This past weekend, I headed down to the Queen City for the ACC Football Championship Game. You know, “12 Teams. 2 Divisions. 1 Champion.” and all that. In case you didn’t know, Florida State played Georgia Tech.

My brother-in-law is a Florida State alumnus; besides that, he usually goes to this event courtesy of work perks. Not just goes, but goes in style. A parking space literally across the street from the Bank of America Stadium. Suite admission. (Very sweet.) … And this year, I was invited!

Please understand that I’m not bragging. Trust me, my madcap existence tends to bring me continually low and keeps me humble. I was a bona fide beverly hillbilly Saturday night. It started when I asked our server if they had Coke Zero.  Um, it was the Dr. Pepper ACC Championship. And, on the scoreboard (as my sister pointed out) there was this advertisement at the far left:

Sigh. But no one called me a silly bumpkin. At least not to my face.

Here are a few pictures from the night, which resulted in a victory for the Seminoles. You will probably notice that I went a little overboard with the Instagram photo filters. <blush>

The 2012 ACC Championship game was held at the Carolina Panthers (Bank of America) stadium in Charlotte, NC.

Here I am with my sister, nephew and brother-in-law. I’m wearing garnet because it matched my boots. ;P

Our suite was amazing. This is just a section of it. … The food was fantastic (and plentiful) and the service was super.

The National Anthem was moving for those with patriotic inclinations.  At “O, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave…” they shook the flag so that it rippled. Very cool.

My nephew caught on quickly to the Seminole war chant and the tomahawk chop.

Wow! Who knew that there would be billiards in a club suite?  (Not me.)  My nephew did quite well for his first time with a cue stick. … He had a little help from his Mama.

It was a great evening, and I was thankful for (and constantly aware of) the rare opportunity to enjoy it in a little (okay, a lot) of luxury.