Tag: SEC Football

Throwback Thursday #11 – October 31, 2008

Posted in Florida, RVing, Sporting EventsTagged , , , , , , , , , , 11 Comments

We’re not traveling as much in our fifth wheel anymore so I thought it would be fun to relive some of our most memorable days from previous RV trips.

On this day eleven years ago, October 31, 2008, our RV was parked in RV City in Jacksonville, Florida. We were there to attend the college football game between rivals Georgia Bulldogs and Florida Gators. The two schools have been playing each other annually since the early 1900’s and, except for two years while the stadium was undergoing renovations, has been played in Jacksonville every year since 1933.

Unofficially named “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party”, fans of both teams start arriving in Jacksonville and surrounding areas as early as a week before the game. Hotels are booked a year in advance and finding a last minute place to stay anywhere near Jacksonville is almost impossible.

We attended our first Georgia/Florida game in 1974 and it was an annual tradition for us for many years. Most of those years we stayed in a Jacksonville area hotel for the weekend. In 2008, we decided to take our fifth wheel to RV City for the event.

RV City is a large parking lot near the stadium that is reserved for RV’s. There is a limited number of parking for RV’s and at the time, in order to get a spot in the lot RV’s start lining up early in the week before Saturday’s game.

We met friends in Jacksonville early on Tuesday morning to follow them to get in line for our sites in RV City. We spent that night in line and were in our space in RV City early Wednesday morning. From Wednesday until Friday we enjoyed the festivities and entertainment leading up to the game on Saturday.

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Awning to awning in RV City
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Packed in like sardines in RV City in Jacksonville, Florida
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We had a great view of the stadium from our site.
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There were a few waterfront sites in RV City

Yes, we were dry camping in a parking lot. Yes, the RV’s were close together. Yes, there were crowds and lots of noise. Did we enjoy it? Yes! It was a great experience and great fun!

We have friends in RV City right now. Kickoff is Saturday at 3:30. We’re there with them  in spirit.

Go Dawgs!

 

 

A favorite campground and Georgia Bulldogs Football

Posted in Georgia, RVing, Sporting EventsTagged , , , , , 11 Comments

For the third year in a row we towed our fifth wheel  to  Pine Lake Campground in Bishop, Georgia to attend a home football game at the nearby University of Georgia.

There have been a few upgrades to this great campground since our first visit. The new owners have been hard at work upgrading the facilities and are in the process of adding more sites. The staff is friendly and helpful and they always remember us. It’s become one of our favorite campgrounds.

Pine Lake Campground, Bishop, Georgia
Pine Lake Campground, Bishop, Georgia
Pine Lake Campground, Bishop, Georgia

On game day, we always enjoy tailgating with friends before the game on the University of Georgia campus.

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There have been some major upgrades at Sanford Stadium since last football season. There is a brand new scoreboard and the new team locker room is at our end end of the stadium. Now the team enters the field right in front of us.

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Go Dawgs!

 

 

UGA Football Barn Sign

Posted in Georgia, Sporting EventsTagged , , , , , , , , , , 7 Comments

College football season is finally here! For the next three months, the Wandering Dawgs will be making the drive to Athens, Georgia to watch our University of Georgia Bulldogs play on Saturdays in Sanford Stadium.

Along with thousands of other UGA football fans and students, our favorite route to Athens is along Georgia Highway 15. One of the familiar sights of the trip is an old barn beside the highway in Tennile.

About eighteen years ago a message about Georgia Football had been painted on the sign for the first time. Ever since then, the message changes a few times during the year. Now whenever we travel that way we look forward to seeing what new message will be there.

UGA Football Barn Sigh 09-16-2003
UGA Football Barn Sign 10-29-2002
UGA Football Barn Sign 11-18-2004
UGA Football Barn Sign 8-27-2007
UGA Barn Sign 9-26-2009
UGA Barn Sign 8-23-2011
GA Barn Sign 11-04-2011
GA Barn Sign under renovation 9-24-2012
GA Barn Sign under renovation 10-14-2012
GA Barn Sign 11-02-2012
UGA Barn Sign 11-08-2013
UGA Football Barn Sign 07-11-2014
UGA Football Barn Sign 09-26-2014
UGA Barn Sign 8-21-2015
UGA Barn Sign 2-27-16
UGA Barn Sign 7-24-2017
UGA Barn Sign 11-2-2017
UGA Barn Sign 3/22/2018

The barn sign has a web page and Facebook Page. The Red and Black featured the barn sign in this article  Painted barn brings message to UGA football, fans for next season .

Go Dawgs!

Saturday in Athens

Posted in Georgia, RVing, Sporting EventsTagged , , , , 13 Comments

On Saturdays in the fall when the Georgia Bulldogs have a home game, all roads leading to Athens are lined with vehicles flying their Georgia flags and the entire campus is filled with red Georgia tents and fans dressed in red and black.

We have had season tickets to Georgia’s home games since 1980 and our fall weekends revolve around home football games.  This past weekend was the SEC showdown between UGA and visiting University of Missouri. We usually stay in a town about 50 miles from campus but we decided to take the fifth wheel closer to Athens for this game. Last year we discovered Pine Lake campground in Bishop, about 15 miles from the UGA campus. With spacious wooded campsites, a lake, and even a small waterfall it is a well run private RV park that feels more like a state park.

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The lake at Pine Lake Campground
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Waterfall in the Pine Lake Campground

The SEC Nation pregame TV show was broadcasting live that morning just behind our tailgate area. Crews were in the process of breaking down the set when we arrived. Several semi tractor trailers were still there but we just missed seeing Tim Tebow, Paul Finebaum and the other announcers. It’s amazing how much equipment is required for these broadcasts.

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SEC Nation was live on campus before the game. We arrived as they were tearing down the set.

After a fun afternoon visiting with friends, eating delicious food, and enjoying an adult beverage or two,  we headed to the stadium for a 7:30 kickoff. It was a great night for the Georgia Bulldogs as the Dawgs won and went on to become the number 3 ranked team in the country. Go Dawgs!

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The teams take the field for pregame practice before a night game in Sanford Stadium
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Homecoming pregame show
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Georgia Bulldogs vs Missouri in Sanford Stadium
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The fans light up the stadium at the beginning of the fourth quarter

 

SEC Football at Ole Miss in Oxford

Posted in Mississippi, Restaurants, RVing, Sporting Events, State Parks, SunsetTagged , , , , , , , , , 9 Comments

We had just returned home from our fall football road trip when three days later we evacuated for Hurricane Matthew. This post has been on hold ever since.

If you follow SEC college football you know that our favorite team, the Georgia Bulldogs, are not having a good year. That’s all I have to say about that.

I have to say that except for the game on September 24, we had a great time in Oxford during the weekend of the Georgia – Ole Miss football game. The people of Oxford were gracious, the Ole Miss fans friendly, and the atmosphere in town on Friday and as we wandered through the Grove on Saturday before the game was like no college football game I’ve ever attended.

Our home for the weekend was John W. Kyle State Park on Sardis Lake, about a 30 minute drive from downtown Oxford. All through the campground were RV’s displaying their team colors. We didn’t spend much time in the campground but I was able to get a sunset picture over the lake on the first night.

Sunset over Sardis Lake
Sunset over Sardis Lake

Friends of ours were staying in Oxford within walking distance of downtown and the stadium. We met them Friday afternoon to browse the shops around the courthouse square and have a fabulous lunch at City Grocery. As we were enjoying our meal we noticed not one but four James Beard Awards on the wall! The food, service, and company were all excellent.

City Grocery on the square in Oxford, Mississippi
City Grocery on the square in Oxford, Mississippi
City Grocery on the square in Oxford, Mississippi
City Grocery on the square in Oxford, Mississippi
Two of the Four James Beard Awards at City Grocery
Two of the Four James Beard Awards at City Grocery

Kickoff was set for 11:00 a.m. on Saturday so we left the campground early in hopes of beating the traffic. We planned it perfectly and met our friends in time to eat a quick breakfast before heading to the Grove.

The Grove is a large area in the middle of the University of Mississippi campus. On game days it is transformed to a sea of tailgate tents lined up side by side with fans from both teams walking elbow to elbow on the pathways between the tents.

Tailgating Tents as far as the eye could see
Tailgating Tents as far as the eye could see
A few Georgia fans were tailgating in the Grove
Fans from both teams were tailgating side by side
The Ole Miss band marched by before the game
The Ole Miss band marched by before the game
Georgia and Ole Miss Fans getting ready for the game
Georgia and Ole Miss Fans in the Grove before the game

Did I mention it was HOT the whole time we were there? The temperature was in the upper nineties on Friday afternoon and all day Saturday.

If your favorite college football team ever plays against Ole Miss in Oxford, get some tickets and go! It’s a one of a kind experience. And hopefully, your team will do better against them than my team did. And I hope I never hear the Ole Miss Hotty Toddy cheer ever again!