Tag Archive for: football

The Dawgs are taking on the Tide in Tuscaloosa on Sept. 28, 2024. Heading to Alabama to watch the game? Here are all the best places to eat, sightsee and watch the game based on our research!

WHERE TO EAT

Half Shell Oyster House boasts a menu of fresh seafood, namely oysters prepared several different ways. They have Charbroiled, Bienville, Rockefeller and Chef Special Oysters, offering a flavor for everyone. The menu features several other seafood options, and they have non-seafood choices if marine life isn’t your thing.  

Rama Jama’s is a Tuscaloosa classic. They are located right outside of Bryant-Denny Stadium and serve a hearty Southern breakfast surrounded by University of Alabama memorabilia. 

Rama Jama’s has been open since 1996. (Photo/TheBamaBuzz.com)

River is located, you guessed it, on the river. They serve dinner Tuesday through Saturday and brunch on Saturdays and Sundays. River offers an elevated menu, with delicious Southern dishes such as Alabama catfish, shrimp and grits, fried chicken and more.  

Moe’s Original BBQ is exactly what it sounds like: a Southern barbecue joint that has pulled pork and sides. They feature two main sauces, the red sauce and the white sauce, and say they are both good on everything. Moe’s also has smoked chicken, fried shrimp and fried catfish if you want something other than pork.  

WHERE TO WATCH  

Gallettes is a staple in Tuscaloosa for game day activities. They have television screens on every wall and offer a fun game day atmosphere close to Bryant-Denny Stadium. They stay open late so you can keep celebrating with your fellow Dawgs.  

Innisfree Irish Pub comes highly rated and is a great place to spend game day. They offer an extensive menu of food and drinks to snack on while watching the Dawgs. Innisfree is located just north of downtown Tuscaloosa.  

WHAT TO DO 

The President’s Mansion is on the National Registry of Historical Places. Completed in 1841, all of the University of Alabama’s presidents have called it home since then. 

The President’s Mansion is a historical landmark in Tuscaloosa. (Photo/uajeffco.org)

Tuscaloosa has several lakes nearby, including Lake Tuscaloosa, Lake Harris and Lake Nicol. All of them offer fun outdoor recreation. Lake Tuscaloosa is known for being good for fishing, while Lake Harris and Lake Nicol both have hiking trails of various difficulty.   

The Gorgas House is the oldest building on the University of Alabama’s campus. It was originally built as a dining hall and steward’s residence and now houses a museum dedicated to its history. The Gorgas House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. 

The Gorgas House first opened as a dining hall. (Photo/Madison Leavelle)

WHERE TO SHOP 

If you are at all familiar with “Bama Rush Tok,” the Pants Store is a name you might recognize. Several sorority girls shop there before and during rush. They are on University Boulevard. 

The Golden Hanger is another boutique located on University Boulevard. They have everything from dresses and rompers to sweaters and sets to look your best.  

Onward Reserve is located in nearby Birmingham. Onward Reserve is UGA-alumni owned, and they have several locations throughout the southeastern United States.

Onward Reserve was founded by UGA alumnus TJ Callaway IV. (Photo/The Scout Guide)

Tuscaloosa Midtown Village is your all-encompassing shopping mall. They have favorites such as Ulta and Old Navy as well as plenty of dining options for everyone.  

Not going to Tuscaloosa to watch the game? Connect with other Dawgs and find a game-watching party near you! 

The Dawgs will play the Kentucky Wildcats in an SEC matchup on Sept. 14, 2024, in Lexington, Kentucky. If you are heading to the Bluegrass State to cheer on the Dawgs, here are some of our Lexington alumni’s favorite places to eat, shop and sightsee.  

WHERE TO EAT

Josie’s and Ramsey’s serve breakfast all day and feature a Southern-inspired menu with entrees such as fried chicken and pot roast and sides including green beans and stewed tomatoes. Both are favorites among the locals and close to the university. 

Ramsey’s has been open since 1989. (Photo/Lexington Herald-Leader)

If you are looking for a steakhouse dinner, Malone’s is the place for you. They have sushi rolls like the Baked Lava Roll, Seared Ahi Tuna roll and Crab Rangoon roll, they offer steaks in an assortment of cuts, and they serve a wide variety of seafood.  

WHERE TO WATCH 

Winchell’s boasts 30 flatscreen televisions and a “huge variety of specials,” making it an ideal place to watch the game with your fellow Dawgs. Winchell’s has been open for over 25 years, and they’ve become a local favorite for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

Drake’s features a burger-of-the-month and sushi-of-the-month, allowing you to try something different every time you go. They are open until midnight from Sunday-Thursday and open until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, making them a great spot to hang out and watch the game.  

Drake’s offers a variety of burgers and has a burger of the month. (Photo/AllEvents.in)

WHAT TO DO

Keeneland has been a premier destination for thoroughbred horse racing since 1936. They offer tours of the grounds and different events throughout the year to appeal to everyone, from special dinners to races to activities for kids. They are open 365 days a year to the public.

Horse Country, a non-profit located in Kentucky, gives tours tailored to your specific horse-related interests. You can book the tours on their website, with categories like Horse Interaction, Veterinary Care & Feed, Sport Horses and more. They even provide shuttle tours if that’s more your speed.  

Horse Country offers tours of multiple horse farms to the public, with tours tailored to every experience. (Photo/VisitHorseCountry)

Not interested in the horses? VisitLex lists several fun places to check out, so take a glance at their website! They have something for everybody, including arts centers, nature preserves, museums and much more.  

WHERE TO SHOP 

Downtown Lexington features an assortment of shops and cool architecture to explore. They have stores all along East and West Main Street: everything from clothing and home goods to souvenir shops. The Square in downtown Lexington showcases several art galleries and museums. 

Chevy Chase Plaza, near the University of Kentucky, offers a collection of restaurants and shopping. The Plaza is within walking distance of some other sightseeing attractions, such as the Henry Clay House.  

Chevy Chase Plaza has a variety of restaurants and stores to wander around in. (Photo/VisitLex)

Not heading to Lexington and wanting to connect with Dawgs in your area? Find a local game-watching party near you! 

As generations of Bulldogs would tell you, there’s no line of shrubbery as iconic to sports as the hedges of the University of Georgia’s Sanford Stadium. The Chinese privet bushes – Ligustrum sinense, taxonomically speaking – that frame Dooley Field have seen every Georgia home game since 1929. 

For the third time in UGA history, the hedges were removed this February. They’ll be revitalized off-site ahead of the 2024 football season, including a full soil replacement, irrigation, and drainage work. The hedges will be replanted with plants of the same lineage in time for the 2024 G-Day game. 

IN THE BEGINNING 

The hedges’ storied history began in 1926 at the Rose Bowl, when a UGA Athletic Department employee noticed the red rosebushes surrounding the field. Meanwhile, back in Athens, UGA’s president at the time, Steadman V. Sanford, had started construction on what he hoped would become the best college football stadium in the South. 

The employee suggested that rosebushes be planted around the field, and the idea was received well – with one caveat. Rosebushes wouldn’t thrive in Athens’s climate. Fast-growing, hardy Chinese privet given to the university by an Atlanta donor would be planted instead. 

In 1929, the university sent the governor’s son, who was a UGA student, and his ROTC instructor to Atlanta in a khaki-green military truck to pick up the bushes. The truck, owned by the ROTC department, was the only vehicle in the university fleet large enough for the job. As the legend has it, the truck’s headlights went out on the way back and the ROTC instructor crawled onto the hood of the truck to light the way, clinging on with one hand and holding a flashlight with the other while the governor’s son drove. 

Once the truck arrived at the stadium, workers planted the hedges overnight with hours to spare until the next day’s game against Yale. The 1929 Georgia-Yale game was the first one played in newly dedicated Sanford Stadium. It was the largest athletic event ever held in the South at that time, with 30,000 fans and the governors of nine southern states in attendance – a fitting crowd for Georgia’s first victory Between the Hedges. 

THE 1996 OLYMPIC GAMES 

Covering about 5,000 square feet around the playing field, the hedges take up a significant amount of sideline. This became an issue when Sanford Stadium was used to host soccer games for the 1996 Olympic Games held in Atlanta. Soccer fields are about 25 percent larger than football fields, so the hedges and a concrete walkway had to be briefly removed to create extra space. 

Healthy clippings from the hedges were taken to nurseries in Georgia and Florida run by UGA alumni, propagated into full plants and replanted after the Games in a ceremony featuring Georgia football legends and state politicians. 

“They’re the sons and daughters of the original hedges,” said the late coach Vince Dooley. 

The hedges were removed for a second time in 2017 for the construction of a new locker room and scoreboard on the West endzone. Each bush was numbered so it could be replanted exactly where it had been dug up. 

WHAT’S GROWING ON 

Five feet tall and five feet wide, the hedges – and the chain-link fence they conceal – have also served to protect the safety of fans, athletes and coaches over the years. Dooley Field has been stormed by fans only once, after a victory against the University of Tennessee in 2000. The hedges’ crowd control success has led to the installation of similar plantings at other stadiums around the country.

Today, maintaining the hedges is a labor of love. Chinese privet, considered an invasive weed in other parts of the country, grows at a rate of about three feet per year. A dedicated maintenance team, including students from the university’s turf program, work tirelessly throughout the football season to trim the hedges into their signature boxy shape. Armed with gas-powered trimmers, weed eaters and hand-held clippers, the job takes about two hours each time. 

When the hedges return to grace the sidelines of Sanford Stadium this spring, they’ll have been a Georgia football tradition for 95 years – you could say they’re some of the Bulldogs’ oldest supporters.