Day 11: Castration, molestation, and infestation

Day 10 ended and Day 11 began in Louisville, where I would make my final push to my final destination of Chapel Hill.  I needed to make the 8.5 hour drive in 7.5 hours in order to arrive in time to pick up the keys from the rental office before they closed at 5pm.  Any hope of averaging the required 77 mph were quickly dashed on the drive along I-64 from Louisville to Lexington when I encountered multiple traffic jams.

I decided to make one final stop at the University of Kentucky's campus to take in a few sights and pick up a final few souvenirs.  The campus bookstore was, by far, the worst one of the entire trip.  Bad selection and poorly organized.  

But they did have cowboy boots for the ladies. OMG!

After finding one last pint glass for my collection, I made my way to my car, passing the fine arts building along the way.  Outside were abstract pieces of art, professors sitting on nearby benches grading papers, and a bronze sculpture that made me wince.  I can only assume it was meant to deter Rick Pitino from ever returning to campus.

I was going to stop by Rupp Arena to relive my last visit to Lexington, but didn't couldn't find a parking spot nearby.  I was also going to stop by the football stadium, but who really cares about Kentucky football?

I got back in my car and continued on 64 east to Charleston, WV, then took a turn south on 77 which eventually led me to NC, where I was welcomed by the sight of Pilot Mountain.

A couple hours later, and after a total of 3800 miles of driving, I finally arrived in Chapel Hill.  At this point, it was well after 5pm, which meant I wasn't going to be able to pick up the keys to the house until the next morning.  Luckily, I found a hotel that promised me I wouldn't be molested.

After getting a good night's sleep for the first time in what seemed like a month, I picked up the keys and made my way over to the house where I was finally able to dump all the stuff that had been cluttering up my car for the past 11 days.  

Over the course of the next few days, I reacquainted myself with some of my favorite spots in town, including The 'Dillo, Looking Glass, McAllister's, and Open Eye Cafe, which carries the same pine-flavored rhubarb soda I discovered on my last day in Olympia.  And as in Olympia, it seemed oddly appropriate given that I was back in the land of the pines.

I also stopped by PIRE where they thankfully welcomed me back, but only after I made a peace offering of BBQ sauce from Memphis.

And so here I now sit at Open Eye, reflecting on what a crazy year it's been and all the things I've learned along the way. And as this roach crawls across the cement floor near my bag and across my foot, I think to myself, "I never had to deal with bugs like this in Washington." Maybe I'll move back.

Day 10: Vino, Pitino, and Petrino

My 10th day on the road started in Corbin, KY where Matt and I stayed after the Tennessee game the previous night.  Matt's flight was at 12:30pm out of Louisville, which was still two and a half hours away, which meant another early morning after yet another short night of sleep.  The drive took us north on 75 to Lexington, then west on 64 straight to the airport in Louisville.  I don't know who Floyd is, but he has a lot of things in the area named after him.  Floyd's Creek, Floyd's Fork, and my personal favorite, Floyd's Knob (are you sure you want to click on that link?).

I dropped Matt off at the airport in plenty of time to catch his flight to Detroit by way of Baltimore.  

Thus ended his smear campaign against me.  It did not, however, mark the end of the football extravaganza as Louisville and Miami were playing later that night right next door at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.  

I had some time to kill before that evening's game, so I drove around town to check out the sights.  My first stop was Porcini, a restaurant located on Frankfort Ave in the Crescent Hill section of town.  Porcini is known for its fine northern Italian cuisine, its use of local ingredients, and its extensive wine list.  It's also known as the place where basketball coach Rick Pitino had very brief relations on a restaurant table top with a former model, who subsequently tried to extort him.

From there it was on to VINT, a local coffee shop, to get caught up on my blogging.   The place was filled with eager beaver undergrad and graduate students whose study habits will undoubtedly diminish within the first couple weeks of school.  VINT be getting 4 stars on Yelp for its excellent VINT julep latte and would have gotten 4.5 stars if the scone they pulled out of the display case for me wasn't frozen solid. 

After a couple hours of blogging, I checked into my hotel near the airport and stole a quick nap before heading over to the stadium around 6:30pm for the 8pm kickoff.

Just as in Norman and Knoxville, I found yet another free parking spot within walking distance of the stadium.  If you're an entrepreneur and you're not charging for parking near the stadium, you're not a very good entrepreneur.  The tailgating scene was pretty good.  The lot I parked in was filled with fans camped out under red and black tents playing cornhole and cooking up burgers.  

If you've ever wondered whether Kentucky is a southern state, let this be your answer.

The walk over to the stadium led me past members of the student cheering section, overpasses painted in the red and black colors of the school, and old buildings that had less structural integrity than Kevin Ware's leg.  (No, I'm not going to link to the video.  And, no, you should NOT google it if you don't know what I'm talking about.)

I also got stuck behind this guy, who spent most of the 10 minute walk to the stadium peering into the reflection on his iphone while he meticulously primped his bangs.

Upon arriving at the stadium, I quickly noticed that many Miami fans had made the trip north for the game

...many of whom unsuccessfully tried to impress the Louisville cheerleaders with their smooth moves.

The area near the stadium was packed with tailgaters, some of whom milled about while others favored drinking on the nearby party train.  

I hope when I'm in my 50's, I'm not wearing shirts that say "Sucks to be U".

The game that evening was significant not only because Miami was in town, but because it was Louisville's first game in the new-look ACC, which was detailed on everything from the soft drink cups to the huge banners on the side of the stadium. 

It also marked the return of head coach Bobby Petrino, who previously coached at Louisville beginning in 2003 after John L. Smith left for the head coaching job at Michigan State. This marked one of the most successful periods in Louisville football history (and one of the least successful periods in Michigan State history), which led Petrino to take the head coaching job at Arkansas in 2008.  He remained at Arkansas for three years until a motorcycle crash led to an investigation that revealed he was having (very brief?) relations with a 25-year-old female staffer, which ultimately led to his firing.  After one year off and another year in exile at Western Kentucky, he was re-hired as Louisville's coach prior to this season where he enjoys picking up chicks with Rick Pitino at Porcini.

And now back to the game.  If you're wondering whether Papa John's Cardinal Stadium sells Papa John's pizza, they do.  

If you're wondering whether I got some as soon as I got through the gates, I did.

If you're wondering whether Papa John's Cardinal Stadium sells alcohol, they do.

If you're wondering whether selling alcohol at a game populated by thousands of college students and mid-20's bros is a bad idea, it is.  The atmosphere in the concourse area and stands resembled what I imagine an NFL crowd to be.  If there's fan base with more faux tough guys than Louisville and Miami, I don't know what it is.  (Wait, yes I do.)  Adding in-stadium alcohol sales to the mix only made things worse.

The game, however, was entertaining and was the most competitive of the 4 games I saw.  Louisville jumped out to an early lead, but Miami responded by taking the lead in the second quarter, only to fall behind again in the third.  It seemed to me that Miami was the better team, but they ended up losing 31-13.

At some point during the game, I looked up from my seat and noticed that Churchill Downs was right across the street, which was pretty cool.

I left in the middle of 4th quarter to beat the drunken traffic and make the short drive to the hotel, where the football extravaganza portion of the trip concluded.  Tomorrow marked the final push to NC where this excellent adventure would finally come to an end.