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Coming in for NIU game, stadium /parking questions

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HuskieHoosier

Aug 14, 2022
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I am coming down for the NIU game and was wondering which lots are good for visiting MAC fans to tailgate? We will be flying our colors, but we are 50+ so not looking to get out of hand, but also don't want to get singled out. Looking for the SEC experience though. Parking prices are crazy, especially since we can park about 2000 feet away from our stadium for free lol. Then again, we get 15k on a good day. Probably won't be looking at Red, Blue or Orange due to price, saw a Silver lot (grass?) Purple, White Green?

Also, any recommendations on where to/not to sit if we don't get seats in or near our section? Does anyone know a small school visitor section? Guess we bring 500-1000 max.

One more thing. Any recommendations on a bourbon tour around Lexington? See that most are already booked for that Friday, will probably book Four Roses. Any decent ones in dtown Lexington?

Thanks guys!
 
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I know of no Bourbon tours/trails associated with downtown Lexington.

You should have no trouble sitting in or near your visiting MAC friends. We usually put about 50K butts in a 60K stadium for non-conference games, and seating becomes pretty open in less crowded sections, often the majority of the stadium.

And you are not likely to encounter problems unless you sit in the student section, a virtual impossibility even if you walk up and buy tickets.

There will be open tailgating in each of the coded lots you mentioned, and I would not prefer one over the other. Again, a pretty laid back/casual atmosphere. Park the car, pop the trunk, pull out some chairs or a blanket and plop right down. Your age range is pretty median for the non-students.

Visitor seating is usually in the north-west corner of the stadium. Sections 11-12-13, lower deck.

If you do not have tics from NIU, call the UK ticket office, and tell them you want tickets near NIU’s crowd in one of those sections.

If you are real outgoing, walk through the RV lot until you score an invite. Bring some beer or bourbon to share and you’ll fit right in!!
 
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LordEggForgotHisPassword said:
You will not get any blow back from our fans. We reserve that for other sec program fans and parents/guardians/legal representatives of Louisville fans.
Click to expand...
Yes.

If you want to have a good day at Kroger Field, as a visiting fan, do not bring up basketball, Tennessee or Louisville.

And certainly avoid the subjects of Tennessee or Louisville basketball . . . or basket weaving . . . or Tennessee rot gut “whisky” that is missing an “e.”

Stoops has been very respectful of visiting G5 teams, actually apologizing at midfield to the Coach of Eastern Michigan for throwing the ball in the 4th quarter with a lead. We had lost our starting QB to a knee injury in the 3rd Q., and Stoops turned the number 2 guy loose to give him live game reps.
 
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The-Hack said:
We can park 60 feet from our stadium . . . for about a grand a season.
Click to expand...

We parked about 500 feet from Ohio Stadium and those were 10k donations they said as we got pass for free. Parked about 100 feet from Doak Campbell (no one was tailgating)in some huge donor lot for 50 bucks resale. Crazy how donations and resale price differs depending on location and opponent.
 
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If you happen to have a handicap placard we have a lot that takes a hundred or so right across from the stadium. Was free but now is 35.00$
 
The-Hack said:
I know of no Bourbon tours/trails associated with downtown Lexington.

You should have no trouble sitting in or near your visiting MAC friends. We usually put about 50K butts in a 60K stadium for non-conference games, and seating becomes pretty open in less crowded sections, often the majority of the stadium.

And you are not likely to encounter problems unless you sit in the student section, a virtual impossibility even if you walk up and buy tickets.

There will be open tailgating in each of the coded lots you mentioned, and I would not prefer one over the other. Again, a pretty laid back/casual atmosphere. Park the car, pop the trunk, pull out some chairs or a blanket and plop right down. Your age range is pretty median for the non-students.

Visitor seating is usually in the north-west corner of the stadium. Sections 11-12-13, lower deck.

If you do not have tics from NIU, call the UK ticket office, and tell them you want tickets near NIU’s crowd in one of those sections.

If you are real outgoing, walk through the RV lot until you score an invite. Bring some beer or bourbon to share and you’ll fit right in!!
Click to expand...
Thanks!
 
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The-Hack said:
I doubt you can order a single game parking pass.

Get on here, the week before, and ask for purchasing a parking pass. There are usually a few being exchanged the week of the game.
Click to expand...
I inquired at the ticket office a couple of years ago and was told they do not deal at all with single game parking passes like they do with game tickets. The secondary market is all there is.
 
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For Bourbon tours, Buffalo Trace in Frankfort is the best. You also have Castle & Key in Versailles along with Woodford Reserve. Four Roses in Lawrenceburg that you mentioned is pretty good as well. There is James A Pepper Distillery down off Manchester St in Lexington as well. It is located in the Distillery District next to Goodfellas pizza and quite a few other bars. It is a pretty cool place to spend some time.
 
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TCurtis75 said:
For Bourbon tours, Buffalo Trace in Frankfort is the best. You also have Castle & Key in Versailles along with Woodford Reserve. Four Roses in Lawrenceburg that you mentioned is pretty good as well. There is James A Pepper Distillery down off Manchester St in Lexington as well. It is located in the Distillery District next to Goodfellas pizza and quite a few other bars. It is a pretty cool place to spend some time.
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Yeah, they were all booked other than James Pepper. Didn't see that one before. Or maybe Bluegrass. Thanks for the info!
 
HuskieHoosier said:
I am coming down for the NIU game and was wondering which lots are good for visiting MAC fans to tailgate? We will be flying our colors, but we are 50+ so not looking to get out of hand, but also don't want to get singled out. Looking for the SEC experience though. Parking prices are crazy, especially since we can park about 2000 feet away from our stadium for free lol. Then again, we get 15k on a good day. Probably won't be looking at Red, Blue or Orange due to price, saw a Silver lot (grass?) Purple, White Green?

Also, any recommendations on where to/not to sit if we don't get seats in or near our section? Does anyone know a small school visitor section? Guess we bring 500-1000 max.

One more thing. Any recommendations on a bourbon tour around Lexington? See that most are already booked for that Friday, will probably book Four Roses. Any decent ones in dtown Lexington?

Thanks guys!
Click to expand...
Here is a brewery\distillery tour that is blocks from downtown:

lexingtonbrewingco.com

Lexington Brewing & Distilling Co.

Family-owned Lexington Brewing & Distilling Co. The only brewery and distillery on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®
lexingtonbrewingco.com lexingtonbrewingco.com

I am not a fan of their bourbon, but their beers and Bluegrass Sundown liqueur are ridiculously good. I have been on their tour a couple of times. I found it better than any others on the Bourbon Trail.

The Huskies are legit...UK had better be ready to play. Hope you enjoy Lexington as much as the rest of us do.
 
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HuskieHoosier said:
Yeah, they were all booked other than James Pepper. Didn't see that one before. Or maybe Bluegrass. Thanks for the info!
Click to expand...
Check when you get in town as well. They have cancellations pretty regular. Also, Buffalo Trace does their lower level allocated every day, different one every day. Might be able to get some good bourbon even if you miss out on the tour.
 
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The-Hack said:
They won the MAC last year?!?!

If we lay a turd like we did against FCS Chattanooga, last year, we lose.
Click to expand...

NIU did win the MAC last year, but that's a fairly regular occurrence. Since 2010, NIU has been to the MAC title 8 times, and won 5 of those.

NIU returns nearly everyone, about 18 starters or 83% of production, from the team last year which was the 2nd youngest team in FBS that year. NIU has a very solid QB transfer from MSU who started for NIU last year named Rocky Lombardi (awesome name), and a very very good offensive line that returns 4 out of 5 starters. It will look and feel like a B1G offensive line which has been a marquee of NIU offensive lines for a while now. NIU averaged 241 yards per game on the ground last year. Very run-first team.

NIU returns a lot of players on defense, but the defense was very suspect last year, so not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing for NIU. They should be improved at the very least, but I suspect not enough to stop Kentuckys top tier QB and quicker than average(for the MAC anyway) receivers.

NIU is a very dangerous G5 team this year. Very experienced, large up front even among P5 teams, and NIU is always hungry to win these types of games.

It should be a great game! Kentucky should win as I don't think NIU can get enough stops on D, but I expect a close game.
 
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The-Hack said:
That’s our f@&kin’ luck on scheduling!!

How many folks will you all bring down?
Click to expand...

I do commend Kentucky for scheduling some MAC teams! You also have Miami on your schedule, who is projected to win the MAC - East which is the weaker of the two divisons, but still, a decent team. You will probably roll over them, but NIU is a bit of a different beast size-wise.

As for how many show up, like OP I hope 500+. Don't expect a big crowd, but NIU fans are usually visible and audible on TV like at Georgia Tech last year.

Hope both teams are undefeated going into this game :) I am a fan of Kentucky's growing program and hope they can rise to compete with GA in the SEC-East. You have an excellent QB and that will be tough for any team to overcome.
 
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HuskieHoosier said:
I am coming down for the NIU game and was wondering which lots are good for visiting MAC fans to tailgate? We will be flying our colors, but we are 50+ so not looking to get out of hand, but also don't want to get singled out. Looking for the SEC experience though. Parking prices are crazy, especially since we can park about 2000 feet away from our stadium for free lol. Then again, we get 15k on a good day. Probably won't be looking at Red, Blue or Orange due to price, saw a Silver lot (grass?) Purple, White Green?

Also, any recommendations on where to/not to sit if we don't get seats in or near our section? Does anyone know a small school visitor section? Guess we bring 500-1000 max.

One more thing. Any recommendations on a bourbon tour around Lexington? See that most are already booked for that Friday, will probably book Four Roses. Any decent ones in dtown Lexington?

Thanks guys!
Click to expand...

Most distillery tours open 90 days ahead of time (Buffalo Trace opens the Tuesday the month ahead of time - so September opened up early August), and unfortunately they fill up quickly. You can always visit BT that weekend and see if any tours open up (and maybe get of their special products - you will have to line up EARLY).

As mentioned above, Town Branch (https://lexingtonbrewingco.com/distilleries-tours) is in Lexington (not far from campus) and they have tours available for that weekend. I've been on the tour twice, and it is cool to see what they do on a smaller scale.
 
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The-Hack said:
That’s our f@&kin’ luck on scheduling!!

How many folks will you all bring down?
Click to expand...
I had to guess, 1000. We don't travel well if it's not close and/or expected loss. Like Iowa, I would bet we had 2-3k. NW in our backyard, 10K of the 22k in attendance, more than most of our weekday MACtion home games. Michigan ly, not even close to 1000 it would have appeared, although spread out. I don't think the school presale was high, but there will be some red all over.
 
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Question guys.....

When I was looking at the UK interactive page, looked like upper deck corners had no seat backs (201 and 211), then next 2 sections on each side 1st seven rows had them then the 5 in the middle all had them.

When I looked at pics and then saw an article on the net, it stated that all sections had seat back other than student sections. Is this true, the upper deck is all seatback?

Thanks!
 
HuskieHoosier said:
Is this true, the upper deck is all seatback?
Click to expand...
The whole upper deck, and the whole stadium, (sans students) at a minimum has an aluminum bleacher to sit on, and a similar aluminum “bleacher” at your back. The backs are painted blue for the night-time photo effect.

A few high dollar rows in the middle of the upper decks have aluminum fold down seats/chairs with handles and all. Frankly, I’ve never seen their like elsewhere. If you get there early or stay late, check them out in detail. They may be a remnant of the 1970/71 era from when the stadium was built. Absent padding, they aren’t all that comfortable. The school does a good job of keeping them repaired-replaced, so they must still be in production, somewhere.

The Keeneland Club, or WETF the REAL HIGH DOLLAR club level is called also have some kind of full blown seats, lower deck, south side of stadium. I think they might be plastic.

The general seating in my opinion only needs slight padding for your arse . . . some folks have contraptions to pad the back, too, but I see no need, and I’m 59 and chunky.
 
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Illinois0 said:
NIU did win the MAC last year, but that's a fairly regular occurrence. Since 2010, NIU has been to the MAC title 8 times, and won 5 of those.

NIU returns nearly everyone, about 18 starters or 83% of production, from the team last year which was the 2nd youngest team in FBS that year. NIU has a very solid QB transfer from MSU who started for NIU last year named Rocky Lombardi (awesome name), and a very very good offensive line that returns 4 out of 5 starters. It will look and feel like a B1G offensive line which has been a marquee of NIU offensive lines for a while now. NIU averaged 241 yards per game on the ground last year. Very run-first team.

NIU returns a lot of players on defense, but the defense was very suspect last year, so not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing for NIU. They should be improved at the very least, but I suspect not enough to stop Kentuckys top tier QB and quicker than average(for the MAC anyway) receivers.

NIU is a very dangerous G5 team this year. Very experienced, large up front even among P5 teams, and NIU is always hungry to win these types of games.

It should be a great game! Kentucky should win as I don't think NIU can get enough stops on D, but I expect a close game.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your insight. I don't expect NIU to be a cakewalk for the Cats, and I hope the coaches and players don't take you guys lightly.
 
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The-Hack said:
The whole upper deck, and the whole stadium, (sans students) at a minimum has an aluminum bleacher to sit on, and a similar aluminum “bleacher” at your back. The backs are painted blue for the night-time photo effect.

A few high dollar rows in the middle of the upper decks have aluminum fold down seats/chairs with handles and all. Frankly, I’ve never seen their like elsewhere. If you get there early or stay late, check them out in detail. They may be a remnant of the 1970/71 era from when the stadium was built. Absent padding, they aren’t all that comfortable. The school does a good job of keeping them repaired-replaced, so they must still be in production, somewhere.

The Keeneland Club, or WETF the REAL HIGH DOLLAR club level is called also have some kind of full blown seats, lower deck, south side of stadium. I think they might be plastic.

The general seating in my opinion only needs slight padding for your arse . . . some folks have contraptions to pad the back, too, but I see no need, and I’m 59 and chunky.
Click to expand...
We have 59 and chunky in our group too! Thanks ;)
 
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Thanks for all the info so far guys. Got our tix Sec 11.

Is there any assigned "rows" for parking, namely Purple? I know there is reserved for Red, Blue, but I see some on SH with a row, some without. Guessing people are just adding them for the hell of it?

Thanks again.
 
HuskieHoosier said:
Is there any assigned "rows" for parking, namely Purple? I know there is reserved for Red, Blue
Click to expand...
I don’t know what that all means. My experience has been first come, first serve on color coded parking.

I’ve had fun is getting to the game late, and having 30 drunks direct my parking, moving all their ish outta’ the way . . . kind of a game of itself. Once when young, I crawled out of my window the parking was so tight!!
 
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The-Hack said:
I don’t know what that all means. My experience has been first come, first serve on color coded parking.

I’ve had fun is getting to the game late, and having 30 drunks direct my parking, moving all their ish outta’ the way . . . kind of a game of itself. Once when young, I crawled out of my window the parking was so tight!!
Click to expand...
On Stubhub, other sites they show a "row" for the parking passes....

Number of Tickets: 1
SECTION
Purple
ROW
4
 
ukalum1988 said:
Thanks for your insight. I don't expect NIU to be a cakewalk for the Cats, and I hope the coaches and players don't take you guys lightly.
Click to expand...

No problem!

Another interesting fact, NIU has the only 8th year senior in football on the team. Pretty wild story. So we have a leader who has seen some stuff lol!

www.hustlebelt.com

Setbacks and comebacks: College football through the lens of 8th year senior Kyle Pugh

Three season-ending injuries, a year hampered by COVID, and two MAC titles later, Kyle Pugh begins one last journey at NIU.
www.hustlebelt.com www.hustlebelt.com
 
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