Columbia, SC

We flew into ATL Wednesday evening and we didn't get to our hotel in Columbia until about 1230am, so we decided it was pointless to go out at that point and just get as much sleep as we could and feel great for Thursday. We got up and had breakfast in a hurry, thinking that showing up to tailgate around 11 would be "late". When we got to the stadium, we were surprised that the lots were completely empty and the people there were other Ags. It was very easy to find the Aggieland Outfitters RV and Aggie tailgate spot. The blue dot in the map pic shows where it was.

The parking lots were as empty as they are in that map photo. I'm going to give Gamecocks the benefit of the doubt and assume that their tailgate started late because it was on a Thursday and work and school likely got in the way. It wasn't until about 1-2 that the tailgate really started hopping. Once the lots filled in, we went to mingle with some USCe fans. We came across a group of fellas that worked at a nuclear plant and started a bags tournament with them that brought in a lot of the people from nearby spots. It was a great way to mingle with multiple groups of people. Everyone was nice, hospitable, and welcoming.

As for the game, our seats were the very top row of section 501. My buddy got them through the aTm visitors block of tickets.

There were some USCe fans lightly scattered around us that were all pretty nice and only said some playful trash talking, but that obviously ended quickly once the game started, then they left around the end of the 3rd. Traffic getting out of that parking lot was awful after the game, so we were stuck hanging out at tailgate for a long time before it finally cleared. After sitting in more traffic we decided that the day had been long and we just wanted to go somewhere to eat and have a couple of beers to wind down the night. We ended up going to Flying Saucer, which was full of Aggies. It took another hour for our food to come out after we ordered, which was surprising they were understaffed for game night. Buy time we had drinks while waiting and finally finished eating, it was around 1230a and we were done for the day. In short, our time in Columbia was really just Thursday and we really enjoyed the people and the game itself, except for that annoying rooster sound they kept blaring through the sound system all game. Harry and Lloyd got it wrong in Dumb and Dumber, the rooster is the most annoying sound in the world lol.

Athens, GA

We left Columbia after lunch and took 378/78 to Athens as suggested. Pretty drive through the countryside. It was really hard to not stop at Lake Murray or the Savannah River and take a dip. When we rolled into Athens, we could tell that town was already getting amp'd up for the game. Friday night we started off at General B's, had some dixie teas, and mingled with a lot of nice folks. After a while there we decided to move to another bar and went to All Good and posted up on the roof. Once again, everyone was nice an people from both fanbases were all about our win the night before. We met a group of UGA fans that we ended doing some tailgating with the next day. Saturday morning was rough for me but I man'd the F up and we took a cab from the house we rented by the health science campus to tailgate. The first spot we randomly walked up on was the front lawn of what I think someone called the president's house. There was a large group of people with multiple tents and bags sets that immediately welcomed us in to their group. Everyone was super nice and had a lot of good conversations with everyone there.

After hanging out there for a couple of hours, we said our thanks and pleasantries to that group and took our cooler to meet up with the group we had met the night before at the bar. Their spot was in a big open area between a bunch of campus buildings.

They had an awesome tailgate setup as well and once again we enjoyed mingling with everyone for the couple of hours we were there. We started walking towards the stadium around 430 to try and find tickets to the game. We were on a mission to get in since we were there. we ende up buying some good seats in section 117, 3 rows above the visitor's tunnel with seat backs.

The people around us were again really nice and welcoming and since we were UGA fans for a day, many high fives were had, especially in the 4th qtr. We stayed the entire game and even for a little bit after to let the crowd spill out some. Afterwards we walked downtown and enjoyed the rest of the evening.

After being in Columbia with the stadium, campus, and bar areas not all within walking distance of each other, it was really nice to have that again in Athens. Athens is a beautiful town, with super nice people, and a gorgeous campus. Hopefully we'll meet UGA fans in Atlanta sometime before we have our home/home series.

A hell of a trip that was more than worth the money spent and the time taken off from work. I'm looking forward to experiencing other SEC game days and towns in the coming years as I try to check them off the list.

To both USCe and UGA fan bases, our group enjoyed the people at both places and truly appreciate the hospitality. Hopefully you found those from our fan base that you interacted with to be just as pleasant. I hope to be in College Station to return the hospitality to each fan base.

TLDR

This post was edited on 9/1/14 at 11:14 pm