The Irish Fight Back (plus Indiana tourism)

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Since I’m doing more on this trip than just college football, I’m dividing it into two parts. The first will be all about the football gameday experience (and getting there). The second part will talk about all the stuff I did on my way back home, since I had a couple of days to be a tourist before I had to be back home.

So let me say that Notre Dame has been a favorite of mine for as long as I’ve been following college football. I know people say they’re always overrated, and in the past few years in the world of UGA fanhood, it’s become the norm to trash-talk Notre Dame. We did beat them both times in the past three years, so the trash-talk is warranted, on some level. But when it comes to the lore of college football, Notre Dame is at or near the top of the list. And so, for all those reasons, this trip has been one I wanted to make for a long time. And I’m glad I finally did.

I bought this ticket back in August, before the start of the season, when Notre Dame was a top-ten team. And Virginia Tech, the opponent, has been a tough team for most people for the past two decades. They’ve been down recently, but when both teams met today, they had an identical record: 5-2. Notre Dame had just lost badly to Michigan last week, dropping out of the top ten. And Virginia Tech had actually been winning recently to pull their record up. The Irish were favored to win by at least 17 points at the start of the day. Whoever came up with that betting line should be fired. Just because one team has a number in front of their name (in this case, Notre Dame was ranked 16^th) and the other one doesn’t, doesn’t mean the line should be so lopsided. I’ve made it a point after the first two weeks of the season to try and attend games that won’t be blowouts. In spite of the predictions, this was very much not a blowout.

Due to the weather, I postponed leaving Athens until Friday morning. I would’ve left on Thursday, but it had rained all day on Wednesday and looked to do the same on Thursday. Nope. A little thunder in the afternoon, some light showers, and no major downpours or thunderstorms. But I needed to get some work done, since I hate to take it on road trips with me. And it got done. And I drove for ten hours on Friday. Just a few words about that, though:

I hate Atlanta. I hate Atlanta. I hate Atlanta.

Did I say that enough? I will normally do anything I can to avoid Atlanta during what I expect are bad traffic times. Should’ve done that on Friday. Lost 25 minutes in standstill traffic and then got blocked from my exit by some unhelpful motorists and ended up losing another 15 minutes for that. Anyway. Chattanooga was also terrible, traffic-wise.

But I made it to the Motel 6 in Kokomo, Indiana, around 7:00 PM. It’s not posh, but it’s not bad. The bed is comfy and the room is clean. That’s all I need. I found out that Notre Dame (90 minutes from Kokomo) doesn’t have free parking like LSU and Alabama did. Minimum of $30 here. And the lots open at 8:00 AM on gameday. I wasn’t sure how much traffic and parking would be a problem, so I set my alarm to wake me up about thirty minutes before I wanted to leave, and gave myself 1 hour 45 minutes to travel, so I could be there when the lots opened.

Except I didn’t. My math was just horrible, and I miscalculated by an hour. I didn’t realize this until I had been up for five minutes and was brushing my teeth. So after a little panic, I dressed and did some minimal stretching before I was in my car in seven minutes. It was still dark (6:48 AM), and naturally some road work was going on, which neither Google Maps nor Waze was aware of. That cost me an extra five minutes. But once I got on the road, it was smooth sailing. And I pulled up in the White Field lot at 8:28 AM. Not many people at all.

Oh, and I didn’t have to pay to park. Call it a lie of omission. I pulled into the grass lot, rolled down the window, and said hello to the ticket ladies. The one closest to me said, “Hi, you can go on in.” I was a bit unsure at this point, but I just said, “Okay.” “You’re faculty, right?” I noticed the faculty parking tag hanging from my rearview mirror. “Yeah,” I replied. “Okay, faculty don’t have to pay.” She started to look a little closer at the tag, but I just said, “Thanks!” and drove on. So thanks, tag lady, and thanks to you, too, Athens Technical College.

Having just saved $30, I was content to park and get bundled up. It was 37 degrees F outside, and the projected high was only 42. So after I got appropriately dressed, I started to walk to the stadium. About a mile away. Then I noticed a bus parked by the side of the road that said “Shuttle.” I inquired of some tailgaters, and indeed, this bus would take me to the Hesburgh Library, directly across from the stadium. And it was free! I’m guessing that’s one reason parking is more expensive around here: every lot comes with a complimentary shuttle to and from the game. In these cold temperatures, I wasn’t going to pass up a warm bus.

And it only took 5 minutes to get to the library. It’s the one with Touchdown Jesus on it, which everyone who knows about Notre Dame football will be familiar with. You can see it—a huge mural going up all the way from the first floor to the top floor of the library—from the stadium. And from the opposite endzone inside the stadium, the goal posts frame the mural. This wasn’t my first time on campus, so I had seen it before. But there was something about seeing it on gameday that made it more special.

My next stop was the main bookstore on campus for some Notre Dame swag. My readers may remember how I balked at buying Alabama gear, and how I would’ve bought something nice from LSU if I had had more money (and been more invested in the team). Well, Notre Dame is a place I like and will admit to cheering for, unless they play UGA. Since I finally got my financial aid money this past week, I could afford to spend a little here. And since I didn’t have to pay $30 for parking, it meant I could spend it elsewhere. I had heard that the bookstore was a clustershag on gamedays, and when I walked in, a nice elderly lady told me that I had beaten the rush, but she couldn’t tell who I was supporting because my outfit was confusing. I was wearing a very tight-fitting Notre Dame cap (which must’ve shrunk since I bought it 11 years ago) and a West Virginia sweatshirt (from the Gold Rush in week 3 this season). They are Notre Dame colors, and it was cold. I told her I was here to remedy that situation.

This was around 9:00 AM. I was probably inside the store for about thirty minutes, trying to find a warm hoodie with a simple ND on it. No luck. I also wanted to find a knitted hat that would cover my ears during the game. I found one of those easily. But it took at least fifteen minutes to settle on a dark blue hoodie that had the ND but also some other lettering. I opted for one that included the date of the founding of the university (11.26.1842) since my initial interest in Notre Dame was academic, not athletic, all those years ago. But throughout my time in the store, it kept filling up with people. By the time I left, I was glad I hadn’t waited any longer.

Just outside the bookstore, I slipped into my new Notre Dame garments. And the weird looks I had been getting earlier vanished. I also ran into a very helpful fellow in a green hat, who gave me a map and some good advice about what to see and where to eat on campus. He was part of the welcoming committee, and when he found out I was from Georgia, he was jovial and said they wouldn’t hold it against me since I was wearing the proper gear here.

He recommended visiting the main building, with the golden dome, and the Sacred Heart Basilica next door. And then the grotto behind that. I had seen the golden dome from afar—indeed, it’s hard to miss. So I oriented myself in that direction. I passed through a massive green space, the main quad, oriented east-west, and remarkably free of tailgating. I was glad for that. It could’ve gotten really ugly with all the detritus associated with tailgating. I later learned that tailgating was confined to a parking lot adjacent to the stadium. But I digress.

The main building was rather iconic looking, but I don’t think it’s quite as iconic in the sporting world as the Touchdown Jesus mural. I went inside, and it housed the admissions office, a few classrooms, and lots of administrative offices. In the center is the rotunda, and you can look up to see the dome through at least four floors of overviewing rails. I went up to the second floor to see what there was, and despite some old-looking paintings and woodwork, it wasn’t anything I wanted to spend too much time with. Next was the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. It had a nice spire on the outside, and a fun mural above one of the exit doors. But inside, it was gorgeous. Blue ceiling, big and shiny organ, and then a golden altarpiece that was a work of art in itself. Lots of people had come in to look around, but there were a good number of people praying or simply sitting in wondrous silence in the pews. I made a round, crossed myself with some holy water, and then went back outside. The last stop on this part of campus was the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes. It’s a small cave-like intrusion into the rock between the lake and the basilica. People had lined up to light a prayer candle and give their respect. I didn’t participate, but I did enjoy the solemnity of the moment. You could see the spire of the basilica and the golden dome from down here, too.

It was about 10:45 by now, and I was getting hungry. The old fellow had suggested the South Dining Hall for brunch (which is the only meal they serve on Saturdays pre-game). So I went to this building, on the main quad, and got in line. Only when I got to the front to pay did I realize it was $19 per person. Yikes. But I had been told it was the best, and that I wouldn’t be hungry afterwards. These statements were true.

The South Dining Hall did not disappoint. The price should’ve indicated how good it was going to be. Even the students accustomed to the fare at this place remarked on how they had stepped up their game today. I’m glad they did. They had salad bars, breakfast bars, meats, pizza bars, several drink fountains, and others that I can’t even remember. I particularly appreciated the breakfast options, since it was still about 11:00. All you can eat. And I did! While there, I got to see a good number of current and former Notre Dame students interacting, and there was even a large group of frat-looking guys at the front of the room on some kind of dais with a really long table, and at one point, one of the guys in the middle of the table started speaking loudly and commanding the attention of the room. Then he recited something, I don’t know what (one of the passing students commented that it was definitely not English), then drank something large and very quickly, after which his compatriots cheered. At any rate, this was a nice respite: inside a warm building, filling my belly, and off my feet.

I sauntered over to the Touchdown Jesus mural after that, since there was going to be a Glee concert around 11:30, followed by the football players walking into the stadium through that area. It was honestly getting colder, but I didn’t mind. The Glee boys sang some standard repertoire men’s choir songs, along with a good dose of Notre Dame pep songs. At one point, they even sang through several schools’ fight songs (including Georgia, and then Michigan, which got several boos from the audience). And then the football players walked through, around 12:20. Defense on one side of the reflecting pool (my side) and offense on the other side. Then they met in the middle and walked together down to the stadium gates. And I followed them. But the gates didn’t open until 1:00.

So I walked around the outside of the stadium, which is really quite unique. They bill it as the “House that Rockne built.” And he certainly did have a say in what he wanted, back when the stadium was built in 1930. And subsequent additions have tried to stay faithful to that vision. Really, it looks a bit like a large building you could find elsewhere on campus—the same color bricks and architectural patterns. But you can see bleachers extending at the top in some places. But on three sides, there are actual names for the different “halls” that come together to hem in the stadium. My seat was on the endzone side nearest to Touchdown Jesus, so I didn’t get to see that view from my seat. Once I got inside, however, I made my way to the opposite endzone to see exactly what people were talking about. And it’s true: you can see Jesus with arms raised in the Touchdown formation through the goal posts. I got my typical souvenir soda cup ($6), and then enjoyed watching as the different player groups took the field to warm up. Those golden helmets really did sparkly in the light. We didn’t get much sunshine for the afternoon, but when we did, they really did shine.

There was a bit of pomp before the game, and I found out that Notre Dame’s marching band is the oldest in the country. So there’s that. And they’ve got a pretty famous fight song, but since this blog site doesn’t allow video uploads anymore, I can’t post the vids I made during those songs.

The game itself was a dismal affair for much of the afternoon. Weather included. The game started at 42 degrees and never got higher. When the sun was shining on us, it actually felt pleasant. But as soon as it disappeared behind the clouds, the temperature felt like it dropped twenty degrees immediately. That wind was something else, too. During the second quarter, it became really unbearable to me. So I went to buy something to keep me warm. Hand warmers were $1.99, but they were also selling blankets, and since I had a little money now, I decided it would be worth an investment. Plus, this one looked like it might keep the wind from slicing through me, too. The hand warmers were essential. The blanket was also a great help. I could feel my legs again, and I stopped the shivering that was really making the whole afternoon a bit more painful than I expected.

But this game. Uh-uhg-ly. It was most memorable for two things: the Notre Dame turnovers at the worst of times, and the spectacular final Irish drive. Notre Dame looked like they would control the game early, keeping Virginia Tech to stalled drives, and then scoring the first touchdown. When Virginia Tech answered with a touchdown, Notre Dame struck quickly to retake the lead. And then, just before the half, Notre Dame had driven down to the one-yard line. And instead of taking it in for a touchdown and 14-point lead, the runner fumbled the ball, and Virginia Tech recovered it for a 99-yard touchdown. So instead of being basically the game clincher, this drive ended up tying the game at the half. People were grumbling, but they weren’t going crazy. Yet.

Then the second half happened. Nothing went right for the Irish. Stalled drives, more turnovers. Virginia Tech couldn’t get much going, either, which ultimately saved the Irish. Tech got a field goal in the third quarter, the only points scored by either team in that period. Then another field goal in the fourth gave them a six-point lead. The Irish defense had at least kept them out of the endzone. This meant that, as Notre Dame got the ball back with about three minutes remaining in the game, they could score a touchdown and get the point after to win. Starting form their own thirteen-yard line, the Irish converted two fourth downs on their way to score the desperately needed touchdown with only twenty-nine seconds remaining. And the crowd went wild. Then the crucial extra point? Made. What had looked so unlikely for most of the second half might just happen. Could they hold on and keep Virginia Tech from scoring in the final 29 seconds? Tech tried three pass plays for the long ball, and the third time was the charm—for Notre Dame. Finally, a turnover that went the way of the Irish, as the ball was intercepted with two seconds left. It sealed the win for the Irish, and the crowd (most of which had stuck around) went crazy. Final score: Notre Dame 21, Virginia Tech 20.

I stuck around after the win to soak it all in. Lots of people commenting on how ugly it was, but that it was a win nonetheless. I agreed. I had also been following my alma mater on my phone from time to time, and things were looking good from Jacksonville. Several people have asked whether I regret not going there this year, instead of traveling to Notre Dame. The answer is simple: not at all. I’ve done Jacksonville six times, and this season is all about new places. Plus, it doesn’t ruin my day as much if I’m not there if/when we lose. And it’s true that I don’t get as excited for a win when I’m not there, but I’m still sore about the price of UGA tickets. That affair at the Cocktail Party was over $100 per ticket. Plus it wasn’t at a school, just some neutral site NFL stadium. Plus Jacksonville is kinda gross.

Back to Indiana. The buses took us back to the parking area, and I only had to wait in line for about 20 minutes. So it was basically like Jacksonville. After I found my car, the traffic was actually not bad at all. Definitely no LSU. And I stopped by a Culver’s (my addiction) in South Bend before heading back to Kokomo for the evening. What a fun day!

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At this point, if you’re only interested in the football aspect, you can stop reading. Here’s all about what I did on Sunday and Monday as I played the tourist around Indiana on my way back to Georgia. It involves mostly Art Deco stuff and Presidential homes.

My long-time readers will remember how much I love Art Deco buildings. Since the week leading up to this trip was rather hectic, I hadn’t really thought about doing much besides making the trip, checking out the campus, and attending the game. These were the essentials, I suppose. But during the week, I remembered that the two Harrison presidents had homes in Indiana, so I wanted to see if I could visit them. It’s a long weekend for the school district where I teach most of my classes (off Friday-Tuesday), and I was grateful for that, since it meant I didn’t have to spend another day driving more than ten hours. So Sunday would be a bit of a lazier day. And when I woke up on Sunday, it hit me that there simply had to be some Art Deco stuff around this area. It turns out, there was!

Kokomo isn’t really a big city at all. It’s got several auto factories, but it looks pretty compact in terms of where people congregate. I did a search for Art Deco and found that the National Guard Armory and the County Courthouse were both in that style. I drove to the Armory, but from the outside, it looked like a pretty standard (technically Art Deco but boring) Art Deco building, but nothing spectacular. Two blocks further on, there was the Courthouse, and it was beautiful. The angular design is always nice, but I love when they put a little more thought into it. This is usually done with images carved into the sides, or window dressings, or doorways. Since it was Sunday, I couldn’t go inside, and when I looked through the main doorway, I wished that I could. But this doorway had a nice frame, and it was in turn framed by two large lampposts on either side of the porch.

My next big stop was the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site in Indianapolis, only an hour south of Kokomo. Before I went there, I checked the interwebs for Art Deco in Indianapolis, and sure enough, there were a few places that came up. Most of these are like the Armory mentioned above: technically Art Deco, but just barely so, and not very interesting. Two places caught my attention: the Circle Tower in the heart of downtown, and the Indiana State Library. I decided to hit these up before going to the Presidential Home.

Let’s just say that Indianapolis streets are frustrating. Lots of one-way streets, and not a lot of available parking. After circling around for longer than I wanted, I found a parking spot about two blocks from the Circle Tower. Had to make a u-turn right in front of a police officer, but the street was really wide and he didn’t seem to care. Then I didn’t pay to park. I was trusting in my speed at checking out the tower and getting back before anyone noticed.

It was a beautiful example of Art Deco. The top of the building was almost layered in it, and the main entryway was as Art Deco as you can get. The frame was perfect, and the metallic designs above the door were just amazing. It was a revolving door, and when I saw the lobby of the building, with elevators and floors and wall designs, I knew I had to go inside. No such luck, though, since it was Sunday, and the building was closed. Dammit. But this building abutted onto Monument Circle, which had caught my eye when I was trying to find parking. In the middle of the traffic circle is a HUGE obelisk dedicated to the “War for the Union.” I was dumbstruck when I first saw it in the car. And up close, it was still breathtaking. Lots of people walking around, some going inside at the base of the obelisk. But it’s got fountains taking up two sides of the base, with bright blue water. I hadn’t planned on seeing it, but I took a few pictures and then rushed back to the car. It was still where I left it, with no ticket.

The other Art Deco site was a bust. Again, because it was Sunday. The Indiana State Library was indeed Art Deco on the outside, but mostly that basic style that’s not very interesting. It’s a shame it was closed, because I’ve seen pictures of the inside, and that’s where the good Art Deco stuff really is.

My final stop in Indianapolis was the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site, located at the house he built in the 1870s and resided in intermittently until he came back from Washington in 1893. Then he lived there until his death in 1901. The office is in a barn-like structure at the back of the house, where you pay for the tour and can see a free exhibit on presidential humor and then browse the gift shop. I flashed my student ID and got $5 off the price of the tour (normally $12). And the tour lasted about 75 minutes.

It’s a nicely preserved home, and since I was the only one on the tour this time, we didn’t have any stupid questions from other people. My tour guide did ask me a few questions, I guess trying to gauge how much I knew about Harrison and presidential and American history in general. It turns out he was a retired history teacher from New Jersey, but he has now been giving these tours for ten years. We got to check out the furniture, some impressive bookcases in Harrison’s study, and lots of paintings of people in or associated with his family. The one thing that I actually took a picture of was the Reginaphone, which I had never heard of. It was like a phonograph, but instead of vinyl records, they were metal, with holes cut out in various shapes and intervals. And the machine interpreted them as different pitches of different lengths. We listened to about a minute of a Sousa march. This was not the Reginaphone belonging to the Harrison family, but this album was. All of the albums in the collection belonged to them. That was crazy to me. But really cool. Then I got to see the presidential china displayed in the dining room. Those are always interesting, since each president gets to design their own plates and bowls and such. Says a lot about how they think of themselves and what they want others to think. Most of the house was located on the first and second floors, and I particularly liked Harrison’s daughter Mary’s room. It had a kind of pink motif going on, and when I asked him why they had chosen that color, he didn’t know and said that no one had ever asked that. My suspicion was that they were trying to match the dress on display in the room, but the carpet, the upholstery in the furniture, and a few of the items on the dresser all matched that color. And finally, on the third floor, there was an exhibition about presidential inaugural balls and other such things.

After I finished this tour, I had a choice to make. I had seriously considered going over to the University of Illinois to see their stadium (bucket list stuff, remember?). I also seriously considered just heading back to Georgia. It was about 2:20, and I could make it home before midnight if I left immediately. But I had made a hotel reservation for Vincennes, Indiana, for Sunday night so that I could check out the OTHER Harrison home, that of Benjamin’s grandfather, William Henry. It turns out that this hotel reservation was no longer cancelable, and so I needed to stay here or lose the money. It was two hours away, and so I just made the decision to head down to Vincennes for the rest of the day, and not spend a half-tank of gas extra, not to mention an extra 2.5 hours of driving, just to check a stadium off my list. There will be other times.

Vincennes, Indiana, is not exactly a happening place, however. I got to my Super 8 hotel around 4:30 PM, and the Harrison mansion in town closes at 5:00. I decided to write some of this blog, then enjoy some Fazoli’s food (I think the last time I had it was three years ago on a road trip with Jack), and then see the new Terminator film, Terminator: Dark Fate. There really aren’t a lot of food options in Vincennes, by the way. And the film was actually a lot better than I expected. Not entirely unpredictable, but it was exciting for the first three quarters.

And Monday, the final day of the trip, was mostly driving, but with a couple of unexpected (pleasant) surprises to start and end the day. My only touristy thing on the agenda was stopping by Grouseland, the home of President William Henry Harrison (the shortest-tenured president, serving exactly one month in 1841). He's the grandfather of Benjamin, whose house I visited the day before in Indianapolis. Grouseland, however, didn't open until 10 AM, and with my body still adjusting to daylight savings, I was ready to go before that. So I stopped by the Memorial Bridge over the Wabash River, the border between Indiana and Illinois at the edge of Vincennes. On the Illinois side, there's a monument with a statue of Lincoln, where he crossed the river somewhere around here with his family when he was 21. They've got a hiking trail, but it was bit chilly for me to hike. As I was crossing the bridge, though, a large monument on the Indiana side caught my eye, and I wanted to take a look at it.

It's the George Rogers Clark National Historical Park, and it has some nice views of the river and the bridge, too. It's a monument to the capture of Fort Sackville by the Americans in 1779, during the Revolutionary War. I hadn't expected to see any monuments from that period this far west, and that's kinda why it's such a big deal. The monument is mostly a big rotunda, very Washingtonian, but with some Art Deco-inspired touches. It was built in the 1930s, after all. I parked and walked over to the dome, and on my way, there was a monument to the unmarked graves of numerous American soldiers and Indians who had been buried on the site. The rotunda is massive, though, and I was fortunate enough to be able to go in without any hassle (right after I left, the park ranger on duty exited and put a sign on the main stairs up to the front door saying that visitors should come to the visitor center if they wanted to be allowed inside the dome). There's a big statue of Clark (older brother of the Clark from Lewis and Clark fame) in the middle of the rotunda, with seven murals around the walls, each one almost from floor to ceiling. The murals give the major points of the history of Vincennes during the time, with accompanying displays saying how they got to that point. Outside, there are walking trails along the river and up to the Memorial Bridge.

At this point, it was after 10:00, so I made my way over to Grouseland, less than a mile away. From the outside, it doesn't appear so big, but you find out that when it was built in 1804, it was the largest house in the territory (most houses were log cabins, one story; and this mansion was as big around as 4 log cabins and with 3 stories). William Henry Harrison was territorial governor (or secretary of the Northwest Territories) in the early 1800s before fighting the famous battle at Tippecanoe during the War of 1812 and later running for president in 1836 and 1840. The house is now run by a man and woman (the only two people I saw), and he was the one who gave me the tour. A private tour, because of course. And the student ID came to the rescue again, saving me $3. I got to see the various rooms that the Harrisons used, including the Morning Room with the official Harrison china; the Dining Room, which was really nice; and the Sitting Room, which was huge for the time period. This was all on the ground floor. Then we went downstairs and saw just how smart Harrison was; he had prepared a virtual bunker in case of attack, and the man had thought of all contingencies (including fresh water and waste disposal). Then we went upstairs to check out the bedrooms, and then the servants' quarters behind that. I was surprised to find that the house had been in disrepair for many years, left virtually vacant and crumbling, until the Daughters of the American Revolution stepped in. They seem to do a lot of stuff like this, based on my presidential travels. It was a decent tour, and I found out the origins of such phrases as "pop goes the weasel" and "sleep tight," too. I saw several places where it said "no photographs" inside the mansion, but I took advantage of the computer taking a long time to ring up my purchase of the official William Henry Harrison PEZ dispenser to go off on my own and snap a few pics. Don't tell them.

After that, it was time to head back to Georgia. It was a pretty uneventful drive. I finished listening to Flowers for Algernon on audiobook. From Vincennes to Marietta, GA, was 6.5 hours. And I had a rendezvous with a former student of mine, Me'Shai. He's at Life University in Marietta, a freshman on the wrestling team. On Friday morning, before I left for this trip, he had sent me an old picture of us from class and said that it was good memories. I told him I would be coming back through his area on Monday if he wanted to meet up and grab some food. He was up for it, and so we met up just after 6 PM. And it was a welcome break. It's always good to catch up with former students that you had a good connection with, and see them doing well. We ate some Italian food and caught up on life. It really was good to see him. It was also good to avoid the nightmarish Atlanta rush-hour traffic. See my comments above. I got to see his dorm and then drop him off at the gym. And then I was on my way back to Athens. This was one of my longest trips so far this football season, and definitely one of the fullest.

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