We’ve tailgated at polo fields, football games, and horse races. With as much as we travel, I just knew the day would come that we’d need to create a packable tailgate.

We were flying into Death Valley and, in case you haven’t been to an SEC football game before, it is an experience unlike any other. Naturally, we had to be on our A-game. With the help from my parents (my dad is an alum and a HUGE Tigers fan), we pulled together a super fun and, most importantly, collapsible and disposable (for the most part) tailgate.

Mom had fabulous paper lanterns that were perfect for setting the ambiance. We loosely tied them onto the tailgate for a fun and relaxed look. Since we were flying, we relied on disposable items, like plastic tablecloths, which we bunched up in the back of the car to set our tailgate table.

My mom found these fantastic vintage tiger earrings that I’m wearing. How fun are they?! I’m also wearing an Emerson Fry top (seen here, too), which is out of stock now. Tuckernuck carries it in dress form though in chambray, black, coral, and this fun metallic. My hair is a little crazy (hello southern humidity!), so I secured it in back with one of my favorite clips. Oh, and these beads were a perfect find off of Bourbon Street!

An LSU-branded cooler was another must-have. We found can coolers and all sorts of cups and napkins everywhere. We mixed those in with chevron striped napkins of our own.

We picked up sandwiches at Alexander’s Market in Baton Rouge and had them with Zapp’s Spicy Cajun Crawtator Chips, cookies, and a few other snacks.

Since we expected heavy traffic leaving the stadium (there were over 100,000 football fans in attendance after all), we made trail mix cups with mini pretzels, popcorn, roasted peanuts, and peanut m&m’s for a post-game tailgate. It worked out so well!

The best thing about this tailgate is that we were able to absorb it all into our suitcases afterwards. We had ready snacks for the rest of our trip and even checked the Styrofoam cooler in a box from a shipping store. I did mention that my dad is a Tigers fan, right?!

Cheers, and GEAUX Tigers!

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