BEAN TAVY!

First, I will catch up on the weekends we missed do to late night shenanigans in New York City…first up: Army / Navy!

What do you get when you combine a weekend with Army / Navy, lots of friends, greenman, and cheesesteaks? Yes it was an awesome weekend in Philadelphia. After surviving the bitter cold of Cleveland, we took our time getting to Philadelphia for the annual Army / Navy game. We had been out of water for five days since it was so cold in the midwest and our poop water was frozen as well. Who would have thought black and grey water freezes in below zero temperatures! We had to find some antifreeze and some water before we hit the big city of brotherly love. Luckily we found a rest stop with running water and a dump station about 30 minutes outside of the city. We took full advantage of the situation and locked in our hose and dump pipes, then took warm showers and cooked dinner. We occupied the area for nearly two hours before we finished the trek to Philly. It was totally a successful stop and we even prepped the tailgating food while stopped.

Getting to the lot the night prior was ideal because we got a decent spot and didn’t have to worry about getting a super early start the next day. So after getting the RV situated in the lot, we headed downtown to meet up with some of the many friends that came in for the game. It is always difficult to coordinate between several groups of friends who are staying at different hotels. But we made it work and I ended up at two different bars that night and got to see most people.

Not much sleep and a cold, windy morning made for a difficult set up. We tried to put up our tent with the sides to block the wind, but the wind was too strong and our tent pretty much acted like a sail. So I just put out the tables with some drinks, set up the bags, put out some food, cored a few pineapples, and called it good. People started to show up a little later and the party was started.

If you haven’t been to an Army / Navy game, it is quite the event; tailgating, going out on the town, hangovers, more tailgating, and football. This was the first time I went to the game as alumni and it was a blast. The tailgating is sometimes so fun that you don’t want to leave. But most of the people had tickets, so it was easier to leave when everyone else did. We got into the game early enough to watch the Parachutists jump into the stadium and the flyover consisting of four V-22 Ospreys. The first half of the game was a tough battle and Army was up at halftime with a score 3-0, which was nice, since the last few years Army has been blown out. With a win, Army would go to a bowl game (EagleBank Bowl) for the first time since 1996 and would not have a losing record since the same year. Navy started to dominate the game and took a 10-3 lead into the fourth quarter. Army still had a few chances to get close, but in the end, Navy took home the Commander-in-Chief trophy again. Bummer, Navy’s eighth consecutive victory. I was in Philadelphia the last time Army won in 2001 and I was hoping for a repeat, but no luck today. Oh well, the tailgating will still go on no matter the outcome.