re: Advice for a visiting fan to Death Valley

Here's my two cents:

I used to live out in Southern California and had season tickets for LSU. I was single, so each game I would bring a chick along for some fun. We'd always fly into and out of New Orleans and stay in NO on Friday night and Baton Rouge on Saturday night. Friday evening we'd get into NO and have fun in the Quarter. Then get up early Saturday morning and have a nice breakfast in the Quarter before heading up to Baton Rouge. This only works if it's a night game. If it's a day game, you won't make it in time because of all the traffic. You need to be on the road before 10...and I'd probably say by 9:00 AM. If you wait till Noon, then it will take you over three, maybe four hours to get to the stadium because of the traffic. There's really no shortcuts around it because everyone's a local and the West side of the campus is cut off by the Mississippi River.

When we arrived in Baton Rouge we would check into our hotel. The Belle is fine for this trip. You can take a shuttle or Uber to the stadium, but the traffic is so bad, this will take you a while. We've walked from the Belle to the Stadium on game day before, but it takes about an hour and you have to pass through a very rough neighborhood. But with the line of cars stuck in traffic, you should be okay and someone will probably let you hop in the back of their truck for a ride.

After the game, the traffic getting out is actually worse than the traffic getting in...it's just horrendous. So if you do try to go back to NO after the game, you'll be sitting in traffic that could take you five hours. If you stay in Baton Rouge, after the game you can walk to some of the bars on the North side of campus and drink till your Uber comes to get you (do NOT walk back to your hotel at night). Then get up Sunday morning and drive back to NO to have lunch and fly out.

You'll get to see most of the campus on Saturday before the game as you walk around and visit all the tailgaters. Wear your UGA gear, be respectful and most LSU fans will invite you to their setup for a beer and some food. Don't be one of those guys that gets upset when they Tiger Bait you or you'll have a miserable time. If you want, stop by a store and pick up one of the coolers on wheels, load it up with ice and beer, then pull it around behind you. You'll have a great time...