Chris had to work in Austin this week so I finagled my way into joining for a quick trip up and back. It’s such a cool town and not too far away…so why not?
Driving into town I saw the “Landing Strip” from my favorite television series of all time. (Yes, it’s a strip club…yes, it’s by the airport…and yes, I think it has multiple meanings). Anyway, this motivated me to do something I’d been wanting to do since we moved to Texas–track down the filming locations of Friday Night Lights. (What did you think I was going to say?!)
A little googling led me to the app that changed my life–Gowalla. Anyone can go on there and build a trip…then others can download that trip and follow it to see new cities, do bar crawls, or stalk TV show sites. Hello “Friday Night Lights” trip.
Our first stop was the little hometown grocery store from the show.
We bought some sodas for the mini-road trip and I excitedly asked the teenage kid behind the counter, “did they really film Friday Night Lights here?” He laughed and said he didn’t know. What?!? How do you not know?? Meanwhile, Chris was mortified. After 5 years together, you think he’d be used to this! Anyway, that’s still mind boggling to me. I told Chris that would be like if Caddy Shack had been filmed at Falcon Ridge and I didn’t know it. Chris’ response was “Caddy Shack was filmed at Falcon Ridge?!” Oh boy.
Moving on. Here’s a little FNL Homes Tour…
The Saracen’s. Looks like they replaced the #7 sign with an ADT one.
Right around the corner was Smash’s apartment complex.
Then one of the highlights of the trip…the Riggins Residence. OMG. Can you imagine being the person that lives there now?! I think I would feel the need to crack open a beer every time I walked through the door as a tribute to Tim and Billy.
And finally, Coach Taylor’s house. I’d pay money to play ping pong in the garage with Eric or drink a glass of wine in the living room with Tami. Oh my gosh, I’m creeping myself out right now. 
The weirdest thing was seeing all of these places in the middle of a big and modern city, when I’d always imagined them in tiny little Dillon, Texas.
Now brace yourselves…Alamo Freeze is actually a Dairy Queen.
And East Dillon High is really a “professional school,” which looked more like a creepy old hospital or something.
Now on to the main event. Panther Stadium. Glorious. I feel like nothing I could write would do this place justice…so I’ll let the pictures do the talking.
Well, what else is there to say? If you haven’t seen the show, go out and rent the first season–or watch it instantly if you have Netflix. I promise you you will sit down with the intention of watching 1 or 2 episodes and before you know it, it’ll be 4am and you’re just wanting to find out if the panthers make it to state or if Lyla chooses Riggins over Street 🙂 Just ask my mom and Heather…the newest slaves to the FNL addiction. Yes!
During this quick trip I also had the pleasure of seeing Liz and Rachel and their Austin crew, full of fun peeps. And we got to try the infamous Torchy’s Tacos! Of course I only took one picture while we were there–and it didn’t include any humans. Not even Hazel’s new bulldog friend Kadie! Next time 🙂
Here’s another picture of our little girl–just because she’s cute. She was queen of the Drury Inn for a night.
All in all a pretty memorable trip to Austin. Thanks Chris for putting up with my strange obsessions and 15-year-old girl tendencies. Now…does anyone know when Breaking Dawn is in theaters?! Just kidding…November 18th, obviously 🙂
Thank you for this post. It made my week amazing. I about peed my pants just SEEING pictures of Riggins house. I dont even drink and I'd consider the same beer opening ritual.
Vanessa… I mean, I always knew we were soulmates 😉 but your tour of the Friday Night Lights HOT SPOTS… I die! Glad to know I am not the only one that makes my husband travel miles out of the way just to take a picture of a movie location where they probably didn't even film! Love it!
Oh my gosh I just LOVE this post! Thanks so much for sharing!!! I can't believe you really saw these places in real life?! That Panthers Fieldhouse and Statium are really there?! I'm just shocked! I guess I need to plan a trip to Texas haha!
And really, the kid didn't know if it was filmed in the grocery store where he works?? Come on!!!
P.S. You need to hook you're email to your blog comments so I can respond! 🙂