Football Road Trip 

click to enlarge

With Utah and BYU kicking off their football seasons in the coming week, Ute and Coug fans will have plenty of chances to travel and cheer on their favorite team. Here are some of the highlights. All games are on Saturdays unless otherwise noted.

Utah at UCLA, Oct. 13
While the UCLA campus is located in Westwood, the game is at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, about a 35-minute drive from the campus.

Check Out: The possibilities in Los Angeles are endless, but if you’re staying in Pasadena, try the Norton-Simon Museum just blocks from the Rose Bowl (411 W. Colorado Blvd., 626-449-6840, NortonSimon.org) to see Degas and Picasso before cheering Wynn and White.

Try This: If you’re hanging out in Westwood, scrounge up a mere $1.75 in change and go to Diddy Riese (926 Broxton Ave., 310-208-0448, DiddyRiese.com) to get a scoop of Dreyer’s ice cream slapped between two freshly baked cookies. If you’re driving from Westwood to Pasadena, stop in East L.A. at El Tepeyac (812 N. Evergreen Ave., 328-268-1960, ManuelsElTepeyac.com) and try the Hollenbeck burrito, which is the size of an actual football.

Before the Game: The tailgating area around the Rose Bowl opens six hours before game time, and the average high temperature in Pasadena in October is around 80 degrees. How can you go wrong?

BYU at Notre Dame, Oct. 20
Touchdown Jesus, meet the Angel Moroni!

Check out: The College Football Hall of Fame (111 S. St. Joseph St., CollegeFootball.org). See if you can name the six BYU guys in there.

Try This: Rocco’s (537 N. St. Louis Blvd., 574-233-2464, RoccosOriginalPizza.com) has been serving pizza and spaghetti to fans for more than 60 years. Before the Game: There’s no more historic place for college football, so you’ll want to start on Friday with a Tunnel Tour down the entryway Golden Domers have been using to get to the field for 80 years. Even if you’re not cheering for the Irish, the highlight of game day is when the players, after attending mass, walk to the stadium in the shadow of Touchdown Jesus. (Information on both events at GameDay.ND.edu.)

BYU at Georgia Tech, Oct. 27
The Cougars head to Atlanta to play the Ramblin’ Wreck, a team once coached by John Heisman—yes, that Heisman.

Check out: The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site (NPS.gov/malu) and The King Center (449 Auburn Ave., NE, 404-526-8900, TheKingCenter.org), which sits inside the 23-acre site, celebrates the life and legacy of the civil-rights leader.

Try This: Be greeted with “What’ll ya have!” at The Varsity (61 North Ave., NW, 404-881-1706, TheVarsity.com). The World’s Largest Drive-In sits on two acres a couple of blocks from Bobby Dodd Stadium, and boasts that it serves 30,000 people on game days. Before the Game: Georgia Tech hosts a Friday Night Fan Fest (RamblinWreck.com) at Atlantic Station.

Utah at Washington, Nov. 10
Tow your boat to Seattle since you can get to Husky Stadium via the water.
Check Out: Break out your plaid lumberjack shirt, don’t brush your hair and head over to the Experience Music Project Museum (325 Fifth Ave. N., www.EMPMuseum.org) for new exhibit “Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses.” The museum sits at the base of the Space Needle (SpaceNeedle.com).

Try This: Keeping with the Nirvana theme, Beth’s Cafe (7311 Aurora Ave. N., 206-782-5588, www.BethsCafe.com) is an all-night diner where grunge bands would hang out after concerts. The omelets come in either a six or 12-egg size, or, as the sign out front says, “Omelets bigger than your freakin’ head!”

Before the Game: Ram Restaurant & Brewery (2650 University Village, 206-525-3565, TheRam.com) serves award-winning local beers such as Big Horn Blonde and Total Disorder Porter.

Utah at Colorado, Friday, Nov. 23
After you finish Thanksgiving dinner, spend Black Friday in Boulder.

Check Out: Pearl Street (BoulderDowntown.com) is a four-block pedestrian mall full of shops and restaurants. Boulder abounds with outdoor activities, but be prepared for cold weather in late November.

Try This: The Buff Restaurant (1725 28th St., 303-442-9150, BuffRestaurant.com) serves up a breakfast of “saddlebags”—pancakes with bacon, sausage or ham mixed in the batter—topped with two eggs.
Before the Game: The game is Friday at 1 p.m., so there won’t be the traditional Pearl Street Stampede on Friday night, but Folsom Field is known for having one of the most raucous tailgating scenes in all of college football, possibly even on the morning after Thanksgiving.

We’ve covered some of the top destinations, but there are five other road trips: Arizona State and Oregon State for Utah, and Boise State, San Jose State and New Mexico State for BYU. We’ll have you covered for those games, too. Just check out our Travel Tramps blog at CityWeekly.net during game week.

Now paint your face red or blue and hit the road!

Kathleen Curry and Geoff Griffin write about their treks in City Weekly and also blog as the Travel Tramps at CityWeekly.net. Check out their weekly radio show by going to TravelBrigade.com, or follow them on Twitter @TravelBrigade.