Music City Bowl - December 2011

Yes, I realize this post is a tad late :), I choose to blame it on spending my free time getting ready for a certain baby to make his arrival ANY DAY.  Hint Hint, Samuel... We are ready to meet you!   I digress, so let me return to the post at hand!
In December, Ben's boss asked everyone on the management team to write down a few things that they would never buy themselves.  The employees were told to be creative, and to think big.  It is very hard for Ben to ask for anything for himself, so this was a difficult task for him.  After a few days he turned in his list.  One of the things on said list was tickets to the Music City Bowl in Nashville, TN to watch MSU (we are big Mississippi State fans) play Wake Forest.  To our surprise, a few days before Christmas, Ben's boss handed him an envelope with two tickets to the game and money to cover a hotel for two nights!!!  We were ecstatic, since this was something we never would have done for ourselves knowing that we have a baby on the way.  I quickly made a reservation for a hotel just outside of downtown and we planned our little trip!  We drove up the day before the game, getting to Nashville around 7 pm.  We picked a restaurant just down from our hotel for dinner, and it was wonderful!  The next day we got ready and drove into downtown Nashville around noon.  We were prepared with jackets, hats, scarves, gloves, and most importantly, COWBELLS!  Any self-respecting State fan never goes to a game without a cowbell (sorry Emmy :).  The atmosphere downtown was incredible, and we were able to be a part of the pep rally before the game!

At the MSU Pep Rally

  We grabbed a 'quick' lunch which ended up taking 2-1/2 hours, AFTER we sat down at our table.  That doesn't include the 45 minutes we waited for said table... Let me just say that I will never again dine at BB King's restaurant in Nashville.  End rant.   After we finally got done with lunch, we had just enough time to make the trek across the river (via pedestrian bridge) to the stadium.

Stadium

I was right at 20 weeks pregnant so the walk wasn't too difficult since we took a couple of breaks along the way.  We made our way into the stadium and found our seats.  They were just to the side of the end zone and on the top row of the bottom section.  I wished I could have hugged Ben's boss at that point - not only did we not have to navigate stairs, but I was within steps to a bathroom.  Very important for pregnant ladies!!  The game was so much fun!!  The atmosphere was buzzing with the sound of cowbells, which is a sound unlike any other if you are a State fan.  It got pretty cold with the wind blowing into the stadium off the river, but we were bundled up and managed to stay decently warm.  After a few 'hold your breath' moments, the night was made with an MSU victory!!!

View from our seats!

Ben with his uncle Terry's cowbell :)

We finally made it back to the hotel room and were so exhausted from a day of walking and ringing cowbells.  My hands were actually sore for several days afterwards..  We drove home the next day (New Year's Eve), and made it home just in time to enjoy the evening playing Mario 3 on the old school Nintendo with our friend Brock.  We toasted orange Fanta at midnight :P.  My how times have changed!!   Our trip to the Music City Bowl was an incredible experience, and we are so grateful to have been able to enjoy our little mini-vacation to Nashville!