Feel the 'Nois!

That was the theme of this year's Homecoming at the University of Illinois. I went back and had a great time -- despite the final score of the football game at the center of the weekend. (Still can't believe we got beat by Minnesota. We really ARE better than them.)

It was cool to hang out with some friends from school I haven't seen in years -- and hit some of the campus bars I haven't hit in years. We didn't go to Kam's or Joe's, though, so I can't help but feel like the trip was missing something (namely skanks), but what can you do? Hehe...

Anyway.. since I feel like you'd be better served with picture captions rather than a long write-up, here we go (in chronological order):

No college football weekend is complete without an early morning of tailgating. We got set up on the corner of 4th and Kirby in Champaign (as usual), kiddy-corner to Memorial Stadium at 7 am. There's nothing like waking up at 5:30 am to start drinking -- unless it's waking up at 3:30 am to start drinking at the Rose Bowl. That was still amazing. The guys are all friends from my fraternity.

 

My mom and dad even stopped by the tailgate to enjoy some weird Costa Rican beer. Aside from not having any labels, the beer was great.

It had been a while since I saw some of the frat guys. However, some I tailgated with before the Bears game in Chicago just a couple weeks ago.

Gametime was 11:00 am, but we went into the stadium early to catch the Marching Illini. They were good, as always. Too bad the football team couldn't manage to follow suit.

There's the football team entering the stadium through the Marching Illini (and alumni band). That's my mom's hand waving her "Zook Zone" towel. I have one, too. They are orange and they are awesome.

The improvements to Memorial Stadium are really great. These stands behind the north end zone, the new home of the student section, are brand new.

On the field behind the south end zone, the university set up a bright orange basketball court for what it dubbed "the world's largest basketball practice" following the football game. Too bad the basketball team sucks, and the football team suffered a depressing loss, because absolutely nobody stuck around to watch.

After the game we made our way back to campustown, where I had to get a picture of the Alma Mater (and Altgeld Hall). The town is still a great place to visit. We made sure to eat a burger at Murphy's, some barbecue at Hickory River, and breakfast at the Courier Cafe (for Sunday breakfast with Ann's dad, Mike). I am sorry to say we missed out on deep dish pi zza from Papa Del's, though. We tried to go there after the game, but there was an hour-and-a-half long wait.. which we couldn't stomach. Too hungry.
After the game we went to hang out at Legends, one of the other bars on campus to hang out with, you guessed it, more frat friends.
(It actually is an Illinois jersey from the early '90s.. but hello.. how about some orange?! I don't know what the university was thinking back in those days.)
Here's me and friend toward the end of the night -- just prior to our La Bamba's run. I can still taste the chorizo-y goodness of my Super Nachos.

That's the trip in an orange nutshell. Like I said, I had a great time, despite the football team's beset efforts to ruin it. I hope to get back to another Homecoming as soon as possible -- and whenever that is, I'm sure I'll have a little Illini fan in tow.