A few weeks ago I finally got to attend my first-ever Florida–Georgia game, a tradition in Jacksonville where hundreds flock to Everbank Stadium to tailgate for hours leading up to the Saturday afternoon game between the Gators and Bulldogs.

As an FSU fan (thank you for your condolences), I, of course, could not root for Florida, so I donned a red top and black jeans and borrowed a Georgia hat from my best friend to wear to the game.

I didn’t know what to expect for the day. Waking up around 7:30 a.m., we packed all of the food we had prepped the night before and loaded a cooler full of beers into the car. We met up with some friends who were already in a lot near the stadium and began setting up our canopy tent, chairs, table of food and cooler. It was lovely weather: not too hot or cold, with a nice breeze occasionally drifting by.

We had everything you could ever want at a tailgate: pigs in a blanket, cold beer, banana bread, meatballs, sandwiches, buffalo chicken dip, salsa and chips, and elote dip. We played music and cornhole the whole morning before packing our stuff up and walking to the stadium, where we enjoyed a thrilling game that ended in a Georgia win.

It was quite a long day, and we returned home exhausted around 8 p.m., sun-kissed and full on tasty foods.

— Aoife O’Riordan, associate editor