Day 263 - NFL

When we first moved to this area, some 10 years ago, there wasn't much in the way of shopping close by.  Then a Target opened in a new development near the i75/University Parkway intersection, and then lots more shops, including a Best Buy and a Golfsmith (two of our go-to stores!).  And then, about a year ago, construction was completed on a brand new indoor mall.  This opened last year and represented the first such mall built in the US for five years (cf recession etc.).

We had a stroll around there this morning with Andrew and Aggie, giving them a chance to make a few essential purchases and also to see what the fuss is all about. And, yes, we did visist the Tesla store too!

We had to get home in time for we had planned a trip up to Tampa in the evening for our first ever NFL game. The local team are the Tampa Buccaneers  and they play around 8 home games a year in their stadium , the Raymond James Stadium (Who he? Ed.).  Tickets are not cheap, but this is something that we have been meaning to do for many years and it all worked out serendipitously.

The only worry was the weather after a week's hot sunshine, the forecast was for a cold front to come in and rain was forecast for between 6 and 8 pm.  As we drove up there, things did not loom good as around St Petersburg we hit a torrential downpour: we could not possibly stay in our uncovered seats if this was what was going to be in store!

View from our seats

We arrived on time, found a parking place relatively close tot he stadium and made our way to our seats: right at the top!  The game was against the New York Giants and there were times that there seemed to be more away than home fans in the crowd.  As things worked out, we escaped with only a brief shower during the third quarter and very much enjoyed the whole experience, despite our home team narrowly losing the game itself.

British fans in the audience

AJ is an expert on NFL and its sometimes arcane rules, so it was great to have him there with us.  He helped explain that you do not have to touch down a touchdown (really!) as well as clarify some of the referees' rulings.  About 5 mins before the end, everyone started to leave to avoid the traffic - something I can even remember happening in a piano recital in LA when a student!