Sitting and resting after the game

Home again, home again, jiggity jig...Whew! What a great game it was today! Sadly for Lynn, the Packers lost, but bravo for the Jaguars finally getting a decent win. The weather was absolutely glorious, and I was even a bit warm as we did our rather lengthy walk from the parking garage at the Coliseum all the way to the stadium. Forty days and forty nights of walking to our seats on the east end, in the Club Seats. Surprisingly and again, sadly, I didn't run into anyone I knew on the way in nor during the game. Afterward, as we left the stadium, we saw Justin's friend, Ryan, from St. Johns, but we couldn't stop to chat because Ryan had to try going back in to get his little cousin's jacket, accidentally left in his seat. Good luck fighting your way back through the mob, Ryan!

We did have some pleasant conversations-in-passing with other Packer fans, however, and I got a chance to tell a couple people I am a "cross dresser", wearing items for each team. Got some laughs out of it, which is good. A Jaguar fan told Lynn, while in the refreshment area of the Club House, that her hat was ugly, but Lynn didn't have a ready come-back for him. Nuts! Her hat was no uglier than any others, in fact, it wasn't ugly at all, but the Jaguar fans' attitude was uglier than dirt!

Justin and I found sustenance at the Outback mini-restaurant, him ordering Steak and Mushroom in a cup, with me having the wonderful cheddar fries. Lynn went to a separate place to get her food, opting for a burrito or something wrapped up with hot peppers. We found a high top table to stand at to eat, Justin thinking we wouldn't wish to carry our food boxes and soda cups down into the seating area. Obviously I couldn't eat all mine at once, so we took it along with us when we sat. I didn't want to miss the pre-game warm-ups (Lynn called it batting practice!) or any of the other activity on the field.

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If I could have changed one thing about our arrangements, it would have been to put some 'live' people in front of us, instead of the semi-comatose 60-ish couple who barely reacted to anything, whether good or bad. They were evidently Jaguar fans as he was wearing a Jags ball cap which I bumped more than once with my bosoms, accidentally, when getting up and down for different reasons. Of course, I was gracious enough to apologize for nearly knocking his head off, well, not quite that dramatic, but one could sense he was not happy being 'bothered' during a sporting event! Certainly we could have formed an understanding about the whole thing, a friendly understanding, but it was not to be. Once, his wife turned her head toward me and sort of smiled, and I smiled back, but still kept my bulk away from the back of his head as best I could. Good thing I didn't drink beer, nor did anyone in our group, to spill anything on him! That was the minor downside to the seating, otherwise, our seats and perspective of the field were most excellent!

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At halftime, we were delighted to have a mess of Army parachutists leap from a Navy plane. The skilled men all landed center field, only one not quite landing on his feet, but spectacular nonetheless. Justin and I found it particularly inspiring because JR, my nephew and his cousin, is at West Point and also trained as a jumper. The national anthem was sung by a man who competed on American Idol, an amateur show on TV, who is also a Navy man. The Coast Guard presented the colors today and two giant choppers flew over after the singing of the anthem. A great day for the Armed Forces today!

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I had Justin grab my disposable camera as I figured my full-sized Canon would not be allowed into the stadium. Once at the gate, we were split into two lines for frisking purposes, men and women. And it wasn't even my birthday! As we sat in our seats, the teams were just practicing and I wanted to take a picture, only to discover that Justin had left it lay in the backseat of the car. Originally he had it in his pocket and took it out to sit more comfortably. Nuts! We had to use our phones to snap shots, so those will have to do. Hopefully they will show enough of the sights and atmosphere of the stadium, although, face it, this is NOT Lambeau Field!

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The game was good, well played, in my opinion, and the Jaguars arose victorious with a 20-16 win against the Packers. On the way out of the stadium, I mentioned that the Jaguars really needed this victory today and Lynn said, sadly, "So did the Packers!" Not today, though, the game belonged to the Jags!