Iowa road trip ....
OK ... need to start working on my away game trips. Got the Northwestern game covered (thanks to my Uof M son now living in Evanston), but I will be making my first trip out to Iowa City. I know we have several posters that travel to the away games, so looking for some advice.
I normally try to stay about an hour short of my destination (saves some $$$ usually). Will go in early for a nice long tailgate (hopefully not a noon start). So where should I be looking to stay and how is the parking / tailgating at Iowa games ? Thanks for the help and ...
Go Blue !
If you are looking to stay an hour short and assuming you are coming from the east Davenport is your spot at just an hour away from Iowa City. It's about 15 minutes away from the turnpike. Also from my experiences at Iowa is a tough ticket to find for a decent price.
already have 4.
Go Blue !
I wouldn't necessarily recommend Davenport because you're looking at *least* an hour drive. Cedar Rapids is 30 minutes away via I-380 and there are a number of largish hotels on the Iowa City side of things. I don't know how affected they are by football games but CR is a big enough market that it shouldn't be saturated.
If you want that small town feel, I would highly recommend Mt Vernon. It's home to Cornell College, has a quaint uptown with a great restaurant (Lincoln Cafe), breakfast place (Skillet's Cafe) and bars all within 2 blocks. And, it is just under 30 minutes to IC - probably 45-50 minutes to Kinnick. Check out the Sleep Inn & Suites.
Source: I went to high school in MV and have a bachelors from the U of Iowa.
take those things seriously in Iowa.
I went to the special teams debacle of 2003 in Iowa City. The parking was pretty easy and the tailgating was fine. Be careful walking past the student tailgating area which is a parking lot/structure IIRC. We had full beer cans thrown at us. On the positive, hopefully the dude selling "big ass turkey legs" will still be there. Make sure to hit that.
Also, yelling such things as "Go Blue" could be grounds for drunk people trying to fight you. I was surprised at how much animosity Iowa has for Michigan. That trip also set my record for the oldest women I've ever seen walking around with a beer. Good luck on your trip.
Remember when I got hit in the face with one of those beers? That sucked. Or how that guy jumped us in the stands for singing the Victors and I got a stern talking to from the police but they let me back in since he was way drunker than me? Good times!
into such classless fools. I always try to convince myself Hawkeye fans have more tact than that.
Was there in '09 and your right about these people,how they hate Michigan.Just saying "go Blue" and 20 wangstas are yelling F U .Also classic were a bunch of 50 year old women with "Muck Fichigan" shirts thinking they were pretty cool.I expected a fanbase with some class, reminded me of Madison.
i think there is a train that runs from coralville, about 45 mins north of iowa city, into iowa city and stops at the main tailgate parking lot. it will save you a ton of headache getting in and out of there and there is some decent (by iowa standards) lodging in coralville. you can tailgate prior to the game if you bring disposible grill and foam coolers and just pitch them before going into the game.
you could also look for the alumni tailgate tent at any away game, they will have tvs set up for other games and food to buy and, if the weather is bad, they obviously have a tent.
Not 45 minutes. Coralville is to Iowa City as Ypsi is to Ann Arbor. The team actually stays at the Mariott in Coralville which is right off highway 80.
If you're looking to stay an hour away, definitely Davenport or one of the other quad cities (Moline, Bettendorf, Rock Island).
perhaps i am thinking of the commute between rantoul and champaign-urbana then
The train is a great idea to get to the tailgate. Also, if you drive into IC in the morning. You can park for Free at their version of Hill Auditorium. They call this Hancher (sp?) Hall. Free tailgate, great big parking lot, 15 min walk through the Med School to get to the game or free shuttle busses.... not too bad.
I'm a UM graduate (Class of 2011!!!!) but I will be a medical student at Iowa next fall. In a few weeks (I move out there this friday) I can give you a more detailed low-down on the gameday scene there. If interested, reply and we can exchange emails.
I'm also a UM grad and currently a third year medical student at Iowa. The tailgate scene is pretty good, although I'm not really sure where a Michigan friendly area would be. Anywhere near Melrose Av. is the place to be. I have a friend that lives about a five minute walk from the stadium, and he had people park on his lawn last year. If you are interested I can see if he is planning to do the same this year. Echoing what other people have said, if you are hoping to stay a little outside of Iowa City, I would recommend Cedar Rapids, as the Quad Cities area is an hour drive on non-gamedays. Let me know if you have any other questions. Also, PackardChug, congrats on joining the UM grads at CCOM. There are four UM grads in my class, so it will be nice to have another wolverine around. Be prepared for everyone to refer to Michigan as "Big Blue" and to treat Michigan as if we are one of their biggest rivals (who knew).
I plan on making the trip from Ann Arbor and would definitely be interested in hearing more about the gameday scene once you get it figured out. edzinger7 at gmail dot com. I'm in the market for two tickets, so any help there would be greatly appreciated too.
Congratulations on graduation and med school! I also just graduated and will be back at Michigan this fall for grad school...kind of needed another semester of football after these past four years of school.
Went out there for 2001 game where Marquise Walker made one of the sickest catches ever. Stayed in Quad Cities area, easy back and forth to Iowa City. Town and campus was not what I expected at all. Rolling hills and river running through town. Beautiful. Nice enough that I said to myself I'd send my kids there.
I went two years ago and will probably go again this year. That's because Iowa City is fantastic. Don't worry about parking or gameday logistics, despite the warnings you may hear from the locals: it's will be "traffic" only by Iowa standards.
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<br>On gameday, we breezed right into town. We found ample parking on campus. The stadium is a short walk from there -- sort of like the AA scenario, but easier. Tailgates will be ample and generally friendly. Good brats. Small warning: although the adults and sober people are extremely genial, the students get pretty hammered, especially at night games. If the game is a nooner, it should be less of a problem.
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<br>Only big warning concerns lodging. Options aren't many, so the place fills up fast. We had to stay in Cedar Rapids, which isn't nearby. So book now.