A Respite From Politics
With the midterm elections blessedly over, who isn’t longing for a respite from it all?
I actually got one!
What better way to cleanse the political palate than with an SEC football weekend? We combined my daughter’s birthday weekend with a game I circled on my calendar as soon as the schedule came out: Alabama at Ole Miss, Nov. 12. The game was a nailbiter, with the outcome decided in the final disappointing second. The final score 24-30, Bama.
Still, as they say in Oxford: “We may not win the game, but we’ve never lost a party!”
We flew to Memphis, drove to Oxford and spent three days NOT watching the news.
It was heaven. Then again, some say Oxford, Mississippi IS heaven. I won’t argue.
The University of Mississippi is famous for a number of things: a lovely campus, football, baseball, beautiful women, Eli Manning, Archie Manning, John Grisham and lately, Head Coach Lane Kiffin.
Despite his sometimes maddening inclination to “go for it” on 4th down, Kiffin’s adored on campus. Seems everyone is on board the Lane Train. His images even hang from the sorority houses.
Saturday’s game was one of the coldest in memory. Barely 40 degrees at kickoff, under cloudy skies. Pre-game lines snaked around the campus bookstore full of shivering fans clutching fast-selling stadium blankets.
Nevertheless, there were the girls. And some of them stubbornly wore their uniforms in defiance of the temperatures: skimpy frocks and sundresses in rebel Red. Not sure how long this one lasted at the game, but she was carrying a clear stadium bag. A sure sign she meant to head in and sit on those metal bleachers. Brrrrr.
SB Nation dubbed the Ole Miss Grove the “Holy Grail” of tailgating. Others have said that the seven home games each year turn the 10-acre leafy oasis in the heart of the campus into the largest cocktail party in Mississippi. The tailgating crowd this past Saturday was estimated at more than 100,000. The football stadium holds 64,038. Do the math. Many come simply to party and watch the game on TV in the tents. Yes, many tents are electrified.
Chandeliers, tablecloths, silver platters, fresh flowers and food. So much food!
Someone once asked Ole Miss college officials how many tents spring up on football Saturdays and they shrugged and replied “too many to count.” Hundreds? Thousands, maybe?
Whaddya know, we found a Virginia Beach contingent! Restaurateurs, business owners and inventors of Waterman’s famous “Orange Crush,” Mike and Mariah Standing, with their son, Ethan, an Ole Miss freshman. To their right is Mary Shearin whose son, Lee, is also a freshman. That’s me in the Ray-Bans, Bryn Mahan and little Fox, 7 months old. Never too young to tailgate.
By Nicolas Henderson from Coppell, Texas - Bass Pro Shop, Memphis, TN.
Sooner or later, everyone who visits Memphis hits Beale Street and Graceland. But how many know about the most outrageous Bass Pro Shop in the world? Here it is, in this 32-story steel pyramid. The shop itself is Disney-like: 535,000 square feet, with 100-foot tall trees, multiple aquariums holding 1,800 fish including catfish almost as large as a man’s leg, alligator ponds and a duck aviary.
Located at the top of the pyramid is a bar, restaurant and observation deck, 300 feet in the air. It features a glass floor. Not for those with a fear of heights.
We wrapped up our weekend with lunch and this view of the Mississippi River.
Back home now in Virginia. Guess it’s time to check the news. Sigh.
