VenRoo

Tracking the venues you've visited – Poster of the NFL Stadiums on a Map of the United States

Category Archives: Cities

Which city has the best pre-game atmosphere?

Watching the game is the ultimate goal of your football trip, but getting to, and around, the city is the first part.  What city do you like best for pre-game activities?  Cities that have the stadiums close to resturants, bars, public transportation, hotels, and tailgating, are on the top of our list.  We have the best time when we get to a city and stay in a hotel right near the stadium with plenty of activities to keep us busy the day before and morning of a game.  Which city is the best, in your opinion?

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Houston – Reliant Stadium

In 2004 we attended a Chargers / Texans game at Reliant Stadium in Houston.  The Astrodome was right next to it and the new stadium was huge compared to the Astrodome.

Two things that stick out while visiting the Houston stadium – how nice all the people were and the spacious interior of the stadium.

We got numerous “Welcome to Texas” greetings as we walked to the stadium.  Tailgaters were more than generous, even though we sported the visiting team colors.  And inside, the Houston fans were just as nice.

We were also very impressed by the openness of the concourses.  There was plenty of room to walk without getting in anyone’s way.  Concession lines were never long and there was plenty of room around the concession areas to move around.  The space inside the stadium was very impressive.

They say they do things bigger in Texas and Reliant Stadium in Houston is a testament to that.

Arizona Cardinals – Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe

Has anyone experienced the old home of the Arizona Cardinals?  Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe was the home of the Cardinals before they moved into their new stadium in Glendale.

Our first visit to Sun Devil Stadium coincided with a nice little heat wave.  The temperature was about 110 degrees.  That sounds bad enough, but as anyone who has been to a game there will certainly remember, they have aluminum bench seats.  It was definitely an adventure to try to sit on those seats in that heat.  Luckily the Cardinals had misters in all walkways so we could escape the heat and cool down a bit.

Besides the weather, Sun Devil Stadium is actually a great place to see a game.  The stadium is built between 2 mountains so the views are unbelievable.   Add to that the surrounding desert and you get a truly unique game day experience for an NFL game.

Trivia Note:  On October 27, 2003, Sun Devil Stadium hosted the Miami Dolphins and San Diego Chargers after the game was moved to Arizona due to the massive wildfires in San Diego.  The Chargers’ home, Qualcomm Stadium, was being used as an evacuation site.

San Diego – Qualcomm Stadium

If you’ve ever been to Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, the first thing you notice (besides the perfect weather) is the round parking lot.  This is one of the few stadiums in the NFL that has parking on all sides of the stadium.   During game day, people can walk completely around the stadium, making it easy to find friend and tailgates.

Speaking of tailgates, San Diego has some of the best in the country.  The players and coaches drive in right through the tailgaters – if you’re lucky some of the players will even stop and say Hi.  And the “inner ring” tailgaters are literally feet from the stadium’s main gate.  If you go, make sure to stop by our tailgate at D2.  Just look for the 4 yellow flagpoles and you’ll find us…

Wherever you tailgate at Qualcomm Stadium, you’re sure to smell the food the locals bring.  Some of the favorites to fire up on the grill are fajitas (carne asada is the best), pizzas (yes, on the grill…), tri-tips, and fresh fish caught right off the Southern California coast.

But whatever you’re tailgate plans are, get there early.  The parking lot usually closes about 3 hours before kickoff.

Cincinnati Stadium

We went to Cincinnati several years ago, which was one of the first stadiums we visited. Four of us drove from Illinois, one flew from California, and two others lived in Cincinnati. We were so excited to experience tailgating at the stadium, but the local guys wanted nothing to do with tailgating. So, they planned to hang out at the local Hooters on the other side of the river and take the shuttle boat (giant ferry) over right at game time.

The rest of us, non-locals, crammed into the car in search of the best tailgating spot. We were a little upset with ourselves as we got a late start and didn’t get downtown, until 10am. For a 1:00pm game that wasn’t leaving much time for quality tailgating. Well, to our surprise, we found a great spot, but nobody was there. This photo says it all. Lot Full. People didn’t start to show up until 11:00am and after. We made the best of it, and immediately put a Red “X” in our book for Cincinnati tailgating (or lack of). We will say, in a future post, a few years later we did find some quality tailgating and just realized we were on the wrong side of the stadium the first time. Rookie mistake.

Number of Pro Football Stadiums Visited

Traveling to various stadiums and cities is a fun experience, which is why we started VenRoo.  We started out visiting a different football stadium within driving distance in the midwest, and one year when there wasn’t a location in the area with the teams we wanted to see, we decided to take to the air and fly to our first stadium:  Denver.

In fact, that year, we thought it would be fun to see the football game on Sunday and stay over Monday to catch a baseball game on Monday night.  That was a long weekend that wore us out.  We probably won’t try that again anytime soon.  Three days over a weekend for one football game is enough to keep us busy.

How many different cities have you visited to watch a pro football game?

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What do you look for in pre-game activities

What are some of the good things you like about stadiums?  Which stadiums have those traits?

It all starts with the outside of the stadium before the game.  If we all flew into the city and don’t have a car, we usually prefer to find a local establishment near the stadium.  Tailgating is fun, but you have to pack all the supplies and fight the traffic after the game.  Some stadiums are very receptive to the opposing team, and the fans are great to hang out with.  Indianapolis is a great example of good fans at the tailgate.

Green Bay is awesome for pre-game activities.  All the local bars and resturants offer some sort of drink and food special (many with all you can eat and drink for a fixed price), along with some good tailgating at the stadium lot.

Overall,

  1. It’s nice to be within walking distance or easy public transportation to the stadium (Indy, Green Bay, St Louis)
  2. Friendly local fans (Indianapolis)
  3. On location activities (Dallas, Green Bay)

What are you favorite stadiums for pre-game activities?  What do you like to do before games?

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Weekend Trip for Seattle Game

Seattle is a great town to spend the weekend for a football game. The airport is centrally located to the stadium and downtown and easy to find reasonable transportation. South Lake Union is a few miles north of the airport and four miles north of the stadium. We found it a nice place to stay with great restaurants and bars within walking distance of the hotel. A new park was recently opened with a farmers market on Saturday and plenty of activities to keep you busy.

The downtown shopping area is about two miles south of Lake Union area and the public trolley is easy to ride. If you’re going straight to the stadium, you need to take the trolley (Seattle Streetcar) to its endpoint, walk a few blocks, then take the underground buses another mile, or so, to the stadium. You can travel on the public transportation for two hours on the same $2.25 fare. Otherwise taxis are very reasonable and much quicker.

The stadium area is nice with parking available right around the field. Plenty of tailgaters are setup, having a great time. If you don’t want to tailgate, several restaurants and bars are right across the street. Of course they are pretty crowded but fun, nonetheless. Everyone is very friendly, even though there was an occasional Boo given for the opposing team.

Quest Field

Inside the stadium it’s very easy to get around and plenty of places to take a ‘break’ and get refreshments. You are limited to two alcoholic beverages in your hands at one time, so don’t plan on brining up a full round for your entire party.

View from our seats at Quest Field

Seattle Trip

Chargers at Seattle – September 26, 2010

Visiting Seattle for the first time.  Staying at the Residence Inn, Lake Union.  It’s got some great views and good resturants nearby.  The stadium is four miles away, so public transportation may be required.

Dallas Stadium

The new stadium in Dallas is over the top!  This is by far the best stadium experience we’ve seen.  There’s not much around the stadium as it’s next door to a Wal-mart, and among residential houses.  However, once you’re through the outside gate there’s plenty of entertainment before the game.

You’ll be impressed once you’re inside the stadium.  The first thing we noticed was the huge bathrooms with plenty of room.  Of course we realized why they had those, when the beer sales continued through the 4th quarter and after the game with music and dancing.  Concession stands are everywhere with no lines and getting to your seat, is as easy as catching an elevator to your level and only walking a few rows up, rather than hiking a mountain for 40 rows or so.

Of course the huge video screen is fantastic, but it does kinda take away from actually watching the field.

What do you think of this new stadium?  Leave some comments and answer the poll questions.

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