Looking forward to visiting Bloomington for the first time in a few weeks for the Rutgers game with a few buddies. Appreciate any advice you might have on hotel, tailgating spots before the game, spots for food and drinks, and other must-sees while in town. We will also be driving into Chicago on Sunday to take in the Bears game. Any suggestions there also greatly appreciated. Thanks and look forward to getting into town!!
Advice for Visiting Fans
- Thread starter RRRRUUUU95
- Start date
I would suggest airbnb if there's any left. I doubt it but there might be one left. And for parking if you like to tailgate then go to the tailgate lot. People are usually friendly cause everyone is just totally trashed. Lol Or if you don't like to tailgate, park at the Kelley school of business parking garage. It's free. And for the food, If you like bar food go to Nick's or the crazy horse. If you like Greek food, I would suggest the Trojan Horse. If you want something expensive, go to the Malibu grill. The steak there is amazing. Hope this helps have fun in Bloomington.
Sorry didn't pay attention that you wanted to tailgate lol go to huge field right by Memorial stadium. There will be abunch of cars there.
If you haven't got a hotel room by now, then you are either going to get severely gouged or have a hard time finding a decent room. I would look for a room in Bedford or in a nearby town.
On game day, tailgate in the grass lot south of the stadium (see giant arrow) and go to Nick's English Hut or something else on Kirkwood. The team walk occurs 2 hours 15 minutes before kick off, and that's between Assembly Hall and Memorial Stadium. Be sure to walk through campus if you have time. If you like basketball, you can walk through the lobbies of Assembly Hall and hopefully grab a look at the court, and check out the lobby of Cook Hall, the basketball practice facility next-door. Both are right across (east) from the stadium.
Just for future reference, do you mean the grass lot? Every lot around the stadium is a tailgate lot.
I can't imagine IU/Rutgers getting a good TV slot towards the end of the season. One thing I'll suggest though. If you are headed to game on Saturday from Indy area (south on State Road 37) whatever time you think is early. Add another 1-2 hours. Traffic backs up because of construction. Enjoy your stay!
If you haven't already checked TravelAdvisor.com, that would be good place to start. As far as must-sees go, park your car at the west side of the campus and take a leisurely walk around the core of the campus, probably ending at the Auditorium and taking an interesting tour of the unique Lilly Library at the east side of Seventh Street. The Indiana Memorial Union has a mere 1 million square feet under roof, including a hotel, book store, and several eateries, well worth a visit. As far as places to eat go, you will get lots of suggestions from folks on this board, including traditional favorites like Nick's English Hut and the Irish Lion(know for its selection of whiskeys and beers as well as Irish foods), but Bloomington's food scene has expanded substantially, so you can get good steaks at a place like Little Zagreb, a variety of ethnic foods on Fourth Street on the south side of downtown near campus, and an upscale brewpub like Upland Brewery, which has an award winning chef. Having lived in the Chicago area for over 20 years, all I can say is that you should ask the folks at the check in desk where you will be staying for their suggestions. There is great food of all sorts all over Chicagoland, and there are multiple traditional places to visit like the Museum of Science & Industry, the Chicago Art Institute, and smaller venues. Whatever you choose in Btown or Chitown -- welcome and have fun!!
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It is very difficult to go wrong in Btown. Good restaurants, bars, tailgating, and live music are everywhere. Best road trip in the BIG by a long shot.
Depending on what you like:
1. Wandering Old Campus:
The Chamber of Commerce "photo op" spot of IU is at the corner of Kirkwood and Indiana. It's called The Sample Gates, built by the Sample Family.
Looking east, into "Old Campus":
Looking west, toward downtown, down Kirkwood:
At the Gates, looking east into campus, Third Street is to your right, 7th Street is to your left. Wander the woods and paths between them. Third street is lined with academic buildings and Greek houses. The paths go behind them. 7th street has Dunn Meadow and The Little Jordan River. The Union Building (go in and wander - bookstore on second floor). The Showalter Fountain and an Art Museum and the Indiana Auditorim is at the end of 7th.
(I park at the Union Building and wander around the area.)
2. Nicks. Looking downtown from the Sample Gates, Nicks English Hut is on the right 1.5 blocks west. Greatest pizza/beer/sports joint ever. I apologize for the bums and methheads in the little park at the first corner. Bloomington is progressive.
3. Gables. Half a block south/left from the Gates is The Gables, where Hoagy Carmichael hung out, and where George Taliafero and Herman Wells integrated Bloomington for IU students.
4. Between 7th and 10th is an Arboretum. Our original Memorial Stadium was there. The Little 500 was there. The library (which people claimed was so big it was sinking) and the Business School are at the corner of 10th/Fee Lane/Jordan Avenue. Fee and Jordan both have more Greek houses. Jordan also has IU concert venues and School of Music. At Third and Jordan - Bears and Mother Bears. Pizza joints. Folks fight about which is best.
5. Game day. Memorial Stadium and Assembly Hall sit between 17th Street and what locals call "the Bypass" - highway 45/46. The whole area is parking and tailgating, it the best tailgate area is across 17th in the grass/tree lots. The Student Debauchery Contest is at the corner of 17th and Fess. The rest is families, alumni and visitors of all kinds. 17th gets very full of traffic for an hour or so before games. Be in the lots 2 hours early for less car stress.
Others have other suggestions.
Dinner in Bloomington is hard to advise. Too many good choices.
Hotels gouge football fans. Sorry. If 37 was not under construction, I'd advise staying in Indy (requires a post-game designated driver).
I'd advise non-37 routes between Indy and Bloomington on game day.
65 to Columbus and 46 is a pretty drive - but Leaf Lookers and CRaft Fair attendees can make the drive slow. 70 to 231 to 46 has been popular too. Both are extra miles but fewer minutes.
Southern Indiana is rustic. Enjoy.
A different idea. Stay an hour south of Bloomington in French Lick at the casino. Traffic coming in from the south is much better than any other direction.
https://www.frenchlick.com/
https://www.frenchlick.com/
This is a good idea. I hadn't thought of this. They would just take a more southern route from NJ, but the drive to the stadium would be easier than slugging it out from the north or paying expensive game day rates in Bloomington.
I-64 across WV, KY and IN is lightly traveled for the most part. Even the metro areas you pass through are pretty easy to navigate. On game day morning take Hwy 150/Hwy 50 from French Lick to Bedford for one of the prettiest drives in Indiana. It's easy divided hwy from there up to Bloomington.
The hotels/casino in French Lick offer decent food options. I personally like the restaurant at the Pete Dye golf course for a quiet time or the Power Plant inside the French Lick Springs hotel for a quick bite.
Looking forward to checking it all out and hoping for an exciting game. Thanks for the advice and please keep it coming.
go to nick's tonight and play sink the biz... then head across the street to upstairs... drink an AMF and play some pool...when you get back to hotel and if mother bears is closed(closes at 1am)... order from Pizza X(open for delivery until 4am), get the BigXBargain (was called the Big Ten, back in the day)....
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