As game day approaches, everyone is rushing to make sure they are Grove-ready for the weekend. But sometimes, it’s easy to forget the little things. Here are a few items you might want to add to your game-day shopping list and to your pockets, so you’re not scrambling come Saturday.
If you plan on bringing a cooler to the Grove, add a little bit of water and sprinkle the ice inside with salt. Adding salt to an ice water mixture will slow the melting rate and increase the freezing rate of the ice, which means your beverages will remain cool and refreshing that much longer.
Travel-size sunscreen. There’s nothing cool about being sunburned! Even though you might be standing under a tent the entire day, you’d be surprised at how good those UV-rays are at finding, and frying, your face, arms, back and other exposed skin. So protect yourself with some SPF, wear a hat and don’t forget sunglasses! Your eyes are susceptible to sunburn just like the rest of your body (it happened to me, and it can happen to you). If you plan on being outdoors for more than a few hours, you should re-apply sunscreen throughout the day.
Bring bug spray and antihistamines. The Grove is 10 acres of beautiful grass, trees and, unfortunately, bugs. Nothing can spoil a good game day like getting stung or bitten by some nasty little crawler and swelling up like a balloon. Bug spray should also be reapplied throughout the day.
Mints and gum are good to keep around, too. Everyone loves onion-garlic dip, but when you are screaming your lungs out in Vaught-Hemingway, you don’t want your breath to be the biggest offense in the stadium. So defend your mouth from bad breath and keep a stick of spearmint gum handy.
