Tennessee: Aboard with the Vol Navy
Just behind Neyland Stadium is, well, Neyland Drive. After that, the Tennessee River flows through the heart of Knoxville, and just by the Tennessee campus. And on the river, there are boats lined up ten deep along the nearest bank to the stadium. Welcome to tailgating's water world: the Tennessee Vol Navy.
Climbing aboard Julie and Gary Moffitt's "Southeast of Disorder" (a Jimmy Buffett themed boat), you enter a floating home to avid fans of the Volunteer Nation. Here, a large balloon of Smokey greets you at the gate (he's been signed by Phil Fulmer), and upstairs sits the Moffitts and their fans, all of whom are extremely hospitable.
Once on, the Rocky Top begins, and the gathering joins right along in the lyrics. Just by singing the chorus with them, I am immediately accepted and welcomed into the festivities. Along with food and drink (ice water is SOOO good on hot Tennessee afternoons), they provided us with some great moments of Vol football, and of being on the Vol Navy.
According to Julie, they dock the boat 40 miles from Knoxville during the off-season. "About two weeks before the first game, we'll get the boat and drive it to Knoxville. We take it back the day after the last game of the season," she said.
Most everyone had the last win over Florida in Knoxville as their favorite moment, but Gary added an extra favorite moment. "The Jack Daniels girls came by after a win, and we partied with them," Gary said. Better yet, they had pictures of the girls in a photo album of great moments on the boat.
After the games, what do the fans usually like to do on the boat? The consensus was definitely to dance, and given Tennessee's convincing win this afternoon, there was a lot of dancing going on aboard Southeast of Disorder!
