Weekend in Lexington

Norm and I spent part of the weekend in Lexington, VA, for Parent's Weekend at Virginia Military Institute, where my niece, Hollywood attends college. We attended the football game, where the VMI Keydets beat Coastal Carolina University.

And, the visiting team had to be saying "What the hell....?" every time they turned around! There are so many traditions at VMI that one doesn't see at other colleges: the cadets all march down from the school to the stadium, and line up on the field in their Companies; the pure silence across the stadium as our National Anthem was sung by the Glee Club; the cannon used to indicate the start of play during the game; the amazing half-time show, and the push ups--plenty of push ups!!

One of the fine traditions at VMI, is that every time the Keydets score, the Rats (first year students) must do push ups. And, the number of push ups is determined by VMI's score. So, if the score is 7, the Rats run down from their stadium seats, onto the track which surrounds the field, and they do 7 push ups. Say the next time VMI scores, it adds 6 points to the score...the Rats will run down from their seats and do 13 push ups. And so on...the Ratline that day did about 188 push ups during the game with VMI winning with a score of 47-20. (It's no wonder I overheard one Rat say "C'mon, Carolina, put some points on the board!") It is a sight unlike any I have ever seen--about 400 Rats in their white uniforms running down the bleacher steps and gathering near the end zone to perform a gazillion push ups. I bet more than a few of the visiting team were wondering "What the hell are they doing?"

In this picture, you can see Hollywood--

she's the short one--yeah, right there, the one in white....

At halftime, Shorty was allowed to come and sit with us--but, she still had to run to do push ups each time VMI scored. And, they scored...a lot!

Also at halftime, the Marine Corps Silent Drill Team performed--and the precision of this team was jaw-dropping! I'll spare you my shaky video of the really good stuff--but, here is the VMI Band playing the Marines as they prepared to leave the field. (You Tube has some great video, if you are interested in this team, here is one when they were in Canada. )

Here are Dan, Hollywood and Donna, a proud VMI family!

Later that evening, we met for dinner--and had a great time seeing all of them. It is remarkable how much our little girl (sorry, Shorty!) has turned into a confidant young woman in a matter of weeks at this school. I guess it's all those push ups!!
On the drive back towards Washington, Norm and I stopped at the Naked Mountain Winery. At the restaurant the night before, their 2005 Chardonnay was featured at the restaurant where we ate--and it was delicious! So, we stopped for a tasting and ended up with a case!

We wanted to stop by and take my other niece to lunch on Sunday--Margo attends James Madison University, and we drive right past it on the way home. But, in text messages back and forth we learned she was in Kentucky for a game--she is on the field hockey team. They played Louisville and won! Go Dukes!