Known to roam, the Travelocity Gnome set his sights on The Gator Nation.
The Travelocity Roaming Gnome is in town for the Florida Gators vs. Kentucky Wildcats basketball game on Saturday.
He is following ESPN’s College GameDay coverage, broadcasting live from the Stephen C. O’Connell Center, said Keith Nowak, Travelocity’s director of communications and brand integration.
“While he’s in Gainesville, he’s looking forward to seeing the statues of Albert and Alberta, go get some pizza at Satchel’s and eat at the Swamp,” Nowak said.
Students were encouraged to tweet the Roaming Gnome with go-to spots in town. Based on his Twitter account, which has about 81,000 followers, he ate tacos at the Swamp Restaurant, viewed the bat houses and Tebow-ed at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Lucas Dolengowski, a UF telecommunication senior and president of the Men’s Basketball Rowdy Reptiles, took a selfie with the Gnome and said he expects to see him in the student section during Saturday’s game.
“It’s one of those things, cultural things, that a lot of people know or have heard about in commercials, but to see the Gnome in person is a fun experience,” Dolengowski, 22, said.
The Roaming Gnome will travel around campus and Midtown with a posse of “Gnome Guides” — local residents who have engaged with him on social media, Kowak said.
Ben Kurzman, a UF industrial engineering senior, said he and a group of friends landed a dinner invitation with the gnome at the Swamp Restaurant on Thursday night.
Kurzman, 21, now a designated Gnome Guide, said he wants to show the gnome UF’s vibrant and unique campus.
“I wanted to give him a taste of something uniquely Gainesville — something you don’t find elsewhere,” he said.
[A version of this story ran on page 3 on 2/6/2015 under the headline “Travelocity Gnome roams Gainesville"]
The Roaming Gnome stands in front of the French Fries next to Marston Library around noon. The Gnome is in Gainesville while on tour with ESPN’s College Gameday, which will air from the O’Connell Center on Saturday.
