This past weekend, my husband and I went up to Gainesville to visit our kids. We had tickets to go to the football game in the famous “Swamp”.
If you know anything about Florida college football, you know that we have a rival between University of Miami (know as the Hurricanes), Florida State(know as the Seminoles), and University of Florida (know as the Gators).
I, being a Seminole and my husband being a Hurricane , never in our wildest dreams imagined we would end up with 2 Gators. When they were growing up, they were taught to do well in school, but you can never be a Gator!
A football weekend in Gainesville is unbelievable. The RV’s start pulling into every available space on and off campus on Friday night. From Friday night until Sunday the entire town smells like one big barbeque pit or brewery, take your pick.
Game day the entire town shuts down for one big party. There is a keg on every corner, horns blasting, and any one that is not dress in blue and orange, with the appropriate matching jewelry and footwear, takes their life in their hands.
During the game, the fans make incredible noise and if you are in the student section, you do not sit down. They do the wave, the cheers and sing some song that is not the school song but the 4th quarter song as they lock arms and sway back and forth. It was all to much for this Seminole and Hurricane fan to take. As I left I could not resist doing the FSU Chop!
That being said, we did not realize that the saying “once a Gator always a Gator” would turn out to be so true! I think that the 4 years you are there, they do some kind of brainwashing to the make these Gators the fanatics they are! My son’s wedding cake was, you guessed it blue & orange with a Gator bride and groom..Give me a break!