Georgia comes to Oxford on Saturday, Nov. 7, and the Grove will take on its familiar big game look. Tents end to end. Chandeliers hanging from the poles. Silver trays, folding tables and more red and blue tablecloths than anyone could count.
What you don’t see is how all of it gets there.
For fans who live in Oxford, it’s a carport and a few trips in the SUV. But a big share of the Grove drives in from Memphis, Jackson, Birmingham, the Delta and farther, and hauling a full tailgate setup up and down the interstate every home weekend gets old in a hurry. The tent alone can fill a trunk. Add a couple of tables, a generator, the TV, a dozen chairs and the decorations, and you’re looking at a second vehicle.
So a lot of longtime tailgate groups have figured out a different system. They keep the gear in Oxford.
Some groups pay a tailgate service to set up and break down for them. Others split the cost of a storage unit in town and keep everything there from August to the last home game. Friday afternoon somebody swings by, loads the truck and heads to the Grove. Sunday morning it all goes back. Nobody has to haul a tent across the state.
If your group is thinking about it, look for a unit close to campus with drive-up access and long hours. Iron Storage has a climate-controlled facility on Oxmoor Lane off Old Highway 7, a few minutes from the Square and campus. It has drive-up units you can back a truck up to, and it’s open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, early enough for the Grove crowd. Climate control matters more than people think. Linens, cushions and a TV left in a hot shed in August don’t hold up, and a tent packed away damp after a rainy game will mildew fast. Let everything dry out before it goes back in, and keep the bins labeled so Friday’s load-out takes ten minutes instead of an hour.
It’s not the fun part of game day. But when the setup is already in town, your group gets more time in the Grove and less time on Highway 6 with a trailer.
Hotty Toddy.
