We began our long weekend mid morning Friday by loading the car for our trip to South Bend. We waited until then so we would miss traffic. We waved to Brady Quinn as we passed the Avon Lake exit. Jason asked if we could go to his house. We chuckled and told him that would not be appropriate. He insisted that Brady could go to Notre Dame with us. He even offered his seat and said, "I can sit in the middle mom." Although he never quite understood our reasoning, it wasn't long before he became reabsorbed in his Rudy movie on the dvd player. The roads were busy but not backed up at the beginning and shortly became effortless to navigate. I do not know of any car trip we have taken to date that was so easy. We made it there in about 5 1/2 hours. That includes a bathroom break and lunch. After much research, we decided to stay in Michigan City rather than South Bend. It is 40 minutes from the stadium. We learned that that although they are only 40 minutes from South Bend, they are an hour behind. The Holidome here is lovely. The suite is huge and has double doors dividing the living room area where the boys are. The activity area had a game room, hottub, pool, and video games. The pool was interesting. We went down there Friday night and found part of it goes outside. You have to swim under the glass wall to get there. The outdoor section is rather small. I cannot imagine how much it costs to keep the water warm because it was warm inside but not outside. The hot tub was okay. Too many chemicals for me. While we were playing sharks and minoes in the pool we could see them setting up for something. We feared they were going to kick us out for a conference but it turned out to be a welcome table for the entire Duke football team as well as coaches and assorted family. I was too embarrassed to get out of the pool until they were out of sight. David just looked at me like I was completely irrational and said,"They couldn't care less. All they care about is football right now",as he held the towel just out of reach and motioned for me to take it, "Just get out." And so I did.
We went back to the room to shower and then off to dinner. The hotel restaurant is a Damons where Jason could eat for free so that is where we went. We ended up next to several Duke players and coaches. We encountered them in the elevater, common areas, and again this morning at breakfast. They were very nice.
We headed out to South Bend around 10 am. A wonderful toll booth operator directed us to the best route when our mapquest directions proved insufficient. David has yet to fall in love with google maps as I have. The parking area was grassy and only a couple of rows had been filled. As soon as we got out of the car, Jason wanted to throw the football around like the tailgaters. David was anxious to get moving but I couldn't resist. We played for a good 10 minutes before the next row of cars got in our way. From there we gathered our coats and assorted cold weather gear and headed to the road where the shuttle bus was to take us to Notre Dame. Less than a minute wait and off we were. The bus let us off at the library. We followed the crowd to Touchdown Jesus. As we tried to get a good picture Jason stood there wide eyed and a little puzzled. He looked at the mural and said,"Did he play for Notre Dame?" David and I had a good laugh. If that were the case we wouldn't be 2 and 9 would we?! Anyway, David was able to get a nice picture of it. We didn't realize that while the campus is beautiful, it wasn't going to take us long to see everything. We hit the bathroom in the athletic building and the Varsity Shop. Came out of there with a Rudy jacket for J, face decals, a couple hats, postcards, and gameday beads. Devin sulked for awhile when he didn't get something only to be reminded he does not like ND. As a matter of fact, he has openly routed against them more than once this year. I gave him some game day beads and face decals which seemed to cheer him up. Maybe there is hope of converting him yet. I also brought his Ohio State scarf for him to wear. We wandered the campus aimlessly trying to kill time. There were vendors like at a fair selling poporn, candy apples, cotton candy, elephant ears, etc...There also were stands selling merchandise. We bought giant pretzels the size of my head and attempted to eat them without flinging salt everywhere. I was unsuccessful. I am still picking the salt chunks out of my hair. David observed that despite the crowd the campus was remarkable calm and relatively quiet. That is something you could not say about Ohio State I'm sure. The gates opened at 1pm. The stadium has banners and tributes to players everywhere. There also was an abundance of consession stands. Even better was the ladies room had many many stalls. Our seats were upper deck and apparently in the Duke section. We were not intimidated. The two of the men in front of us were from Ohio. The first half of the game was worrisome. It wasn't until the last couple minutes of the second quarter that the game became interesting. The sporatic snow pellets turned into a steady rain as we cheered the Irish to victory. So much so that I am currently without a voice. I've been sick for the last couple of days. That coupled with the rain and screaming made my condition what it is now. I always thought I didn't talk much. I know now that is not true. Even though my voice is more raspy than Kathleen Turner and is not much louder than a whisper, I keep talking. Anyway, the game was a blast. It was a little chilly and damp but bareable. Of course, had they not won I might feel differently. The end of the game was particularly interesting because Charlie put Tommy Z in as quarterback at the end of the fourth quarter. He also put in other seniors who were on the roster who never gotten a chance to go on the field. I love Rudy moments. Jason was commended by an older gentlemen for his talent for seeing penalties even before the ref did. He does have a eye for the game. David surprised us by actively rooting for the Irish. We only took a few pictures and one video clip because it was too difficult to do while trying to watch the game. Getting out of the stadium after the game was effortless which surprised me. It took more time for us to get out after our city fireworks(13,000 residents) than it did today with 80,000 fans. The trip home today seemed much longer than it was mostly because I am not feeling well. The Dayquil is working for all symptoms except my voice. Halls proved ineffective as well. The weather was kind, only a few drops and flakes here and there. David missed the toll road which we thought would set us back but instead got us home faster. Take that mapquest!
This has been a memorable weekend. We are looking forward to coming back next year.
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