A subscriber here who lives in Baton Rouge sent me this after listening to us discuss Ole Miss' upcoming road trips this season.
WELCOME TO TIGERTOWN!
If you’ve been here before, you’re not here now.
(Disclaimer: I attended graduate school at LSU after graduating from Ole Miss. I fell in love with
Baton Rouge, and I’ve lived here off and on for thirty years. But I’m not blind.)
Les Miles once described Tiger Stadium as the place where opponents’ dreams come to die.
Nobody ever accused ol’ Les of being a philosopher, but he had a point. More often than not,
visitors leave with another “L” in their column.
And now the most hyped team in Rebel history is coming to Baton Rouge to re-write history.
Whether they will or not is beyond the scope of my authority, so I’m just going to pass along
some info that I hope will improve the visit for the thousands of Rebel fans who will be making
the trip.
First, LSU fans don’t have a particular problem with Ole Miss. They just don’t like anybody
particularly, and they admit to having no rivals—except for Alabama, but now that Nick is gone,
I’m wondering how long that is going to last. (You know, of course, that when Alabama is asked
who their rivals are, LSU is way down in third or fourth place after Auburn and Tennessee.) They
stopped playing Tulane years ago because they thought the Green Wave was making too much
money off the rivalry. To old-time LSU fans, the Rebels are just one of the Mississippi schools
that the Tigers automatically assume they’ll beat—until they don’t.
But you love the Rebels, you want to see them play in Death Valley, and you want to have the
game day experience you’ve read so much about. So come on down!
When questions have come up on the message board about places to sleep, eat, and park
when UM plays in Baton Rouge, I’ve usually suggested that if you’re coming from the north or
east, stay in New Orleans. You’ll have a great time, you won’t be paying inflated hotel prices in
Baton Rouge, you won’t have to fight to get reservations at the good restaurants, and the Saints
will be playing Tampa Bay the next day. If you’re coming from Houston or points west, stay in
Lafayette. Fall festivals are awesome in Louisiana, and one of the best, “Festivals Acadiens et
Créoles” will be going on the week of the game. The artists that Neal loves to refer to as “UL-
Lafayette” will be playing Appalachian State that Saturday, and if it’s an early game, you might
want to check out some of that.
In the daily polls you see on the internet, the game day experience at LSU is usually the only
one that rivals The Grove. Why? I suspect it’s because:
1) LSU fans tend to do their own cooking. Unlike The Grove, where people bake their
cookies and make their sandwiches at home and pick up Chik=fil-A on the way to the
game, LSU fans pack their pots and wooden paddles and spend all day stirring gumbo
and jambalya. They can do this because:
2) LSU hardly ever plays before six o’clock, so game day is ALL day. Fans have enough
time to get set up, start drinking, and roast a pig.
3) It’s just so damn big. If this game were being played in Oxford, there’d be 65,000 in the
stadium and another 30,000 in The Grove. At LSU, there’ll be 102,000 in the stadium
and maybe another 60,000 roaming around outside.
And while LSU is a bigger university than UM, there’s not that much more space to put people.
Looking at a map, you may notice a large-ish river on one side of the campus and a big three-
foot deep lake on the other. Hard to believe, but getting into and out of the LSU campus area, is
actually more difficult than getting into or out of Oxford. So here are some tips if you’re planning
to make the trip.
1) Plan, plan, plan. One guy said on the message board that for one game, he just drove
up the stadium, found a place to park five minutes away and got in and out with no
problem. No doubt this person is living right, but the rest of us need to know what we’re
doing.
2) The Wayz app was invented for Baton Rouge. People who live here use it to get around
town. Download and use it, if you’re coming to The Stick.
3) Forget the traffic and parking considerations and just take a bus to the stadium. Here
are three options:
--CATS (Capital Area Rapid Transit) runs shuttle buses from downtown to the stadium
and back. Check out their services at https://www.brcats.com/
--L’Auberge Casino, five miles south of the stadium, is the nicest casino in town. Go
early, watch games in the sportsbook and take the shuttle to the game. Reservations
are required.
--The fabulous Pastime Lounge, literally under the Mississippi River Bridge, runs a
shuttle to and from the game. A true Baton Rouge experience. Reservations are
required. If yout adrenaline is still pumping after the game, go across the street to The
13 th Gate, once voted by somebody as the best haunted house in America.
4) If you’re going drive and park at LSU, go here: https://lsusports.net/gameday/parking/
to reserve your space and get directions.
5) Where to enjoy a pre-game meal. Baton Rouge has great restaurants. Here are some
that will be packed that day, so make reservations if you can.
--Doe’s Eat Place. You’re from Mississippi. This is your heritage. The tamales are
imported from Greenville, and the steaks are great.
--Elsie’s Plates and Pies. As featured by Todd Blackledge on GameDay. They don’t take
reservations, so send somebody to reserve your place in line.
--Acme Oyster House. You know it, you love it. It’s across the parking lot from Trader
Joe’s, so if you need a TJ’s fix, you can knock that out at the same time.
--Pastime Lounge. See above.
--TJ Ribs (two locations) If you go to the location on Acadian Thruway, you can see the
Heisman Trophy the Rebels helped Billy Cannon win once upon a time.
--Tsunami (two locations) If you go to the one downtown, you’ll have an amazing view of
the river as you enjoy great sushi and cocktails.
--Drago’s. Grilled oysters are just as good as the ones in New Orleans.
--Cowboy Chicken. If you’re from Dallas, and you’ve been wanting to convince your
friends that Cowboy Chicken is awesome, there’s a location on Siegen Lane.
--Mansur’s on the Boulevard. It really is the best place in town, so make reservations
extra early.
--Everything I’ve listed above will be crowded. But there’s a second tier of places, mostly
around Towne Center on Corporate Boulevard, that are five or ten minutes further away
than Doe’s and Elsie’s and won’t be nearly so crowded. These include: Palermo,
Beaujolais, City Pork, Sullivan’s Steakhouse, Zea Rotisserie, Bonefish Grill, P.F.
Chang’s—and Newk’s.
After the game, you’ll be sitting in your car for a while. Assuming the Rebels have won and you
have a high tolerance for f-bombs, stream “Whiskey and Whine” with Matt Moscona and T. Bob
Hebert. They record it at Don Juan Cigar Bar in Towne Center, which is not particularly exciting,
and people in the bar can’t hear the broadcast if they don’t have headphones.
If you’re thinking it would be fun to walk around the bars north or south of the stadium after the
game, ask yourself, “Am I twenty years old, and do I want to get shot?” If not, head to one of the
bars downtown. Walk-On’s is about a ten-minute walk south of the stadium. That’s as far as you
need to go.
And if things don’t work out for the Rebels, there’s always the haunted house.
WELCOME TO TIGERTOWN!
If you’ve been here before, you’re not here now.
(Disclaimer: I attended graduate school at LSU after graduating from Ole Miss. I fell in love with
Baton Rouge, and I’ve lived here off and on for thirty years. But I’m not blind.)
Les Miles once described Tiger Stadium as the place where opponents’ dreams come to die.
Nobody ever accused ol’ Les of being a philosopher, but he had a point. More often than not,
visitors leave with another “L” in their column.
And now the most hyped team in Rebel history is coming to Baton Rouge to re-write history.
Whether they will or not is beyond the scope of my authority, so I’m just going to pass along
some info that I hope will improve the visit for the thousands of Rebel fans who will be making
the trip.
First, LSU fans don’t have a particular problem with Ole Miss. They just don’t like anybody
particularly, and they admit to having no rivals—except for Alabama, but now that Nick is gone,
I’m wondering how long that is going to last. (You know, of course, that when Alabama is asked
who their rivals are, LSU is way down in third or fourth place after Auburn and Tennessee.) They
stopped playing Tulane years ago because they thought the Green Wave was making too much
money off the rivalry. To old-time LSU fans, the Rebels are just one of the Mississippi schools
that the Tigers automatically assume they’ll beat—until they don’t.
But you love the Rebels, you want to see them play in Death Valley, and you want to have the
game day experience you’ve read so much about. So come on down!
When questions have come up on the message board about places to sleep, eat, and park
when UM plays in Baton Rouge, I’ve usually suggested that if you’re coming from the north or
east, stay in New Orleans. You’ll have a great time, you won’t be paying inflated hotel prices in
Baton Rouge, you won’t have to fight to get reservations at the good restaurants, and the Saints
will be playing Tampa Bay the next day. If you’re coming from Houston or points west, stay in
Lafayette. Fall festivals are awesome in Louisiana, and one of the best, “Festivals Acadiens et
Créoles” will be going on the week of the game. The artists that Neal loves to refer to as “UL-
Lafayette” will be playing Appalachian State that Saturday, and if it’s an early game, you might
want to check out some of that.
In the daily polls you see on the internet, the game day experience at LSU is usually the only
one that rivals The Grove. Why? I suspect it’s because:
1) LSU fans tend to do their own cooking. Unlike The Grove, where people bake their
cookies and make their sandwiches at home and pick up Chik=fil-A on the way to the
game, LSU fans pack their pots and wooden paddles and spend all day stirring gumbo
and jambalya. They can do this because:
2) LSU hardly ever plays before six o’clock, so game day is ALL day. Fans have enough
time to get set up, start drinking, and roast a pig.
3) It’s just so damn big. If this game were being played in Oxford, there’d be 65,000 in the
stadium and another 30,000 in The Grove. At LSU, there’ll be 102,000 in the stadium
and maybe another 60,000 roaming around outside.
And while LSU is a bigger university than UM, there’s not that much more space to put people.
Looking at a map, you may notice a large-ish river on one side of the campus and a big three-
foot deep lake on the other. Hard to believe, but getting into and out of the LSU campus area, is
actually more difficult than getting into or out of Oxford. So here are some tips if you’re planning
to make the trip.
1) Plan, plan, plan. One guy said on the message board that for one game, he just drove
up the stadium, found a place to park five minutes away and got in and out with no
problem. No doubt this person is living right, but the rest of us need to know what we’re
doing.
2) The Wayz app was invented for Baton Rouge. People who live here use it to get around
town. Download and use it, if you’re coming to The Stick.
3) Forget the traffic and parking considerations and just take a bus to the stadium. Here
are three options:
--CATS (Capital Area Rapid Transit) runs shuttle buses from downtown to the stadium
and back. Check out their services at https://www.brcats.com/
--L’Auberge Casino, five miles south of the stadium, is the nicest casino in town. Go
early, watch games in the sportsbook and take the shuttle to the game. Reservations
are required.
--The fabulous Pastime Lounge, literally under the Mississippi River Bridge, runs a
shuttle to and from the game. A true Baton Rouge experience. Reservations are
required. If yout adrenaline is still pumping after the game, go across the street to The
13 th Gate, once voted by somebody as the best haunted house in America.
4) If you’re going drive and park at LSU, go here: https://lsusports.net/gameday/parking/
to reserve your space and get directions.
5) Where to enjoy a pre-game meal. Baton Rouge has great restaurants. Here are some
that will be packed that day, so make reservations if you can.
--Doe’s Eat Place. You’re from Mississippi. This is your heritage. The tamales are
imported from Greenville, and the steaks are great.
--Elsie’s Plates and Pies. As featured by Todd Blackledge on GameDay. They don’t take
reservations, so send somebody to reserve your place in line.
--Acme Oyster House. You know it, you love it. It’s across the parking lot from Trader
Joe’s, so if you need a TJ’s fix, you can knock that out at the same time.
--Pastime Lounge. See above.
--TJ Ribs (two locations) If you go to the location on Acadian Thruway, you can see the
Heisman Trophy the Rebels helped Billy Cannon win once upon a time.
--Tsunami (two locations) If you go to the one downtown, you’ll have an amazing view of
the river as you enjoy great sushi and cocktails.
--Drago’s. Grilled oysters are just as good as the ones in New Orleans.
--Cowboy Chicken. If you’re from Dallas, and you’ve been wanting to convince your
friends that Cowboy Chicken is awesome, there’s a location on Siegen Lane.
--Mansur’s on the Boulevard. It really is the best place in town, so make reservations
extra early.
--Everything I’ve listed above will be crowded. But there’s a second tier of places, mostly
around Towne Center on Corporate Boulevard, that are five or ten minutes further away
than Doe’s and Elsie’s and won’t be nearly so crowded. These include: Palermo,
Beaujolais, City Pork, Sullivan’s Steakhouse, Zea Rotisserie, Bonefish Grill, P.F.
Chang’s—and Newk’s.
After the game, you’ll be sitting in your car for a while. Assuming the Rebels have won and you
have a high tolerance for f-bombs, stream “Whiskey and Whine” with Matt Moscona and T. Bob
Hebert. They record it at Don Juan Cigar Bar in Towne Center, which is not particularly exciting,
and people in the bar can’t hear the broadcast if they don’t have headphones.
If you’re thinking it would be fun to walk around the bars north or south of the stadium after the
game, ask yourself, “Am I twenty years old, and do I want to get shot?” If not, head to one of the
bars downtown. Walk-On’s is about a ten-minute walk south of the stadium. That’s as far as you
need to go.
And if things don’t work out for the Rebels, there’s always the haunted house.
