Question: Things I should know about Tuscaloosa

Hit up the Bryant museum, that is a lot of fun. The quad is where most of the tailgating takes place, and is very close to Bryant-Denny stadium. The quad is a lot of fun and a good place to meet Bama fans. There will be plenty of food and tvs where you can catch the other games on the quad. Make sure you eat at dreamland at some point over the weekend, they have terrific ribs, actually that is all they serve. After the game the strip is fun, but 4th and 23rd has much more class. The strip is for college students mostly, even though the university has cleaned it up quite a bit, but 4th and 23rd is very nice and a great place to eat and drink. Have fun.

Nice. Good luck to the Ags retooling some things early this season.

If you're flying in, just stay in Birmingham. There are some chain hotels in Bessemer down I-59 towards Titletown, but don't stray far from the hotel. To get the Birmingham experience stay at the Pickwick or another historic hotel right by 5 Points South and do bars Friday night.
If you're driving, heck, I'd probably stay in Meridian, MS. There are 3-5 decent chain hotels/motels. The drive West on game night is much more pleasant than the drive to Birmingham. It'd probably take the same time and you'd be 2 hours toward home rather than 1 more hour from home.

On gameday, go to www.uagameday.com for ungodly impressive info on how to get in and park. You're pretty much going to park at the Soccer fields and ride a bus in toward the quad. Do you want the bar experience or the tailgating experience? I don't care for bar-hopping on gameday. If you do, there are a cluster of them downtown (4th and 23rd and such), which is West on University Blvd from campus. Then another cluster of older bars right near the stadium. That should get you acclimated to our amazing 102k-seat stadium slowly so you don't pass out when you walk inside, J/K.
Personally I skip the bars and do tailgating on the quad. PM me if you want to stop by the rented tent spot I'll be at and I'll pour you a beverage. If I were traveling, I would read on uagameday about quad dropoffs and I'd set up a tent or table on the quad and just party there all day.

Welcome in advance, and Roll Tide Roll!

you'll get to see real cheerleaders?

Go to Egan's on the Strip come Saturday morning and get you a Bloody Mary from Bo... by the time of the A&M game, the beer from Druid City Brewing will also be on tap.

If you can't find a place to stay in Tuscaloosa, I'd highly recommend Birmingham. Around the 5 Points South area is the finest dining in the state and some of the best in the country. Also the nightlife in that area is amazing since the bars can be open 24/7.

Welcome, TXaggie4! You're welcome to hang around and chat with us, but I'll warn you beforehand to pay close attention to what our mods and administrators say. They've thrown many a rival sports fan out for failure to toe the line. Shoot, they've thrown out a pretty fair share of our own. :wink:

This may be of some help to you.

LINK

I agree with motels in Meridian, MS. That's what I do. More affordable, more available, easier drive out of Tuscaloosa after the game, and only about 1.5 hrs from T-town.

Do your best to arrive in town early and get thee to the Bryant Museum - a must see for any real college football fan. If you're looking for good food, you're going to get lots of recommendations, but I prefer gameday breakfast at The Waysider. Good Southern food and you're surrounded by football stuff.

There are bars and eateries on The Strip, which is the part of University Blvd just west of Bryant-Denny Stadium. I agree about Egan's, but The Houndstooth is often easier to get in and out of. Further up University towards downtown you'll find Innisfree which also had spirits, food and pregame frivolity.

Make time prior to kickoff to just wander around The Quad. It is the heart of our university and center of our tailgating universe. Denny Chimes had handprints and shoe prints of our past team captains (find Joe Namath and take a picture, you know you want to!). The Million Dollar Band will hold a little pep rally of sorts on the steps of Gorgas Library about 1.5 hrs before kickoff (real cheerleaders!!).

Scoot over to BDS and find your seats at least 30 minutes before kickoff because that's when our pregame videos start to be shown.

We truly look forward to having y'all come to Tuscaloosa and I hope you thoroughly enjoy yourselves. Aside from losing, that is.

Check out Temerson Square as well. it is usually pretty good. The Bear Trap is my favorite hangout on the strip.

Resturants: breakfast, Waysider,and City Cafe
Lunch, Dreamland original, Jim and Nick,s, and Full moon. Pork is the BBQ of choice here. Not brisket.
Dinner, Depalma's italian obviously, Five, Cypress Inn, Epiphany, Chuck's Seafood(Where Saban takes recruits). Nick's in the Stick's.

You have to experience the tailgating on the Quad. There will be tons of people who come just for the taligate who don't have tix.

Hope you have fun. Welcome to the SEC.

Welcome to the SEC. I know you guys have a good gameday experience at aTm, but Tuscaloosa on gameday is magical in its own way.

I agree with all Savannah said.

You will notice Bama fans like to get to T-town early, as in well before lunch, no matter when the game starts. (Unless you come in an RV - I think they start showing up Thursday evening.) Expect everything to be crowded, because the stadium holds more people than live in the city on non-game days. If you get to the south side of the quad early enough, some vendors will be giving away freebees. They go fast. The east end of the quad has food vendors for lunchtime. You will be able to smell barbequed pork all over town - it's really good, so enjoy some.

We hope you have fun. Expect us all to be really nice to you... right up to kickoff. :wink:

All I can say is be very careful... you don't want to knock over any of the championship trophies. :wink:

+1 on the Meridian plan. It's an easy drive into Tuscaloosa from there and you'll save a good bit of money on a room. Plus at this point it might be your only real choice for lodging.

If you love college football go to the Bryant Museum. Of course its centered around Alabama football, but you will enjoy just the sheer volume of history of the game that is covered. I've taken buddies, one an LSU fan and the other an OU fan and both loved it. They spent a lot of time looking and both commented that you didn't have to just be an Alabama fan to enjoy that. So if you drive all the way to Tuscaloosa don't miss it. It's essential to understanding not only Alabama, but the SEC as well.

The argument over places to eat is like the Ford vs Chevy argument and can go on and on forever so I won't address it.

As for tailgating, be sure and hit the quad and don't be shy. Say hello and look around at peoples set ups. If you're nice and unless you or one of your buddies is "that guy" you will get plenty of offers of beverage and food. After being offered, don't turn into "that guy". We had a guy last year at the Arkansas game we unvited into our tent, fed him, gave him probably 4 or 5 beers and then he turned into a jackwagon. Unbeknownst to us he called 5 buddies that were sitting in a bar on the strip and told them what tent we were in and invited them to join us. So they showed up ready to eat and drink. What a jerk! Anyway, if offered have a beer, a small bite to eat and move on because our southern upbringing demands we offer even when we sometimes don't have extra.

Have a great time in town and know if you run into someone that's a complete horses rearend that bs the exception to the rule and we don't like him either. If you have other questions just ask. You're welcome to PM me anytime with travel questions, I've made the trip what seems like a hundred times from here.

A lot of great suggestions so far.

In all honesty, the "Tradition" video about 30 minutes or so in the stadium before the game starts is a must see, even for opposing fans, especially if you've never seen it. And, yes, it's better in person than on YouTube.

Also, the electricity in the stadium before and during "Thunderstruck" is amazing as well. The stadium itself is as a geometrically correct stadium as you'll ever be in.

I know you're primarily asking about things to do (and see) before the game, but the above is pretty good, too.

Well, and, if you stick around long enough, you will probably get to hear "Rammer Jammer" towards the end of the game.

SavannahDare said:

...but I prefer gameday breakfast at The Waysider. Good Southern food and you're surrounded by football stuff.

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Great breakfast indeed. I think this article is a few years old, but it was listed as one of Esquire Magazine's best breakfast spots:
http://www.esquire.com/features/food-drink/best-breakfasts-0309

Be prepared to wait in a long line, but it's well worth the wait.

CrimsonJag said:

A lot of great suggestions so far.

Well, and, if you stick around long enough, you will probably get to hear "Rammer Jammer" towards the end of the game.

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Nice! Well said. Welcome to the board and Welcome to T-Town!! Roll TIDE!