#14

UA vs LSU round 2 proved to be a better game than the first. Obviously, this news is about a week old but it has taken me about this long to recover from our trip to New Orleans. I'll admit, I was hesitant about making the 5 hour drive down to only get harassed again by LSU fans again BUT this time the ending was a little different. Kyle and I have both been to New Orleans several times but this trip will probably be one of the most memorable for both of us.

One of the reasons we made the trip to New Orleans was that it was also an excuse to visit my pledge sister/great gal pal, BJ (Brittany Jones) and her husband, Michael. BJ is a native New Orleans gal and one of the first people to extend the hand of kindness and be my friend at Alabama. She introduced me to sushi and taught me how to party like a gal who "grew up on Bourbon." BJ and Michael live in Mandeville which is about 30 minutes from New Orleans. We stayed with them Saturday and Sunday then at a hotel in New Orleans on Monday night (thanks to Michael). Saturday, we arrived (with the millions of other Alabama fans on the road) in Mandeville. After touring the Brunner's home and visiting with their new dog, Hollis, we ventured out to Old Mandeville and had a couple of drinks overlooking Lake Ponchetrain.

Sunday, we drove into New Orleans for the afternoon. We had lunch and took in the sites. New Orleans is one of my favorite cities to visit. The food, the architecture, the ambiance...New Orleans has it all. This particular weekend, New Orleans had A LOT Alabama and LSU fans. The rivalry was intense and literally had the whole city a buzz.  

I must give a disclaimer. Yours truly decided to wear a tiger/leopard print shirt the weekend of the LSU game. LSU= tigers. Yeah...stupid. I confused a bunch of people. Whatever, I did get a lot of compliments on it. I asked Kyle why he let me wear the shirt and he said I looked happy wearing it and didn't want to cause a fashion meltdown. Ha, good call. He still joked on me.

Our day in New Orleans was concluded with a walk through Harrah's where we bumped into this guy, Elli Gold who yes, called me out on being a BAMA fan wearing tiger print.

Monday we headed back into New Orleans for game day. You could feel the excitement/tension in the air. We walked up and down Bourbon Street for a bit then headed to the Warehouse district to watch the game at The Rusty Nail (New Orleans' Alabama Alumni bar). 

While it would have been nice to have tickets to the game, watching the game with a couple hundred Alabama fans at The Rusty Nail was (in our opinion) the next best thing. The energy and spirit made watching the game so exciting! During all of the commercial breaks the crowd was doing Alabama cheers, singing the fight song and keeping our fingers crossed that the Tide would keep  holding the Tigers back from winning. Words cannot express the crowd when the game finally ended. Kyle and I laugh at the fact that the win made everyone feel like best friends.

        Our view of the game

          BAMA's #1

After the win, we made the victory walk back to Bourbon (harassing the LSU fans along the way) and celebrated. BCS champs baby!!! The win made the 5 hour drive back a lot easier. Roll Tide Roll!!