New Year's in Jacksonville: Part I of II

I'm feeling mostly better now, and ready to take on a new semester of composition and other enthralling musical ventures. I think I had some variant on the flu, and of course it came at a disappointing time. My friends from Tech, Scott, Wythe, & Nikki, drove down to Tallahassee on Sunday and rolled into town around ten o' clock or so. We got up for a leisurely breakfast of eggs and toast the next morning and were on the road for Jacksonville by 11:30. Scott drove the "party van" and I followed in my car, since we'd be heading our own separate ways after the game. Nikki's dad had secured us a room in the Navy Lodge at the Naval Air Station for $48 a night, which was tons less than the extortionist prices of the downtown hotels. I missed the Gator Bowl Parade and some downtown action for some much needed rest, but went out later for dinner. We ate at a local chain called Harry's, which easily had the worst Philly cheese steak I've ever had.

Restaurants definitely overcharge for their food these days. Because I don't eat much, I've never seen the logic behind paying ten dollars for a meal when you could get fast food at a third of the price. When I go out to eat, I tend to get the cheapest thing on the menu -- not because I'm miserly, necessarily, but because I don't think I could eat $10 worth of food.

New Year's Eve was spent at the Jacksonville Landing surrounded by millions of Hokies and locals. I think every third car on my trip from Virginia had Hokie paraphernalia adorning it, and the numbers just went up as the weekend progressed. By the time the game started, we must have had over forty-thousand fans in Jacksonville. At the stroke of midnight, Jacksonville put on a pretty decent display of fireworks over the river, with the usual gimmicks like stars and happy faces. For the finale, they set off long-burning fireworks down either side of a long steel bridge, lighting up the entire skyline for several minutes.

To be continued tomorrow...

I checked my grades yesterday and everything turned out nicely, as expected. I haven't gotten word on my history paper yet, but the final exam was like a slow pitch right across the plate (or a 1-2-3 spare, depending on your sporting preferences). Everything we studied ended up phrased and asked perfectly to match our prepared answers. On my counterpoint final project, I got bonus points for using "Deck the Halls" against "Fa-La-La" as a double-subject.