Questions from an LSU fan headed to Syracuse for the game

[TexanMark]

Yes Stella's that was it!

Great choice...another place where the downtown working crowd goes for food is Miss Syracuse Diner. Good food, great prices.

 

[310Pigpen]

Go to Letchworth state park, it's the Grand Canyon of the east coast and is ranked number one out of all the state parks in the country. You won't be disappointed

 

[TexanMark]

Paper Cat...you and your crew are welcomed to come to the Fine Mess. We are two blocks west of the Dome. From Gate B of the Dome walk 2 blocks down East Raynor. Turn left on Henry and walk about 150', turn right into the Fine Lot Walk downhill to the end along the treeline. Look for the Cuse Flag and 10th MTN flags. We are the largest tailgate in Stadium West and welcome visiting fans. Cost is $10 per person but it is all you can eat and drink.

 

[suloyalfan]

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.

Syracuse has a long history with West Virginia so we know all about their fan base. This is a "trophy game" with them... Syracuse currently holds the Schwartzwalder Trophy. The trophy goes to the most recent winner in the series...

 

[jgeorge322]

Darwin is definitely open

What? Darwins is back?

 

[Jeremy L.]

Paper Cat...you and your crew are welcomed to come to the Fine Mess. We are two blocks west of the Dome. From Gate B of the Dome walk 2 blocks down East Raynor. Turn left on Henry and walk about 150', turn right into the Fine Lot Walk downhill to the end along the treeline. Look for the Cuse Flag and 10th MTN flags. We are the largest tailgate in Stadium West and welcome visiting fans. Cost is $10 per person but it is all you can eat and drink.

I've heard great things about the tailgate. I'm coming up from Charlotte, NC for my first football game in the Dome in two years. I may swing by and have a drink and meet some people.

 

[GeauxTigers]

I'm guessing the ladies like their Jack and Cokes or perhaps they just want to do boilermakers .

We're packing our own Pat O's Hurricanes and Tropical Isle Hand Grenades. Much more efficient than beer for that noon kickoff.

 

[Moontan]

We're packing our own Pat O's Hurricanes and Tropical Isle Hand Grenades. Much more efficient than beer for that noon kickoff.

You can always grab a beer, or two, in the Dome (as a chaser) through halftime.

 

[690West]

and someone mentioned the town of Skanateles, which is in the finger lakes bout 35 mins from SU. Stllas and the Krebs are awesome (Krebs may already be closed for the season).

2 awesome lunch type joints are basically next to each other in the heart of (a very small) town, Johnny Angels for fantastic burgers and Doug's Fish Fry which should appeal to the sLA crowd, even without the creole seasoning. If there was only some way to get the fried oyseters from Dougs onto a real po boy...(ps, get the fries from Johnnys)

The new Krebs doesn't close for the season anymore.

 

[retro44]

How is the new Krebs? I went after graduation and have a great memory of it, but the last time I looked it up they were still rebuilding.

open again......

 

[007]

Pssst..... he was kidding about his itinerary.

But one more piece of advice paper cat, the only thing that pays at Turning Stone is the ATM machine. Enjoy your time in Cuse.

 

[retro44]

Pssst... he was kidding about his itinerary.

But one more piece of advice paper cat, the only thing that pays at Turning Stone is the ATM machine. Enjoy your time in Cuse.

That is true and that is why I will never visit that casino in particular again. I caught their machines paying out 1x when I bet the 5x option. The girl on the floor said she has no control on how the machines pay out when I showed her the proof by making her stand there until it did it again. That was many years ago though.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Actually the steakhouse on the top floor of the casino is probably one of the best meals you can find in the area. Not cheap but worth it

 

[Rocco]

You will love Dino BBQ. I have never had a bad meal there and the atmosphere is awesome. Just understand that it can be a 45+ minute wait at times. That place is hugely popular, so enjoy a few cocktails while you wait.

Any of the Turning Stone courses are amazing, but my favorite is Kaluhyat. Super challenging. Here's the link:
http://www.turningstone.com/golf/kaluhyat

I agree that any of the pizza places are awesome. Kitty Hoynes, Coleman's and Blarney Stone are all good bars and within 7 minutes of downtown Syracuse.

Turning Stone is a great place. They've really turned into an experience versus just a blackjack/bingo hall. The poker room is great. Amenities are good if you stay in the Lodge.

Finger Lakes is another good option. There are so many wineries on Cayuga and Seneca Lakes. Just take your pick. I would download the Foursquare app because that helps with reviews at any of the places up this way. Not sure how much it is used in your neck of the woods.

Good luck, pretty bad ass you LSU fans are coming in droves 1400 miles to the north.

Fournette is a beast, but he will get a dose of Zaire Franklin and Steven Clark.

 

[TexanMark]

Rocco...LSU has a great travel fan base. Teams that are afraid to play north miss out on seeing different parts of the country (cough, cough Florida Gators). While many LSU fans are coming north from LA...a ton of the fans we'll see are alumni and transplants within 6-8 hours of Cuse. It is a rare treat for them to drive to a game.

I'm just pissed that TV set Noon for the kick...Armory Square just missed out on a bunch of money. If I ran a bar down in Armory...I'd open at 8am on gameday and post a banner welcoming Tiger fans and set up some buses to run fans up/back to the Dome.

 

[Macky44]

I was going to chime in here but can't for the life of me remember the names of these places. I will give a description you guys fill in the names. We are fairly new to the Syracuse area ourselves But the dinosaur bbq is great. We ate last week at a place downtown that was a bar with music that served waffles. All kinds of waffles. That place was good. A few months ago we are at a shack on the side of the road for breakfast it was featured on man vs food and had some great breakfast food. Then there was a diner downtown that looked like a fifties dinner they had great food also. I have been dying to geT into past abilities and try that I hear it's great but haven't been. Ok guys fill in the blanks

FUNK N' WAFFLES

 

[Macky44]

I beg to differ, the original Twin Trees has the best pizza on this earth.

http://originaltwintrees.com/

Twin Trees Restaurant
1100 Avery Ave.
Syracuse, NY 13204
Phone: (315) 468-0622

DAMN STRAIGHT!

 

[Macky44]

Someone should probably tell this guy that beer is sold inside the dome.

You can get bourbon or whiskey at 44's as well if needed. Feel free though paper tiger to bring one of these...

they use metal detectors before you enter the stadium...so you can get away with any plastic flask. I also recommend one of those purses that has a bag of wine built into it.

 

[Macky44]

Oh yes, if you care about seeing it take everybody up to Oswego and check out a sunset on the SUNY Oswego campus. Go to Bev's for ice cream and watch along the water.

RUDY's for fried haddock and ice cream is the way to go in Oswego.

 

[Macky44]

Shenexon, our foursome travels to a couple away games a year. If LSU plays a fun out of conference team like Oregon or Syracuse, we will go there. Next year we will go to Lambeau filed to watch LSU play Wisconsin. We also make it to at least one away SEC game with the goal of going to all the SEC venues at some point. We have to get to Missouri and Texas A&M now that they are in the SEC.

For the most part I find the fans kind of the same for the different places. The majority of fans almost everywhere we go are great. In each fan base there is that 10 to 20% of them that just dont get it. LSU has their fair share for sure. The worst I have seen is at Florida and Georgia, but that was just the bad luck of sitting next to the wrong guy. SEC fans from different schools like to rag on each others fan base, but truth be told the demographics are about the same from school to school with some slight cultural differences.

There is some difference in how serious people take their football. I found Southern Cal fans to be laid back compared to going to a game at Auburn or Florida.

As you say, LSU fans do travel well. Its a long way to Syracuse but there will be a lot of purple and gold. The segment of the LSU fan base that will actually travel that far is usually composed of a pretty good group of folks. It is a party crowd for sure and all the ones I know going are excited to go to a part of the country many LSU people have never been.

Culturally Louisiana is very different depending on where folks come from. South Louisiana, where we are from, is very cajun, Catholic and laid back. North Louisiana tends to be more bible belt and more like Alabama and Mississippi (although they might not like the comparison). The duck dynasty guys are from North La.

I am going to call and make some dinner reservations based on the great recommendations made in this thread. Thanks again to all who made suggestions. I was not expecting so many responses.

Im glad you are from south wheezy

 

[orange79]

Let's all concentrate on providing our guests with options, instead of fighting about who has the best pizza/wings/etc. Thanks.

 

[Macky44]

We're packing our own Pat O's Hurricanes and Tropical Isle Hand Grenades. Much more efficient than beer for that noon kickoff.

Efficiency is key..im starting to like these tiger fans.

 

[Macky44]

Rocco...LSU has a great travel fan base. Teams that are afraid to play north miss out on seeing different parts of the country (cough, cough Florida Gators). While many LSU fans are coming north from LA...a ton of the fans we'll see are alumni and transplants within 6-8 hours of Cuse. It is a rare treat for them to drive to a game.

I'm just pissed that TV set Noon for the kick...Armory Square just missed out on a bunch of money. If I ran a bar down in Armory...I'd open at 8am on gameday and post a banner welcoming Tiger fans and set up some buses to run fans up/back to the Dome.

I guess Armory / Hanover squares will benefit POST-game. It could end up being more profitable.

 

[Cuseregular]

Wow, lots of helpful replies. I am working on agenda now:

Thursday:

Arrive Syracuse noon Thursday, head straight to Dinosaurs for bbq. Head out to Fingerlakes after lunch, with side trip to Cooperstown. Look for Darwins on the way out which may or may not still be there.
Check in Casino at 6, craps tables for one hour at 7, grab winnings and head for dinner in Syracuse, wings at Shiftys.

Wake up at 7 on Friday and get waffles at Funk n Waffles (got to be great with that name). Round of golf after while ladies shop and blow our casino winnings at waterloo outlet. Utica pizza for lunch and then off to wine country for Sideways type excursion where we get only half plastered sipping wine. Back to casino to replenish money stash before heading out to Stellas for dinner. Then back to casino where wives go to bed and guys gamble way longer than planned, giving back winnings and losing equivalent of a small Chevy truck.

Saturday is game day. The crew is used to starting drinking early, but that's for a night game in Tiger stadium. With a noon kickoff, the adult beverage schedule accelerates to 9am, after another round of funky waffles. At ten am wander outside the dome looking for charitable invites to tailgates, Syracuse or LSU tailgates, preferably Syracuse because we didn't go all that way for alligator jambalaya. We can eat NY pizza and polish sausage at the game (or is that just in Chicago?)

Noon to three watch game and argue with wives about the risks and rewards of sneaking bourbon into the game (for them, not us). Win or lose, party continues after, that's how this crew rolls. Been to too many away games where LSU has lost to let the game spoil a good trip. Party in whatever random strip of bars can be found in downtown Syracuse after the game.

Saturday at 6 head back to casino and crap tables. Calculate how much trip money is left, develop a plan not to gamble beyond a certain limit, abandon that plan by 7 and then hit the ATM machines. Try out the steakhouse at the casino and room service some late night pizza.

Sunday = travel day home.

How is that? I hate to load up too much into a trip, but don't want to miss anything. The suggestions are much appreciated and I watched every one of videos macky44 put up. If you have a tailgate we can stop by, give me directions and we will come for a drink before the game if invited.

Do not, I repeat do not do dinner at Stella's. Dicey at night, and while stellar for breakfast it's not great dinner food, and the ambiance is standard Waffle house at best. Other than that Stellar plan (lots of Stellars in there!). Enjoy and safe travels!

 

[cuse309]

Wow, lots of helpful replies. I am working on agenda now:

Thursday:

Arrive Syracuse noon Thursday, head straight to Dinosaurs for bbq. Head out to Fingerlakes after lunch, with side trip to Cooperstown. Look for Darwins on the way out which may or may not still be there.
Check in Casino at 6, craps tables for one hour at 7, grab winnings and head for dinner in Syracuse, wings at Shiftys.

Wake up at 7 on Friday and get waffles at Funk n Waffles (got to be great with that name). Round of golf after while ladies shop and blow our casino winnings at waterloo outlet. Utica pizza for lunch and then off to wine country for Sideways type excursion where we get only half plastered sipping wine. Back to casino to replenish money stash before heading out to Stellas for dinner. Then back to casino where wives go to bed and guys gamble way longer than planned, giving back winnings and losing equivalent of a small Chevy truck.

Saturday is game day. The crew is used to starting drinking early, but that's for a night game in Tiger stadium. With a noon kickoff, the adult beverage schedule accelerates to 9am, after another round of funky waffles. At ten am wander outside the dome looking for charitable invites to tailgates, Syracuse or LSU tailgates, preferably Syracuse because we didn't go all that way for alligator jambalaya. We can eat NY pizza and polish sausage at the game (or is that just in Chicago?)

Noon to three watch game and argue with wives about the risks and rewards of sneaking bourbon into the game (for them, not us). Win or lose, party continues after, that's how this crew rolls. Been to too many away games where LSU has lost to let the game spoil a good trip. Party in whatever random strip of bars can be found in downtown Syracuse after the game.

Saturday at 6 head back to casino and crap tables. Calculate how much trip money is left, develop a plan not to gamble beyond a certain limit, abandon that plan by 7 and then hit the ATM machines. Try out the steakhouse at the casino and room service some late night pizza.

Sunday = travel day home.

How is that? I hate to load up too much into a trip, but don't want to miss anything. The suggestions are much appreciated and I watched every one of videos macky44 put up. If you have a tailgate we can stop by, give me directions and we will come for a drink before the game if invited.

Thats's a hell of a lot of driving. Will you be using a Flying Delorean in order to do all this? I did the calculations for you.
Day 1 itinerary is 282 miles of driving
Day 2 itinerary is a more manageable 161 miles
Day 3 70 miles
Grand total of 513 miles.
I'm just hoping we can keep Leonard Fournette under the amount of mileage you'll be traveling.