Aggieland

Fate had me spend my 34th birthday in College Station, TX, home of Texas A&M University. Here are some photos of my visit there. The city is in the middle of nowhere in Texas, and getting there from Dallas made for a peaceful drive.

Student advisors were getting ready for school orientation, which one former alumnus I know described it as a "long brainwashing process where they teach you about Texas A&M history and traditions."

My co-workers and I ate at the "Country Inn & Restaurant". It took us nearly 45 minutes to get there from College Station. My co-worker, who is a Texas A&M alumnus, seemed disappointed in the place. It was not nearly as good as he remembered it as a student. There seemed to be two reasons for this: 1) new ownership and higher prices, and 2) he wasn't in college anymore, and has since had good "adult" meals.

It was OK, but not a great place for a birthday meal.

The sign outside of the restaurant said "C O ED MON : TUE. V TED 1 Hi K N F i D EAT AS EXST" I have no idea what this means. I think you have to be a drunk college student to figure it out.

College Station is home to what are known as "Love Bugs", which apparently are not bugs at all. These are two bugs that are walking together having bug sex right in the middle of the sidewalk.

Apparently, humans do not seem to love them all that much.

They are all over the place, just banging each other and doing their business in public. This led me to believe that the college students here probably do the same when school is in session. Man, I really should have gone here instead of Hartwick College.

One suggestion that he did have that was awesome was "Freebirds World Burrito," which was apparently founded here in College Station. It is sort of like Chipotle, without the corporate sponsorship.

The place was packed.

Although signs asked people not to write on the furniture, people did anyway.

Writing on the walls was OK.

In fact, it was encouraged.

This is Kyle Field, home of the Division I-A Texas A&M Aggie football team. In the days when I was unemployed and had all the time in the world to play the PS2 version of NCAA Football, I once took this university to six consecutive national championships.

It was nice to see the area that I once had so much success at in a more tangible manner. It is a good sized football stadium (82,600 capacity) and has a great tradition around it. It was built in 1927 and 1929 and named after a former dean of agriculture.

This is the Texas A&M practice field, which is covered up during football season to avoid spying.

I stopped by a t-shirt store in a local mall to see what the college students are wearing. Apparently, beer is on their mind when it comes to their education. Shocking.

Texas A&M is the legal home of the 12th man, according to a lawsuit filed against the Seattle Seahawks. Students here use creative t-shirts as a way to express their emotions...and ego...about football and other subjects. Why they have this stuck up their buttocks is explained here.

Football passion runs wild here, and so do football rivalries. The University of Texas (a much nicer campus I visited, by the way) is hated here, and apparently God does not like UT. Here is a creative use of Psalm 75:10, "I will cut off the horns of all the wicked..." I'm not sure about the theology of this one, but what can you expect from a college town?

After they cut off the horns of Texas' cow, they plan to eat it. This is not a friendly place to be UT fan.

They don't just hate the University of Texas here, they also extremely dislike Oklahoma University.

Texas Tech gets no love here either, although no one really takes Texas Tech seriously enough to complain about them very much.

There is a natural order of things here, and it involves overlooking Texas winning the national championship last year.

Here's how to have fun in Aggieland.

So much for respecting the law here in College Station.

College Station seems to be a fun town. It's too bad I was just driving through, as it has a lot of spirit. Perhaps I'll come back here someday.