Tuesday, November 6, 2007
The Annual Jag Football Trip
This year Kirsten and I selected New Orleans to be our away game of choice. We wanted to see the city “post Katrina” and watch the Jags play the Saints in the Superdome. New Orleans is about a 9hr drive from Jacksonville Beach. The route is incredibly boring so books on tape and “Mad Libs” are a must — trade-off on the driving responsibility can also break up the monotony.
Saturday morning I passed on the annual Native Sun 10K Mandarin run and also passed on the weekly marathon training run and instead went surfing. The waves were the best we had seen this year. Over crowding in the line up was a problem but I managed to get a lot of good waves during my 2.5 hr session.
Our road trip got underway at about 1:00pm and by 9:30 we were in our hotel room unpacking bags. Bourbon Street was crowded but not packed. Kirsten was wide-eyed. We walked, shopped and observed for about an hour and then headed back to our room for an early night.
Sunday morning daylight savings time change and gaining an hour from the time zone forced 6:00am to feel like 8:00am. Sometime around 7:00am we were shopping the local Walgreen’s for poster board and markers to make a sign for the game. We got a quick breakfast and then hired a taxi to take us out to the 9th Ward and other areas of the city.
New Orleans still has work ahead in their rebuilding efforts — areas where homes have been entirely rebuilt sitting beside lots where the only change is the overgrowth around barren foundations.
We needed two tickets so we headed over to the stadium a couple hours before game time. The .75 mile walk with hammer headdress was fun. Saints fans did not hold back.
Taunting, heckling and even a smattering of compliments — enemy territory is the best place to test your “fan” commitment. Tickets weren’t hard to find. We bought a pair from a couple that had a total of four. They were great seats — just off the field in the home team’s end zone (similar to the Jags north end zone).
The Jags stunk up the dome. Our defense was gashed. The final stats revealed our worst defensive effort in franchise history. Boy can I pick a football game to drive 18 hrs to watch. The trip home…. never mind.
Saturday morning I passed on the annual Native Sun 10K Mandarin run and also passed on the weekly marathon training run and instead went surfing. The waves were the best we had seen this year. Over crowding in the line up was a problem but I managed to get a lot of good waves during my 2.5 hr session.
Our road trip got underway at about 1:00pm and by 9:30 we were in our hotel room unpacking bags. Bourbon Street was crowded but not packed. Kirsten was wide-eyed. We walked, shopped and observed for about an hour and then headed back to our room for an early night.
Sunday morning daylight savings time change and gaining an hour from the time zone forced 6:00am to feel like 8:00am. Sometime around 7:00am we were shopping the local Walgreen’s for poster board and markers to make a sign for the game. We got a quick breakfast and then hired a taxi to take us out to the 9th Ward and other areas of the city.
New Orleans still has work ahead in their rebuilding efforts — areas where homes have been entirely rebuilt sitting beside lots where the only change is the overgrowth around barren foundations.
We needed two tickets so we headed over to the stadium a couple hours before game time. The .75 mile walk with hammer headdress was fun. Saints fans did not hold back.
Taunting, heckling and even a smattering of compliments — enemy territory is the best place to test your “fan” commitment. Tickets weren’t hard to find. We bought a pair from a couple that had a total of four. They were great seats — just off the field in the home team’s end zone (similar to the Jags north end zone).
The Jags stunk up the dome. Our defense was gashed. The final stats revealed our worst defensive effort in franchise history. Boy can I pick a football game to drive 18 hrs to watch. The trip home…. never mind.
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