Before Christmas, we looked at the calendar and saw that Virginia hoops had a game at Clemson on February 3rd. This was great, as we wanted to go root for the Hoos on an away court. But what made it truly fantastic was it gave us an opportunity to visit the one and only special Tiger, our niece Mackayla. And, it was her 21st birthday weekend! Woo-Hoo! 💜🧡
Charlie and I packed up the car and began our journey south on Friday afternoon – travels with Charlie. It was just the two of us for now, but we set our course for Charlotte to pick Stacey and Em up at the airport. Their work hours meant we would arrive at 2 or 3 in the morning if we all drove together. I’m too old for that! A 10 PM arrival is even stretching it a bit! We timed our leisurely stops well enough that 5 minutes after pulling in to the cell phone lot and taking a short walk with Chuck, Emily texted me that they had landed. 20 minutes later, I picked the girls up at a very busy curbside and we finished our journey, arriving in Clemson around 10 PM.
There is an unmistakable buzz and energy in most College towns, and Clemson is certainly no exception. One simply feels younger amongst the happy youth living those wonderful years of life. Mackayla and her boyfriend Cam joined us at Sunnyside Cafe for breakfast along with a few dozen other folks dressed in gameday colors. I sure wish I had invested in some sort of College Attire franchise a few decades ago! It was near impossible to find anyone not wearing Clemson gear. Of course there were the exceptions, like me, proudly professing their faith in UVA! Breakfast was superb, but the company was even better. Mack and Cam are genuinely great people we are fortunate to call family.
Before the game, we were lucky to be there for a special treat. The National Champion Men’s Soccer team had a parade to celebrate! Charlie joined us on a beautiful day cheering on this exceptional team. Again, I sure wish I owned the Clemson merchandise store in town! Sincerest congratulations to this outstanding group of young men, representing a great school and town in Clemson!
LittleJohn Coliseum was really cool, and we were treated to movie star parking thanks to Cam! We even got to see Assistant Coach Dick Bender’s golf cart as we walked in (inside joke). Our seats were really good, down in the lower section. The woman next to Stacey noticed our UVA attire and greeted her and said “welcome to Clemson!” It truly was a welcoming place. In the second half, Clemson stormed back from a 12 point deficit and even led by 1 with a few minutes left in the game. But Virginia somehow prevailed, winning by 1 when a 3-point Clemson shot with time expiring hit the back rim and fell into the hands of UVA to seal the deal. What a great game we got to see! Road wins are tough to come by in the ACC, and the Hoos had Emily’s heart racing – FOR REAL!
We rounded out the day with mouthwatering barbecue at the Smokin Pig. They brought pork rinds while we waited for our orders. I haven’t had pork rinds in years! The brisket was AMAZING, and you should definitely visit this place, if only for the incredible smell of smoked meat that greets you in the parking lot!
Sunday was a beautiful crisp morning, and I took Charlie for a nice walk around Lake Hartwell. We were the only two on a nice path through the woods for a quiet escape in nature. The ladies headed off for a day of retail therapy in Greenville while Charlie and I watched college hoops (some) between naps (more). That’s a good Sunday! A trip to any college town is not complete without going out for pizza, and the Mellow Mushroom in Clemson welcomed us in for just that. You have to purposely order too much pizza so the starving college kids get to take leftovers home, and we obliged. It was the perfect ending to a perfect Sunday.
The nightcap was the Grammy Awards, with Taylor Swift announcing the pending release of a new album stealing the show for the ladies.!
Thank you Mackayla and Cam for hosting us for a super fun weekend at Clemson! We had a great time, and hope to be back doing it again someday soon! 🧡💜🧡
