Even keeping up with a travel blog is hard, especially as a first year teacher. So, 8 months late, I present the post on the first stop of our stadium tour...
For anyone who doesn't know us well, Joe and I are huge MSU football fans. We have had season tickets since college and enjoy going to games. The Big Ten also holds a special place in our hearts and we decided that it would be fun to go to all of the football stadiums in the B1G. I love traveling and Joe loves football so this is a great way to do both.
We have been to many MSU games so before we even started traveling, we had one stadium down.
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| MSU vs Oregon Game |
After looking at the MSU game schedule (since we weren't missing any MSU home games) and other things we had planned on weekends in the fall, we decided to start our stadium tour at Purdue. My aunt went to Purdue so we were able to get a few pointers before we left which was very helpful. On October 10, we headed out before 7AM to drive down to West Lafayette, IN to watch the Purdue Boilermakers take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
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| Purdue Union - it looks very similar to the architectural style of the MSU Union. |
We got lunch and beer and spent time walking around campus. It was cool to see the campus and compare the atmosphere on game day to that of MSU. Downtown West Lafayette was similar to Downtown EL on game days. People enjoying food, drinks, and good company.
The atmosphere on campus was very different than at MSU on game days. At MSU there are people EVERYWHERE on campus. You can't walk more than 10 feet without finding a tailgate. Purdue University doesn't seem to lift their open container laws on campus for game days so the only tailgating was in the parking lots around the stadium. It was very different than what we are used to but it was nice to walk around a quiet campus and see the sights.
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| Outside the Stadium |
This was something like our fifth weekend in a row at a football game and it was the BEST weather we had for a game all season. It was 70 and sunny most of the day and there was not a cloud in the sky!
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| We sat in the front row! Seating is so low to the ground that these were the cheapest seats. |
There was a very different atmosphere at the stadium than at MSU football games. The stadium was only about half-full and neither team playing was fantastic. The atmosphere was very laid back and people near us were talking to the cheerleaders and mascots on the field. There was also no security guarding the entrance to the field but I guess with about 40,000 fewer fans than at MSU (and a team that isn't nearly as good) it wasn't needed.
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Purdue Pete- the creepiest mascot in the Big Ten.
He needs a new head, part of his hair was taped on with electrical tape. |
The game started at 3:30 and we stayed for three quarters before we headed out. The drive was about 4.5 hours so we planned on doing the trip in a day. It made for a very long day as we spent about 18 hours away from home. We decided that next time we will need a hotel for at least one night if we will be gone for that long.
Purdue was a great first stop on the tour. While it is only a start, we were excited to get going on our B1G stadium tour. We are already working on plans for the upcoming football season!
