Our Experience at the National Championship
The oustide of Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta Georgia where the game took place.
On January 20th, 2025, the Ohio State Buckeyes played the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the College Football Playoff national championship. This was an extremely exciting time for the whole state of Ohio, but the two of us were lucky enough to attend the game. The game was in Atlanta, GA at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The indoor venue seats 71,000 fans, and it is a venue like no other. It was a very fun weekend trip, and it’s an experience that we won’t ever forget. In this article, we will discuss our travel experience, what activities we did along the way, and our experience that we had during the game itself.
For myself, Charlie, I drove down to Atlanta with my dad, GHHS student Nate Hettler, and his dad. The drive was about 8 hours, and it was a long trip. We would’ve liked to have been able to fly down for a shorter trip, but the plane tickets were really expensive. Due to that we toughed it out and made the long trek there. The game was on Monday, January 20th, and we left on Sunday morning.
We drove down the whole day and it was an interesting experience. We got hungry pretty early in the trip, and we stopped at a Subway in Kentucky. As we got out of the car to go inside, it started snowing aggressively, and that didn’t stop for a while. The rest of the drive was pretty smooth, and we arrived at our hotel in Calhoun, GA at about 4:30 pm. Calhoun is about an hour outside of Atlanta, and we thought that it would be smart to stay outside of Atlanta because it could’ve been wild in the city the night of the game.
The hotel was pretty nice, and there was an Outback Steakhouse right across the parking lot from the hotel. We decided that we would go to the Outback Steakhouse for dinner that night, as there were some NFL playoff games going on. We watched the Philadelphia Eagles beat the LA Rams, as well as the Buffalo Bills beat the Baltimore Ravens. We had a good time at the restaurant, and the food was quite delicious, but we wanted to spice the dinner up a little bit so I texted Jack Clifford to see where they were at. They were passing through town, and met us at the Outback. They had already eaten dinner, but they stopped by to get a non-alcoholic beverage and talk.
It was a fun night, but we needed some rest because we had a long day ahead the next day for gameday. Once we got to the game, the festivities were very active. Unfortunately, it was rather cold in Atlanta, and we were freezing. The stadium was unlike anything that we’d ever seen before. From the outside, it was an awesome view, and I was extremely excited to get inside.
For myself, Jack, I drove down with my dad, brother, my dad’s friend, and his son. The drive was about 8 hours, but we did make a few stops along the way. I would’ve loved to fly down to Atlanta, Georgia but the airplane tickets were out of our financial budget for the trip also, the tickets to the game were very expensive so that's what the majority of our budget went to.
Our first stop was at Sheetz in Grandview where we fueled up for the long trip ahead of us. Then for the next 7 hours I watched some movies and played some mobile phone games. The next stop was at Buc-ee's in Georgia. Buc-ee's Holdings, Inc., commonly referred to as Buc-ee's, is an American chain of country stores, gas stations, and electric vehicle chargers created and owned by Arch "Beaver" Aplin III, headquartered in Lake Jackson, a city south of Houston. At Buc-ee's I bought one of their famous pulled pork sandwiches which was very good. After our short time at Buc-ee's I received a text from Charlie about meeting them at the Outback Steakhouse to get a few drinks and watch some of the NFL playoff games that were on that night. At Outback we talked about our travels and the day to come. Then we continued our journey to Atlanta to stay in our hotel for the night.
The scene of when OSU won the National Championship.
On the day of the game, we woke up and went to Waffle House to get a nice breakfast to fuel us for the long day ahead of us. After Waffle House we drove to downtown Atlanta to start all of the pregame events and things set up outside the stadium. My dad had gotten us vip passes to the OSU tailgate for unlimited drinks and food before the game. The events outside were fun but it was also very cold. So my brother and I opted for the indoor events so we could stay warm.
Once we got into the stadium, it was a very unique experience, the indoor stadium was a one of a kind experience, and there was a jumbotron that circled around the entire top of the stadium. Along with that, there were some very awesome light features that were in the dome as well. There were all kinds of food options, and there was even a full Chick-fil-A inside. There was an electric atmosphere inside the stadium, and both fan bases were very loud. The game went really well, and the Ohio State Buckeyes won the game by a score of 34-23. Once the game ended, there was a lot of red confetti that fell from the roof, and the Ohio State Buckeyes were the national champions. The fans were incredibly excited, and the moment that the team hoisted the trophy is a moment that is unforgettable. Overall, the national championship experience was extremely fun, and it was a special moment to experience.