One Month

In one month, I'll be wide awake at the crack of dawn and laying in my bed, anticipating the day ahead of me.

The car will be packed with all of the essential items to a perfect girls only tailgate. There will be a cooler with ingredients to make a peach bellini, Palmetto Pimento Cheese, and plenty of bottled water waiting only for some chicken nuggets from Chickfila to top it off. Our cute little table we purchased a couple of seasons ago and our Clemson drink ware will be tucked away in the back of the car, too.

My best friend, who I converted to a Clemson fan many years ago {as if she really had a choice in the matter?} will probably be a tiny bit annoyed with me for waking her up at the crack of dawn to get on the road to Clemson. Especially after her plane will have landed the night before close to midnight. It's ok though. She's used to these early morning antics of mine.

We'll roll out of the driveway and get on the road towards Clemson. I might get a little bit more excited each and every time that we see another car with a Clemson sticker on their back windshield and Clemson flags flying.

Soon enough, we'll be pulling into our parking spot and throwing open the back tailgate to pull the cooler out for our little, girls only set up. We'll set up our chairs, our table, and get out our cute Clemson tailgate accessories. I'll open up a bottle of prosecco and make the first batch of peach bellinis. It'll be time to people watch at that point while trying to bask in whatever shade we can find. It's guaranteed to be a hot, hot, hot day on September 5. That's just how it goes.

After the first drink, we'll get up to walk around. I'll want to go see & take a picture of Tillman Hall {you know, before the University caves and decides to name it something else} and I'll want to take Liza downtown for a minute. We'll stop at one of our favorite tailgates to have my friend Laurel apply our tiger paw stickers because somehow, that's become a tradition. Nobody puts the paw on but Laurel.

By the time that we get back to our tailgate, hungry, the parking lot will be almost full and tailgate activities will be in full swing. Our lot is more often than not referred to as the party lot, so you know there's always something entertaining to watch while you're snacking on some pimento cheese in the shade of an open tailgate lift.

Before long, it'll be time to make one last drink, pack the car up, grab our tickets, and wander over to Lot 2 to catch up with some friends. The visits will be brief because someone in our group {I won't name names!} will be anxious to get inside the stadium to see the band come in and be all situated before the buses pull up at the top of the hill. But, this tailgate is one I've stopped by before every game for the last dozen or so seasons so it's a must to go by.

We'll walk up the ramp and navigate to our seats, say hello to our seat friends of the last decade or so, and turn our eyes to the hill to await the buses. The heat of the day won't matter much at this point because it'll finally be time to see the Tigers take the field again. They'll show the players loading up on the buses from the West End Zone... and the stadium will erupt in cheers as the cop cars leading the buses drive just past the entrance to the hill. Players will bound off of the buses, determined to be the first to get inside of Death Valley and touch Howard's Rock.

After 9 very long months, I will finally be back in one of the greatest places ever.

One month y'all, one month.