Hey guys - A buddy and I will be visiting Baton Rouge for the LSU-Florida game in October. We're on our annual college footbal road trip and decided this would be our game for 2003. We already have tickets, so we're set there but I had a couple of questions I was hoping you could help us out with. 1. do the area hotels have shuttles to and from the stadium? If not, how messy is parking? any parking recommendations? 2. we can choose between Section EU22 row M or section WU23 row HH....any thoughts on which is better? they seem to be about the same, but obviously row HH is alot higher. 3. We're debating between hitting town Friday night or Saturday morning. Any good pep rallies or anything Friday night that we should hit? We want to make sure we soak up the true LSU experience. Thats it. Any other tips/advice would be greatly appreciated. We're looking forward to experiencing game day in Baton Rouge. Thanks Jeff
I would take EU22 besides from M being lower than HH. The East Upper Deck is newer and nicer than the West in my opinion. I would suggest coming in Friday night and eating at either T.J. Ribs on Acadiam Thwy. or at Mike Anderson's Seafood on Lee Drive both have good food. There really is no Pep Rally's. I don't know about any of the hotels but I am sure the shuttle schedule and stops will be posted on lsusports.net soon. I hope this game is kept at night so y'all can truly experience Tiger Stadium.
1. Parking is fine as long as you get their early...meaning I would be their by 5-6 hrs before kick-off. Their are some shuttles that run to the stadium from different points in BR. Check out lsusports.net they probably have where the pick-up sites are. Only problem with the shuttles is they don't run til like 3 and you need to be their earlier than that.....see #3 below. 2. Take the EU22 row M seats they should be much better than the others. Here you can see the view from the seats. East is less steep than West 3. Don't know how old you are but if you're young there are plenty of bars to go to. But to truly enjoy the experience you need to get out to the stadium real early Saturday....for the tailgating. The tailgating actually starts on Thursday night and just escalates exponentially as game time nears. Welcome to the board and hope you enjoy the experience.
Hi Jeff, Glad to hear you're making it in for the game. I know hotels book up quick so definitely make your arrangements. Not sure about the shuttles. I know LSU sponsored some sort of bus/shuttle service last year from various sections of Baton Rouge but again, don't know much about it. Here's a link to a map of the stadium with views from the various sections. WU looks like it's better but I don't know how high HH is. EU is is the newer upper deck. There are usually plenty of RV's in the RV lot set up by Friday night, BBQing, etc. Might be interesting to walk around there and say hello. Many people are out at the various bars/restaurants Friday night preparing for the game. Most people start tailgating early Saturday morning and go all day until the game. Parking just depends on when you get to campus. here's some parking info. http://www.lsusports.net/ad/sportlink.cfm?pagecode=fb-traffic#parkingnotes I'll add some more info as time permits. Have fun.
The shuttle last year ran from the MAll of Louisiana on Bluebonnet and from the Walmart on Seigen I think. I have never taken the shuttle as I have never lived more than a mile or so from the stadium. Parking is free on campus and if you wanted to park go to the corner of Nicholson Drive and Burbank and park in the big grass field. Plenty of tailgaters in that area.
As far as the seating choices, I would tend to take the WU just because you won't be looking into the setting sun for the first 1 1/2 quarters. I think the Florida game is before the end of daylights savings so it will still be light when the game starts.
Jeff, it just ain't the same in the daytime. Unfortunately, big games seem to be the ones that get moved to the afternoon. And come ready to eat. There is some damn good food in this town, especially seafood. Phils Oyster Bar, Drusilla Seafood, and Ralph & Kacoos are alternatives to Mike Andersons. All will be crowded on game weekends but you can get in, they are used to it. TJ Ribs is especialy good at moving a crowd through on game dayand serves fine BBQ. Good Bar & Grills abound. The Chimes, The Pastime, Georges, Ivars, and Brewbachers are all great LSU bars with excellent food. And don't forget 24-hour breakfast at Louie's Cafe, a classic diner with the best omelettes and burgers in town.
Thanks for all of the info. Feel free to keep the suggestions coming. Any suggestions on hotels? We're hoping to get all of that finalized in the next couple of days. Last year we went to the "Big House" in Ann Arbor, and I've never heard a quieter 100,000 people in my life. It was still a great experience, but we're expecting a lot more from the Tiger faithful! I have to admit that I'll be disappointed if the game gets moved to the daytime.
There's a Sheraton near the casino's that's nice and pretty damn close to LSU.......plus walking distance to PastTime's....... restaraunt with great LSU memorabilia. For something different, you can stay where the visiting team stays....Holiday Inn South on Airline Hwy. off I-12. My brother came in last year and did it.....room was next door to Eli. One thing though, if you stay here you have to be very loud all night.
Speaking of hotels, the Marriott right off of I-10 and College is really nice. I have stayed there twice This next one is a longshot but you could try the Cook Conference Center on the LSU campus. This were the team stays the night before the game. Well it was probably booked up months ago and if you could get a room, the price would probably be very high. On a related note has there been any info about when the Florida game will be. I hope it will be at night on ESPN or ESPN 2. Other games that could be worhty of national t.v that day are Auburn at Arkansas, Georgia at Tennessee. I have a feeling that CBS will pick up Georgia at Tennessee. For the JP game there are some other lower quality sec games-SC vs Kentucky and terrible non conference games.
