Well, I learned something this weekend, y'all. I learned that you can take the people out of the South but you can't never, ever take the South out of the people (must be read with Southern twang).
I found myself in Sonoma, California (yes, the same location as some of the finest wine in all of the U S of A) and I was easily amongst some of the biggest rednecks in my entire life. My best friend, Meg, claims that NASCAR fans are some of the wealthiest sporting spectators around. Let's pause a moment. Meg...I ask you...really? I mean.....really?? With a straight face and everything? One benefit was that we had all walks of life. This guy was two seats over and wasn't sure what Dave said when he offered him a Bud Light for the 3rd time:
And then there was this guy as a complete contrast to the stereotype:
And yet, the reds pulled out all the stops: Confederate Flags flying high (from...say it with me..."The War of Northern Aggression") to tattoo-covered-god-knows-what, to fried everything....THE SOUTH WILL RISE AGAIN! This was the ultimate for me. Two fans who went to the huge effort of actually getting to this location in the middle of absolutely nowhere, only to sit in the hallway of the race and not actually get tickets to go inside. The great thing is they are snug-as-a-bug in their matching chairs. What other public sporting event can you get away with this and not feel weird about it? This brings tailgating to a whole nother level. ONLY NASCAR, BABY!!
But I digress. The day started at 9am where we met at the Palace of Fine Arts for our private bus ride to Sonoma (thank GOD). Many dressed up in "NASCAR-appropriate" outfits including this one from Mike K:
(in case y'all can't read, as I couldn't at first, this is a t-shirt that shouts, "The Eagle is PISSED!" with a good ol' American Eagle overhead and its talons hitched onto a member of that there Tallyyyyyban, y'all.)
I was 3 beers in when we arrived and then the girls thought it would be a great idea to throw on some Playboy Bunny tattoos and shotgun beers. That brought us to about, oh, 10:30am.
The day continued on this way for a bit until the race started around 2pm. Let me tell you, as amazing as it was to watch these cars go the speed of light around the track, it is a long-a$$ day to see these cars go around and around and around and around. And around. All of this effort led to a sleepy Brooke (come on...raise your hand if you are shocked...we all know I am a closet narcoleptic!)
Truly though, Mike & Adrienne got us sweet seats directly behind the pits which was really cool to watch. We happened to be behind the Burger King pit so I couldn't resist a picture of my namesake (or at least my old namesake, but we all know I'll always be "BK"!!!!!)
I think these two photos pretty much describe the day for us:
Mike & Adrienne at the beginning of the day (aww, cute, right?):
Adrienne at the end of the day (yes, she has definitely fallen over from her chair on her a$$!):
Mike, who could be prouder of their fiance than you??? You've got a GEM I tell you! Ha ha!!! THANK YOU, everyone, for a great time and our first christening into NASCAR!
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