TN VOLS fans coming to VT/GT game - NEED ADVICE

[txsting]

Get 2 CFA sammiches. Flask of bourbon. Stick all of that in your underwear. Enter games and enjoy with ice cold Coca Cola. Definitive ATL/GT experience.

 

[wishbone]

UT won't be on the flats bone...as others have said it will be in the Dome. I'd love to get Tenn on a home and away before I friggin die. Ditto for aubie n bammer.

*bubble burst*

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

http://www.ramblinwreck.com/trads/geot-trads.html



Traditions[edit]
Main article: Georgia Tech traditions

The Ramblin' Wreck during a football game.

• Colors – Georgia Tech football features old gold and white uniforms with old gold helmets. Navy blue and black have been used as alternate jerseys. In 2006, Georgia Tech featured a throwback jersey based on Bud Carson-era uniforms. The jerseys were mustard gold and the helmets were white.
• Songs – The fight songs for Georgia Tech are "Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech" and "Up With the White and Gold". If Georgia Tech scores a touchdown, then both songs are played. If Georgia Tech only kicks a field goal, "Ramblin' Wreck" is played. For some big plays, a shortened version of either song is played.
• Nicknames – Georgia Tech football teams have had several nicknames over the years including the "Blacksmiths", the "Engineers", the "Golden Tornado", or just the "Techs". Officially, the teams are called the "Yellow Jackets" or the "Ramblin' Wreck".
• Mascots – The "Ramblin' Wreck" and the yellow jacket "Buzz" are the mascots of Georgia Tech football. The "Ramblin' Wreck" is a 1930 Ford Model A Sports Coupe, and it has led the football team on to Grant Field every game since September 30, 1961.[65]"Buzz" began pacing the sidelines of Grant Field as a mischievous anthropomorphized yellow jacket during the 1970s.[66] "Buzz" was ranked the number three top mascot in all of college football by "America's Best" and the "Top Ten" Web site.[67]
• Yellow Jacket Alley – "Yellow Jacket Alley" is an event staged before every game. It is a players' walk in which the team and coaches walk from the buses to the stadium, and the fans surround and cheer the walking players.[68]
• Steam Whistle – An industrial steam whistle has been present on Georgia Tech's campus ever since the early industrial shop years. It typically was blown for the change of classes at five minutes before the hour. On football game days, the whistle is blown after every Yellow Jackets' score, and again after every Yellow Jackets' victory.[69]
• Student Section – The student sections for the Yellow Jackets' home football games are primarily located in the North and South End Zones of Grant Field. Until the 2011 season, Flash Card displays were performed by the student section every football season since 1957. A semi-official student cheering section called the "Swarm" is located in the North End Zone adjacent to the marching band. The Swarm began in 1996.[70]
• RAT Caps - Incoming Georgia Tech freshmen are referred to as RATs, which stands for Recruits At Tech, although in recent years the Student Government has begun incorrectly using Recently Acquired Tech Students. A RAT is encouraged to wear the gold colored beanie caps with the front bill worn turned up and bearing the students name, hometown, major, class year and the letters "RAT". A RAT should record the scores of each football game on the sides of their RAT Cap, written right side up for victories, upside down for losses, and sideways for ties. A RAT should write the "Good Word" on their caps: "To HELL with georgia". It is the responsibility of a RAT to know the fight songs, the Alma Mater, all of the cheers and the "Good Word". Before ACC conference regulations prohibited the practice, upperclassmen ordered "RATs on the field" before each home game, and RATs would line up in the end zone along both sides of the entry way from the locker room forming an alley way for the Ramblin' Wreck to drive through leading the team out onto the field. The ACC forced an end to this tradition after the 1980 season. The RAT cap tradition is most strictly observed by members of the marching band.
• Marching Band - Even though Georgia Tech is a high-ranking Institute of Technology, and not a college of the arts and humanities, it still fields a 300+ member marching band at all home football games and Bowl Games. A smaller Pep Band attends road games which the full band doesn't attend. Among other songs, the Yellow Jacket Marching Band always plays the Georgia Tech fight songs and the Alma Mater, and in addition, it plays "When You Say Budweiser, You've Said It All" at the completion of the third quarter.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

I think bamabuzz has said it all

 

[thebull35]

Go to Swinging Richards after the game. I'm sure you'll have an unforgettable experience.

 

[GlennW]

And you need to be prepared for THIS GA Tech tradition during the game as well:

 

[GTonTop88]

Hello Tech fans - I'm excited about our season opener in 2017, too bad it won't be at your home stadium - neutral site loses too much tradition.

Anyways, a group of us travel to see new stadiums each year and this year we are coming to GTech and then on to a FSU home game. I need your help on suggestions on where to eat, which bars are good, where to tailgate, where to find tickets at, where to stay, etc.

We want to experience the GT atmosphere and don't want to miss any must see traditions.

Thanks for any advice you can give us.

You picked a great game to go to. The Varsity is a tradition but it's borderline terrible food and service. We usually park at the Georgia Tech Hotel parking deck. Go by the bookstore in the hotel and check it out. When you come out of the bookstore take a right and walk up to The Barrel House and get a Bobby Dodd Burger. You won't be disappointed.

 

[Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau]

Hello Tech fans - I'm excited about our season opener in 2017, too bad it won't be at your home stadium - neutral site loses too much tradition.

Anyways, a group of us travel to see new stadiums each year and this year we are coming to GTech and then on to a FSU home game. I need your help on suggestions on where to eat, which bars are good, where to tailgate, where to find tickets at, where to stay, etc.

We want to experience the GT atmosphere and don't want to miss any must see traditions.

Thanks for any advice you can give us.

A word of warning. There are very few restaurants serving roadkill possum in the ATL anymore. Better bring your own.

 

[OldJacketFan]

A word of warning. There are very few restaurants serving roadkill possum in the ATL anymore. Better bring your own.

Tacky, tacky, tacky momma should've raised you better. I spend 10 years in Nashville, never saw possum on the menu!

 

[GTNavyNuke]

I don't know how old you are or what your cup of tea is, but there are a ton of restaurants and bars on the west side now, maybe 5-10 minutes north/northwest of campus. Otherwise your best bet is hanging around peachtree from North Avenue all the way up into buckhead. If you are in the younger (18-24) demographic, there are tons of bars on and off Peachtree in between Irby and E Andrews, and in Virginia Highlands (for after the show).

Starting at Marietta St and around 8th St, and moving north

bartaco is a great place to get tacos to share and beers; Bocado perhaps has the best burger in town. 5 seasons is solid, and there is a great beer store next door (HopCity).

The optimist is on 8th and is a little fancier, great oysters and seafood.

Miller Union on 10th is amazing, may be a little out of your price range, esp for dinner.

If you want sweets before or after the game, Sublime Doughnuts on 10th street is great.

Six Feet Under on 11th is a great place to drink, esp on the patio upstairs. La Fonda on the same street has good, cheap "pan latin" food (paella, quesadillas, etc.).

At Howell Mill and 14th is probably your best bets - West Egg for breakfast and Ormsby's for a fun bar with tons of games (darts, bocce, shuffleboard, pool, etc) inside. Cooks & Soldiers is great, but only open for dinner and not cheap. JCT Kitchen is another good restaurant. Taqueria Del Sol is popular, but there may be some long waits.

Nearby is Antico (best pizza in town) and Gios (great italian sandwiches and roti chicken) on Hemphill off 14th.

Other places that haven't been mentioned a little further up Marietta - Bone Garden (owned by the same people that own the varsity) is a bit further north on Ellsworth Industrial. It's like a hipster take on authentic mexican food. Pretty good BBQ place around the corner on Huff called Bone Lick BBQ.

My go to place became the Wrecking Bar in Mid-town. Pretty cool staff and owners till the divorce last year ........ still great food.

Mid-town is a great place to bar hop and has lots of great food.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Tacky, tacky, tacky momma should've raised you better. I spend 10 years in Nashville, never saw possum on the menu!

I would guess more Georgia places serve possum than Nashville ...... I saw a PBJ (Peanut Butter & Jelly) and PBR special in one of the Nashville music restaurants. Great music for money in the jar.

 

[Legal Jacket]

Other places that haven't been mentioned a little further up Marietta - Bone Garden (owned by the same people that own the varsity) is a bit further north on Ellsworth Industrial. It's like a hipster take on authentic mexican food. Pretty good BBQ place around the corner on Huff called Bone Lick BBQ.

Haha, just caught my "varsity" brain - Bone garden is owned by the same people that own the vortex.

 

[Legal Jacket]

Wow I've been to Flip Burger a bunch and never realized that everything was upside down...


I concur with what most are saying about food & bars: Dont get the food at Varsity but stop in just to say you did. Vortex or Flip for burgers (Flip is smaller slider style burgers FYI), I HIGHLY recommend Sublime Doughnuts (got voted in top 15 doughnut shops in the nation). Midtown/Crescent Ave are good bar hopping options. Virginia Highlands isnt too bad of a bar scene either but a little farther from Tech. If you dont mind going out a little further (10-15 minutes) E. Andrews area in Buckhead or Edgewood aren't too bad either although those two are very different scenes.

Sublime is a must if you can get sweets. Ditto on the bar recs.

For those of you recommending vortex and flip - have you been to bocado? If not, you should go. Doesn't have the variety of either restaurant (only one burger on the menu, though the other food is solid), but good god it is a great burger. Optimist burger is surprisingly good as well. I'd put both over H&F.

 

[RLR]

The most important advice anyone on this site can give you is don't drive. Atlanta rush hour in midtown sucks. Add a GT football game & it's basically an ice storm out there on the roads - aka abandon your car and all hope and walk. You should download Uber and Lyft before coming. If you haven't used these services before, you can probably get a promo code for your first ride free. with a large enough group, you could escape the trip without paying.

Where to eat

• Don't waste your time at the Varsity
• South City Kitchen for friday morning breakfast
• Optimist, Vortex, front page news, rira are solid choices for pregame food/bar/outdoor seating and a walkable distance (mile or so) from campus
• In general, if you're on foot, you'll find the best food east of campus between 5th street (west boarder) and Peachtree Street (east) and between north avenue (south border) and 14th (north)

Where to get boos / tailgate supple

• Macs liquor and Publix - right next to each other on Spring street, a block or two from campus
• 5th street bridge (5th street and spring street, you can't miss it) is my recommendation for tailgating, but plenty of nice spots on campus if you want less of a city feel

Bars / nightlife

• If you're under 24, Buckhead. if older, then consider going elsewhere.
• When in the strip club capital. . . the cheetah is definitely a GT tradition and a block from campus on Spring St. if you want a quasi strip club experience that's more wife friendly, clermont lounge is still fun. And then there's always diamonds of atlanta...
• Crescent street in midtown has some good bars. it's close to Tech. since you're out of town, it may be helpful to know that "midtown bars" are usually associated with the gay bars at the intersection of piedmont & 10th street.

Hotels - not sure what your price range is, or what prices are, but anything near GT on a gameday is probably going to be expensive. I'd book early.

• Georgia Tech hotel and conference center is on campus and a nice hotel, but it's probably booked
• Glenn Hotel is downtown (aquarium, college football HOF, world of coke) - fairly close to GT and has one of the best rooftop bars in Atlanta
• Renaissance Atlanta Midtown Hotel (west peachtree) is close to campus and also also has a great rooftop bar