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Had unusual & sacred experience last night when riding my bike around downtown & old campus..
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Had unusual & sacred experience last night when riding my bike around downtown & old campus..


Sep 29, 2018, 9:17 AM

Started out from the 321 side of uptown & first sight & sound is the bustling of excited fans (mostly students finding a beer joint), got off bike & went into Coach Imbrahim’s Sports Shop to find a long Tiger tail but their’s were too short but saw nice long ones in window of knickerbocker’s closed but nearby new beautiful store..

then headed around the corner near the Subway Shop & over to the soccer field with its signage & paw lit up, down by the famous Esso Club rocking with couple hundred people (seated af tables in parking lot!) listening to a band, took left & by LJ lit up with its own big Orange PAW, across the street to where I formerly lived in a pre-fab house for married students (built in the 40’s & lasted til late 60’s..on F Street) where my wife & i enjoyed college life different from the singles in a distance location from campus (near where the Jervey Ctr building is now) and i had a paper route to help with costs & she worked at P & A Bldg for 3 PHD bosses for $1 an hour..

then I peddled down to the busy RV lots to take pics of couple neat motor coaches custom-painted with creative PAW decor, over to see DaBO’s football shrine building & take more pics & video of unreal slide area with mural beside it of players running down the hill (shows DW4 in fore-ground with a heavy brace on left knee)..

By now I’m sweaty what with wearing a hard biker’s protective head helmet but bucked uP & peddled over to the DEATH VALLEY Stadium that was obviously the crown jewel of the surrounding landscape due to all the multiple sources of light & importance going on around it (being supplied by various vendors to ready it for the 85,000 Orange clad fans) and the beauty of the towering metallic Oculus with its upper core filled with One Big PAW that made the statement that i had reached one of the important meccas of college football.

Then i checked out the one lonely CUSE Team Bus parked inside the stadium’s bowels near the visitor’s dressing room that had large graphics of several players & a big “S” on it and I smiled knowing their probable fate come Saturday..and headed around DV to The HiLL side to photo the chipped ROCK & lit field which was being admired by other fans beside me. What a sight, even empty & noiseless!

Then I biked in lowest gear i had up the steep outer hill to marvel at the beauty of John C Calhoun’s historical Fort Hill Mansion that was washed softly with warm light even though the famous home couldn’t tell me firsthand of its history & its first owner or its 2nd owner (Thomas Green Clemson from Philly) but I knew a little about those very tall & intellectual men who slowly formed & harvested the concept that would later become our beloved CLEMSON world of higher education & renowned football prowess.

After checking out my name chiseled into the near-by sidewalk as a 1966 grad..i coasted over to the normally lit amphitheatre area to see it & the library’s brilliantly lit waterfalls but they were all dark by 10 pm..so i biked back beside history-ladened Bowman Field where our earliest Cadets & even 1st football team became attached to the Clemson soil thru discipline & the rigors of competition..

and i looked further up the sloping lawn to see the one lone stark bronze soldier guarding this sacred place (Bowman Field)..and i almost had a confetti eye moment knowing the sacrifices of many..as well as envisioning the past tens & tens of thousands of parading soldiers, football players, students, fans, homecoming displays that had taken place on this most historic site which must never be plowed over for a building (or a McD!).

Finally i slowly headed over to the modern Alumni Center near town to photo the giant Clemson class ring sculpture displayed on the deck..all being encircled by the protective fencing of the construction going on for the huge city block-sized School of Business.

Now it was time to peddle back thru town to my secured RV Van but the police & firemen had started to block off main street so it wasn’t an easy ride what with the glaring red lights & commotion but i did see Judge Keller’s Son (locked in his closed store) and his staff putting price tags onto new merchandise..hundreds of students mingling, talking & drinking..cute window displays of Tiger merchandise (MH Frank’s Clothing being the epitomy of high class)..and then I hit a 7/11 for some real chocolate milk & Gator-aide to give me needed engery to close out the 3 hour ride around dowtown Clemson & the original campus.

What a unique treat that I’d not experienced in my entire 60 years of visiting TIGERTOWN, at age 17.

GO TiGERS! ??

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Thanks for sharing...


Sep 29, 2018, 9:27 AM

I know many of us wish we had been with you. +1

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Re: Had unusual & sacred experience last night when riding my bike around downtown & old campus..


Sep 29, 2018, 9:27 AM

Awesome LBB - just awesome. Thanks for the ride. Be thankful you can still get up those hills, even in the lowest gear. :)

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Re: Had unusual & sacred experience last night when riding my bike around downtown & old campus..


Sep 29, 2018, 9:35 AM

Outstanding post! Thanks for sharing.

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Sometimes the road to the truth is so elusive it's confusing and reality becomes illusion.


Re: Had unusual & sacred experience last night when riding my bike around downtown & old campus..


Sep 29, 2018, 9:39 AM

Bill---- That's amazing for an "OLD" man and all in one short evening !!! By my calculations, that's about two months worth of my physical activity. And then, to get up this morning and post your epistle in detail for all to enjoy makes for the beginning of a great day in Tigertown.

And, if you have some soreness after all of that cycling, I would highly recommend a rub down with Watkins Liniment.

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Very nice narrative Bill ... I enjoyed your story.


Sep 29, 2018, 9:44 AM

Reminded me of the times I’ve gone back and simply walked the town ... usually on a non-football Saturday or Sunday, just soaking up memories of four decades of my life there.

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Re: Had unusual & sacred experience last night when riding my bike around downtown & old campus..


Sep 29, 2018, 9:46 AM

If you can ride up the mansion hill w o getting off the bike you have my admiration. Sadly they quit doing sidewalk names just before I graduated

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I got tired just from reading,


Sep 29, 2018, 9:52 AM

Then saw the film clip. You worked hard...a bigger bike would help. ;)



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Re: Had unusual & sacred experience last night when riding my bike around downtown & old campus..


Sep 29, 2018, 9:51 AM

Sounds like a great ride down memory lane.

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I feel like I just dreamed this or something.....


Sep 29, 2018, 10:01 AM

I can smell the cramps campus again reading this.

Sadly, I couldn't be there as much lately. Adulting blows. Too busy.

Thanks for sharing. Cool post!

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Re: Had unusual & sacred experience last night when riding my bike around downtown & old campus..


Sep 29, 2018, 10:03 AM

Bill, best post of your’s I’ve ever read! Enjoyed the “ride”, thanks for posting and enjoy the rest of your visit!

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You never cease to amaze us, Bill.


Sep 29, 2018, 10:05 AM

Fine piece of literature, my friend.

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Re: Had unusual & sacred experience last night when riding my bike around downtown & old campus..


Sep 29, 2018, 10:09 AM

Thanks for the ride, Bill! Felt like I was right there with ya. Go Tigers!

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Re: Had unusual & sacred experience last night when riding my bike around downtown & old campus..


Sep 29, 2018, 11:05 AM

Unless you've lived it it is impossible to explain it to someone else. What a great post - I found myself reading it slower and slower remembering all the places you mention. Wow......

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Re: Had unusual & sacred experience last night when riding my bike around downtown & old campus..


Sep 29, 2018, 11:10 AM

Please post pics of your vintage Schwinn bike.

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Re: Had unusual & sacred experience last night when riding my bike around downtown & old campus..


Sep 29, 2018, 11:45 AM

Thanks for taking me back thru time. Remember it well. Wish you had mentioned Dan's. I know it is not there now, but it was the only place to get a hamburger(and it was a darn good one) in town back in the day.

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I loved Dan's for their hamburger steak, fries,


Sep 29, 2018, 5:58 PM

tea, and hot honey buns. Nothing better on a week night about 10:00 pm...

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Re: I loved Dan's for their hamburger steak, fries,


Sep 29, 2018, 6:26 PM

A cold one at the Red Carpet???

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Re: I loved Dan's for their hamburger steak, fries,


Sep 29, 2018, 9:20 PM

Nick the Greeks was the only place downtown where you buy a 14 oz Old Milwaukee! Why is that my memory from the early 60’s? One small tavern for 5000 overworked students!

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