Four for $30

This weekend was the annual "Tech vs. North Carolina School Tailgate Hosted by Brian" and this year's opponent was Duke. Unfortunately, given the competition, level of Tech's recent play, and timing of the game the turnout wasn't as high as in years past with only four brave souls making the trek to the Triangle. Although the group was small we were loud and proud alums and had a great time.

Gameday started out with a trip to Bojangles on 15-501 in Durham much to Melissa's disappointment after we passed one on Glenwood in Raleigh. From Bojangles we headed to Duke and joined the masses of Tech fans in the lot of 751 and Science Drive and broke out the cooler. My unusual culinary concoction this year was Peach Ginger Bellinis that I saw Tyler Florence make on the Food Network. The tasty beverage consists of a simple syrup with infused ginger blended with frozen peaches and then shaken with Champange. It turned out decently well for my first attempt, but it was a little thick and probably could have used some more Champagne (According to my friend Mark, when in doubt always had more alcohol to the recipe).

While hanging out in the parking lot we tossed the football, visited with fellow fans, and acquired some tickets. This was my third game at Duke and I have learned to not buy tickets for full price. The stadium is never close to being full so tickets are abundant and cheap. While enjoying the tailgate a scalper, if one can call him that, came up asking if we needed tickets. He told us his stock, selling $25 Tech-side for $20 and general admission $15 for $10. I offered him $10/ticket for the Tech tickets. He thought about it for a few seconds and said "How about 4 for $30?" I confered with the group and immediately whipped out $30. Yes, he just sold us 4 for $30 when I offered him $40. I think he must have thought I said $10 for all 4, but nonetheless we got a better deal. Moral of the story, don't be a scalper at Duke games, you won't make much money.

The game was pretty fun and the defense dominated. The score would have been much more lopsided if it hadn't been for scores off an interception, blocked punt, and fumble. Duke capitalized on our mistakes, but couldn't get anything going offensively. Our offense showed some life, but the receivers need to learn to hold onto the ball when it hits them square in the hands. The highlight of the game was when Tashard "Duece" Choice started the game only three weeks after knee surgery and acknowledged the crowd chanting "Duuuuueeeeccccceeee" as he walked on the field for the first series.

After the game, I drove the group around campus to see the beautiful Gothic architecture and then dropped Ben at his car so he could meet his sister for dinner. The three of us then headed to downtown Durham and the American Tobacco Historic District for dinner at Mellow Mushroom which gave me the chance to give an architecture/real estate tour.

Following dinner we were tired and drove back to my apartment, started a fire, and watched a Knocked Up. It was pretty good but slow towards the middle, evidenced by my falling asleep for a few minutes. Sunday morning we had breakfast at Brigs Restaurant which has won numerous "Best of" awards for its breakfast which turned out to be pretty tasty. After lunch Melissa and Adam hit the road and Ben and I hung out the rest of the afternoon being nerds playing video games and watching Man vs. Wild.

Overall a pretty fun weekend and if you weren't there you missed out!

Camera Phone Gallery of Gameday

Buzz!