For most people around the country, tonight is no different than any other Tuesday night. Grab a bite to eat, relax, catch the next episode of Sons Of Anarchy. But, for those of us in and around the Big Blue Nation, our Tuesday night is a little different. We're gathering camping gear, make sure our air mattress pump is fully charged, and packing a cooler. Because while they're waking up at 5am to get to work, we're in a mad dash across Avenue of Champions (fittingly) to secure our spot for the Big Blue Madness Camp Out. Well I don't want you randomly sprinting across the street unprepared. I did a little recon at Memorial today, so let me show you what I found and offer a few tips to help make your camping experience a little easier.
First off, let's familiarize ourselves with Memorial. Above you'll see an aerial view with a rough directional outline. Running north to south along the front of the arena is the aforementioned Avenue of Champions. West to east on the north side, you'll find Lexington Avenue. As you can tell, Google Maps hasn't made a pass over in a while as the north parking lot is now a few large residence halls as well as the Craft Center being completed. I'll give them a call. Anyways, first thing first, let's take a look at the weather for the week. Unlike past camp outs, the
forecast for the next few days looks PERFECT. Except for a few chilly nights (beggars can't be choosy), the forecast looks great.
TIP: Pack yourself a hoodie and some sweat pants to bundle up in at night. Sunglasses and sweet tea during the day.
Now, having established the great upcoming weather, a good camper must also consider what has happened previously. As most of you know, a major cold front blew through the Commonwealth last night, and with it came some serious rain and chilly temperatures. This combination has made for
several muddy areas around the arena, mostly near the south and west sides. The sun in the next few days should help dry up the ground, but until then you're going to have some areas that are still very wet. Below you'll see a map where I've circled in red the areas I found to be muddiest. These are typically low lying areas, and while they're flat, which makes for some good sleeping, they are where the water from the higher areas drains.
TIP: Even though your tent may be 'waterproof', assembling your tent on the top of a tarp will provide insulation from the wet, cold ground.
Bathrooms. You're going to be outside for 3 full days eating, drinking and enjoying yourself with folks from 700 other tents.
Nature will be calling. A strategic tent placement based on the location of the portolet banks can make the difference between a leisurely stroll to the restroom, or 3 torturous days spent downwind from some foulness I can't even imagine. On the map below, you'll see red dots where portolets have been set up. While they have done a good job scattering these around the area, I'm a little worried about the number of them. Fifteen portolets may be more than enough (
which isn't necessarily a good thing if you're sleeping around them), but if we see the same 700 tents as last year, that's roughly one portolet per 46 tents. Happy trails.
TIP: TAKE TOILET PAPER!
After checking out the site, the weather, and the 'facilities' I've come up with the three places I see as providing the optimum camping experience. While this isn't taking into account the ticket distribution being based on location, a tent placement here should still easily get you in the door.
Two of the three best spots, all circled in green below, are on the south side of the building. One butts up next to the Qdoba/Pizza Hut building. The corner is a flat corner that sits on a high spot. This area will give you provide you coverage with a few small trees as well as a concrete wall on one side, with a bank of hedges on another. Just across from the parking lot from that is a large tree on top of a hill. This area will be the driest spot out there, as well has being protected from the sun pretty much all day. Finally, the third best spot will be the one next to the basketball courts on the northeast side. Why?
Because you'll inevitably be able to see someone get dunked on.
Good luck to all you out there. Hope the weather stays as planned and keep in mind during your sprint across AoC that even though you're wrestling for spots, we're all on the same team. #CATS
First off, let's familiarize ourselves with Memorial. Above you'll see an aerial view with a rough directional outline. Running north to south along the front of the arena is the aforementioned Avenue of Champions. West to east on the north side, you'll find Lexington Avenue. As you can tell, Google Maps hasn't made a pass over in a while as the north parking lot is now a few large residence halls as well as the Craft Center being completed. I'll give them a call. Anyways, first thing first, let's take a look at the weather for the week. Unlike past camp outs, the forecast for the next few days looks PERFECT. Except for a few chilly nights (beggars can't be choosy), the forecast looks great. TIP: Pack yourself a hoodie and some sweat pants to bundle up in at night. Sunglasses and sweet tea during the day.
Now, having established the great upcoming weather, a good camper must also consider what has happened previously. As most of you know, a major cold front blew through the Commonwealth last night, and with it came some serious rain and chilly temperatures. This combination has made for several muddy areas around the arena, mostly near the south and west sides. The sun in the next few days should help dry up the ground, but until then you're going to have some areas that are still very wet. Below you'll see a map where I've circled in red the areas I found to be muddiest. These are typically low lying areas, and while they're flat, which makes for some good sleeping, they are where the water from the higher areas drains. TIP: Even though your tent may be 'waterproof', assembling your tent on the top of a tarp will provide insulation from the wet, cold ground.
Bathrooms. You're going to be outside for 3 full days eating, drinking and enjoying yourself with folks from 700 other tents. Nature will be calling. A strategic tent placement based on the location of the portolet banks can make the difference between a leisurely stroll to the restroom, or 3 torturous days spent downwind from some foulness I can't even imagine. On the map below, you'll see red dots where portolets have been set up. While they have done a good job scattering these around the area, I'm a little worried about the number of them. Fifteen portolets may be more than enough (which isn't necessarily a good thing if you're sleeping around them), but if we see the same 700 tents as last year, that's roughly one portolet per 46 tents. Happy trails. TIP: TAKE TOILET PAPER!
After checking out the site, the weather, and the 'facilities' I've come up with the three places I see as providing the optimum camping experience. While this isn't taking into account the ticket distribution being based on location, a tent placement here should still easily get you in the door. Two of the three best spots, all circled in green below, are on the south side of the building. One butts up next to the Qdoba/Pizza Hut building. The corner is a flat corner that sits on a high spot. This area will give you provide you coverage with a few small trees as well as a concrete wall on one side, with a bank of hedges on another. Just across from the parking lot from that is a large tree on top of a hill. This area will be the driest spot out there, as well has being protected from the sun pretty much all day. Finally, the third best spot will be the one next to the basketball courts on the northeast side. Why? Because you'll inevitably be able to see someone get dunked on.
Good luck to all you out there. Hope the weather stays as planned and keep in mind during your sprint across AoC that even though you're wrestling for spots, we're all on the same team. #CATS
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