This was to be my first trip to see the Vols play in Tuscaloosa, I was incredibly excited. My friend and I left my house in Knoxville at around 6am. We arrived in Tuscaloosa a little before 11am. The trip itself was entertaining; making eye contact with people obviously going to the game, seeing what their reactions were. When you are on the road heading into enemy territory and you see a fellow Vol fan you get an immediate sense of camaraderie. Anyway, we arrived in T-town and the first parking lot we saw was just $10 to park, it was a deal I’ve never seen in Knoxville and we subsequently jumped on it. Turned out to be a great decision, that lot was just and straight shot 10 minute walk down Bear Bryant Ave. to the stadium. We started heading that way not exactly knowing where we were going. We walked past the stadium a few blocks. I was amazed at the number of street venders selling Bama merchandise. It was like 4-5 blocks worth of tents set up with T-shirts, paintings, etc. We decided to make our way back around the opposite side of the stadium from where we were. That is when we found the quad.The quad is amazing. I am incredibly jealous of it. Space is at such a premium on UTK's campus there really isn’t a place like that where it is just tents, food, and drinks. Plus it is a giant field, as opposed to the parking lots we have in Knoxville, covered with huge old trees. It was very nice and so were the people. I was prepared for more “ribbing” than Bama fans gave us. Probably the worst was three guys yelling their version of Rocky Top and pointing at us (F**k you Rocky Top, go to hell Tennessee). All in good fun. After touring the quad we headed to the strip. We first went to the Houndstooth to grab some beers and catch up on the football action around the country. We hung around there drinking for a bit before deciding to walk around more and take in the Bama campus. This was around 12:15. We saw a crowd gathering near the stadium and went to investigate. We saw the sign for the Walk of Champions and decided to stick around. We camped out on a small incline behind the three statues near a group of UT fans, they provided the funniest moment of the trip. Basically right as we arrived three Tuscaloosa County short school buses pulled up the entrance of the walk. Laughing ensued. They guys behind us were yelling, “Alright! Here comes Bama! Got 'em on the short buses, makes sense! Funny. Eventually AC/DC's Thunderstruck started playing and the players arrived (in nice Coach buses). After that was over we headed back to the strip. Went back to Houndstooth for more beer and the BBQ nachos everyone recommended. Awesome bar food, but good god I could feel my arteries clogging as I ate them. Afterwards my buddy and I split up and I headed over to Egans. Big ups to chinesedentist for making a guy in orange feel welcome. Egans was great, loved the ambiance and the fact that they were playing the Clash definitely bumped it up in my book. After downing a couple more beers I met back up with my friend and headed to the stadium to take our seats. We were up in section 420 and da*n it seems like it takes forever to get up those spiral ramps. Anyway, I won't recount the game, we all know what happened there. Afterwards, I was heartbroken, depressed, and in shock. These emotions were exacerbated by the knowledge that I was going to have to waste my gas sitting in exiting gameday traffic. To my surprise once we got to our car the whole process was very smooth and painless. We were on the interstate in minutes, great organization from my experience. Overall it was a great trip and another classic UT-UA football. I was down but I was able to leave the stadium with my chin up because I knew my Vols played their guts out. Save for possibly the most wild end game emotional rollercoaster and devastating loss I have ever witnessed my trip to Tuscaloosa was incredible. Thank you to all of you who commented on my earlier post for all your ideas and recommendations. Looks like this great rivalry is alive again. See you next year. Some random observations: The UA campus is beautiful. I love the old architecture, use of brick, everything is well maintained. I really liked all the plantation style houses as well. I liked that your strip wasn't full of fast food restaurants like ours is. Watching a football game live without a jumbotron to watch replays on is frustrating. UA football really likes blasting music over the speakers. I thought it actually took the crowd out of it (save for Sweet Home AL and Dixieland Delight-f.y.i. they left out the lyric about a Tennessee Saturday night). During the Bama walk Thunderstruck dominated everything, the crowded was really subdued. During the Vol Walk people start chants, sing Rocky Top and cheer the whole time as the team walks to the stadium. Furthermore, in the stadium, wow, let the band play. All the music was Zombie Nation, U2, some rap I don't know, Lady Gaga (seriously?!?!), etc. The music seemed to drown out the crowd and your own band. This is not a declaration of one atmosphere being better than the other, just an observation. Although obviously Tennessee's is better, but I am quite biased. The Alabama fans were great. Yes some yelled in my face and threw up the one-fingered salute, but that is to be expected. Every fanbase has those types. Overall, everyone was cordial, friendly and knowledgeable. After the game when I was at the lowest of lows every Bama fan who said anything to me congratulated me on a great game, told me we had a hell of a team, etc. On our walk back to the car only one guy rubbed the loss into my face. That's a good ratio. All in all, a great trip. Thanks again. Go Vols!