An SEC story: Cabo, Rangerette, Gator and hotel for UT-UGA

Published 3:47 pm Wednesday, October 16, 2024

The chant came up from behind — “SEC! SEC!” — and startled me as I was looking for whales from my spot in the pool in Los Cabos last February.

I turned to see a smiling face approaching and a man wearing Florida Gators colors. It was then I realized that I had on an old baseball cap from my alma mater, the University of Texas, not so much from a crazed Orangeblood perspective, but more just to help lower my chances of skin cancer.

It was then I was reminded of how “it just means more” in the SEC and given a lesson in what to expect for weekends like this one when Georgia comes to Austin to play the Longhorns and hotel rooms are at a high-priced premium for the unprepared.

But allow me to tell the story of my new friend Dean and connect the dots from the tip of Baja, California, to Gainesville, Florida, Kilgore and a hotel room in Austin.

Dean’s story starts in the late 1970s in Florida. He and a friend wanted that post-high school road trip. California was their destination, and so they headed west. Their path took them through Kilgore because they had a friend who lived there and he’d give them a free place to stay.

One of their friend’s jobs was to take the annual pictures of the Kilgore Rangerettes, the dance team of national acclaim. Dean and his friend tagged along for the photo shoot and were quite enamored with the Rangerettes.

But the next day they drove on to Dallas, where they had a goal of going to the Playboy Club, which was on the second floor of the Expressway Towers building that was also home to the Dallas Cowboys. With money running short, Dean and his friend decided to head back to Kilgore.

One thing led to another, and Dean had fallen for a Rangerette and had to make the call back home to Florida that he was staying in Texas. Dean married the Rangerette, and they eventually moved to Houston.

As things happen, the marriage didn’t last, and Dean wound up back in Florida, where he was much closer to his beloved Gators. As his business grew, he would travel with his “Gator Trailer” to Florida games across the South.

When Texas A&M joined the SEC, Dean was there for the Aggies’ first game in the conference in 2012. “The nicest folks we ever met,” said Dean of his weekend in College Station. “They welcomed us everywhere we went. I don’t think we paid for a beer all week.”

Just a few weeks before our meeting in Cabo, the SEC had released its schedule for the 2024 football season, Texas’ first in the league. The “Gator Trailer” would be coming to Austin.

“I already had booked hotels every weekend to be ready,” Dean said. “I do that every year.”

I told Dean I wasn’t sure if everyone in Austin would buy him beers like the fine folks in College Station, but we’d be happy to buy a round if we met up.

“You guys go to Austin for the games?” Dean asked.

“Yes, we make it for most of them,” I replied.

“Need a hotel for the Georgia game? I got one,” he said. “I bet I can get Marriott to switch it to you.”

Before I could fully answer, it was “Hora de Feliz” at the swim-up bar, and Dean was off. We never connected again that week, and I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for him and the “Gator Trailer” when Florida comes to Austin on Nov. 9. If anyone else sees Dean, buy that man a beer.

As for a hotel this weekend when Georgia and Formula 1 come to Austin, we weren’t quite as prepared as Dean but booked “early” to get a deal at $350 a night for what might regularly go for $125.

The SEC. It just costs more. But the stories are fun.

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