Gig 'em Aggies!

We went to College Station on Saturday to tailgate for the A&M game, and (despite the less-than-satisfactory result of the game itself) had a great time! 

Karoline (my sister), me, and my Dad

Our Tailgating Spot!

I've been saying for years that it would be so fun to tailgate with a TV and just watch the game from right outside the stadium. Kyle Field gets so, so crowded and so, so hot... and it's so big that from a lot of seats, the field looks teeny tiny and it's impossible to tell where the ball is sometimes. Plus, tickets to A&M games are like $200 a person for the awful way-high-up-in-the-endzone seats. It's just so much more comfortable and affordable to sit in a nice spacious chair under a shady tent and watch the game on TV (where you always have a perfect camera angle), and you still get to enjoy the gameday atmosphere!  This year we decided to make it happen, and we invested in an extra satellite dish, marine batteries, and all the necessary components to make the TV work in College Station. We also bought a table and chairs and a few cute tailgating dishes (my parents luckily already had a tent, and we already had a portable grill and lots of coolers). The TV setup definitely wasn't cheap, but we're planning to tailgate at every home game, so we'll definitely get out money's worth out of it (and compared to ticket prices, it was WAY more economical!). 

Here's the TV setup!

Look at all those Aggie fans in Spence Park! 

We left really early on Saturday morning to get there and claim a spot for our tent. A&M has a lot of different tailgating areas, but I really wanted to be in Spence Park. Spence Park is right outside the stadium, and it's a great atmosphere because there are no cars, generators, or giant barbecue trailers allowed, so you can let kids run around and play, and you can hear your TV, and there are friendly Aggie fans everywhere. 
Here's a video of the area where we were, and my waving family and friends: 
Spence Park Tailgating from Spirals & Spatulas on Vimeo.
We claimed a spot and got the TV all set up, and then we just had a wonderful day! 

We grabbed a spot right by this little creek, which was great because we had some extra space (rather than tents adjacent on all sides). 

Here's our tent! 

My parents and Karoline came, as well as Jeff's brother and one of his friends (both Gamecock fans). 

My Parents

Jeff and my BIL, Matt

Me, Karoline, and Matt's friend Will 

The Gamecock fans watched the South Carolina game early in the day, we played ladder golf, and we got to see ESPN Gameday filming on campus!

Karoline at ESPN College GameDay

We got to see the Corps of Cadets and the football team march in, which was pretty fun!

Here's a video of the Corps Band: 

Fightin' Texas Aggie Band from Spirals & Spatulas on Vimeo.

Karoline really liked seeing Parson's Mounted Cavalry, the portion of the Corps with horses:

I brought some fruit and scones and cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and we grilled some breakfast sausages. Lunch was burgers, chips, the rest of the fruit, and donuts. Once the A&M game started, about 20 people we didn't know ended up huddled around our TV to watch it - so fun! 

We got to see a few of my friends from A&M, like my good friend Amy (who was also in town visiting her boyfriend, who's a grad student there), my Fish Camp partner Kelly (who's about to graduate in May), my cousin Brittany (a current student), and Jeff's brother's girlfriend Emily. 

Me with Emily

Overall, we just had a great time being in College Station! There's nothing quite like Aggieland. A&M plays SMU away next week, but we'll be back in College Station for the SC State game in two weeks! I'm SO, SO excited! Maybe we'll even get a win out of that one...