Tailgating is NOT for Amateurs . . .

Just got back from a great weekend of college football - Go Gators! Yes, it is still ridiculously hot and muggy here even though Fall officially starts tomorrow. However, I have decided to build a bridge and get over it! So what did we do, throw a huge tailgate for a huge SEC game! Who know tailgating could be a competitive sport in itself!?!

Our tailgate consisted of a small RV, with tons of storage! Thank goodness because we did bring a lot! We found a great spot in the shade and right next to a bathroom. It's in a church parking lot and the $20 charge goes to help adopt orphans. What could be a better cause than that?? Our tailgate rolled out the red carpet. It wasn't literally red but it was a carpet. A good-sized TV to watch other games and College Game Day. Lots of tables for all the food. We bought plastic covered material from a local fabric store and cut to fit our tables. Perfect tablecloth with our team's logo. These are easy enough to wipe clean. Of course, all the serving dishes were themes as well. My favorite was a hand-painted chip and dip platter in the team's colors (orange and blue) painted for the mother by her kids. They dipped their fingers in the paint (they are young) and put their fingerprints and their signatures on it. It looked great and was loved by all the moms! We also brought all our goodies in a really great Gator picnic basket as well as using Gator platters. A couple platters were plain white but another favorite was a white plate you could put a ribbon through. I added a Gator ribbon found again at a local fabric store. The food was good and the presentation was flawless! The prize for the most creative food/drink goes to the Jell-O maker! She took small Celmentine oranges and hollowed them out. Filled them with blue Jell-O and vodka for some seriously styling Jell-O shots! Kudos and delish!

The men were fun to watch and very stereotypical, I might add. Three different guys, brought three different cooking contraptions, and cooked three different types of meat! I could hear them growling across the parking lot. Lots of testosterone, lots of flames and lots of meat!

All in all, it was a really fun weekend, topped off by a great Gator victory and an even better tailgate! One last tip, always bring extra food and drinks for after the game. We love to sit and visit once the game is over to recap the game and relax. This way, once we are done, pack up and leave with no traffic! Would you rather sit in traffic for an hour or sit at one of the best tailgates going on with good friends and great food?? That's what I thought!