Finally a Wisconsinite!

I was born and raised in the Dairy State but a true sense of connection has always eluded me. Mainly because of all the things that “All Wisconsinites” do that I have never done.

Yesterday, I had a chance to knock a big one off my list. DH called me at about 2:30 yesterday and I thought he was totally screwing with me. ”I have here in my left hand a ticket to tonight’s Packer game.”

DUDE!

I know, you’re thinking that I got all excited because my husband was going to a football game but that was not the case. At all. See, the hubs is a more casual football fan than I. He was offering ME the ticket. To MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL! PACKERS VS. VIKINGS! LAMBEAU FIELD!

Lambeau! (image from TripAdvisor.com)

Lambeau Field is Better than Disneyland.

I can’t even put it into words. Walking up to the stadium with ticket in hand is a magical feeling. The savory, smoky smell of tailgate barbeque, the sea of green jerseys and other Pack apparel, outlandish hats, cheeseheads… I have been to professional sporting events before but there is nothing like a Packers home game. I don’t think I saw a single person there without team gear on. Even the Vikings fans were all-in. They took a ribbing for it, certainly, but when it’s football and it’s Green Bay, we go big or we stay home.

There’s food. Of course there’s food. Lots and lots of food but most of all fried cheese curds and delicious smelling cheese fries. And beer. Mmmmm…… beer. And there are friends. Mostly friends you haven’t met yet. Even if they root for the wrong team. The person who had the other of the two free tickets, an acquaintance, walked up wearing a Vikings and Randy Moss jersey. He was the only Vikings fan for several rows in any direction. Did he take a lot of crap because his team was being routed? Yes. But we also (kind of) felt his pain. And he took the teasing reasonably well too. But there was no meanness, no cruelty. There was football. Football makes people happy. Like Disneyland but without the crowds and the long lines (unless you count the beer line and the bathroom line but I think Disney’s probably the same there) so, Advantage: Lambeau!

Here’s the view from my seat:

Not a bad view!

Every true Wisconsinite is a Packer fan. Every Packer fan dreams of Game Day in Green Bay. There is nothing in the world like it. Now, I have seen the Packers play at home. I am a legitimate Cheesehead. Feeling fly.