Sunday, June 23, 2013

Notre Dame

At the conclusion of my last post, we were just wrapping up our time in Milwaukee. We departed Milwaukee, en route to Cleveland, first thing Thursday (5/30) in the morning. Actually, we left a bit later than we wanted. Our goal was to reach South Bend, IN by noon to catch a tour of the Notre Dame football stadium as a fun activity for our midpoint rest stop. Given then length of the drive and time change, we wanted to leave our hotel no later than 7:00 to do so. We didn't quite make that so we were racing the clock from the get-go. But, we seemed to be making good time so we remained hopeful.

Welcome to Indiana, our third state of the trip!

We actually arrived in South Bend around 11:30 a.m. local time, which we thought was perfect. However, construction and detours quickly got us a bit lost as our directions no longer applied and Siri was all confused and didn't seem to think the Notre Dame football stadium even exists (get with the program, Siri). We ended up calling the ticket office for directions and finally found our way, just in time (literally, with less than 10 minutes to spare!) to purchase two tickets for the tour and meet up with our tour guides. Perfect!

The tour lasted about an hour and was great fun. Our guides were very informative and first took us into the stadium, pointing out the five gates named for the five championship coaches, an original ticket window, the memorial plaque for Easter Heathman (read his story here), and all the collections of banners which line the concourse and feature Notre Dame's large collection of Heisman trophy winners, first-team All Americans and NFL Hall-of-Famers. They talked a lot about the history as well as the origins, architecture and construction of the stadium.

Notre Dame Stadium!

Two of the coach statues that adorn their respective entrances: Lou Holtz (left) and Knute Rockne (right)

Notable Notre Dame Heisman winners

Left: Joe Montana, Eric's favorite player! (Also, an entry on our NYC Celebrity Sightings List)
Right: Plaque for Easter Heathman

Left: That tiny window you see just above the barricade was the original ticket window! Can you imagine the lines?! Yuck.
Right: It's hard to make out in picture form, but the bars on the gates form the shape of a football!

Replica championship rings on the walls

From there we went into the press room (where there was some fun memorabilia, and our guides talked more about history and traditions of Notre Dame football) and up into the press box. Then we also got to check out the university president's box - very posh!

Memorabilia illustrating Notre Dame traditions and rivalries (also, an in-the-glass cameo by Eric!)

Ellie and me enjoying the view of the field from the press box (well, Ellie isn't quite as thrilled as I am)

Giant Baby Takes Over Football Stadium!
Or, Ellie playing against the windows of the President's Box.

View of campus from the President's Box

Then we went into the locker room, and were able to see the plaque memorializing the "win one for the Gipper" speech, as well as the Notre Dame and "Play Like a Champion Today" signs that the players hit before each game. Interestingly enough, the "Play Like a Champion Today" sign is a relatively new addition, put up at the insistence of Lou Holtz in 1986 (sidenote: Lou Holtz's book was the impetus for the creation of my bucket list, which has been such an awesome thing for me. Read about how he inspired me here!). So, despite what the movie would have you believe, it would not have been there when "Rudy" was!

The locker room

Left: Unless she turns out to be the next Erin Andrews, Ellie better keep herself out of the locker rooms, missy.
Right: "Win one for the Gipper!"

The staircase to the tunnel

Eric and Ellie by sign #1

Touching sign #2!

We play like a champion every day in this family.

After heading down the stairs and hitting both signs as the players do, we were able to walk through the tunnel out to the field. We're so official.

Ellie's off to win one for the Gipper

Where the magic happens

Eric and Ellie admiring the field

In front of the tunnel

And that was the conclusion of our tour! We exited the stadium right in front of the library (famous for the "Touchdown Jesus" mural painted on the side), so we paused for a quick picture there before hitting the gift shop and heading back to the car.

Touchdown Jesus!

We got ourselves situated, picked up some lunch to eat in the car and hit the road again. Before we knew it, we were back in my home state of Ohio, and then in my hometown of Cleveland!

State #4!

Coming up tomorrow: My annual family reunion in Cleveland, including an Indians game and lots of other family fun!

To see more pictures from Notre Dame, click here.

1 comment:

Lauren said...

Looks like such a cool stadium to visit! My parents went a few years ago for the USF game and had a blast :-)