VenRoo

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

Tag Archives: Tailgating

2017 Season begins with new stadiums

The 2017 – 2018 season has begun and it couldn’t be more exciting. This week we will see The Los Angeles Charges and Atlanta Falcons at their home openers with new stadiums. The Chargers are using a temporary stadium for a few years until they join the Rams at a newly built Los Angeles stadium.

 

The Falcons are in a new and truly amazing stadium we can’t wait to see. We visited Atlanta earlier in the year during the construction and saw helicopters lifting large steel beams onto the roof. It seemed far from complete but they got it done and it looks amazing.

 

Tampa Bay Bucaneers at San Diego Chargers 2016

San Diego is a great city and the weather is always great.  There is plenty to do over a long weekend and you will enjoy the tailgating and game.  We were glad to make it to the Tampa Bay at Chargers game this year, as we don’t know if they will be there or move to another city.

Tampa Bay vs San Diego Chargers

Tampa Bay vs San Diego Chargers

Tampa Bay vs San Diego Tailgating in the inner ring

Green Bay – Plan ahead and act fast

Green Bay has got to be the best overall venue we’ve experienced. From the town, the people, the stadium, and the bars and restaurants, we had a blast everywhere we went. The area around the stadium is compact, and filled with plenty of hotels and restaurants. We stayed at the Tundra Lodge in a couple of their “suite” rooms. They had a great breakfast and bar right in the hotel, and it was within walking distance of the stadium and other bars.

Lambeau field is open to the public during the week, which we visited on Saturday. They have several places to eat and drink, along with a museum if you want to take in some Packer culture.

At first we didn’t know if we wanted to tailgate at the stadium during the game or find a bar, but we quickly learned from the local restaurants, on Saturday, that several offer pre-game specials. These specials included food and all you can drink for a flat rate. We had a blast at Favre’s (yes Brett Favre’s restaurant), the morning of the game. We went in mid September and experienced a bonus heat wave, with nearly 80 degree temperatures, so it was plenty warm during the day (we probably won’t be so lucky the next time we go).

Green Bay

Lambeau Field Seats

The stadium is awesome, even with bleacher seating. It’s not like your typical bowl stadium with lower and upper bowls that take you, what seem like, thousands of feet in the air. This stadium is much lower to the ground, so you have a great experience anywhere you sit.

We knew we wanted to go to Green Bay, before the NFL schedule was released. We also knew the tickets and hotels sell out fast. So, the day the schedule came out, we had two groups of guys working the phones. One group started calling the hotels, while the other worked the ticket brokers. Within 10 minutes we had 8 tickets, in the same row, and two awesome rooms at the Tundra Lodge. We probably got these within a few minutes of selling out the tickets and hotels for the entire season. So, if you know you’re going to Green Bay for the first time, be prepared for some extra time and expense, unless you plan ahead and act fast.

 

Denver – INVESCO Field… A Mile from Where?

We visited Denver in 2008, which was our first trip with all of us flying into the town. We highly recommend booking a car ahead of time to get you from the airport to Denver, especially a Limo. With 10 of us in our group, a large limo was very reasonable, and fun, for the 20 mile ride into the city.

We stayed at a Residence Inn Hotel, near the 16th street mall. The Residence Inns are fantastic hotels and offer great breakfast and happy hours with huge rooms. We always try to find a Residence Inn for all our trips.

The stadium is near downtown, but not within walking distance. We chose to stay near the 16th Street Mall area, which has great bars and restaurants to keep us busy the day before the game. One tip is to use the FREE Trolley to take you up and down the street. We didn’t see the big “FREE” sign all over the trolleys to know that we can get on and ride for FREE, until late afternoon. Now we know.

Getting to the stadium was an adventure, but we finally made it. By taking the Free trolley, walking to the train station, finding the right train to take us near the stadium, then walking about half a mile we finally made it. Denver’s tailgating is pretty good, but we were surprised the parking lot didn’t really fill up until late morning. Everyone in the lot was friendly and fun to hang out with.

When we finally went into the game and walked up to our seats, which were on the 20 yard line (four rows from the top), we realized why they call it Mile High Stadium… It’s a mile from the top of the sky, not a mile from the ground. Wow, that air is thin.

Tailgating at Mile High Stadium

 

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.