We got up early Friday morning to have breakfast with Mary's grandparents Al and Judy. Then Mary's Mommy Jennifer had to go out and run some errands before we left, so Meg and I stayed behind to visit a little longer. Then we loaded up the car and got on the road to a place called Harrisonburg!
Harrisonburg is home to James Madison University (JMU), where Meg and Jennifer went to college and became friends! They were both in a very big marching band called the Marching Royal Dukes, and they were having a reunion with some of their old band buddies. How fun! Meg and Jennifer had also not seen each other for a very long time, so they spent lots of time in the car talking about who they would see and what everyone was doing.
Harrisonburg is a really pretty place. The fall colors on the trees were beautiful, and Meg said that they're even more amazing along Skyline Drive, a road through the Blue Ridge Mountains nearby. We didn't have time to go there this trip, but maybe I can meet someone in Harrisonburg I can visit that can take me there!
Our first stop was Downtown Harrisonburg.
The area we stopped in is called Court Square, because the county courthouse is right in the middle of the intersecting streets. Harrisonburg is a city located in Rockingham County, which is one of the counties in the Commonwealth of Virginia (Meg said that was my little geography lesson for the day).
But more importantly, Court Square is where we were meeting some of Meg's friends for lunch at a place called Jess' Quick Lunch.
Jess' is famous for the chili dogs, and they're really good...and really cheap! A dog, french fries and a soda was less than $5. MUCH better than that expensive lunch at the airport yesterday! I could have eaten about a dozen of those chili dogs, but it probably would have upset my tummy, so Meg stopped me at two.
Then we grabbed Meg's friend Michelle, who I remembered from her visit to LA with HER STANLEY! Hopefully I get to see him later! Michelle flew from New York City (where she lives) to Richmond, Virginia, which is about 2 hours away. She borrowed a car from her Mom and Dad and drove in for the weekend. So many people from so many places!
Anyway, Meg, Michelle and Jennifer took me "Krogering," which means grocery shopping. It's called that because the store is named Kroger, but when the girls were in college they used to call it Krogering.
We went to pick up sodas and stuff for the weekend, and also to do some shopping for a good cause. The current JMU students were collecting food for the local food bank, so people less fortunate could have a nice Thanksgiving dinner. Wow, that's right...Thanksgiving is next week! I LOVE macaroni and cheese, so we got lots of that, as well as some canned vegetables.
Then we went over to Bridgeforth Stadium, which is on the JMU campus, for band practice. It's been a long time since Meg or any of her friends marched, so they definitely needed it! Don't tell her I said that though...I don't want to hurt her feelings.
Jennifer and Meg were both in the drum line, although for some reason Meg was going to try to toss a flag in the air. I think drums are much cooler, thank you very much!
After we practiced, we had time to watch the REAL Marching Royal Dukes, and I was very impressed! They have over 450 people out on the field, so they're really loud, but the music was really good too! I couldn't wait to see more at the football game tomorrow, but it was getting dark.
Then we went over to the music building to learn a little bit about the history of the band. I also got the see The Sudler Trophy, which is awarded to the best college band in America. JMU didn't win it while Meg was there, but they did it a few years after, and everyone who was part of the band up until that point got a commemorative pin. That's a pretty amazing award since there are lots of bands at colleges everywhere!
That was the end of the first day at JMU, and the girls stayed up REALLY LATE talking, but I went to bed because I knew Saturday would be even busier!
Saturday morning, everyone had to get up early again for MORE practice! They sure do take this band business seriously at JMU. I guess that's why the band is so good. But when I saw this awesome pile of leaves, I just had to jump right in! I've always wanted to jump in a pile of leaves, and it was just as fun as I imagined.
After practice, we took a walk around campus. It's really pretty, and all the buildings in the main part, which is called The Quad, are made of something called Bluestone, which is only found in this area. This building is Wilson Hall, which is the main administrative building on campus, and located right in the center of The Quad. It's the most photographed building on campus, so if you see a postcard of JMU, Wilson Hall is probably on it!.
After lunch, we met back at Bridgeforth Stadium, and I ran into Michelle's Stanley! I was so excited to see him, we thought it would be fun to do a picture together inside the Duke Dog's mouth. Duke Dog is the JMU mascot, and he looks pretty scary, but don't worry...this is only a statute and he doesn't really bite! It's a good thing, otherwise we'd be in BIG trouble.
Then it was time for the football game! It was so sunny and nice out, which made it even more fun to watch.
We sat up in the stands with the band until it was time for everyone to go on the field and do what's called a Half-Time show. It's called that because it happens in the middle of the game, while the players are taking a break.
We could even turn around and watch the game on a big video screen behind us! This could be really useful if you had someone very tall sitting in front of you and blocking your view, but we were lucky so I could see from either direction. I really love football!
So JMU won the game, the band was great, and Meg had fun with all her friends. I was very sad that we had to leave the next morning, but Meg said she would get to come back next year. Maybe I can find a way to visit her again, because JMU certainly was fun!
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