Donna,
I will be in Charleston during azalea season this April. We plan to go back to Middleton Place plantation and have our mint julips on the lawn! I just love that place, taking the carriage ride and walking the gardens are beautful.

Sally

Sally - your story is funny. The first time I went to an Alabama game, our son was there, I was overwhelmed (our oldest daughter had gone to East Carolina, and we had been to many games there, but they definitley are not quite the same)I have never seen anything like it in my life - we were way up at the top of the statium (in Tuscaloosa) and we could see the whole town from there, and during the game there was not a soul anywhere on the streets, and the people with the big RV's at the tailgating areas were just amazing.
A few years back, Alabama played UCLA in LA, so our whole family went out, mostly to see some really close friends and spend time with them, but also to go to the game, and I didn't go, but the guys told me that UCLA was overwhelmed with ticket requests and actually had to come up with more tickets for the Bama fans, and they could not believe the number of people who came in their big RV's and in the end there were more Bama fans at the game than UCLA - even our UCLA friends were amazed.
On a cruise about 3 years ago, we got very friendly with the duo who played in the bar before dinner everynight, and one night they sang "Rocky Top" and my husband went "oh no no, you can't play Rocky Top unless you play Sweet Home Alabama", and they said "well we don't know it but we'll check it out." The next to the last night, they said "this song is for Frank," and they had gone online, downloaded the music and played "Sweet Home Alabama" for him - they played it several times in the last two days - he was pretty impressed.

JoAnn, I lived in Knoxville, TN for 6 years and believe me, we heard Rocky Top everywhere we went. When we moved, both kids said, "Great, we won't have to hear Rocky Top anymore." Eventually, they admitted missing that song. Football days in UT are incredible. All 32 local radio stations play the same football game...UT!

Sally, have a great time in Charleston. I do love Middleton Place (but not mint juleps).

Donna - I think you mentioned in some other post about living in TN, and being a GA fan, it was around bowl time maybe - of course Bama fell on their faces!! Oh well there is always next year!! I think that SEC football is unlike any other anywhere - hopefully that won't offend anyone from elsewhere - its just very unique and its crazy. Did you happen to read the article in SAVEUR magazine last fall about tailgating at Old Miss? I also read an article somewhere about "boatgating" in Jacksonville which sounded amazing.

JoAnn, I'm a Ga Tech fan and GA is our biggest rival. For years, I didn't even own any red or black clothing (UGA colors). We take the rivalry rather seriously! I'm an ACC fan (daughter graduated from GT and son from Clemson). But, I agree, there really is nothing like the SEC (although ACC comes in a close second).

I didn't read the article about tailgating. My son and his wife are big tailgaters at Clemson games. And, at UT, people boatgate too. I always wanted to ride a boat down the Tennessee River to the game. Looked like so much fun.

We went to the Gator Bowl for a Tech game a couple of years ago (think we went two years in a row). I loved the atmosphere in Jacksonville down near the river and stadium area. Had a fun New Year's Eve. It will be a great site for this year's Superbowl game.

JoAnn - I love to hear Rocky Top! I must admit it was sure fun to hear "Sweet Home Alabama" in the middle of the med. sea. Auburn had a similar situation with Univ. So. Calif. (my arch rival when I was in school). USC played at Auburn, then Auburn played at USC. It was so funny to see Auburn fans in lines a mile deep at the USC game buying beer - since it is not allowed at SEC games. Anyway, USC and Auburn has a love affair going now which I have to give my husband a bad time about. Even though I didn't graduate from Auburn I feel like it is my second school. I must admit when the eagle flies down from the top of the stadium down to the 50 yard line before each game, gives me goosebumps. On game day, the little town of Auburn becomes one of the largest cities in Alabama.

Sorry Donna, got the GA schools mixed up - do apologize!
Actually, since I grew up in So Cal, and was a big Cal fan all my life, when my husband and I got married, I had to sign a prenup -- that I would be a loyal and faithful Bama fan for the rest of my life!!!
Sally - I went to high school in Manhattan Beach CA with a guy who went to Auburn, if you can believe that. The story gets better, but its too long for a post here, but in later years, after I married my Frank, the small world type thing came back around in the strangest way, about this guy I knew in high school. I too love Rocky Top, it was my introduction to Country Western music sort of. I love Sweet Home Alabama too.

Hi All Southerners,

I'm just back from 4 days in Orlando and my, how this thread has grown! Just to add to the ECU section. I got my BS and MA in Library Science (now Information Studies) from there. GO PIRATES!

Anthony, I'd be game for a central Southern get-together. Crys and I had talked about meeting in Richmond some weekend this winter, but guess we may need to move further south and west to make for a bigger party!!

Donna, I do like Tech, but just can't get excited about those Tigers. When we discuss college basketball, the ACC is second to none!! GO HEELS!!!!

I have lived in Atlanta for the past 10 years and love it... born and raised in Miami...

Clay is a native North Carolinian, born in Wilson, NC. I, to his family's chagrin, was born in Chicago, IL. So, while I am not a native born southerner, I have lived in the south since I was in the third grade which was a loooong time ago and that should count for something. So, count me in as a GRIT (Girls Raised In the South) and as a Southern Poster.