Tips for first family trip to Oxford

Hey guys. My wife and I are thinking about loading up the minivan filled with LSU decals and bringing the whole family to Oxford for the Ole Miss game this year. Never been before and really looking forward to experiencing an SEC road game together!

We’ll have our three kids with us (ages 6, 8 and 11), and I will say they are probably a little more sheltered than most their age. We don’t drink in our household and they really haven’t been around much alcohol or profanity, so we’re hoping the Ole Miss crowd is pretty respectful around families. I’ve always heard The Grove is one of the classier tailgating scenes in college football, so that was reassuring to my wife.

Also our youngest is adopted so I hope they're open-minded to biracial families!

One question about the stadium: my wife bought one of those big LSU golf umbrellas because she burns extremely easily, and we were planning to bring that in with us. I assume that’s okay? Our seats are lower bowl, and she’ll probably need to keep it open most of the game if it’s sunny. I told her people behind us can probably just look around it, no big deal.

The kids are making LSU signs for the game too. We told them it’s okay to have some fun with the home fans as long as it stays good-natured. They’re planning to hold the signs up whenever Ole Miss has the ball so maybe we’ll get on TV!

We’re also planning to bring our cowbells from an old Mississippi State game we went to. I know that’s technically their thing, but the kids love them and I figured SEC is SEC. Might be fun to ring them on third downs.

Food-wise, we were thinking about packing our own picnic and setting up somewhere in The Grove before the game. We have a little folding table, six chairs and a portable Bluetooth speaker. Is it basically first come, first served as far as finding an open spot?

My wife was thinking we could put on some Christian contemporary music while we eat so the kids aren’t soaking up too much of the college atmosphere. Nothing loud obviously.

Really hoping for a great game. I think LSU wins pretty comfortably, but hopefully the Ole Miss fans don’t take it too hard. I told the kids that after the game, win or lose, we should head back to The Grove and congratulate some Ole Miss fans on a good effort. Maybe share a few laughs about the game once everybody has had a chance to cool down.

My 8-year-old actually wants to bring some homemade cookies and hand them out afterward. He wants to write “BETTER LUCK NEXT YEAR!” on them in purple icing, which I think could be a pretty nice icebreaker.

Anyway, sorry for all the questions. We’re just excited to experience Oxford and show the kids what SEC football and Southern hospitality are all about.

Any other tips for a family of five trying to have a nice, wholesome Saturday at Ole Miss would be greatly appreciated!

Geaux Tigers!