thus unfamiliar with the beaver-laden billboards, Buc-ee's is basically the Texan Taj Mahal of gas stations. And, perhaps most importantly, they have clean restrooms.
That picture above only shows about 1/3 of the entire gas station, by the way. It's just full of Texas-themed goodies and awesome food like homemade fudge and fresh sausage. Seriously, there aren't many things more Texan. It's easy to get distracted in there, but we had a tailgate to catch!
We grabbed our turkey sandwiches and were on our way.
An hour later, we arrived at our tent.
The first thing I noticed - the incorrect grammar on our tailgate sign. Sigh.
Just so y'all know - we know grammar in my family, and the blame for this extra apostrophe fail falls in the lap of the signmaker. Obviously I couldn't post this picture on my blog with this mistake, so my cousin Liza (the Aggie) showed up to help me out. She gets me.
Speaking of cousins - here they are in all their gorgeousness. Liza's pretty maroon dress is from Aggieland Outfitters, and Abby's adorable romper is from Indigo's on the square in Oxford, Mississippi. My jacket is J. Crew, and it's currently 30% off! Purchase it here.
Once some hugs were exchanged and a few pictures were taken, I was finally able to slow down and take in my surroundings. Imagine my delight when I saw THIS SPREAD in front of me. BBQ. Fried chicken. Pimiento cheese. Even my favorite chicken salad all the way from Houston. Yum!
Basically, it was calorie city under our tent.
My aunt always gets the little details down. Look - even the tablecloths were school color-coordinated! Nailed it.
This is how you tailgate, y'all.
And then, just when I thought my game day couldn't get any better, I turn around and see this. Somehow my industrious uncle achieved this TV set up using power from car batteries (what?!). So, I got to watch the tail end of the Texas vs. Oklahoma rivalry game and some of the other great match ups that afternoon.
High fives all around.
Now for some drinking.
Above is the famous and eponymous "Lisanator" (named after my Aunt Lisa, it's creator) that I had yet to try but had heard much about. Part vodka, part Chick-Fil-A lemonade, part raspberry syrup, all delicious. Let's just say it got the job done.
See - I told you it got the job done!
We were about 3 Lisanators in when WE SAW A CORGI PUPPY, so of course we rushed over to pet him. Also of course I had to ask the owner if she had seen "Corgi Flop" on Youtube. She had.
That's my future cousin-in-law Billy (fiancé of Liza) playing a game of cornhole - a game played by tailgating Americans all across our football-loving country.
Had to include a picture of me and the husband. Notice we're both dressed appropriately neutral. We weren't about to play favorites in this SEC match up!
And finally, here's a picture of the whole gang! Minus the rough start to my morning, it was a perfectly spent Saturday.
As it turns out, enemy territory wasn't so bad.
XO,
