Philadelphia, PA (USA)

[had won the ND Ticket Lottery (back in the spring) for the ND-Temple game - who knew it would pit a 6-1 Irish team against a 7-0 Owl team! - spent the day with Mollie (she got up late and then did homework) - after I dropped her off at her mother's house (1415), I headed towards Philadelphia (via I-495, US-50 & Bay Bridge at 1500), US-301 to US-40) - got gas near Glasgow, DE (1620) - used DE-1 to get to I-95 and continued all the way to the Philadelphia Sports Complex (exit 17) - traffic was already pretty bad near the parking lots so I tried to park on the Navy Yard property - the guard warned me that they would secure the gates before the game ended, so I went back to trying the main lots - I found a place to park near the baseball stadium (all four sports play in this area) at 1730 - I spent around an hour exploring the Xfinity Entertainment Zone (bars, restaurants) and tailgate areas - had one Leinenkugel (pumpkin flavored) - my buddy, Dan, had said he might meet up with me but it didn't work out - after weeks of trying to get someone to go to the game with me, I had an extra ticket left - I was able to sell it for almost the cost of what I paid (didn't enjoy that process but it worked out OK) - afterwards, I went inside Lincoln Financial Field and had another beer and a hotdog - I enjoyed talking to the vendors and seat checkers because it wasn't too busy - learned a lot about activities at the field, including that they may continue an annual Cheesesteak Festival in October in the future! - my seats were very high up in one of the endzones (directly opposite from the Temple student section) - the game started around 2000 and it was close - I enjoyed the entertainment during the TV breaks and met a few people around me (mix of ND and Temple fans) - no one ever came to sit in (my) seat next to me... - stayed until the end of the third quarter and then made my way back to the car (2245) - there were already a lot of drunk people all over the parking lots (funny conversations with them) - parking lot exit was a maze and lots of roads were closed - but I found I-95 (south) - drive back was pretty uneventful and I listened to the end of the game (Irish win: 24-20!) on the radio - I traced back to US-301 (just before toll plaza in DE) and saw almost no traffic - still driving at midnight...]