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Cleveland Rocks!

A grey, windy day with lake-effect flurries and gusts that sent EZ-ups sliding across the lot combined with a seemingly hopeless season of football was the perfect excuse for thousands of hardcore Browns fans to P-A-R-T-Y!

And we landed in the Muni lot right in the middle of some of the craziest Dawgs around!

The Braylon Bunch made room and made us welcome at their Tailgate Party featuring the legendary Bunch Bong! All day long at 17 past the hour, they'd sound the bell and round up a new bunch of "volunteers".

The Three Amigos were partying in panchos and pushing the tequila.

And down at the new Tailgate Dawg bus and trailer, well, they were throwing a WEDDING!

That's right, a couple of Browns fans who "really know the meaning of for better or for worse" exchanged vows at the -- ahem -- "rear" of the Dawg! Friends, fans, and passers-by cheered and raised a toast to the happy couple, while their tailgate crew cooked up shrimp and steaks with grilled mushrooms and onions for the "reception" (food so tasty it ended up winning the cooks 2nd place in our Taste-off!)

There was definately no shortage of good (and interesting) food in the Muni lot. One of our favorites was the 46 lb. pig Ryan and Sean Cunningham roasted in their La Caja China portable pig pit! This thing was AMAZING. And the pig was pretty tasty, too (at least, what was left of it!)

As gametime approached, our crowd started to gather to find out who would be named the Blacktop's Best. We had a lot of entries, all of them really good, and the judges had a really hard time narrowing it down to just a few winners.

They actually awarded two honorable mentions to Kristine Maikut's Tailgatin' Cheese Bowl and Kelly Brooks' Hot Spiked Cider.

Bob Gerak took 4th for his Seafood Chowder, Jay Simmons took 3rd for his Chili, and Mark Fielder won 2nd place for the Wedding Steak, Shrimp and Shrooms.

It was great tailgate, and we had a crowd gathered around the TV outside all day. They shared their food, drink, and unstoppable spirit with us (as well as their dislike for the Pittsburgh Steelers!)

Some of our neigbors gave us their cool football-shaped basket (complete with Steelers Suck button) to add to our tailgating gear, and others gave Jay an extra ticket and took him into the game. But first, they dressed him in a Browns hoodie and cap. (Thankfully they stopped short of the dog mask or ears!)

And even though the Browns couldn't pull out a win against the Broncos inside the stadium, the Cleveland fans proved in the tailgating lots that they are as good as it gets.

 

 

 

After that, we went for walk along the river and found boats tied-up all along the Allegheny, with fans "tailgating" on the docks!

And on our way back to the campground, we drove across the bridges over the rivers sparkling with city lights, and through the downtown streets filled with fans walking to their favorite sports bars to celebrate a Steeler's victory!

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SuperFan !

We were so excited to have a genuine Bone Lady sighting! A legend in Cleveland (and across the NFL, for that matter), this Hall of Fame Superfan was busy putting in appearances in the Muni lot. But she still had time to stop and pose for a pic with a fan! Check our her awesome website!

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Long Distance Love !

Tom and Annette are a couple of die-hard Browns fans who were in town for their annual pilgrimage to Cleveland -- from New Jersey!

They drove six hours in their autographed Browns mobile, with brats from their Jersey butcher and a cooler full of pumpkin ale just to see their favorite team play at home!

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