Day one
We rented a 15-passenger van from the airport rental lot, because we wanted to all ride together. We met up and left at 10:30 for a five hour drive from St Johns to Champaign, but it took way longer - lots of construction, a couple of stops...so I'm even happier we were all together!
Joel suggested that we eat at Portillo's Hot Dogs. While I'm not a hot dog person, they did have other options and I got a giant roast beef sandwich (okay - I should have gotten hot peppers and cheese on it, so now I know better) and a chocolate shake (always great.)
While we were there, our BeReal went off. If you're not familiar with it, BeReal is a social media app that goes off once a day, at an unknown time, for everyone at the same time. You have two minutes to take a picture of you and what you see. It went off in Portillo's and I loved seeing everyone stop and take a picture of their meal.
Purdue University wasn't far off our path, so we stopped at the stadium. Many of us haven't been there before, and it was cool to see. We drove through campus, and it was a happening town.
We met Gage at our Airbnb. This was delightful - he couldn't get a flight into Champaign, so he was flying into Bloomington an hour away and we were going to go pick him up. But! A kind man named Justin offered him a ride! Thanks, Justin. Glad there are such nice people in the world.
We walked from our Airbnb to the downtown area of Champaign. There were a lot of people out, and it was so warm. We went to Pour Bros. Craft Taproom, where they were doing something I'd never seen before. You gave your credit card to the bartender, and he gave you a card with a barcode on it. Then, you tapped that card on the tap, and you were charged for how much beer came out. That way, you could try as many as you wanted.
We walked across the street to Seven Saints and sat in their outdoor patio. I loved the atmosphere and our fun waiter, and the food was just okay. We walked around looking for the busy places and rounded out the night by playing darts (poorly on my part) at the The Blind Pig Brewery.
Day two
We got up early to go tailgate on campus! We had purchased a parking pass online, and we coordinated with setting up next to some friends who live in Fowler. The wind was blowing 50 miles per hour, and there was no way we were setting up our tents. They did, however, with the use of our van blocking them, duct tape, stakes, and a tow strap, and it worked out!
The rules in the parking lot were very lax. We pulled up on the grass, other people parked sideways, there wasn't even a parking attendant all the time, cars were parked there from the night before - very different from MSU, and not bad at all!
Matt and Kate came a little later than we did, and as they were walking, a woman pulled over and gave them a ride the rest of the way. Nice again!
We walked around campus to see the stadium, the basketball arena, and other people's cool tailgating setups. (Another BeReal happened here. I looked across the parking lot to see scads of college girls simultaneously taking a picture.) There were a lot of fancy custom uses. Also interesting...across the street from the stadium is a 52-acre cemetery. Right on campus! People tailgated across the street from it. Nice place to end up, I guess.
My friend and student at University of Illinois Charlene came over, some more friends from MSU came, we made friends with the people around us, and we played punt, pass, kick with the Fowler crew. Lots of music, lots of food and drink, and a nice time. Jess and I watched the team walk in after we had breakfast burritos and before we had double cheeseburgers.
At one point, a car pulled up and the Fowler crew emptied it of food and drinks. I thought it was one of their friends, but no - it was Instacart from Meijer - just regular grocery delivery! A friend handed the guy $40 to go an buy two bags of ice off the clock, and then everyone made fun of him for the next 15 minutes, insisting he would never return. And then in a giant coup - he did! Our friend was so happy.
Then - the game! There was a flyover, which always gets me. We met up with our old friends Ron and Amy Kieser, who live in Illinois. We didn't expect MSU to win, (Illinois was 7-1, and we tried to lose it at the end), but MSU ended up victorious!
Side note - the lines were really long in the stadium for food and the bathroom. We heard one Illinois fan say to another, "If we're going to be good, we're going to have to get more bathrooms." Ha!
We were hungry after the game, and we heard Papa Dough's was supposed to be good. Apparently it was very good, because it was going to take two hours for them to make three pizzas. In the meantime, we went to Triptych Brewery and played my favorite restaurant game - shuffleboard. We went to Papa Dough's and the pizza still wasn't done, but soon after we got there it was. To cap off the night, we watched the Astros win the World Series.
Day three
I went running on a very quiet and pretty campus. Kris drove Gage to the airport, and we got started on our trip back. Due to more construction, traffic, and a ridiculously long wait for food at the Cracker Barrel, it still took us 7.5 hours to get home. It's okay - it was worth it. The drive, the college town, the game, the company - all a super fun time. I didn't think we'd win the game, but I knew we'd win the weekend.
