Illinois – Footgolf

September 5th, 2015

So far, I’ve managed to enter a state, enjoy my time there, and continue on, never returning. But, as I also said earlier, I suck at planning. Fortunately, I have some of the best friends a guy can ask for, and even with short notice, they’re willing to open up their home and schedule to accommodate me for a short while.

I called up my friend Devin who I went to RIT with. He’s now working towards his PhD in mechanical engineering, specifically orbital mechanics and spacecraft at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

I rolled in before he was done with class for the day, and took the time to wander around the campus. It seemed to be the heart of the city, and absolutely massive. Car parked, bike assembled, and slackline in my bag, I went off, back to school.

HOLY. COW.



This place was absolutely insane. With a downtown blending right into part of the campus. Individual libraries for each college. Full out quads for individual disciplines. I guess that’s what happens when the total student enrollment is over 40,000, nearly 3 times what RIT was. This campus was also a fan of copious amounts of bricks, so at least that was similar.

After roaming for a while, and trying to not be hit by traffic, nor hit any pedestrians, I managed to find an open quad with less activity and a few trees. I has brought along my slackline in hopes of setting it up and here seemed like as good a place as any to enjoy a beautiful day. With many strange looks and a few people stopping to try, it was fun to blend in and be in college again, even if it was just for a few hours.

I wandered back to my car, getting slightly more lost than I’ll admit, but there was so much traffic that I could keep up with cars and ride with them when the bike lane would suddenly vanish only to reappear two blocks later. Packed up, I wandered to Devin’s house to meet up with him.

We ended up chatting for a while, just catching up on one another’s life as well as some reminiscing about RIT. Devin had just moved here a few weeks prior, so he too was learning the area and what all there was to do. But one thing had stuck him, but he needed a partner to check out: Foot golf.

Ever heard of Frisbee golf? The strange merger of golf and Frisbee. Well this was another merger with golf, this time with football, or as we American’s call it, Soccer. Set up in-between fairways on a par 3 golf course the next town over, it was a round of nine holes and they loaded you the soccer balls to play. There were tee off points, flags, and large buckets for the holes. I made the mistake of wearing flip flops and decided to just play barefoot. Thankfully, it was only 9 holes.

Playing some chill “golf” and wandering about as we talked some more in front of the setting sun was blissful in a way. A friend meet up that wasn’t planned, or any large thing to do. Just hanging out with a friend, spending some time together.

We wrapped up the round, Devin won as he not only had shoes, but also more experience playing soccer. I think it’s the shoes that really did it though. We motored off to a restaurant downtown, the actual city downtown and not the campus one, to a local Bar-B-Q joint.

Small, crowded, and simply writing your name on a giant easel to secure a seat. A long bar as the center piece with booths behind, and high round tables to fill the rest of the space. Extended waiting area was outside on the picnic bench or curb if that too was filled.  We hung out for a bit, chatted and eventually our name was called.  Heading in, we found seats at the bar, ordered some amazing food, and stuffed our faces with the delectable Bar-B-Q.

Finally, we drove back to Devin's place and talked of plans, ideas and our takes on what life was like at RIT.  Two very different perspectives but similar feelings and take away's.  Devin is very well read and pointed me to some literature he's not only read but on the list as well.  Having all my free time, I wrote down the suggestions for future reading.

With a late night behind us, it was time to crash out and we bid each other adieu.  The next morning I packed up, headed out and drove Devin to campus where we wandered for a bit and tossed a frisbee before he had class.  It was a fun way to visit the college life one last time.  As he headed to class, I wandered back to my car, taking in the warm summer sun and eternal life that seems to be present on college campuses.