Our First Football Game

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Notre Dame
1

<p>DS is a freshman at ND - we just dropped him off after a wonderful week with him over Fall Break.</p>

<p>We bought tickets for the Navy game this Saturday, and I am interested in advice from expereinced ND footballers.</p>

<p>We live roughly five hours from campus, so I was planning to leave around 5am Saturday morning, spend the late morning/early afternoon with DS and leave immediately after the game to drive home (arriving after midnight).</p>

<p>Is this a good agenda?
Any suggestions for parking?
Will traffic be impossible late morning or after the game? We will be arriving from the South on Route 31.
Are there any pre-game festivities that we don't want to miss?
Any suggestions for lunch and/or dinner?
Should we expect anything unusual at the stadium?</p>

<p>Thanks for your consideration.</p>

2

<p>The timing sounds good, and you should have plenty of time with your son. My daughter is a freshman as well, but we live much closer and have been fortunate to attend many games over the years. As far as events, check out gameday.nd.edu and you will see listings for all the on-campus events. The player walk, bagpipe concert, marching band concert, glee club concert, and band march out are all fun to attend. As far as food, there are always dorms, clubs, and the Knights of Columbus out on campus selling burgers, brats, and steak sandwiches and the like. Eddy Street has several restaurants. We will be at brunch at The Mark on Eddy Street, and I highly recommend it. You can reserve there on Open Table. Other than that, there is a McAlisters, Five Guys, Chipotle, as well as a couple of pub type places on Eddy Street. Parking shouldn’t be much of a problem. Lots of residents sell space in their driveways. Without a parking pass, you will not be able to park on campus. I always park in the Eddy Street garage. It is more expensive, but if you reserve ahead, you are guaranteed a spot. Traffic shouldn’t be too bad when you arrive, but could be tricky after the game. The only unusual thing about attending a game at ND is how respectful the crowd generally is, which helps to keep the experience positive. My daughter road tripped to the ND-Michigan game this fall and let’s just say she won’t be doing that again. If you have any other questions, feel free to pm me. Hope this helps.</p>

3

<p>My son is a freshman. Going up to see him and the game Saturday as well. </p>

<p>Five hours each way plus the game is a long day. Sitting out in the cold and damp does take something out of me. Along with the NBC commercial breaks that extend the game past 7 p.m. I think your plan for heading back can work, but to be safe I would throw a small overnight kit andor change of clothes just in case you need to grab a room somewhere on the way back. You mentioned you are coming from the South - getting a room around Indy should not be a problem if you are coming that way. I would recommend having the phone numbers of a few hotels on your route before you leave or download the apps from the major hotel chains. My drive each way is about 2.5 hours and I’m dreading the drive home.</p>

<p>We park in the neighborhood just southwest of campus - on either Pokagon, Peashway or Napoleon Streets. Go to mapquest and put in Notre Dame, Indiana and you should be able to see the area I am talking in. We park right along the street. Just be respectful and not block driveways or fire hydrants. After the game we have about a 15 minute walk and get in the car and start driving. Heading South there will be heavy traffic on 31 until you get past the bypass - then it generally opens up.</p>

<p>The above post covers most of the dining options. I would add that the South Dining Hall has a brunch. From what my son tells me it is typical dining hall fare. I’m not sure what the cost is for parents, guests, etc. My son is leaning towards wanting us to get up to campus early and take him somewhere away from campus for a lunch that is different than his usual choices.</p>

<p>Make sure you read the new stadium bag policy. </p>

<p>[New</a> Stadium Bag Policy // Game Day // University of Notre Dame](<a href=“Notre Dame Athletics | The Fighting Irish | Ticketing”>Notre Dame Athletics | The Fighting Irish | Ticketing)</p>

<p>Here is the gameday page</p>

<p>[Game</a> Day Info // Game Day // University of Notre Dame](<a href=“Notre Dame Athletics | The Fighting Irish | Ticketing”>Notre Dame Athletics | The Fighting Irish | Ticketing)</p>

<p>Not sure if you are sitting the lower (sections 1-36) or upper (sections 101-136) bowl. There is a huge difference in seating comfort between the sections. The lower bowl was the original 1920’s construction - built for the size of people in 1920. With the cooler weather and most wearing coats Saturday, you will likely be wedged in pretty tight. Shoulder to shoulder and your knees in someone’s back or damn close to it (and the person behind you the same with your back). Much more room between rows in the upper level (1990’s expansion).</p>

<p>Chance of rain Saturday - bring a poncho or Notre Dame will be glad to sell you one.</p>

<p>If you did not do it during Frosh O, go to the Rockne Memorial buildilng and go in and rub Knute’s nose for good luck. </p>

<p>Be in your seats in time for the presentation of colors and the pregame band festivities. Make sure you are in your seats between the third and fourth quarter for a special announcement - it will be the quietest the stadium gets all day. And stay after the game for the band’s post game show - including the alma mater. </p>

<p>Have a great time. I hope we get a good game and a dry day and good times with our kids.</p>

4

<p>My son, too, is a freshman at ND. We live quite far away, but go up for a few games a year as he is the fourth member of the family to attend ND. I think the idea of bringing an overnight bag is a good one, in case you want to stop. It is an exhausting day, mostly outside, and if the weather is less than cooperative, you could be quite tired before you would get home.
We have parked at St Mary’s and Holy Cross - its about $20. Especially since you will be getting there early, there are also places at the back of campus - off Douglas road you can pay to park. The suggestions for the neighborhood are also good.
There are many student organizations that sell burgers and hot dogs on campus to raise money for their organization, so that is a reasonable option for food. After the game, South dining hall does a “candlelight” dinner,- it is fun, but not cheap!
We love to catch the band concert on the steps of Bond Hall, and the concert right after outside the dome. After the game, you can go to Mass if you want, but since you are driving home, that may not be your best option. The suggestion for checking out gameday.nd.edu is a great one - there are lectures, and concerts before the game. As well, the parking lots around the stadium have numerous tailgates to enjoy.
And I never miss an opportunity to go by the Grotto - it’s one of my favorite parts of the weekend!
Enjoy yourself - a game at ND is a lot of fun! Since it’s Navy, you will see lots of respect - for example, at the end of the game all the players go to the Naval band for Navy’s alma mater - Anchors Away, then all the players go to ND’s side to sing Notre Dame Our Mother. Do not leave early if you can help it! Also, bring a cushion to sit on, and lots of warm clothing and rain gear - especially a poncho, and a towel!
And be prepared to drink in the fun and excitement of game weekends!</p>

5

<p>Thanks for all your responses - very helpful, especially the Gameday website. That site is full of great information. The band concerts and parades are the kinds of things we have been looking forward to and now I know we won’t miss them.</p>

<p>I thought about stopping for a hotel in Indy, but at that point we are halfway home. I will definitely write down a couple hotel phone numbers in case we are too exhausted to drive all the way. Or too wet - rain is predicted for Saturday. We will definitely bring ponchos and rain gear.</p>

<p>My wife had foot surgery earlier this year and while she is able to walk, I would prefer to minimize it as much as possible. Will it be possible for me to drop her off on or near campus? My son lives in St. Eds and it would be perfect if I could drop her off there, but that is probably being too optimistic.</p>

6

<p>Someone else may have direct experience, but I understand that, after 6 am on game day, no cars are allowed on campus without parking pass. I don’t know if you might be able to take a taxi and be dropped off, say, on the Main Circle. There are often folks zipping around on golf carts – maybe explore websites to see what kind of options there might be for folks in need of extra assistance?</p>

7

<p>Its probably worth a call to the University today about maybe arranging a way to limit your wife’s walking. Maybe start with the ticket office and go from there.</p>

<p>If you think you will push on from Indy regardless, I would look at Kokomo if you need a hotel. I think you will know by then and have a much better idea of timing. Hampton, Fairfield, Courtyard, Holiday Inn Express all have decent reviews. Unfortunately the new Kokomo bypass (that bypasses the 1950’s era Kokomo Bypass) isn’t open yet. They keep saying Thanksgiving, but based on what I saw last weekend, I don’t know. At this point I’m hoping for when we bring the kids back for Christmas break.</p>

<p>I’m planning to take a small bag of dry clothes to leave in my son’s room just in case we get too wet. The debate now is what jacket to take. The “fall jacket” with a couple of extra layers or just break down and take the winter coat. </p>

<p>The current forecast for Saturday - its the wind that concerns me.</p>

<p>A 50 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 48. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.</p>

<p>But no matter what the weather, it will be a great day on campus.</p>

<p>I did see earlier that the Blue Angels are planning a flyover - that will be the first of the year according to my son. They most often fly from South to North for the flyovers based on my experience (towards the library). Hopefully the visibility is enough that they can do the flyover.</p>

8

<p>There is an email and a phone number on the bottom of the gameday website. I would try to contact the school and see if an accommodation can be made for your wife. If you have even a temporary handicap permit that may help. There are typically some golf carts around campus on game days. See if you can reserve something ahead of time, or (more likely) you should try to get the number of the dispatcher so you can call when you get on campus. My parents came out for my S’s graduation last spring and those golf carts were life savers. Enjoy the experience.</p>

9

<p>We had a great time yesterday! Highlights of the day (other than great time with DS) included the bag pipe concert at Main Building, looking over the campus from the 11th floor of the library, Blue Angels fly-over and of course, the team’s victory.</p>

<p>Traffic and getting around campus was far easier that I had feared. I was able to drop my wife off on-campus after a bit of negotiation with the security officer - I’m sure it was easier to do so at 10am than it would have been later in the day. I got lucky and stumbled into a free, on-street parking spot only 1.5 blocks from the Eddy Street Commons. After the game, I considered hiring one of the bicyclye/gondolas for her ride back to the car, but her foot was holding up well. We did make it home last night around 1am although we were prepared if we decided to stop. It definitely helped having an extra hour of sleep this morning.</p>

<p>I guess it would be a stretch to say that the weather was beautiful, but the only hard rain that we had was during the band concert at Bond Hall. It was a bit cool overall, but not unpleasant and the trees around campus were gorgeous.</p>

<p>I got a kick out of all the grilling tents set up around campus - these made the air smell like a football game all day. We wanted to have a place to sit while we ate lunch, so we went into LaFun. DS provided a wonderful surprise by buying our lunch there with his flex points.</p>

<p>Thanks to the suggestions for reviewing the gameday web site - we would have missed some great events without it. I mentioned earlier how much I enjoyed the bagpipes. The Glee Club was difficult to hear, so we didn’t stay there long. Instead we went into Hesburgh Library to view campus from up high - spectacular! The Players’ Walk was next - impressive that we were able to get so close to them (and Brian Kelly is much shorter than he appears on TV). We then went across campus for the Band concert and the rain started. We enjoyed it anyway, although the songs they played were the same ones they used later during the halftime show - I guess it was a dress rehearsal/warmup for them.</p>

<p>DS left after this to meet his friends for the game. We had enjoyed getting to meet his friends, see his room, and just experience a bit of his “new life” away from home. Our last stop before the game was the trumpets in the Rotunda. This could have been a neat experience, except that there were far too many people. Maybe this was extra crowded due to the rain and people looking for an indoor event.</p>

<p>We headed to the stadium - our seats were in the lower (older) bowl, in the corner behind the flag pole and in front of Touchdown Jesus. I can’t imagine any seats have a bad view, although IndyDave was right about being packed together. Also, the bench seemed too narrow for my comfort and I felt sorry for overweight fans. Security didn’t seem to enforce the bag policy too rigidly - I had a large trash bag filled with blankets, ponchos, umbrellas and extra layers of warm clothes that they allowed me to bring in.</p>

<p>Wonderful festivities once the game started - especially the Blue Angels. We enjoyed chatting with the other fans sitting nearby - it felt like we were part of a pleasant family gathering. It was hilarious watching the student section doing pushups after every TD. They didn’t seem to slow down or wear out, even after scoring 38 points. It would have been difficult to buy any concessions with the long lines and narrow concourses so we didn’t even try.</p>

<p>Thanks again to everyone for your inputs. I definitely understand why the games are so popular, even though we were only able to experience a small portion of all the activities around campus.</p>

10

<p>Glad you had such a wonderful experience and that your S is settled in and happy at ND. And it never hurts when you are there for a ND victory (even if it is closer than expected)!</p>

11

<p>Get season tickets for next year…Everett will be back!</p>

12

<p>He’s back !!! ND football is going to be fun to watch!</p>