Your Most Perfect Saturday in Knoxville

I thought I would start this thread so we could all post memories of our favorite days that revolved around trips to Neyland on Saturdays in the fall.


Dammit we need details

What highway did you take?

Where did you stop and eat at?

What was the vibe heading to the game?

What was the first thing that gave you that spine tingling feeling of being close to sacred ground?

Who did we play and overall, what thing about that Saturday made that particular trip SO significant.






Its getting close, fellow 8thers, I figure this thread will be our version of 'just the tip'

 

Nobody wins "just the tip."

 

The majority of my trips to Neyland involved waking up and walking all of 1,000 yards from Gibbs to Circle Park, drinking and grilling all day long then losing my voice before the end of the 1st quarter.

Now, when I drive up there, around the I-75/40 split I start getting anxious. I'm full on giddy child by the time I see campus.

 

I miss waking up in the piece of shit house I lived in the Fort, driving to Kroger for at least 1 keg, hamburger meat and bratwurst, parking 3 blocks from the house so we could sell all 8 spots we made from the original 6, drinking, grilling, hanging out with my boys, being pretty damn drunk by game time, then sobering up by about the 3rd possession due to the fact I was screaming my ass off, watching UT gut out a 6 OT win against Arkansas, then coming back to the house to tap another keg and start all over again.

Yeah....I don't miss college at all.

 

I travel 40E right into Knoxville. I usually stop and eat something quick and then tailgate until I'm sick at my stomach. I'm also usually giddy before the game starts and enjoy walking into Neyland. It's still one of those places you just feel an awe around it when you step foot.

As far as my perfect moment, the very first game I went to was in 1988. I can still remember my dad hoisting me on his shoulders and saying, "there it is son" as we walked around the concourse to get to our seats. The field has never looked, nor will it ever look, as good as it did that day.

 

1989-90ish
Wake and bake, pregame at someones house near the strip. Crash somebody's parents' tailgate for our meal for the day/s. Sneak in airplane bottles in high socks. Spread word (no cell phones) to @ 5 guys and 15 girls of the aftergame keg and chicken grilling at our apt at Woodmeade, that hopefully ended up in some intercourse with one of the 15 or so, or go get it later if on the hunt.

Now its usually up and back after the game, which has sucked even more because we have sucked so bad.

 

has to be 98 Florida. been to a couple of games before that but that was my first one as a student. actually started on about Wednesday when i saw the blimp while i was walking to class. I was pretty much done from that point on. i don't remember what we did all day that day. was in Section G about 20th row. it really seemed like the fate of Earth hung on every snap. some girl accidentally elbowed me in the head and then kissed me. and then when the FG went wide it was like somebody blew up a dam. remember thinking "but we're not supposed to do this" for about 2 seconds (i was a good kid, couldn't help it) then that was replaced quickly by "staying here means death". the goalposts were gone long before I got down there. we just kinda walked around on the field till they ran us off, probably about an hour. people were taking everything that wasn't bolted down, and some stuff that was. dude took about a 15-foot section of pipe from the cyclone fence we trampled down. (later we saw people on the strip with whiteboards, tackling dummies, helmets, all kinds of stuff). of course, everybody was digging up grass. i got a section from the end zone. threw it down on the strip later because i was tired of carrying it. we went to McDs after and there were so many people in there, the cops would let 2 in when 2 came out, etc. got back to the dorm room about 7 am. it was awesome.

 

04 Florida was amazing. We floated 5 kegs at the white house besides Hess then stacked them up at the end of a slip n slide.

 

Police escorts in the bus flying up Neyland drive. We didn't have a VOL Walk back then.

 

Must not have had true fans then.

 

There

 

We took 11E out of Washington County, stopped at the Mosheim BP/Wendy's, Dad grabbed coffee and a Knox News Sentinel and I would have to read it to him on the way down I-81/I-40. If it was just us, we hit up Krystal's on the Strip, and if we were with company we'd hit up Calhoun's. In the event we ever wanted to impress someone, it was Copper Cellar or Butcher Shop (RIP dear friend).

Go to the Vol Walk and then enter the gate always TWO hours before kickoff. My greatest childhood memories were those trips.

 

My most memorable was my first game, 1978 UT/Bama. The thing that keeps it from perfect was we lost. The things that made it awesome was that I was with my dad, and seeing the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen, Neyland Stadium on game day.

Drove 11W to I-40 to Neyland Drive. We parkedon the River next to the houseboats. I'm pretty sure this was before they referred to it as The Vol Navy. Dad locked the keys in the brand new '78 GMC truck which was my first vehicle too. We had to get a coat hanger from the boats to get the truck open. I didn't worry because I was with dad, and he could do anything. We got the truck open and got invited back to the boat for the pre-game party. There's not sufficient words to describe what I felt walking to the stadium and what I saw when I walked into the seating area. We sat right behind the UT bench about 20 rows up in the blue hair section. Spending a day watching my first UT football game with my dad against bama, I knew it didn't get any better.

 

Jay didn't explain, but 11W is the old way to get to Knoxville before the interstate, which is my polite way of saying Jay is a geezer.

Love ya Jay.

 

No apoligies needed brother. The truth will stand when the world's on fire. I should have said Rutledge Pike instead if 11W for the Knoxville folks.

Plus it's as quick to go 11W as it is interstate from my house.

 

After posting that, I thought that might be true. From my side the interstate saved liked 35-40 minutes.

 

You mean there hasn't always been interstates?

 

It's past your bedtime junior.

 

Rolling between Nashville and Knoxville seeing all of the flags, magnets, and orange.
I remember going up there as a kid and looking for the Worlds Fair Dome as we were driving. As soon as I found it I knew where to look to find Neyland.
For a kid, after a 3 hour drive stitting in traffic to park was cruel to the highest degree.

 

The first time I went, I slept from Nashville to around Kingston. I woke up and still had to wait an hour.

I'll never forget seeing gate 21 with the hill behind it. Then, seeing the field was the greatest thing I'd ever saw