Any Given Saturday in the Fall

My love of college football comes from my Dad.  He always watched the games on Saturday and when he retired, he became Florida Gator season ticket holders.

I think one of the reasons I chose to go to school at Auburn was the access to amazing college football games almost every weekend in the fall. I still love going to games now and would encourage anyone who likes college football to spend the money and see a game live.  There is nothing like it.  People are so passionate about their team and there is so much tradition like when every sings Rocky Top in the UT stadium. I love it!

This past weekend, we headed up to Knoxville to watch the Tennesse Volunteers take on the Georgia Bulldogs.  My inlaws live in Knoxville so we were able to combine a nice family vacation with some football.

We flew on Allegiant Air out of Sanford Airport.  Allegiant is definitely not my favorite airline, but it is the only direct flight from Orlando to Knoxville so I end up flying them several times a year.  However, Frontier Airlines will begin direct service to Knoxville starting October 5 so that will probably be my go-to airline.

We had 13 people staying at my inlaws house so we had a packed house, but lots of great family time not to mention amazing food and spectacular wine.

We always try to hit up Big Ed’s pizza while we are there and this visit was no exception.  Big Ed’s Pizza has been in continuous operation since opening at its current location by “Big Ed” Neusel and his wife, “Ginger,” in February of 1970.  The menu at Big Ed’s Pizza is simple, just pizza and beverages, including beer.   They continue to make both our dough and sauce fresh in the restaurant using Big Ed’s original recipes. They also make our own sausage, with Big Ed’s unique blend of spices, and our own hamburger in the restaurant to ensure both are very lean. The mozzarella cheese, made to Big Ed’s specifications, is shipped directly from Wisconsin and shredded daily. The even chop their fresh produce daily and smoke the chicken for our BBQ chicken at the restaurant.  The restaurant’s atmosphere is unique, including booths from the original Service Drug Store.

The highlight of the trip was the Tennessee vs. Georgia football game.  Unfortunately, the game did not go as planned and Tennessee was badly beaten at home, but we still had a wonderful time.