re: Advice needed for a Dutch College Football fan

First off, welcome man

I love your passion for our great game. I am obviously going to say Auburn is the best place but you can't go wrong with your list besides Miami. And unless it's a big game and Florida and FSU are good, I would avoid them. September isn't the best month for great SEC match ups but you can still find a great experience at most of the venues you listed.

Wish I was an OT baller and could treat you guys to the time of your life in Auburn for a weekend, but I just graduated and live in DC now. Post more often, would love to learn more about your culture and share ours

@ Undecided - Thanks for your advice. Honeymoon is set for Orlando and mostly resolves around Disney and the other theme parks for a period of 3 weeks. I made the deal with my soon to be wife that we could go to 2 College Football games in those 3 weeks. So how its looking right now we will drive on fridays to the college town, for some shopping(mostly team gear, memorabilia and always looking for nice prints/paintings of college football teams/atmospheres) and good BBQ food. The saturdays all for tailgating, meeting nice people, walking around campus and the game. After the game some more of walking around and meeting people. Sundays we will drive back to Orlando, maybe if there something nice(like beautifull beaches or a nice town) on our way back we will make a little stop on our way.

For now Auburn, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina seem to be in contention for 2 weekends.(Clemson would be in the contention, but my guess is the game against Notre Dame would almost be impossible to get tickets to even my price range).

If for some reason we have some extra money after the marriage we also talked about the option of maybe flying the last weekend to an SEC town a little further away, so that would make LSU, Tennessee and Texas A&M also an option.

@ Prof - I read Volnation almost every day and will probably make an account for there soon! For me Volnation is the best forum for a singular sec team beside the rant.

@ WeNeedCam - Thanks for your welcome! I'm insanely passioned for College Football! Like most of you guys my Saturdays in the fall surrounds around watching College FOotball.
I will let you know my normal saturday schedule in the fall:
Dutch times:
09.00 am - Wake up
11.00 am - coaching my soccer team game(15/16 year old guys)
2.00 pm - Arriving home from the game, drinking my 1st desperado beer. Then walk an hour with my Labrador just to clear my mind and thinking about all the college games i can watch that day.
3.00 pm - Watching College gameday, drinking Desperado's or some other alcoholic beverage.
5.00 pm - Can;t really tailgate here but always make some nice meat to eat with my gf and her brother(who I also made a College Football fan). Most of the times I make some nice Ribs, hot dogs or Burgers.
6.00 pm - Watching the first games(I look at my laptop and iPad so I can watch 2 different games at the same time)
9.30 pm - Start second games.
0.30 am - Start third set of games.
04.00 am - Go to bed

Damn..is it College Football season already?!?

Yes I knew about that game, would certainly be a good option, if it wasn't that my wedding date is set on 12 september.
Yes I know it's a good thing I don't live in the States cause a wedding on a saturday in the fall is blasphemy
If we would live in the States(my biggest dream!!) I certainly would not have married on a Saturday

Byron:

I'll be completely honest with you. Flying 4,000 miles to spend 3 weeks at Orlando Theme Parks is big mistake. A week is more than enough.

I know Disney markets like crazy to European tourists, as does Universal Studios, but do not be sucked in. Most Americans could not dream of a 3-week trip in their lifetimes, let alone a honeymoon -- don't waste it staying in the same city where the only interesting things are the theme parks. I mean, hell, you can take the train to Disney Land Paris and see the same thing. Also, FWIW, Americans who go to theme parks go because that is where their young children want to go. Great for families -- not so great for a couple on their honeymoon. The good news for you is school will be back in after Labor Day (7 September 2015), so the crowds will not be as bad during the week -- August is the primary vacation time for American families.

There are only two ways to get around America: fly or drive. Our train systems suck - they could not compete with the airlines -- so do not even consider Amtrak.

However, driving is cheap. Gas is half what it costs in Europe. And while the distances are long, you can chop it up into manageable journeys and visit a ton of interesting places -- and still get your week of theme parks and hotel sex in Orlando.

Same thing with hotels. American hotels are not like European hotels. Other than the really big cities, there are clean comfortable inexpensive hotels in every town on the interstate highway. They're like McDonald's -- generic, uninteresting chains -- but safe, reliable and consistent. You can stay in one for under $100 a night. Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Fairfield Inn, Microtel -- the list just goes on and on. Trip Advisor it and you will be fine.

In my personal opinion, the three best Southern cities for visiting are Charleston, Miami and New Orleans. Followed by Nashville. That covers a lot of ground -- but dang, use your time man -- you might never have this opportunity again.

Find some travel websites for these places and make your girl look at them. Open up her mind. Do you want to eat theme park beignets and Jambalaya at Disney or do you want to eat the real thing in New Orleans? Shrimp and Grits overlooking a manmade pond at Epcot or the real thing overlooking Charleston Harbor?

There are lots of ways to do this on a budget -- cheaper than 3 weeks at a Theme Park designed to empty your wallet with jacked up food and prices.

Rent a car. Get at least a midsize -- it may seem big to you, but American roads are wider and cars are much bigger -- you don't want to roadtrip in a Fiat 500 or a Mini. If you rent by the week, it's not crazy expensive and you can drop it off at an airport in a different city when you leave.

If you want to stay in the Southeast, I still stick with my first proposal of flying into Columbia; then Charleston; then Orlando. From there though, I would then drive along the Gulf Coast -- stop at Destin or somewhere for a couple of days on the beach. Gulf beaches have soft sand and great sunsets, so are different than Atlantic beaches. Then, make your way to New Orleans. Drive another 80 miles to Baton Rouge for an LSU game -- and fly out of New Orleans.

See, here's a flight schedule for only 872,82 euro per person.

FLIGHT 1
Thu, 04 Sep 2014

10:55am AMS to 5:15pm CAE (Columbia)
DL 239 , DL 1421

1-Stop 12 hr 20 min


FLIGHT 2
Sat, 27 Sep 2014

11:10am MSY (New Orleans) to
5:55am Sun, 28 Sep
AMS
1-Stop 1 hr 45 min

DL 252


A rental car for three weeks will run about $1,500-2,000 -- so about 2.000-2.500 euro. You'll need a rental car if you spend 3 weeks on Orlando anyway.

There are other ways to do it -- as you decide between your football games, beaches and interesting cities to visit.

By the way, on Barbeque, there are three primary types: pulled pork (North and South Carolina); ribs (centered around Memphis, TN) and brisket (Texas). The farther you get from these regions, the worse -- or at least less authentic -- it gets.

Lastly, on football tickets. Don't sweat it. You may be panicking at the idea of traveling so far and not having tickets in advance. Understand that almost all SEC games are sold out well in advance -- to students, alumni, boosters,etc. You cannot get them from the University (for some games you can, but those are the worst seats in the nosebleed sections). Your best bet is to make friends on here -- someone will hook you up with tickets -- maybe for free. We all love your enthusiasm for the sport we love. You can try a reseller like Stubhub -- but if so, you will pay a lot more than you want to. Or, you can show up early on game day and walk around with 2 fingers in the air and a stadium map. Try to buy your tickets from an actual fan with a couple of extras -- not a professional scalper (the guy with a handful of tickets and a wad of cash, carrying the cardboard sign that says "I need tickets.)" Be patient and buy them from people tailgating close to the stadium. If you think the price is high, negotiate and be prepared to move on to the next seller. Wear home team colors. Inspect your tickets closely, make sure they are genuine; that the seats are together; and that they are in a section in which you want to sit. You may find yourself invited into a tailgate, fed great food, given beer, chatted up -- and the group may even offer you tickets -- especially when they find out you came all the way from the Netherlands.

Was in Utrecht last weekend, FA Pickles is the shite.

Too many stoned kids though.

I live in Veldhoven.

quote:

---

I don't know. If he's coming in the fall he really needs to take the time to see the Great Smoky Mountains. Navigating through PF/Gatlinburg is a pain but seeing the mountains in the fall - well people come from all over. It's the most visited park in the US.

---

Yeah, actually came back to tell him to hit Great Smoky Mountains National Park on his way to Knoxville. It truly is beautiful and one of the most bio-diverse places on the planet.

@ BigOrangeBri - Nashville sounds like a nice city, but I saw on the map it's a little far from Orlando.
Jack Daniels distillery sounds good

@ HMFIC - Never been to FA Pickles, but I have to say i'm not often in Utrecht. I live really near Rotterdam, so I'm most often there!
Yes, since weed is legal here a lot of kids smoke it. Not my cup of tea, give me

@ Prof and BigOrangeBri - We googled the Smokey mountains and it rose to the top of things we wanted to see if we choose a Tennessee game! We also found a great looking lodge to stay for a couple of days in Gatlinburg. SO many thanks for that idea, we were hoping on information like this!

@ Dawgslife - Udenhout is around an hour of my city, but the family of my girlfriend live very near Udenhout! He lives in the states now?


Me and my soon to be wife are looking into moving to the states, but it's not really easy(almost impossible without a job offer) to move into the states. Still we are looking at every oppertunity!

I don't know what everyone has said, but thanks for your interest. Do not go to miami if you are looking for a real college atmosphere. Also, if you want good tailgaiting, do not do florida. Choose a small college town known for good tailgating.