Going to Liberty Bowl - Need your help!

[Dr.Swan]

Hey all, I got my Christmas wish and found out I will be able to go to the Liberty Bowl now. Obviously I have some work to do before we (me and gf) head out on Friday and I would like your help.

Hotels - I know they may be booked, but what should be my top choices? i.e. where is the team staying? where is the rest of CF staying? what is the closest hotel to stadium / Beale street?

Tickets - I have a friend checking on a couple extra tickets right now, but if those fall through where should I look next? I want ISU section and I want ISU to get the credit for 2 more tickets sold. Can I still get some from ISU? Should I just wait until I get down to Memphis?

Tailgating - I don't have a tailgating rig so will be looking to tailgate w/ everyone else. Is there a big ISU tailgate anywhere? Is there anything I need to know except show up with a dirty 30? What are your tailgating plans?

Is there anything else I am forgetting or should know about?

Are there any other threads you can direct me to?

Thanks for any and all input. MERRY CHRISTMAS! GO CYCLONES!

[bringmagicback]

Tickets on stub hub and search for the other 30 threads that will answer your questions. Dont stay in west memphis.

[Dr.Swan]

Tickets on stub hub and search for the other 30 threads that will answer your questions. Dont stay in west memphis.

Thx for the West Memphis tip! I will use StubHub as my backup.

[ketelmeister]

Hotels:
I assume there will be cancellations downtown. The best is the Peabody, but spendy. If you want to save money and stay in a nice area, Germantown is about 20 minutes away. There is a top shelf Holiday Inn Express and several others.
Don't miss the Liberty Bowl Parade the day before the game
There will be a lot of Iowa State tailgaters you can hook up with if you want to do that, otherwise just go to the game
There will be a pep rally for everyone, check Iowa State University Athletics Official Web Site - www.CYCLONES.com - The home of Iowa State Cyclone Sports for details
Plenty of food around, but make some reservations for New Year's eve. My favorite site is Reviews of Hotels, Flights and Vacation Rentals - TripAdvisor for restaurant and hotel ratings
Good downtown bar is the the lobby bar at the Peabody. Come highly recommended, but again there are plenty.
If you go downtown, stay on Beale Street, side streets could be unsafe.
Plenty of tickets. At this point, I would go the for the best seats I could get. Check liberty bowl website and stubhub or ticketmaster for tickets.
Hangout downtown if you get there early, there will be a sea of cardinal and gold, and that makes away games fun!

[Dr.Swan]

Hotels:
I assume there will be cancellations downtown. The best is the Peabody, but spendy. If you want to save money and stay in a nice area, Germantown is about 20 minutes away. There is a top shelf Holiday Inn Express and several others.
Don't miss the Liberty Bowl Parade the day before the game
There will be a lot of Iowa State tailgaters you can hook up with if you want to do that, otherwise just go to the game
There will be a pep rally for everyone, check Iowa State University Athletics Official Web Site - www.CYCLONES.com - The home of Iowa State Cyclone Sports for details
Plenty of food around, but make some reservations for New Year's eve. My favorite site is Reviews of Hotels, Flights and Vacation Rentals - TripAdvisor for restaurant and hotel ratings
Good downtown bar is the the lobby bar at the Peabody. Come highly recommended, but again there are plenty.
If you go downtown, stay on Beale Street, side streets could be unsafe.
Plenty of tickets. At this point, I would go the for the best seats I could get. Check liberty bowl website and stubhub or ticketmaster for tickets.
Hangout downtown if you get there early, there will be a sea of cardinal and gold, and that makes away games fun!

Thank you, I have been sitting here searching past threads and this response has helped tremendously! Merry Christmas!

[mganzeveld]

My in-laws live in Millington which is on the north side of Memphis. They work out at the racetrack and it is a 17 mile trip to the stadium from there. It isn't a bad little town. A lot better than W Memphis and there would probably be places available. If you are planning on doing a lot of stuff it might not be what you want. Not much to do in Millington. If you are just going to the game and are only needing a place to sleep, Millington might be an option.

[shawn_200m]

If you want to stay downtown, the Hampton on Beale just had some rooms open up in the last couple days. I just switched from another Hampton location to the one on Beale earlier today. I've stayed there before and you can't beat the location for access to Beale and Peabody Place.

[ketelmeister]

I would not get too excited about missing out on tailgating. It's going to be cold and windy, and walking around downtown Memphis, then going directly to the game is a very good option, especially with kids.

[Clone1450]

I have two rooms at the Westin on Beale that I will be canceling. PM me if you're interested in them.

[Wesley]

White Liberty Bowl?

[zwclones51]

If you want to stay downtown, the Hampton on Beale just had some rooms open up in the last couple days. I just switched from another Hampton location to the one on Beale earlier today. I've stayed there before and you can't beat the location for access to Beale and Peabody Place.

Have a king suite at the Hampton inn right on Beale. Yessir!

[ketelmeister]

Westin is a nice hotel.

[justcynn]

Just bought 3 tickets on stubhub fir $90 total. Booked a room a while a go just in case with Marriott points. Seats are on the Tulsa side 50 yard line which is kind of a bummer but they are in the stadium! Will arrive on the 30th and drive home after the game (just two hours). One advantage of living so far away. Go Cyclones.