Suite experience -- Go Colts!

Last fall, Mike and I attended a charity auction. Going in, we briefly discussed how much money we were willing to spend. So we bid on a few items in the silent auction and I thought that was that. Which is why I didn't pay any attention to the live auction until I heard excitement mounting. I walked in the room just in time to hear "Sold!" and see the auctioneer's gavel pointed at Mike. He had purchased an Indianapolis Colts package that included two tickets in a suite to any game of our choice. Let's just say the winning bid was well above the small amount we'd previously planned to spend.

The prospect of getting to see a Colts game from a suite was enough to help me get over my irritation pretty quickly. We looked over the schedule and chose the Colts vs. Tennessee Titans game, which took place today.

It was my first time inside Lucas Oil Stadium, the new home of the Colts.

We made our way to the suite and I have to admit that I was a little nervous about spending the next three hours or so with total strangers. We walked into the suite and tried to blend in. Fortunately, one woman in the suite recognized us from the kids' school and introduced us around.

Feeling a little more at ease, we loaded our plates with buffalo wings and veggie sandwiches and took two seats in the front row of the suite as the pre-game activities wound down and the Colts came out of the locker room.

Soon, Peyton and crew were on the field beginning their rout of the Titans. It turns out the game itself wasn't a great one to see -- both the Colts and the Titans had already secured playoff berths, so both teams quickly sent in their second string quarterbacks. Which was a good thing, because about halfway thru the first quarter, someone came to us and informed us we were in their seats.

A little confused -- we thought once you were in the suite, you just sat wherever -- we moved back into the casual area of the suite and began to watch the game on three wall-mounted TVs. I have to say that I was more than a little frustrated. I could have stayed home and watched the game on TV for free. Kelly, the school mom, seemed to sense this and asked for our tickets to see what she could do.

Turns out that our tickets were marked SRO -- Standing Room Only. Are you kidding me?! If I wasn't mad at Mike for the purchase the night of the auction, I sure was once I found that our hard-earned, easily spent money didn't even get us a place to sit for the game.

But the money was already spent, we were at the game, and the food and drink was free. So I made up my mind to just enjoy the experience. Since Peyton was already on the sidelines calling plays instead of on the field running them and since we didn't exactly have a good view of the field, we decided to explore the stadium a bit.

And it was impressive. From the larger-than-life displays:

to the massive window that opens during games in warmer weather:

And despite the disappointment over our suite experience, Mike and I really had a good time:

Just as half-time began, we returned to the suite and this time found some amazing blueberry cobbler (it always comes back to the food with me, doesn't it?) and two open seats. Actually, Kelly offered to give us two of their seats, although the combo of the Colts sizable lead and the lack of marquee players on the field led to a handful of seats being open, so we got to sit and watch most of the second half.

After the game, someone snapped a picture of us with the field behind us.

All in all, it was a great day. We got to know a school family we didn't know before; Mike made some potential business contacts; I can say I've been to Lucas Oil Stadium; and the Colts won! Even so, it will be a long time before I give Mike a bidder paddle again.