Fall has finally arrived! For all collegiettes™, fall means boots, pumpkin spice lattes, leggings and comfy sweaters. With fall comes one more exciting thing to look forward to on campus…TAILGATE SEASON!
Keep these tips in mind when tailgating this weekend to ensure you have a safe and fun-filled tailgate. Go Knights!!
Start the day with a balanced meal
There’s nothing worse than having hunger strike mid-tailgate and having nothing around but hot dogs and hamburgers. Trying to stick to your diet? Start your day off with a balanced meal in order to avoid reaching for an option that doesn’t quite fall under your diet plan. Check out my article on eating breakfast if you are looking for some ideas on how to start your day off right.
Don’t miss the hot spots
UCF is such a large campus, sometimes it hard to know where the best tailgating spots are. Students and alumni set up tailgating activities all throughout campus on game days, but the tailgating spot with the most action is Memory Mall. On game days, Memory Mall is packed with students and alumni cooking out, drinking and having fun playing game day activities. Memory Mall is convenient and within walking distance to the stadium, so you don’t have to worry about traveling around.
If you are unable to get tickets for the game, there are still many places you can go to have fun and watch the game at once the tailgate winds down. The two sports bars conveniently located on campus, Tailgaters and Wackadoo’s, both broadcast every UCF game. You can also check out places off campus like Knight Library or Buffalo Wild Wings.
Beat the heat
Unfortunately, for the first few tailgates of the season the weather is still most likely going to be hot and humid. Make sure you drink plenty of water throughout the day to stay hydrated and avoid getting sick. Keep an emergency water bottle in your purse or backpack just in case. It may sound cliché, but don’t forget to wear sunscreen. You don’t want to go home with a farmer’s tan!
Have a reliable form of transportation
Parking on game days can be tricky. Many of the roads on campus close for game day traffic and parking is extremely limited due to the mass amounts of people coming onto campus for the game.
To avoid the parking nightmare and ensure you have a safe ride home at the end of the game, try taking the UCF game day shuttle. UCF runs a shuttle to most student apartments starting five hours prior to the beginning of the game to two hours after the game ends. Check out the UCF athletics site to find out more information and see if your neighborhood offers the shuttle. If you don’t live in a housing development that is affiliated with the shuttle system, carpool with a friend and get to campus early to make sure you find a place to park. The garages fill up quickly!
For an extensive list of all of the UCF tailgating policies and suggestions, be sure to check out the game day page on the UCF athletics site. Happy tailgating, Knights!