Well folks, football season is over. It’s time to start planning for next season. Tailgating is a lot of fun and brings family, friends, and even strangers together under the goal of supporting the local team. Whether it be the neighboring college football team or the state team, a tailgate is fun no matter what. Down below you’ll find some tips on how to get your own tailgate going such as getting a good car for storage at car dealerships or how many coolers you’ll need. Whether this’ll be your first time going or your 100th, this list is here to give you some ideas on how to make the next one great!
- Prepare a Checklist
The most important part about tailgating is to plan ahead of time. You don’t want to be caught unprepared when you have friends and family over to celebrate? So, before you even get to the black top you’ve got to make sure that you’ve got all the essentials for your parking lot party.
Make a checklist to ensure you have all you need. Prepare an all-weather capability car in case of bad weather. Consider tying balloons onto it to make it more visible for guests looking for your spot. Also, think of creative things like putting cupcake wrappers on tops of cups with straw poked through them. Now you have a swift invention that’ll keep bugs out of the drinks and add a little festivity to the event. - Prep Food Ahead of Time
Just like with all of the logistics of the tailgate, you’ve got to make sure to prepare the food ahead of time too. You’ve got to make sure everything is marinated, chopped up, skewered, pattied, mixed, and so on. Doing all this will make the process of cooking at the stadium so much easier. When you buy a car you need to prepare for it. You need to look up if new or used cars are better. You need to research which kind of car dealerships have a premier dealer and give the best deals. Preparation is key in all things, and tailgating is the same. - Never Too Many Coolers
Be sure to also keep a lot of coolers handy. Head to car dealerships to make sure you have a car that can handle that load. You need coolers for food and beverages. In addition, you might need a cooler for raw food. Also, you can have a cooler for extra ice. Plus, any leftover ice that’s melted to water can be used to douse the grill when it’s time for cleanup. - Comfortable Seating
This note isn’t great only for the tailgate, but also for the actual game. Make sure to that bring comfortable seating for the whole day. If you’re the one at the grill there won’t be a lot of sitting going on during the day. With that in mind, when you do sit down you want to be sitting in comfort. That will keep you happy during a pretty taxing day. - Lots of Water
Another good tip for keeping yourself refreshed during the day is to drink lots of water. This is especially true if it’s a hot and humid day out. Plus, whoever is cooking on the grill will be in front of that hot metal for hours in the burning heat? You must make sure that person stays properly hydrated. To help that along, bring iced water bottles to the game. They keep things cool and when the ice melts you’ve got nice cold water. Refreshing. - An Exit Plan
The last tip is a lot like the first. Prepare, but this time prepare for your exit. Keep in mind all that cleanup you’ll need to do for when it’s time to go. How are you going to clean and stow the grill? Will it fit in your car? Again, you’ve got to make sure that whatever car you bring from car dealerships can handle everything you need to bring back.
A tailgate is a wonderful adventure. You must put a lot of love and effort into it in order to be successful. That said, once you do you’ll have a lot of fun. So, take this list and run with it and throw a great tailgate at a game next season.