Top 10 Sports Road Trip Destinations in the South
"Road trippin', road trippin', we're not happy unless we're road trippin'."
The above should be the official anthem for any adventurous sports fanatic.
Yeah, spectating at games locally is a delight, but there's a whole nation out there, filled with wildly entertaining and historically significant venues that dot the landscape from coast to coast and everywhere in-between.
So, get out there and find them. But before departure, use the following as your guide.
There are any number of great sports road trip destinations that await you, but we had to draw the line somewhere.
For us, 100 seemed like a nice, round number, including 10 apiece from 10 distinct regions around the U.S.
Let's head south, shall we? I'll try to keep the SEC football stadiums to a minimum, but I can't promise anything.
10. The Grove
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Nearly as indigenous as the oak, elm, and magnolia trees that line this 10-acre plot in the center of the Ole Miss campus, tailgaters make The Grove what it is, which is one of the finest pregame party setups in SEC territory.
It’s a known chore sifting through the dense sea of dolled-up coeds, but even more daunting is discerning what fare is the best, handed out by any number of willing barbeque aficionados who take pride in establishing shop early and breaking things down late.
9. AmericanAirlines Arena
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First of all, no, that is not a misspelling of the arena name. “American” and “Airlines” are joined for form one word, and the facility should not be confused with AmericanAirlines Center, which is located in Dallas.
With that out of the way, let’s focus on the home of the Miami Heat. From the front, with its glass façade, posh design, and illuminating black lights, it looks like a cheesy nightclub misplaced from nearby South Beach.
You feel like you need to pimp a white linen Dolce & Gabbana suit just to gain admission. Truth is, though, you don’t. AmericanAirlines is inviting, just like any other arena out there, only it's one of just two in the nation to have been LEED certified for energy efficiency.
The savings from which are used to feed the three-headed best of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.
8. Daytona International Speedway
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To NASCAR fans what August National is to golf enthusiasts, Daytona International Speedway is a classic, playing host to the Daytona 500 since the track’s birth in 1959.
It is, for lack of a better term, a mecca for gearheads, and its prestigious 2.5-mile stretch of concrete is somewhat of a holy grail, forever etched in lore as the scene of the untimely death of Dale Earhardt.
If watching modified cars go really fast around in circles revs your engine — pun completely intended — visiting Daytona on the third Sunday of February is a must.
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7. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
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In 1991, his second season in Gainesville, then-Florida head coach Steve Spurrier, perhaps inadvertently, gave Ben Hill Griffin its now-popular nickname, saying: “The Swamp is where Gators live. We feel comfortable there, but we hope opponents feel tentative. A swamp is hot and sticky and can be dangerous. Only Gators get out alive.”
And, indeed, that has been the case.
From the time Spurrier took over the program through last season, Florida has posted a record of 117-16 at home, the best mark in the country over that span. The success must be bittersweet, though, for Spurrier, who abruptly left Florida in 2002 for the NFL.
Two of those wins have come against his South Carolina Gamecocks, including a 50-point undressing in 2008.
6. Lousiana Superdome
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More than just the residence of the New Orleans Saints, the Louisiana Superdome is the unofficial home to the Super Bowl, having hosted the nation’s premiere sporting event six times, more than any other stadium.
Nearly half a million square feet of aluminum comprise the building’s exterior, giving it the look of some otherworldly spacecraft, but the Superdome is hardly alien to primetime.
Myriad notable contests are played out within its apexed walls, including the Sugar Bowl, the New Orleans Bowl, the Bayou Classic, and the Final Four, scheduled to take place again in 2012.
5. TPC Sawgrass
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What if I told you the most famous hole in golf was supposed to be nothing more than your run-of-the-mill par-3?
Course architect Pete Dye had intended to construct No. 17 at Sawgrass with only a small pond guarding the green. The lake present today was an unexpected byproduct of the original excavation, which leaked water on nearly all sides of the putting surface.
It wasn’t until then that Dye says his wife conjured the idea for an island green. Feel hoodwinked? Bamboozled? Don’t.
This way, you can hit five balls in the drink and still walk away feeling like a part of history. Try that at your local municipal course.
4. Bryant-Denny Stadium
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Not unlike many other football stadiums in the SEC, Bryant-Denny in Tuscaloosa, Ala., is an impressive sight.
When it opened as Denny Stadium in 1929, the capacity was 6,000. More than 16 times that flood its gates now, as demand for the Crimson Tide product has been driven upward over the years.
Thirteen national titles, as well as periods of sustained dominance during which Alabama has accounted for much of its 212-50-3 all-time record at Bryant-Denny, could be the culprit.
3. Tiger Stadium
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Surveys have concluded it. Television personalities have proclaimed it. Seismographs have confirmed it. Famed Alabama head coach Bear Bryant even admitted it: LSU’s Tiger Stadium is a rather tough place to play as a visiting team.
Nicknamed Death Valley, Tiger Stadium is not for the faint of heart. When full, it stands as the state of Louisiana’s sixth-most populated “city,” and the crowds that fill its bowels often produce sounds capable of jeopardizing the structural integrity of the building.
As was the case in 1988, when in a game versus SEC rival Auburn, LSU fans registered as an earthquake at the school’s nearby geological offices.
2. Augusta National
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When I was little, I often equated my vision of heaven with the bouquets of azaleas and rolling carpets of bent, rye, and Bermuda grasses of The Masters.
How silly of me, shortchanging Augusta National Golf Club like that.
There is no other place on Earth like Augusta: The pines. The white sand of the bunkers. Flowers so perfect in bloom, they look fake, much like the putting surfaces, which appear just as green and nearly as smooth as emeralds by the time the fourth round commences.
1. Churchill Downs
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If your indulgences include watching a bunch of fillies and colts compete in a furious, circular dash, soundtracked to thunderous applause, broken dreams, and slurped mint juleps, visit Louisville on the first Saturday in May. At Churhill Downs. For the Kentucky Derby. You won’t be disappointed. At least not until your meal ticket of a horse stumbles out of the gate.
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