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I - N - I.  Carla and I decided to head down to the ole alma mater for the day and visit some of our favorite places.  We had a long check list so it was a busy day.  After hitting the snooze button a few times, getting starbucks, gas and figuring out which route to take we were finally off to our destination, an hour behind schedule but off nonetheless.  Since we didn't make an executive decision on the weekend until last minute we decided for forego getting tickets to the game and enjoy all campus had to offer.

First stop... Alpha Gamma Delta.  I wanted to see what home improvements were made to the house since leaving and I must say the alpha gams are doing their best to keep up with the Jones's.  The front was well landscaped, new carpet was put in, a flat screen TV was in the basement, the kitchen was completely redone with the purpose decaled on the back wall to boot (a lovely touch I might add)!  For being built in 1928, the house is still in great shape.  While Carla was a bit skeptical, I insisted on going upstairs to see the old frat room While upstairs I bumped into a current member and I was able to get the scoop on everything alpha gam these days.  I still can't believe I lived in a house with 70 other ladies, but there sure were some good times and many memories made there.

Then we headed to the quad which was as large and serine as I remembered.  We got a sneak peak of the very much improved Lincoln Hall.  The auditorium was brought back to it's original glory with crown molding and architectural details beautifully painted.  The classrooms and offices were ultra modern with frosted glass walls and sensor lights that turned on as we walked down the hall.  I remember when I had to stare at the ground walking down the hall because you were destined to trip on the crumbling floor tiles.  It was a long time coming, but now Lincoln Hall, where I had most of my classes, is one of the best buildings on the quad.

Next stop was to get some new Illini gear so we headed to the Union Bookstore and TIS where we were both successful in finding something we loved.  I will probably still wear my block shirt from 8 years ago because it is so comfy, but now I have a few new pieces to add to the mix.

After our retail adventures we headed to a bar, or two, or three, or four.  First was Kam's. While it's as repulsive as ever, it is still a staple at U of I.  I had to grip my toes to not lose my flip flops on the sticky floor.  Then I waited to get a drink and was quickly reminded of the college bartender culture where you really only get service if you're friends with the bartender because socializing is a greater priority than tips.  I finally asked the kid standing next to me (who had been drinking since 7am) if he knew any of the bartenders so he could flag them down and get us drinks and it worked.  As we waited he asked what we were doing.  Carla and I looked at eachother then at him, there was an awkward silence and we were like what do you mean? Clearly we did NOT look like we fit in with the crowd anymore.  When he told Carla he had always wanted to hook up with a teacher, we knew that was our cue to leave.  On our way out we bumped into some old college buddies who we have not seen since.  It was just a whim that we planned trips the same weekend and just so happened to be going to the same places, see Kam's really is on everyone's to-do list.

Next was Firehaus where we could better tolerate the crowd, smells and actually sit down without fearing we would catch some flesh eating bacteria.  I remember waiting for this bar to open in college.  It seemed like it was taking forever and finally, our senior year, we were able to enjoy it.  We watched a bit of the game and Carla caught up with a former student who was just delightful.

From Firehaus we went to the Illini Inn.I came prepared with my mug club card which I joined with my dad and a few other friends my senior year.  Thinking back I really don't know the benefit of being a mug club member except for the fact it's just something you need to do before you graduate.  I was able to talk the bartender into going downstairs to get the book we signed when we joined 6 years ago to see all our signatures.  It is quite evident by my signature that I was under the influence of alcohol that day.  I was number 44803, I think now the book is up to the 80 thousands at least.  Our last stop was Murphy's for a burger.  Carla was salivating for their breaded mushrooms and I needed a nice rare burger.  I remember they use to have thick patties and would cook them nice and rare where the inside was nice and pink and still a little gummy.  You would need half a stack of napkins because the juices would just roll down your fingers and hands.  Delish!  However, they apparently didn't send me the memo that they changed their burgers.  To say I was utterly disappointed would be an understatement and to top it off they didn't have the mushrooms for Carla because they only cook a limited menu on game day.  Murphy's got a boo from me.  Before heading home I was planning to visit the Harper clan who had been tailgating all day.  There were just too many things on our list to do and by the time we started to head over they were MIA.  That was the only thing I wasn't able to cross off my list unfortunately.  I hope I can rally a group to go down again in the next few years.