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Aaron Pyre
SouthernPigskin.com Mid-Atlantic ACC Columnist
SouthernPigskin.com Columnist Aaron Pyre reveals his true fantasy: a season-long ACC road trip. Inside he details local eateries and microbrews he wants to try at each location.
UltimateACC Road Trip, Part One
One Man, One Car, One Dream and an unlimited supply of 5-hour energy drinks.
We have all seen some HD or Travel Channel show where some lucky guy gets to travel to random locations, enjoy the sites, the food and the beverages. I want that job, but the ACC college football version; courtesy of SouthernPigskin.com or anyone would have to front me. I would need a RV, some spending cash and tickets to the games. In return you would get columns, podcasts, you name it, as I show the college football world what it is like at all these different Atlantic Coast Conference locales.
This isn’t some boring hack newspaper guy job where I sit in the press box or ask the players and coaches the same tired questions and get the same play nice answers. I want to come down and party with the fans. I want to tailgate, sample the local cuisine and more importantly craft beer. If I have too many brews, then so be it. I am doing it all for my job. If the game is a blowout and some fans want to reverse tailgate, let’s do it. Don’t you think Mr. College Football Tony Barnhart of the AJC would like to do that some weekends too? The fans are a huge part of the reason college football is way more exciting than the pro version. I want to celebrate them! I want to hear what the fans say, unedited and unfiltered (before online cleanup), what they really think. No fluff pieces. If the place rocks and I had a good time, home team win or loss, I’d report it. If it was disappointing or a drag, that comes out too.
I am also very curious to see which schools have truly embraced the only thing the Big 10+1 has given college sports in the past 2 decades: cornhole. I love that game, I would have never graduated college if we had that back in my day!
My Ultimate Road Trip guidelines:
* Every ACC stadium has to be experienced (sometimes seeing a venue like Death Valley overshadows a big, big time game like GT vs VT.)
*Go to great OOC locations like Nashville, South Bend, and Gainesville if I can make it happen.
*Double (or triple up) the games on a weekend when possible. On many occasions I’d be able to enjoy the a Thursday night ESPN game, hop in the sweet ride Southern Pigskin would set me up with and ride a few hours on Friday to prepare for the Saturday game.
*Local tailgate brew has to be the bottled variety, many great regional craft brews I couldn’t tailgate with since it’s draft only (like Pisgah Brewing)
*Tried to be as specific as I could be concerning local food, in most cases chose where I wanted the food (mostly BBQ) to come from.
With a little schedule research and then lots of time on google, I figured I could easily make 19 ACC games in the 14 weeks of action. This is a two-part column, Part One tackles the first six weeks and nine games of my dream season.
Week One
Thursday September 3rd
North Carolina State vs South Carolina, Raleigh, NC
*Tailgate food: Olde Time Pulled Pork BBQ
*Tailgate craft brew: Big Boss Hell’s Belle
Saturday September 5th
Alabama vs Virginia Tech, Atlanta, GA
*Tailgate food: Fat Mack’s Ribs
*Tailgate craft brew: Sweetwater IPA
Monday September 7th
Florida State vs Miami, Tallahassee, Fl
*Tailgate food: Grilled Gulf Catch of the Day
*Tailgate craft brew: Dunedin Lowland Wheat Ale
All three games in week one look to be very good, visiting Carter-Finley for a border state war between two up-and-coming teams looking to get over the hump. Two days later you would find me in the Georgia Dome for a preseason top 10 matchup between the Hokies and the Tide. Finally, the weekend ends in the panhandle at the Doak for the legendary ‘Noles vs ‘Canes matchup. A hot week, literally and figuratively, many, many liquid refreshments would be needed for these 90 degree tailgates. Sweetwater IPA and Fat Mack’s likely would be my favorite tailgate food of the weekend, with the Raleigh set up finishing a close second.
That’s 851 Miles driven during week one from my home in Virginia to Tallahassee with two stops in between, before turning around and getting back on the road to Atlanta for week two.
Week two
Thursday September 10th
Georgia Tech vs Clemson, ATL, GA
*Tailgate food: Bag O Crap from the Varsity
*Tailgate craft brew: Terrapin Rye Pale Ale
Saturday September 12th
Virginia vs Texas Christian, Charlottesville, VA
*Tailgate food: Brie Cheese Platter
*Tailgate craft brew: Starr Hill Dark Starr Stout
Two good, under the radar games. How good is Clemson and can UVA hold serve vs the favorite BCS buster Horned Frogs? Tailgating food certainly slipped a lot in week two. The Varsity is legendary, but not good unless one enjoys rushing to the port-o-potty often. I had to make a Brie joke on my Wahoo friends. Sorry. Truth be told, C’Ville is a fine place to tailgate. Both beer choices this week are very good, however.
Miles traveled in week two is 780, definitely would have my fill of Red Bull and 5-Hour energy drinks.
Week three
Saturday September 19th
Virginia Tech vs Nebraska Blacksburg, VA
*Tailgate food: Will get all my tailgating needs at Kroger
*Tailgate craft brew: Shooting Creek Buffalo Brown
This is a big time out of conference matchup and a can’t miss if you are a Hokies fan, a possible top 10 OOC game of the year. Anyone who ever listens to the radio before or after the game has heard Frank Beamer and his Kroger commercials for tailgating needs; the real tailgating find will come later in part two I am looking forward to trying Virginia’s newest craft brewer which is right down the road from Blacksburg, Shooting Creek.
Best part of the week other than going to Blacksburg, the 118 total miles driven from Charlottesville.
Week four
Saturday September 26th
Maryland vs Rutgers College Park Maryland
*Tailgate food: Steamed Maryland Blue Crabs
*Tailgate craft brew: Heavy Seas Loose Cannon IPA
Another nice out of conference game. Last time Maryland played Rutgers, the 'Terps put it on them. Can it happen again? College football, blue crabs and hoppy IPA’s, life doesn’t get much better than this.
An easy (until the beltway) trip from Blacksburg at 225 miles, I could easily stop by and visit my Northern Virginia friends.
Week five
Saturday October 3rd
Miami vs Oklahoma, Miami Fl
*Tailgate food: Cuban Pork Sammich
*Tailgate craft brew: Mojito
Is Miami back or close? This game, not the FSU game, will tell the ACC and the nation if this is true. Big time game, between storied programs; every “name school” should be forced to schedule games like this annually. I know, I know Mojitos is not craft brew, but I am in Miami so that and Cuban pork sammiches seemed like the thing to do.
Re-up on my caffeine fix as the drive the 95 corridor from Maryland to Miami would be 1047 miles. Ouch!
Week Six
Saturday October 10th
Wake Forest vs Maryland, Winston Salem, NC
*Tailgate food: Little Richard’s BBQ
*Tailgate craft brew: Highland Gaelic Ale
The first half of my ACC road trip ends in Winston Salem, for a nice Atlantic Division matchup, winner here gets early position to challenge FSU for a trip to Tampa. When in Rome, do as the Romans; well when in Carolina do as the Carolinians …eat BBQ. Highland Brewing from Asheville provides the ale.
A little better drive from Miami, only registers 703 miles.
So for the first six weeks, I would have driven 3724 miles totaling 66 hours of driving. Would be seeing nine games, nine ACC teams and six big time out of conference opponents while enjoying great food and drink. Who wouldn’t want that? Please someone sponsor me!
Part two to follow later with more action, more venues and more local food and drink.
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Stories written by SouthernPigskin.com columnists are done independently. Views do not always coincide with those of the remainder of the staff or the ownership of SouthernPigskin.com.
Photo: TravelBlog.org
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Comments
Good work I really enjoyed that.
Yes, someone sponsor me too to do that too!
Now that’s a trip I’d love experience also. Really good column.
thanks ... a dream. part 2 coming soon.
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