SxSE: College Station, TX

The second stop on our South by Southeast tour of the SEC is College Station, Texas, the home of the Texas A&M Aggies.  This place looks strangely familiar.  Turns out the Tigers have been here before!!!

♦ College Station is the 11th closest SEC town to Columbia, 779 miles away (618 air miles).  Texas A&M is in the SEC West Division. 

♦ Fun facts about College Station, TX:

• 2010 population: 94.347 (city); College Station/Bryan metro area: 212,268

• In 1860 the Houston and Texas Central Railway built through the area, stopping just short of Bryan until after the Civil War. In 1871 the site was chosen as the home of the new Texas Agriculture and Mechanical College. Students riding the train would be let off at the "college station" instead of stopping in Bryan. When a post office for the university was opened in 1877 near the tracks, it took the name of College Station. It was not until 1938 that the town was finally incorporated as College Station, Texas. (from Wikipedia, so it must be true)
  
  
• College Station was ranked #54 on the Sporting News Best Sports Cities list.  Columbia is #60.

♦ College Station is the home of Disaster City

Located in College Station, Texas, this 52-acre training facility is situated adjacent to the world-renowned Brayton Fire Training Field and delivers the full array of skills and techniques needed by today’s emergency response professionals.

Created by the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), a member of the Texas A&M System, the mock community features full-scale, collapsible structures designed to simulate various levels of disaster and wreckage which can be customized for the specific training needs of any group.

Lyle Lovett
Famous Aggie

♦ There are 6 chick-fil-a locations in College Station/Bryan

♦ 22 must-dos in College Station (22inc.blogspot.com)

#20 Aggie Ally:  Aggie Ally is the perfect place to tailgate and enjoy an A&M baseball game. This place is located behind left field and is so much fun. Who needs to watch the jumbotron when you can sit right next to it with all your friends? People pull up their trucks, listen to music, bring some food and cold beer and enjoy the game.

#16 Ring Dunk: A&M takes much pride in the Aggie Ring. After completing 95 hours at A&M, each student is eligible to receive their long awaited ring. There is much pride that comes along with it, which makes the ring dunk experience very interesting.

Basically, after the honor of receiving the Aggie Ring, people place their golden pride in the bottom of a pitcher of beer and chug. Yes, I said it, chug. Sound ridiculous yet? Well, it is.

#4 Lanes: There is basically only one thing on the menu... Chicken Fingers. You can get the chicken finger basket with cole slaw, french fries, and texas toast (you can replace and add the extras as you please). Sounds like a pretty normal chicken basket until you add THE SPECIAL SAUCE!!!!! Nothing beats it. This basket will change your life. 

♦ Aggie Bucket List (The Battalion)

3. Paint your entire body blue for a free meal at Blue Baker: Going to Blue Baker painted completely blue could lead to getting free food. Exemplifying "sheer blue craziness" is worth a free Big Blue Combo, or a nine-inch pizza.