Off we go, SEC #1: the University of Tennessee

What we have learned most about college tours is that your tour guide makes all the difference. As a proud NC State grad, I wanted our tour to be awesome… it was awful because the tour guides were awful. On the other hand, the UNC tour guides were advertising and marketing majors and did everything they could to sell you on Carolina and it worked. We absolutely lucked out today because every contact we had with UT makes me think these folks actually bleed orange 🧡

UT has become a big draw for out of state students. In fact, on our tour of 100+ people, no one was from Tennessee! Our guides, Hanna and Kyle, were so much fun, and the University itself is gorgeous. Think of the UNC Chapel Hill campus spread out over some hills and in a bigger city.

Both boys loved the campus and tour, and if it were a bit closer, I imagine this may be close to the top of their college choices. (Secretly, it makes my mama’s heart happy that NC schools are still top choices). But for now, it’s on to Tuscaloosa…

What Brown trip would be complete without a random stop… leave it to mom!

Mayfield Dairy Farms in Athens, Tennessee was voted World’s Best Ice Cream in 1981 by Time magazine. So an $8 factory tour sounded perfect and provided some awesome pictures 🤣🍦🥛

And nothing screams factory tour like hairnets 🤣

The tour was really cool – think Laverne & Shirley in the brewery with milk instead of beer. But no photos and videos allowed inside so you’ll just have to trust us. You do however get a free ice cream at the end of the tour, so that’s a 5-star rating from the Browns 😁

Back on the road and headed to Tuscaloosa…

A couple of hours later, we are in the land of Roll Tide. We dropped our bags at the hotel and headed to the cutest downtown, with a very familiar Main Street name.

We ate at Mugshot – a cool pub downtown with the theme that you wear and photograph yourself in your Mugshot t-shirt all around the world – send it in and try to make it onto the walls. Good “bar food” and great atmosphere. Loving these meals, conversations and laughter as boys get older.

Thankful for Central Standard Time since we’ve got an 8:15 am tour of University of Alabama.