VenRoo

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

Tag Archives: Tailgating

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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VenRoo Poster

The VenRoo poster is full size (24 x 36).   Each stadium is surrounded by a color ring representing the teams colors.  A lighter shade of color is on the bottom of each ring to allow you to write anything you want.  Use it to write the date of your first visit, the opponent, or the score.  Add additional dots, or lines, to track how many times you’ve been to the stadium.

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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