As we ring in the new year, it’s time to take a look back at the trips out of Illinois that I took last year. Things got off to a fast start, as I traveled down to Orlando on New Year’s Day to see Purdue take on LSU in the Citrus Bowl. While the game did not go well at all, it was a good change of pace to get out of the cold weather. I stayed the entire week, working remotely to kick off 2023 and enjoying the hotel pool.
My next trip out of state came in early February, when I picked up Danny and headed down to Bloomington, Indiana to see the #1 ranked Boilermakers take on their hated rivals. Once again, things did not go well for the boys in gold and black, which led to a long drive back to West Lafayette. The next day, the two schools did battle again, with the women taking the court at Mackey Arena, but the outcome was not any better.
A few weeks later, I returned to the Lafayette area to watch Danny’s band concert. After lunch with him, his friends, and their parents, we headed over to the Long Center for the Performing Arts to take in his performance. Thankfully, his section was first, so we were able to take our leave early and head back home.
I stayed home for a few months, until Danny finally cashed in his high school graduation trip, and, in mid-June, we headed west to Seattle. We arrived on Friday morning and headed to Pike Place market for lunch before attending the White Sox and Mariners tilt that night at T-Mobile Park. The next morning, we enjoyed breakfast at the hotel before heading back to the ballpark for another exciting game. After an hour-plus wait for an Uber after the game, we rested a bit at the hotel before heading back out to see the Space Needle and enjoy a nice dinner. On Sunday, we celebrated Father’s Day by flying home.
The start of college football season brought with it three consecutive weekend trips to West Lafayette to close out September. The first saw Purdue do battle against Syracuse, falling 35-20. I headed back down the following Thursday night thanks to a rare Friday night tilt. After working remotely from the hotel, I headed over to campus where Purdue tried valiantly to end its losing streak against Wisconsin, but it was not to be. The next morning, I met Danny for breakfast before heading home. The following Saturday, I returned once more to see Purdue earn its first home victory of the year, defeating Illinois handedly.
In late October, I took my somewhat-annual quick trip to Boston to celebrate birthdays with Angelina. I arrived on Saturday, headed over to her apartment in the afternoon, and then we went out to dinner in the North End. The next morning, I was on a plane headed back home.
My final three trips of the year were all, once again, back to West Lafayette. Purdue faced off against Minnesota two days before Danny’s birthday, so we had a post-victory dinner at his house. Two weeks later, we headed down the day after Thanksgiving to prepare for his senior day against IU. As part of the festivities, he got to conduct the band during the pre-game show and then hit the drum with the rest of the seniors during halftime. The day concluded with a trip to the Olive Garden for a celebratory dinner. My final trip of the year came just days before Christmas, when Danny and I headed to Mackey Arena to see the men’s basketball team hold court against Jacksonville.
The Purdue Boilermakers, kick off their 2024 gridiron campaign today, starting a new era of Big Ten football with new member Oregon coming to town in October, for just their third visit to Ross-Ade Stadium. Now that Danny has graduated, my game attendance is likely to trickle back down to the once every couple of years pace I was on before he matriculated after attending an all-time high five games last fall. That said, it’s time to take a look at the results of the now 32 college football games I have attended since the 1993 season, covering six different stadiums in a whopping three states, including one bowl game.
