1. Go to your local big box store and buy yourself a three-drawer tool chest. A metal one will set you back about $50, a plastic one will be less. Inside keep all the non-perishable supplies you needn’t go searching for every time you plan to tailgate. A good stocking list can include spatula, tongs, bottle and can openers, skewers, brushes, flashlight, meat thermometer, lighter-based charcoal ignitor, grill scrapper, etc. We’re sure you can think of more. Make sure to decorate with stickers from your favorite football or NASCAR team.
2. If there’s one thing that everyone hates is that after the party has been going for a while you have to dip your hand into artic-temperature water to retrieve a drink as all the ice has melted. Instead freeze bottles of water the night before and distribute them around the cooler. Not only will they keep your drinks cold all day, at the end of the day, when you need it most, you have cold water to drink.
3. This hack can either make you a hero or keep you from being a schmuck. Pack a set of jumper cables. If a nearby ‘gater needs a boost, you’re the hero of the parking lot. If it’s you that left all the lights on inside the car, then you can quietly approach the owners of the nearest car and ask for assistance. If you’re quick and subtle it’s entirely possible that you won’t get found out.
4. When imaging a tailgate party it’s almost always lunch that people imagine. Unfortunately many arrive early and that may force you into changing your plans and serving lunch early. Here’s a simple solution. At the store purchase liquid eggs, chunks of ham (or chop up a ma steak yourself), a bag of frozen peppers and onions, and a bag of tortillas. When early guests arrive you have everything on hand to make individual breakfast burritos on your skillet (you did bring a skillet, right?).
5. If bugs are a nuisance where you tail gate, consider this simple hack. If you’re serving sweet juices of cocktails, use inverted cupcake papers to serve as a lid. Just poke a hole in the top (bottom?) for the straw to pass through and you’ll no longer have to hear “eew, there’s a bug in my drink”, or then hear one of you buddies explain that they should drink it because it’s extra protein. Eew.
6. Once you’ve arrived at your ideal spot, mark it on the social media app you’ve all agreed to use beforehand. While marking the spot is great, unless your guests know which of the dozens of apps that you could have used, it’s back to walking up and down the aisles or trying to give directions via cell phone.
7. Be sure to check out the accessories available from the dealer where you bought your car, truck, or SUV. GMC, for example, offers a GearON Cargo Management System that makes sure that everything arrives at the tailgate party in the same place as where it was when you left the house. Tonneau covers are a great addition as well as it keeps the sun from beating on the supplies you want to keep cool. They even have a camping tent that fits cleanly in the bed, if you’re looking for a place to get out of the sun and a Bluetooth amplified speaker that lets you play tunes or event coverage through your equipped radio.
Buick SUV owners have a range of accessories available to them as well, including cargo organizers, molded cargo area liners to keep spills off your carpet, wireless Bluetooth speaker that plays what’s on your radio, roof racks for extra carrying space, hitch-mounted cargo boxes, and even an entire line of interior and exterior cleaning parties to return to Buick SUV to pre-tailgate condition.
Check out all the great accessories available for your GMC or Buick at Fletch’s, and if you’ve got the itch to host the next tailgater, come in and check out the lineup of rugged GMC pickups and SUVs and plush Buick SUVs. You’ll be the talk of the next tailgate.
