As some of you might know, I made the trek to the annual clash of Georgia and Florida this year for the first time in 4 years. Having arrived, via airplane, on Thursday morning, the weekend started early. First stop: The Anheiser-Busch brewery tour. Let me tell you, there isn't a better way to start a vacation than drinking a beer at 10 a.m. Hey, it's 5 o'clock somewhere, right? For anybody visiting J-Ville, I would recommend a visit. It is pretty cool to see all of the steps that go into making the world's greatest beer(no, that is not an opinion, for anybody wondering). The afternoon of Thursday was spent lying around the apartment, where we were staying, and playing Guitar Hero...Fantastic game for anybody that hasn't played. Thursday night is when the party started. The place: The Orange Park Dog Track. If you haven't been to a dog track before, I can only say this: You need to go. This was the second time that yours truly has visited said dog track and, unlike last time, I was determined to leave in the black. Well, obviously, I needed to work on my determination because, once again, I left in the red. But that was not the overall goal. Camaraderie among friends, was. Who am I kidding? All in all the Dog Track was a success, as long as you leave out the 2 plus hours that we had to wait to get a cab. The cab turned out to be a 2000 Honda Accord driven by one of our friends that came to pick us up because the cab companies never sent a cab. Try to imagine 9 drunk people crammed into a Honda Accord. Not pretty. I awoke Friday afternoon (yes, I said afternoon) to the wonderful watery taste in my mouth that signifies a trip to the bathroom. Needless to say, the Dog Park hot dog that I consumed the night before did not sit well on my stomach. Go figure. Well, a couple of powerades and an order of Hardee's chicken fingers later and I was ready to get back on the horse. By the way, not only did I not know that Hardee's still existed but I also didn't know that they had kick ass chicken strips. GreatOdin'sRaven highly recommends trying them. Anyways, Friday night we went to the local pool hall, where libations and pool games could be found aplenty. We arrived at the bar and I strolled over to the bartender and promptly ordered a frosty libation for myself and one for my fiancee. I gave the bartender my card and asked her to open a tab. Man, if only foresight was 20/20. More about that later. After a few rusty games of pool, Aquinas (that is my partner's nickname) and myself went on to dominate the tables. Meanwhile, my fiancee and the ladies where having a good time on yours truly's tab. When all was said and done, I had two beers on the tab and was greeted with a $65 bill. Thank you sweetheart! Anyways, after a short cab ride we all settled down for the night, dreaming of a Georgia victory for once in our lives. (Author's note: UGA has won multiple times against Florida in our lives but you get the point.) If there ever was a clusterfuck, then Saturday morning/early afternoon was it. The entire crew was up and at 'em around 7:30, however, we did not get to the tailgate, for many reasons, until noon. The late arrival caused a sour mood among the crew and, understandably, the tailgate got off to a slow start. However, it would soon be in full swing. After a few beers, everybody settled in and went about their tailgating as usual. Baggo was the popular game of choice (Baggo is a game where you attempt to throw beanbags into a hole from about 20 feet away.) and unfortunately, I didn't play so well. The "greatest hit," if you will, of the Tailgate was definitely the Soulja Boy-off. What, you ask, is a soulja boy-off? Well, allow me to explain. Just about every player in the NFL, when they score a touchdown, does a little move that resembles flying. This move comes from Soulja Boy. It is basically a dance that goes along with a, textbook, one hit wonder song. ANYWAYS, said dance was on center stage in Jacksonville and the outcome was a little foreshadowing of things to come. Team UGA(there was actually only one member) dominated team UF. I will credit the fact that Soulja Boy is ATL based. Not that that really has anything to do with it. The end of the Soulja Boy-off signaled the beginning of the walk towards our impending doom, or was it our impending doom? After the usual pre-stadium entry procedures (ie. hiding alcohol)were dealt with, we entered lovely Alltel Stadium and sat down right as the ball was being kicked. Well, the next 3+ hours was a fantastic time for Dawg fans. I will admit, I was not a fan of the team wide celebration after the first touchdown but it definitely fired the team up. The Dawgs played furious defense and ran the ball down Florida's guts the entire game. Here is a taste of what I am talking about: Matthew Stafford 11-18 for 217 yards with 3 TD's and 1 INT. Knowshon Moreno 33 carries for 188 yards and 3 TD's. 6 TOUCHDOWNS!!! Well, after those stats and multiple coke(Coca Cola) and assorted alcohols later, UGA was sealing the deal with a 42-30 win over the Gators. Needless to say, I walked back to the car in complete and utter shock. We followed up the win with a trip to Don Pablo's(not a huge fan) where I scarfed down a decent chimichanga and a fabulous Dos Equis. What a day. It was the first time that I had seen UGA beat the Gators in J-ville. Good times had by all. 7 a.m. came awfully early the next morning but I didn't care. The Dawgs got it done.
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