Big Ten Road Trip

Assuming you’re not a Wisconsin fan and are just coming to see a good game then you are officially the first tourist in the history of our great flat and boring state. Luckily you will be experiencing the most fun and exciting thing we have to offer: HAWKEYES FOOTBALL!!! YA WOOO GRRRRAAA HSDSKHGIAHU [smashes head through wall]…….. ok now that I’ve gained my composure I’ll do my best to help you out. I can only answer a couple though.

Not sure about 1 or 2 as I’ve never rented an RV and either walked or parked downtown to tailgait which wouldn’t work with an RV.

3) The “Ped Mall” is a big outdoor area with tons of shops and bars that’s about a 10 minute walk from the stadium. You really can’t go wrong on gameday as far as bars in the ped mall go. You’ll be able to tell which ones are the good ones by the swarms of people funneling in and out.

4) In my experiences pre-game tradition mostly consisted of bar-hopping, walking to the stadium with a case of beer and then stumbling around drunkedly screaming “GO HAWKS” but I’m sure the more mature (whatever that means haha) croud will disagree with me. If the “Magic Bus” gets it’s permit back you’ll have to check that out. Bands play on top of an old school bus across the street in the back yard of the rugby team’s house.

5) All home game tickets are sold out so you will have to resort to second hand sources i.e stubhub, ebay, ect. or take your chances with a scalper but that’s definitely not suggested.

Sorry I couldn’t help more but that’s all I’ve got. I hope you have a great time!

oh, and one more thing I may have forgotten to mention GO HAWKS!

Since Wisconsin is a rivalry game, you will need to act quickly. Try places like StubHub and ebay as the gentlemen before me suggested. You can also ask around Hawkeye blogs and websites. There are many Hawkeye websites linked on this website. (Scroll down and look at the lower right hand corner of this site) Also, Hawkeyesports.com is the official website and may offer different links to tickets.

I think you will be able to find what you are looking for, however; you might have to pay a hefty price. I wish you all the luck in your endeavor. You have picked one of the best Big Ten games to attend this season, and I think you will be impressed with the atmosphere.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask around. People will be more than happy to make sure you experience in Iowa City will be the best it can be.

Someone who still lives in IC can comment if any of the following places are still active, IC bars are prone to losing liquor licenses every few years…

My favorite is Bojames, but that’s mostly because my friends know the staff there and they’ll play Journey, Mr. Big, and Bon Jovi on demand for us. It used to be more in the hole-in-the-wall category, its a pretty all-inclusive pub crowd now. You can get 32 oz big beers for between $2 – $5, cover charge is based on capacity

Sports bars: Third base (formerly the Field House), Sports Column, Brothers, DCs – those places will be jam packed all weekend

Irish pubs – Mickey’s, the Dublin Underground

Clubs – The Summit, The Union (biggest bar in the big ten still? 3 stories of drunken debauchery, pretty seedy place IMHO), One Eyed Jake’s, 808

Hole in the wall/townie bars – the deadwood, Joe’s place, Hanrahan’s (not sure if that place is still open)

Cover can very from place to place, and night to night. Expect to pay cover Saturday night, Friday night you can find a good many places with no cover

I know that there is a small lot near the Finkbine (golf course) tailgating spot that allows RV’s to stay the night before (if this interests you start trying to get a reservation now). Around the stadium and the Law building where “the thick of it” is its going to be tough to find a place to put the RV. Angererererererer’s description of the local watering holes seems to be pretty accurate but throw on Sports Column, Brothers, and DC’s. All of these bars are located within a block of each other at the ped mall.

Thanks and keep the advice coming.
Just wanted to let you all know that two Georgia fans both named Bubba (not kidding) set a high bar for paving our path into Athens last year. We are hopeful the black & gold can do better.
By the way – you have some of the best uniforms in the country. Beats the hell out of red & white with a big-ass W.

Try to make it over the “the hill” by the law building for a bit at least. Now that they’re cracking down on the drunken tailgating spots, this is one of the last true hawkeye tailgate places around.

1. If you can, try to find the beer band that wanders around the bars Friday night before home games. Always a good time in the bar when they come in and start playing the fight song, etc. Wig and Pen is a good place to eat and have a beer and is an IC staple. Also, breakfast at Hamburg Inn #2 if you’re wanting a place steeped in history. My personal favorite is the Marco’s grilled cheese guy that’s in the Ped Mall after a drunken night at the bars

If flying, coming into Des Moines would probably be easier and you can rent your RV from this place link

Before the University and town started to really dislike tailgaters. Some of the best spots are already closed or in danger of closing. Magic Bus is threatened as already mentioned, Myrtle is on its last legs, Fieldhouse lot and Olive Court are now both history. Farking old people.

Downtown and ped mall is still fantastically crowded with bars though. A saving grace. All the places mentioned above are good in their own way, depending on what you like in a watering hole. Also worth a look but not yet mentioned:
Quinton’s – Best sandwiches in town, big beers
The Airliner – Sports Bar
The Summit – Fratty/clubby
Sanctuary – Goth
Piano Lounge – like it sounds
Donnelly’s – Irish
Buffalo Wild Wings – Sports bar, terrible wings
Atlas – very good california-y food by day, fratty club by night
Yacht Club – crappy live music
Gabe’s – good live music but don’t touch anything or you’ll get gangrene

I majored in hangovers… Basically Ped Mall is about 30 bars and 29 churches. I preferred the former

My favorite place on earth.

- Amazing Hamburgers (Locally raised beef)
- All Iowa brews on tap
- HDTVs actually using HD feeds
- Great crowd
- Gets all the soccer games (not relevant on football days, but still)
- Part-owned by Iowa City hero Nate Kaeding.

Bluebird Diner is pretty new and developing quite the reputation for great breakfast. It’s a diner in atmosphere and price, but the food is much classier.

Half-price big girls – that is right down one our guys alley.

How about the traditions? Like the Tiger walk, howard’s rock, friday night yell practice (one of the scariest things I have ever seen in a Jim Jones kind of way).

I like the idea of the place with Iowa beers – shorts.

Someone told me about a place called Dirty Johns – is that a bar?

By the way – is that the Golden Girl in the above picture?

go to the Rec Center, immediately North of Kinnick, about an hour before kickoff for the pre-game concert with the Band, Cheerleaders, Poms and Herky.

This is as close to a genuinely uniquel Iowa tradition as there is for football weekends. You’ll get tired of the routine quickly, but find the band (this shouldn’t be hard) and follow them through a few bars for some cheap laughs and a good picture of the Iowa City bar scene.

it’s isn’t “ain’t no beer” can’t believe no one has written the whole song but I will be more than happy to. “In heaven there is no beer (NO BEER!) that’s why we drink it here, and when we’re gone from here, our friends will be drinking all the beer” God I love that song!

Awesome fun fact from Wikipedia – Controversy, however, surrounded the song, as some claimed it promoted the abuse of alcohol. This led to the banning of the song in 2001, although widespread fan pressure eventually forced Iowa’s president to bring back the song only a month after it was banned.

If flying into Moline, IL (Davenport/Quad Cities)

http://www.usadventurerv.com

I have no affiliation nor have I done business with them. Found the listing in the phonebook.

because enough hasn’t been said about the restaurant/bar scene. haven’t been to IC in a few yrs and this could be redundant.

Wig & Pen – best pizza hands down. Ed Podolak’s hangout.
Quintons – best sandwiches and bread bowl soup, Fri night 1/2 off big girls, good jukebox
Joes – pretty diverse crowd, maybe a bit older
Airliner – been around forever but seemed to be going down hill
Bo James and Brothers – similar to Airliner crowd imo
Gabes – or whatever it’s called now. not sure this is what you’re looking for
Deadwood – similar to Gabes
Atlas – stuffier but didn’t mind the basement, sometimes.

and then there’s the meat markets – Union, Summit, Vitos, SpoCo, 808, etc

pretty much just walk around a 4 block area and you’ll figure out what you like… I’d definitely go with the first two though for food. and for late night the two mobile carts – George’s and the quesadilla stand

the Nickelodeon. No one here likes the Nick?

It’s not really a football bar, but if you’re looking for a place to grab some pre-game chow and beers, The Mill is awesome. Plus it’s right on Burlington Street, so you’ll be in the thick of the crowds walking to Kinnick.

in a grilled cheese sandwich from a vendor’s cart. I’ve only hung out near the ped mall once or twice, and usually earlier in the evening. But if I’m ever there late, I may have to try it.

While I’ve only had Panchero’s in IC once, and while I’m certain many people would say that the Cedar Falls one is somehow inferior, I still patronize the CF one fairly often.

If you’re in the market for a fried breaded pork tenderloin sandwich bigger than your head, head a short 10 min. drive up Highway 1

http://www.allenbukoff.com/wildBPTiowa03/

any food that needs to be described as being with something is off limits for football weekend
Good: Breaded Pork Tenderloin
Bad: Pork loin with plum reduction
Good: Shrimp boil
Bad: Seafood salad with citrus vinaigrette
Good: big ass turkey leg
Bad: turkey breast with balsamic brown sugar sauce

Also, no mexican food as that is a bad recipe for a bunch of guys who will already be drinking a bunch of cheap beer in an RV.

Any new potential parking spots for a RV pop up after the first home game?
Hawks took care of business today. We want two undefeated teams when we arrive.