Miss USA Pageant Is Thrilling
There are times in life when things are thrown your way and you get an opportunity that you’d never expect that takes you completely by surprise.
I had one of those opportunities this weekend by being able to attend the Miss USA pageant in Baton Rouge, La., and cheer on Monticello’s own Tiana Griggs as she represented Georgia and competed for the title of Miss USA.
If you’re not a regular reader of this paper or my column I’ll give you a little background. Tiana and I became friends when we both cheered on the Monticello Hurricane basketball teams my senior and her freshman year of high school.
I began following her when she was vying for the title of Miss Georgia last year and had the opportunity to reconnect after her state win. When I talked with Tiana after she was named Miss Georgia, I found that she was still the most humble, beautiful person on the inside as well as beautiful on the outside.
After the Miss Georgia pageant Tiana said that she didn’t know yet where Miss USA would be held but she said that she was “ready for her adventure.” When the location was released to the public that Miss USA was going to be held in Baton Rouge, I was stoked!
I looked at tickets online prior to the pageant and heard from some fellow people around town that they were attending also.
The closer it got to pageant time, the less and less it looked like I was going to make the trip. I work three part-time jobs as most of you know, and couldn’t fathom getting off all of them for a quick weekend away. The pageant was slated to air on Sunday night and that meant missing Monday at work as well.
Luckily, my wonderful boss (and mother) and Susan that works with us at the newspaper had been working on a media packet that would enable us to go represent Monticello and this newspaper.
We found out on the Wednesday before the pageant that we had been approved to attend the pageant as media and therefore began scurrying around to find accommodations and get our weekend away planned.
I had to take off of my job in Macon where I work weekends. I worked Friday night and then Susan and I set out Saturday on our adventure.
We left Monticello and knew that we had about an eight hour drive ahead of us. We traveled through small towns in southwest Georgia and then moved on to the sights like Shorter, Ala., and the dog racing track, and drove through big cities such as Mobile, Montgomery, and Biloxi.
We arrived late Saturday night and ended up at a restaurant not far from our hotel where we feasted on alligator and jalapeno fritters and some of the best BBQ in Louisiana.
Sunday proved to be quite a day! We woke up and went downtown to pick up our media credentials. We found our way around (after several tours of downtown) and got our bearings and then went on a search for some Louisiana seafood!
I sent Tiana a text message with a Bible verse and encouraging words about the upcoming competition that night. I wasn’t really expecting an answer just wanted her to know that there were a group of us rooting for her.
After finding little to nothing open on Sunday in downtown Baton Rouge, we ventured over to the area where Louisiana State University (LSU) is located and did some sightseeing. We rode around the campus that was packed with older looking Spanish buildings, for which I am a sucker. We drove by and took pictures of Tiger Stadium where us college football fans (Go Dawgs!!) have celebrated and mourned over football for ages.
We ended up at a restaurant just adjacent to the LSU campus called Chimes and while it was late Sunday morning there was a wait to be seated, to which we found out for good reason!
We sat and watched college baseball while enjoying mimosas and waited on our brunch. I had shredded beef, Cajun style and jalapeno cheese grits. Susan had a crawfish omelet, and they were both amazing!
After lunch we headed back to the hotel to prepare for the BIG night!
We got all dressed up and prepared for the red carpet entrances. We ended up being in the media room with those other outlets (unlike ours) such as E! and Extra. And the circus began.
We were fed well and offered drinks and settled in to watch the pageant.
You can’t imagine the pride that I felt when in the opening introductions I heard, “Tiana Griggs, Monticello, Georgia.”
Monticello, our little city on a national stage, and I couldn’t be happier for the woman up there representing us!
As we watched all of the beautiful women on stage, I knew that Tiana had a chance.
As the pageant progressed, Tiana was the named to the Top 20, then the Top 10. When asked back stage with the group of contestants, “what is one word to describe this moment?” Tiana replied, “blessed.”
Tiana was named to the Top 5. She was also named second runner up, third in the country! Talk about pride.
We didn’t get to see Tiana after the competition but we did get a press conference with the winner, Miss Navada.
The night concluded with some time at one of the local casinos and celebration by all.
I can’t imagine a better person to represent our small town. And what a better platform than being a God loving woman, who loves her hometown. Congratulations Tiana! I can’t wait to see all of the amazing things God has planned for you and Thank You for putting Monticello on the map is such a positive way.\