Old Retired Guy Blog
December 9, 2007
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When You Wish Upon a Favre (Page 1/2)[With apologies to those who think the song title is "When You Wish Upon a Starr."]
Then it happened. A little over a week ago the phone rang and a friendly voice on the other end of the line informed me that she and her husband were going to Florida and she wondered if I would like to use their tickets for the December 9 Packers game. After waiting for the punch line and finding out that it wasn't a joke I checked with Kathy. After waiting for Kathy to regain consciousness I called back to say "yes." Actually, it was more like "YES!!!"
The traffic on Highway 41 got heavier and heavier as we closed in on our destination but the drive went well. To top it off we also had a parking pass so we didn't have to hunt around for that elusive vacant spot. As we drove into the lot we were directed to park right next to a big green and gold garbage truck. I wasn't worried at all about forgetting where we had parked (something that I have been learning to do since retiring). The lot was located next to the Packer Hall of Fame so we had to walk only about a block and a half to get to our gate at the stadium. We arrived at about 10 AM and the tailgaters were out in force. The savory smell of bratwurst and other meats cooking over the charcoal grills was a perfect pregame perfume. Some folks were even grilling steak! Maybe next time. Everyone was in great spirits and some were filling themselves with great spirits. Don't tell anybody but we think that we even saw Elvis ... and his brother.
It was probably because I was overwhelmed with the experience, but as we approached the gate I had this feeling that Vince Lombardi was looking down at me from above. I wonder if other fans feel that way.
The Packers did a marvelous job when they remodeled Lambeau Field. One of the best parts was the addition of the Atrium. The Atrium is a great place. First of all, it's warm and dry. That alone would make it a very good place, especially in December. But, when you fill that warm, dry place with music, holiday decorations, huge posters of past Packer greats, restaurants, bars, and hundreds of fans decked out in all varieties of crazy green-and-gold garb, what more could you ask for. Oh, yeah, they even have places that sell souvenirs! "When You Wish Upon a Favre" |
Kathy and I have pretty simple dreams. Although we wouldn't turn down
that check for $10 million from the Publishers Clearinghouse, we're very
happy and thankful to be in good health with a roof over our heads and family
and friends near by. But, there is one thing that we've both wanted to do for
quite some time and, until now, have been unable to do -- see Brett Favre and
the Green Bay Packers play at Lambeau Field. When Favre decided to play
one more year and we had plans to move back to Madison, we thought there might
be a chance to add that to our list of life's accomplishments. I started
to look for tickets earlier this year and found, however, that the ones
available through ticket brokers were kind of expensive. I started to
think that we might have to eliminate Lambeau Field from that dream and go to an
away game. There were still a lot of reasonably priced tickets available
for next week's game in St. Louis so we talked about driving down there for a
game.
Saturday afternoon we drove up to Appleton, which was the closest
place that I could find a vacant motel room. All of the other guests were
decked out in Green Bay Packer garb so we assumed we weren't the only ones in
town for the game. After a restless night's sleep we headed out of Appleton
for the 30-mile trip up to Green
Bay.
