Go Dawgs!

Disclaimer: I am a horrible football fan. Horrible. But a fan nonetheless. 

Our friends Mitchell and Rebecca had an extra ticket to Georgia vs. Mizzou, and through some magic ended up with 2 extra tickets and asked us to join them!

Brad and I have been trying to play it very low key with the whole buying-a-house thing, trying to save money in anticipation of the many, many expenses to come, but this was one we couldn't turn down. Brad said that when he told me about us possibly going my face lit up with excitement - sign of a good time!

The only college football game I have ever been to was a UVA game where I had been in the states for 3 months and barely understood football. Granted, I still don't understand everything, but I at least understand what a first down is now - progress! Living in Georgia for years turned me into a Georgia fan, and marrying a Buckeye turned me into a Ohio State fan, but I think I can cheer for both since they are in different conferences. Right? Maybe? I like to think so.

Anyway, we drove up to Athens, GA Friday night for the Saturday game. Athens is an amazing college town and I've had an insane amount of fun every time I've come. Fun-enough-to-hurt-the-next-day-fun. I blame Sam for the most part :)

Us at the tailgate.

The game was at 8:30 at night and Mitchell was determined to start tailgating at 9 in the morning, but we managed to talk him into pushing it back a couple hours. None of us thought we'd make the game with a 12 hour tailgate beforehand!

The spot was stellar. A friend of theirs works for a restaurant opening soon in Athens, tans the location has a back yard area with picnic tables, electricity, and real bathrooms. REAL BATHROOMS. Also, it's hard to see, and I wish I'd taken a better picture, but over on the left is the old Georgia scoreboard, which was a fitting setting for the tailgate. 

I think we ate fried chicken all weekend long. No joke: chicken biscuits for breakfast, chicken tenders for lunch, and late night chicken for dinner. Georgia fans love them some chicken. Not complaining, it was delicious, but it was a lot of chicken.

The whole group! A few folks from college, and people Mitchell grew up with. All good people. 

Mind. Blown. We made the game (victory!) and I think I had a big ole shit-eating grin on my face the entire time. The crowd, the excitement, the huge red and black stadium, just about everything made me smile. For someone who can barely call herself a football fan I was blown away and enthralled. 

Photo op! Thanks to this lovely man who made this weekend possible. Thank you, you handsome devil.

Oh yeah! To cap it all off, Georgia won!!!!

Go Dawgs!

Frothy Beard

Beer Fridays continue!

As I mentioned before, our friend TJ is really the inspiration behind us hitting up a local brewery every Friday. He lives in Chicago but has family down here and visits fairly frequently. We've been saving Frothy Beard for when he came back next, and it was worth the wait. 

The location is a little bit of a pain to get to, especially since we went right after work. Its in North Charleston up on Ashley Phosphate, so we battled traffic, stopped trains, and bad drivers to get there, but thankfully were ready for a cold brew once we arrived. 

TJ, Brad, and I saying CHEERS!

They had five while we were there: Andale (Pale Ale w/ jalapeno), Cucumber Thyme (American Wheat), Hip Cannon (Double IPA), Great White Wit (Wit), and Smokey the Ambear (Amber). 

I'm a sucker for a herb-y bear so the Wit and the Cucumber Thyme was perfect for a hot day, but we bought a bottle of the Hip Cannon to take home because it was YUMMY.

TJ was headed downtown for night 2/3 of Umphrey's McGee (he's a HUGE fan) so we meandered downtown to Revelry for round 2. We love the environment at Revelry, and we were really impressed with their food too, but Frothy Beard's beer definitely won out. 

So, cheers! What are you drinking?

Mac Off

We bought tickets to the Mac and Cheese festival this year. Yes, my dreams have come true, and there is entire festival dedicated to macaroni and cheese. Plus they have beer? Plus the weather is gorgeous? Plus my handsome husband is my date? I was a happy Happy HAPPY camper.

And then we got there. Whomp whomp.

Ok, I can't be too much of a debbie downer, but as good as Charleston is about throwing amazing food events, they are not so good at organizing them. There was about 10 different lines to get into the event, all with different purposes, and no signage. All the lines spilled into the street, with shuttles trying to get past, people yelling, and inevitably cutting in line. Our only saving grace was that we had printed out tickets beforehand so once we found the right line (third try!) we were ushered to the front and let in. 

Another line for over-21 bracelets, another line for food & beverage tickets, another line for a much needed cold beer, and we finally made it to the first mac and cheese line. And only 45 minutes later we had our first taste! It was a bitter 45 minutes for us, but not gonna lie, we were in the Crave line, and it was GOOD and thankfully worth the wait. Perfectly al dente spiral paste, in a cheesy delicious sauce, topped with Parmesan, for $1. We got three. 

I'm very torn about this event in general. The weather was perfect, the offerings were great, and the mac and cheese was oh-so-delicious, but the lines made everything painful. 

Here is a general shot of the crowd.

We were able to try 3 different mac and cheese samples, which were all delicious and hard to beat at $1 each, but we definitely spent the majority of our time just waiting in line. Granted, the silver lining is that people are pretty amazing. We struck up a number of conversations, met a few Buckeye fans, and Brad even got pulled aside for a cheers to the Buckeys. Man, I love this city. 

I did fall head over heels over a local vendor who makes Charleston prints, so I bought a few cards and a 8x10 Charleston print of the Ravenel bridge that I have big plans for in the house once we move in... Hooray!