NASCAR Race: Bank of America 500

First of all, the reason that we went to this NASCAR race was because we got free tickets for signing up for our cable and Internet. Thanks to Time Warner I got to experience something that I never thought I would ever actually do. That being said, here is an overview of "Race Day."
Prior to actually leaving for the race I went online to do a little homework on the big event. I read a what to bring list and some of the items were: 1) bring sunscreen 2) bring ear plugs 3) don't wear white if you are in the first ten rows 4) bring a cooler with enough beer to get you through the race 5) bring your scanner 6) get to the race at least six hours early. Now, looking at this list might create a few questions, I will answer any questions about the list in the rest of this entry.
So, the night before the race we went to the store to get some beer. Now, you can't just buy any kind of beer for a NASCAR race, so I decided to go with the Diesel. Of course by Diesel I mean the symbol of NASCAR, Budweiser. Later that night I talked to my buddy from SC and he said that you can bring a cooler into the race and put pretty much anything you want into the cooler except any glass. This was a shock to me because you normally get kicked out or a ticket if you try to bring beer into any kind of sporting event.
The morning before the race we put all of our Budweiser into our cooler and loaded up some snacks or sandwiches. After reading through the do's and dont's of the race I realized that our cooler was too big to bring into the race so we decided just to bring our beer in a backpack. After both of us changing clothes a few times we decided on fairly casual outfits and I wore a white polo because we were in the 43rd row and the dont's only said no white shirts for the first ten rows.
Now we were ready to go, the race started at 7:40pm and we left for the track at 1:30. We got to Concord, where the race was, at 2:00. We sat in traffic for about 30 minutes and finally settled on a parking lot that was $20. This looked like an alright spot, it was in a very hilly area and there was one car to every eight trucks. We noticed that there were a lot of people tailgating which seemed pretty cool but we decided to head over to the track to check out the hospitality tent that we got tickets to. We had about a quarter of a mile walk to get to the track and on the way we got to walk by the camper section where people had been there for a week. Walking by this section we saw a lot of NASCAR flags and confederate flags. Once we got to the cross walk kitty corner from the track we really started to notice the clothing and physique of the fans. Every where we looked there were mullets, people had NASCAR hats, shirts, jackets, visors, chair cushions, and socks. We also noticed that there were a lot of cut-offs, however I was really surprised by the lack of Jeans that had been cut-off to make jean shorts. Then again it wasn't that warm out on Saturday.
We finally made it to the track and we realized what a circus it was. There were tents and booths everywhere. So we decided to start at one end and find our way to the Time Warner tent. As soon as we hit sponsor row we saw that Old Spice was giving away Luffa's. I laughed and made a joke until I saw that they were Ricky Bobby Luffa's, they looked hilarious, we got two. After walking by a couple of other giveaway spots we found our tent area. We got to our tent and we entered into a raffle they had going. We ended up winning a Jimmie Johnson model race car that was signed by Jimmie Johnson. The other people there really glared at Hammer as she walked up to claim the prize, I think they could tell that we weren't NASCAR fans because she didn't let out a scream when she won the car.

We got passes to go down in the pit

In front of Dale Jr.'s car

Finally, we got into the race and we found our seats. Once again we had no idea what to expect. Once we were seated, I finally realized what a scanner was...and everybody had them. They were little hand held screens/radios that you could listen to and watch the race on, during the race. The next thing we noticed is that every single person in the stands brought a cooler in, and yes they all had them packed with beer. The race was about to start and there was a BUZZ in the stands. Everyone was drunk and the car had started to go around the track. After five or so laps the pace car stopped and you could hear the might roar of the cars as they took off getting up to 170mph. And here they come, everyone was standing and cheering it was great. Then the cars made it to our turn and we realized why we had our ear plugs. The thunderous sound of the cars cruising by in an instance was quite intense. Now we stood and waited for the cars to come back around and once again everyone cheered and pointed woohoo.

Lap One

This went on for about ten laps and then finally we were able to sit down. At this point the cars were spread out around the track enough so that we had a thunderous roar the entire time...it was intense. Finally right down in front of us we saw some sparks and some smoke, everyone stood and pointed...yes, our first crash. Admittedly, it was a pretty weak crash but hey it was a crash. I then looked down at my shirt and realized that I had black stuff on my shirt, it was debris from the crash. Apparently you shouldn't wear white no matter where you sit in the stands.
After 180 laps of this we finally decided that we had enough and we left, but not without an experience of a lifetime.

-Flick

The Mountains, The Beach and NASCAR

The first couple weeks living in Charlotte went very well. I knew we had picked the right apartment because of the location and neighborhood. Everything we needed was right down the road. We searched for parks where we could play soccer, tennis, and run every day. Since we didn’t have jobs yet, we really looked forward to doing those types of things every day. I started to really enjoy the area, we found a fun bar where we could watch the Packer games, which was huge! So everything was going great so far.

Flick’s parents came to visit three weeks into our move, which was wonderful. It was nice to see some people from home and just converse and go OUT! I loved that we were able to actually go out for dinner rather than just sitting at home and eating. While they were here visiting we drove out to the Smokey Mountains, which was so much fun! We went exploring for waterfalls. We visited Whitewater Falls, Hooker Falls and Triple Falls, each very amazing.

Triple Falls

The next weekend Flick and I decided to go to Myrtle Beach. That was so cool for the both of us! We both absolutely love the beach and to be able to go there on a random day was so amazing! We spent the whole day there, enjoyed a great dinner and saw a captivating sunset.

This past week, I got a phone call at 7 am. It was FedEx. They wanted to tell me they had a package for me. So I waited for this package and it ended up being two tickets to the Bank of America 500. I was like OHhhh my gosh…I can’t believe this. We got free tickets through Time Warner Cable. Flick and I decided we were going to go. A number of people in the south go nuts over NASCAR stuff so we thought we would try to “fit in” with the “culture”. People from Wisconsin really got a kick out of this. NASCAR in Wisconsin is definitely considered a southern thing. Anyway, we are both really excited to experience our first “RACE”.

~Hammer

Liqour, Beer, and Wine

This is Flick.

Leaving Wisconsin is different in all aspects and there is one aspect that Wisconsin people will definitely notice more than others. That is Alcohol. When we moved down here we weren't really concerned with getting alcohol. A couple of times we were in the grocery store and we would grab a six pack or a bottle of wine. We did notice that in the grocery store there was one thing missing from what you would find in a Wisconsin grocery store, that is liqour. One of the laws in North Carolina is that they can't sell beer/wine and liqour in the same store. Once we learned this we decided to find a liqour store.
Now, in Wisconsin they sell wine/beer/liqour at grocery stores and liqour stores. Pretty much every single gas station sells beer and some even have beer caves and sell liqour. The places that sell liqour in NC are called ABC Liqour stores. This is one thing that Wisconsin people would be proud of. Since liqour isn't sold everywhere these ABC stores have to make up for it. We were pretty impressed with the size of the store and the selection of the store.
The next thing that didn't come up until about after a month of living here is how late do they sell beer until. In Wisconsin they sell beer/wine/liqour until 9:00pm and if you are lucky you can find select gas stations that sell until midnight. So, one night we ran out of wine and were kind of in the mood for another bottle. It was 8:30 and we knew we would have to act quick. So I called the grocery store to ask them a question. An older gentlmen picked up and I let him know that I was about to ask a stupid question and then I let it rip. How late do you sell alcohol til. He replied back boldly 2:00. I was so shocked that I snapped back at him with a; Seriously? I was astonished.
The reason that I was so amazed is that a rule/law like that would never fly in Wisconsin. In Wisconsin when people run out of beer and it is still being sold in stores, they just drive to go get more. If the stores sold until 2 the number of drunk drivers would go through the roof which is saying something because of the ridiculous number of drunk drivers in Wisconsin. Now, we think it is awesome that they sell that late, but still wonder is that really safe.

The start to our BIG move

On August 20th, Eric, my mom and I took a drive to Charlotte for the very first time to look for apartments. We had no idea what to expect, neither of us had been to Charlotte before.

The area was recommended to us by some friends in Columbia, South Carolina. So we took their word for it, they mentioned the area was nice, it was a great city and it was a growing city too. We thought after graduation this would be a perfect place to venture off to for a couple years, while we were still young. After mentioning the idea to friends and family, we heard more and more about how great of a city it was. It was great to hear that and very reassuring! We knew we had made the right decision. I think one of the selling points for the both of us was we were going to be three hours from the mountains in one direction and three hours from the shores of the Atlantic in another direction (I REALLY liked this part!).

We finally arrived in Charlotte on the 21st. That night Eric and I went for a drive to see the Downtown area, or what they call it Uptown. That was the very first thing we noticed was different. We knew it would take us some time to get used to calling downtown, uptown. I soon fell in love with the city! It was so different from other bigger cities I have been to. It was very clean! I couldn't believe how clean it was. Also, I felt safe. That was huge. I felt as if I could walk around down there/up there alone. The people walking around were close to our age and business men and women all dressed very well, almost too well! It made us feel like we weren't dressed up enough just walking around in shorts and t-shirts. So our first impression was a great one!

The very next day we spent driving around looking at and viewing apartments. We found one we really liked for an AMAZING price, but then the very next day our first apartment we viewed was exactly what we were looking for and we signed the lease that very day. Our trip was a success and we officially had our apartment starting August 27th. It was a wonderful feeling. The official move in date: September 3rd, 2008.

~Hammer