JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – River City Showdown week is here. Once again the annual installment of the Georgia Florida game is bringing in thousands of fans from out of town. RV City opened on Tuesday morning to fans with reserved parking passes for the lot.
The line to get in began Friday, as people got into town and had to wait the four days to get back into the lot for another week of fun.
“What I can remember, it was a great time. No, we had a great time last year. Went to the concert,” said Albert Campbell who will be enjoying his second year in RV City.
“I'm glad to be back. We are on Gator Alley here- just waiting for everybody to get in line. I'm going to be at the back end of the line so I have to wait for everybody to catch up with me,” said Peter Wells who will be back for his seventh year in RV City.
Families of all ages are back, some for only the second year, others nearly 40 straight years of being across from the stadium in the lead up to the game. Getting in early is key to making sure the next few days of tailgating will be fully stocked.
“We get set up. Start cooking, and get the final preparations and go get the final stuff that we forgot,” said Wells.
For the next few days, it will be a lot of fans in orange and blue, having fun with fans of the red and black. The camaraderie between the fans is pretty easy to see.
“It's fun reacquainting. Finding out what they've done all year, hanging out and having a few brews,” said Wells.
“We have already met people here this year that we saw last year and looking forward to meeting more people. It's all fun,” said Campbell.
But that fun together ends when the game starts Saturday afternoon. Just don’t try calling the game the River City Showdown while you are in RV City.
“It's the world’s largest outdoor cocktail party. You can't change a name like that,” said Wells.
Despite the desire to change the name from the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party to the River City Showdown many people down here say they will stick with the traditional name, although they say no matter what it is called, they know they will have a good time.