Questions from an LSU fan headed to Syracuse for the game | Syracusefan.com

Questions from an LSU fan headed to Syracuse for the game

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paper cat

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First of all, congratulations to Syracuse on their 3-0 start. I do not know all that much about the northern ACC teams and Syracuse football (At the risk of giving my age away I certainly remember Larry Csonka, Floyd Little and Jim Brown). I see where you guys have a great schedule this year with teams like Clemson, Florida State, Virginia and LSU on it.

I am headed up for the game on Thursday and will be staying with my wife and another couple at Turning Stone casino. The four of us made the trip of a few years back to West Virginia, but flew in and out the same day so did not get to see much of the area. I get to NYC a good bit but have seen little of upstate NY, having been to Buffalo once for a short business trip. Ant recommendations on places to go or restaurants to try? I think we will probably rent a car and might play a round of golf at the casino course. The girls want to see Niagra Falls but I don't know how doable that is. We are headed back on Sunday.

I can answer most questions anyone has about LSU football. The formula most teams that have beaten LSU in the past couple of years use is very basic. Bring a safety or two up into the box to stop the run and make LSU beat you with the pass. LSU has a young and talented qb, but he did not throw much in the first two games and missed a few throws badly in the Auburn game. LSU actually has two or three receivers who will play in the NFL, but cannot seem to get the ball to them. LSU has been fortunate thus far that even against eight man fronts they have run the ball well. Fournette is drawing comparisons to a lot of great college backs and is a load. Guice is a freshman running back who is very good as well. Stopping LSU is not rocket science. I would commit as much as I could to stopping the run and take my chances with LSU's passing game.

LSU's defense is still a bit of a mystery, both Auburn and Mississippi State moved the ball well against LSU in the second half. There is a lot of speed on the defense everywhere. They play a 4-2-5 base defense and all five defensive back starters I think will probably get drafted. LSU is thin depth wise with their front seven and do not rotate defensive linemen as much as they did in the past. You could see the front seven run out of gas in the fourth quarter against Mississippi State. LSU fans are excited but not sure if their 2-0 start is because LSU is improved or that Mississippi State and Auburn are just not that good.

We are really looking forward to seeing a new area and enjoying the cooler weather. We make a couple away games a year and for the most part the fans at other venues have been great. I think maybe the roughest crowd we ran into, which was a bit surprising, was at West Virginia. I still liked it better than going to Tuscaloosa. Auburn and Ole Miss have great venues for college football.

Let me know if you have any suggestions for places to go and food to eat. We prefer the local haunts to the tourist places, and definitely like trying out local cuisine, so please do not send us to a Cajun restaurant. Lol. Hoping for a good football game Saturday. Orange is not my favorite color, but Syracuse orange is way better than Tennessee's neon orange or Texas burnt orange. I guess when your team is purple and gold though(a mardi gras story is behind that), you can't be too critical of any shade of orange. Laissez les bon temps rouler.
 
Any local would tell you to visit the Dinosaur Barbeque. Fun place but busy.

http://www.dinosaurbarbque.com/bbq-Syracuse

Armory Square is another section of town you may want to visit after the game. Good night life. Bars, restaurants, etc. There is a lot to do at the Turning Stone as well. If anyone is in to shopping, Destiny Mall is worth a visit.

Have fun. We look forward to having you guys visit.
 
paper cat said:
First of all, congratulations to Syracuse on their 3-0 start. I do not know all that much about the northern ACC teams and Syracuse football (At the risk of giving my age away I certainly remember Larry Csonka, Floyd Little and Jim Brown). I see where you guys have a great schedule this year with teams like Clemson, Florida State, Virginia and LSU on it.

I am headed up for the game on Thursday and will be staying with my wife and another couple at Turning Stone casino. The four of us made the trip of a few years back to West Virginia, but flew in and out the same day so did not get to see much of the area. I get to NYC a good bit but have seen little of upstate NY, having been to Buffalo once for a short business trip. Ant recommendations on places to go or restaurants to try? I think we will probably rent a car and might play a round of golf at the casino course. The girls want to see Niagra Falls but I don't know how doable that is. We are headed back on Sunday.

I can answer most questions anyone has about LSU football. The formula most teams that have beaten LSU in the past couple of years use is very basic. Bring a safety or two up into the box to stop the run and make LSU beat you with the pass. LSU has a young and talented qb, but he did not throw much in the first two games and missed a few throws badly in the Auburn game. LSU actually has two or three receivers who will play in the NFL, but cannot seem to get the ball to them. LSU has been fortunate thus far that even against eight man fronts they have run the ball well. Fournette is drawing comparisons to a lot of great college backs and is a load. Guice is a freshman running back who is very good as well. Stopping LSU is not rocket science. I would commit as much as I could to stopping the run and take my chances with LSU's passing game.

LSU's defense is still a bit of a mystery, both Auburn and Mississippi State moved the ball well against LSU in the second half. There is a lot of speed on the defense everywhere. They play a 4-2-5 base defense and all five defensive back starters I think will probably get drafted. LSU is thin depth wise with their front seven and do not rotate defensive linemen as much as they did in the past. You could see the front seven run out of gas in the fourth quarter against Mississippi State. LSU fans are excited but not sure if their 2-0 start is because LSU is improved or that Mississippi State and Auburn are just not that good.

We are really looking forward to seeing a new area and enjoying the cooler weather. We make a couple away games a year and for the most part the fans at other venues have been great. I think maybe the roughest crowd we ran into, which was a bit surprising, was at West Virginia. I still liked it better than going to Tuscaloosa. Auburn and Ole Miss have great venues for college football.

Let me know if you have any suggestions for places to go and food to eat. We prefer the local haunts to the tourist places, and definitely like trying out local cuisine, so please do not send us to a Cajun restaurant. Lol. Hoping for a good football game Saturday. Orange is not my favorite color, but Syracuse orange is way better than Tennessee's neon orange or Texas burnt orange. I guess when your team is purple and gold though(a mardi gras story is behind that), you can't be too critical of any shade of orange. Laissez les bon temps rouler.
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Texanmark, a SU fan that coordinates road trips has a great guide for visitors. That would be a good place to start. Looking forward to Saturday. Best wishes, at least before and after the game.
 
Dinosaur B-B-Que is the best and Joel's is a pretty good steakhouse that is close to Turning Stone. If you are looking for something different you can try out Teddy's Restaurant in Rome. It is about a 15 minute drive from Turning Stone and they have the best Chicken Riggis. Welcome to the Cuse!

As for the game, I am not sure if it will be too close, especially if Dungey doesn't make it back. Eric Dungey has really provided a big spark for our offense and has added a renewed optimism by us fans into our program. Fournette is a beast and I am hoping that if we stack the box we can at least keep him under 150. I am hoping that we can at least make it competitive.

As for the fans, most of us are pretty welcoming and are looking forward to seeing some different fans travel north to see our beautiful campus. Welcome again!!
 
Turning Stone casino to Niagara Falls is roughly a 3 hour drive each way. You could do that in a day (Friday) but it would be a long one. If you do decide to try it, bring your passports as you will want to see the Falls from the Canadian (as well as the U.S.) side. You just cross at the Rainbow Bridge which is right in the middle of Niagara Falls.

Other ideas for side trips would be to the Finger Lakes (about 2 hours each way) and the many wineries thereabout or Cooperstown NY for the Baseball Hall of Fame (about 1 hour each way).
 
As others have stated, Dinosaur is the most famous place to visit for food. A few years back it was voted as the best BBQ joint in America (by means that I'm sure were totally scientifically accurate, of course).

Syracuse has been featured on a few episodes of stuff like Man vs Food and Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, so I would recommend trying to track those episodes down to get a sense of the food scene in Syracuse. There's some good stuff in the town.

If you feel like venturing to the Irish part of town, which is across the city from SU, basically, I love Coleman's. Great Irish pub.
 
jekelish said:
As others have stated, Dinosaur is the most famous place to visit for food. A few years back it was voted as the best BBQ joint in America (by means that I'm sure were totally scientifically accurate, of course).

Syracuse has been featured on a few episodes of stuff like Man vs Food and Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, so I would recommend trying to track those episodes down to get a sense of the food scene in Syracuse. There's some good stuff in the town.

If you feel like venturing to the Irish part of town, which is across the city from SU, basically, I love Coleman's. Great Irish pub.
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Pastabilities was on Triple D, that was fun. I'm not a local, so will let the others chime in. Cuse itself has a lot of really good local flavored food, moreso than most places.
 
Bayside44 said:
Pastabilities was on Triple D, that was fun. I'm not a local, so will let the others chime in. Cuse itself has a lot of really good local flavored food, moreso than most places.
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Yep, I can't chime in anymore, as I've only been back to Syracuse a few times since I graduated in '03. And I'm still depressed that 1) Faegan's discontinued the Faegan Burger, and 2) Darwin's is closed.
 
Turning Stone is a nice casino, but IMO if you've seen one casino you've seen them all. My recommendation would be to spend as much time in downtown Syracuse as possible. There are tons of eating, drinking, entertainment options just minutes from the Dome so it should be pretty convenient for you to come to Syracuse early and stay all day.

As others have said, head to Armory Square. There are as many food and drink options as you'd like, and you can ask anyone about what's going on. Pasabilities and Kitty Hoynes are regulars on those eating shows, Dinosaur is too and its just outside of Armory.

Niagara Falls is fun, but all the good stuff is in Canada, so if you don't have passports with you don't even think about going. Even if you do have passports, it will be about a 3 hour trip, so you'll need a full day to make it worth while. You might be better off just staying in Syracuse as soaking up what Syracuse has to offer. More convenient, cheaper, and you can spend all day having fun instead of spending 6 hours of the day driving.
 
Thanks for coming up and enjoying the Central NY fall. It'll be a nice break from what I've been told has been a murderously hot and humid September in B.R.

Someone above mentioned the Finger Lakes. Skip Niagara Falls and head over to the Finger Lakes. Hard not to enjoy that area in September.

I expect you'll have a fun weekend and that you'll be treated with respect and friendship from the vast majority of Orange fans. Hope you avoid the rare bad apple.

Bad luck on Saturday, but great luck the rest of the season. Rooting for you all to win the SEC West.
 
There are many things to do in Upstate New York. Others have mentioned the obvious in Dinosaur BBQ, Armory Square, and where you will be staying, Turning Stone. Some excellent Italian restaurants are another food choice. The Finger Lakes are to the west and it may be a little early for the changing of the colors. The Adirondack Mountains are north east and the Catskill Mountains are south east. All of these tours are best by motorcycle, but a car will do; the wineries tours in the Finger Lakes especially. The Syracuse University campus is worth seeing in more detail, and spend some time on the quad prior to the game as well as tail gating. Marshall Street is part of the campus experience also. Also, Dinosaur BBQ has good blues bands usually.
 
i would recommend heading up to the Adirondack Mountains for the day. The leaves are just starting to change. From turning stones it's about 1.5 hours to old forge. Great hiking and in my opinion the best views anywhere in the world. old forge hardware is a must. Really cool store. Places to eat, people have recommended Joel's steak house. I would skip that place, you can do better. Turning stone is centrally located between Utica and Syracuse. Better places to eat in both cities. Dinosaur bbq is great, so is pastabilities and empire. Finger lakes is a great place, go check out the Sherwood inn in skaneatlas my. They do a fresh seafood Friday with raw oysters clams and shrimp. Golf courses at turning stone are top notch. They are pricy but you won't be disappointed. Have fun!
 
Thanks for all the great recommendations and replies. I am forwarding a copy of the thread to my travelling buddy. I do not know how it works up North, but down here our wives have a way of letting us think we guys actually decide where we go eat and such, but they pretty much run that show. Hopefully there are some shops near the casino so we can cut a - you go shopping/we go play golf - deal one day with the wives.

The women in the south do love their football and bourbon though. A noon start ought to be interesting for this crew, the bars are going to do a very brisk morning business.

I think we will head out to finger lakes. Are the leaves turning yet or are we too early for that?

I did not know your qb got hurt, I hope he is able to play Saturday.

Fournette is a fun player to watch. We were at the Auburn game last week and that was kind of a break out game for him. He is a big guy who runs a 10.6 hundred meters, so once he gets moving he is really hard to get off his feet. Teams that have had success against him bottle him up before he gets up a head of steam.

I really do appreciate the civil and helpful responses. It doesn't work that way on a lot of message boards out there.
 
Last edited:
Turning Stone has a few fantastic golf courses. They have held some PGA events there. Check it out if you are a golfer.
 
paper cat said:
Thanks for all the great recommendations and replies. I am forwarding a copy of the thread to my travelling buddy. I do not know how it works up North, but down here our wives have a way of letting us think we guys actually decide where we go eat and such, but they pretty much run that show. Hopefully there are some shops near the casino so we can cut a - you go shopping/we go play golf - deal one day with the wives.

The women in the south do love their football and bourbon though. A noon start ought to be interesting for this crew, the bars are going to do a very brisk morning business.

I think we will head out to finger lakes. Are the leaves turning yet or are we too early for that?

I did not know your qb got hurt, I hope he is able to play Saturday.

Fournette is a fun player to watch. We were at the Auburn game last week and that was kind of a break out game for him. He is a big guy who runs a 10.6 hundred meters, so once he gets moving he is really hard to get off his feet. Teams that have had success against him bottle him up before he get a head of steam.

I really do appreciate the civil and helpful responses. It doesn't work that way on a lot of message boards out there.
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A little early for the leaves in the finger lakes. Turning stone has an excellent spa so while you golf the ladies can relax. It's a good trade IMO. Depending on where you go in the finger lakes, rosalies in skaneatlas is good, so is 1820 house. Should have fantastic weather this week. You will have a great time
 
jekelish said:
Yep, I can't chime in anymore, as I've only been back to Syracuse a few times since I graduated in '03. And I'm still depressed that 1) Faegan's discontinued the Faegan Burger, and 2) Darwin's is closed.
Expand...

Darwin is definitely open
 
paper cat said:
Thanks for all the great recommendations and replies. I am forwarding a copy of the thread to my travelling buddy. I do not know how it works up North, but down here our wives have a way of letting us think we guys actually decide where we go eat and such, but they pretty much run that show. Hopefully there are some shops near the casino so we can cut a - you go shopping/we go play golf - deal one day with the wives.

The women in the south do love their football and bourbon though. A noon start ought to be interesting for this crew, the bars are going to do a very brisk morning business.

I think we will head out to finger lakes. Are the leaves turning yet or are we too early for that?

I did not know your qb got hurt, I hope he is able to play Saturday.

Fournette is a fun player to watch. We were at the Auburn game last week and that was kind of a break out game for him. He is a big guy who runs a 10.6 hundred meters, so once he gets moving he is really hard to get off his feet. Teams that have had success against him bottle him up before he get a head of steam.

I really do appreciate the civil and helpful responses. It doesn't work that way on a lot of message boards out there.
Expand...

Your about two weeks early or prime leaf color changing but you should see a little bit. Your best bet is to head to Cayuga and Seneca lake on the Fingerlakes. Both have outstanding wineries and gorgeous views. Seneca has about 50+ wineries, a distillery, some breweries and plenty of do.

Cayuga has about a dozen wineries but I think its more doable for a one time trip as you can do nearly all of them in one day. If you end up making that trip let me know I can give you the list of the wineries you want to stop at on either lake.
 
If you go to Niagara Falls and don't have proper ID for crossing the border you can get a good view of the Horseshoe Falls (Canadian) from the recently re-furbished Turtle Point located on Goat Island. Parking in Canada is a bit of a pain and not free.

Also, the Maid of the Mist is a lot of fun. The boats take visitors very close to the falls.

Food choices in Niagara Falls are not numerous. There is a deli and a restaurant run by the community college culinary school located on Old Falls St. near the falls. They make their own pastrami, corned beef, potato chips, bread, & other stuff. The culinary school also has a bakery that is all too tempting. The casino (also near the falls) has several eating places of various stripes.

In Syracuse, you might try Cathy's Corner Cafe. Here's a link to the webpage: http://www.cathyscornercafe.com/

I attended the SU-LSU game at the Hall of Fame Bowl in Florida and was struck by how enthusiastic and cordial the LSU fans were. I hope we can return the hospitality (with the exception of losing the game).

Enjoy your trip.
 
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