A Travel Guide to Arkansas State for Coastal Carolina Fans

This year will be Coastal Carolina’s first season as a Sun Belt member in football. For the Coastal Carolina fans who will celebrate the occasion by making a few road trips to visit their new conference mates this season, we wanted to make them a traveler's guide. Next up, Arkansas State.

From the coast of the Atlantic Ocean to the coast of the mighty Mississippi (well almost), welcome to beautiful Jonesboro Arkansas and home to your Sun Belt conference mate and football champion five out of the last six years. The Chants will come to the Delta on October 14th as the Red Wolves homecoming opponent. Here’s a few tips on your trip to Jonesboro.

Directions

As the old REM song said “Can’t get there from here.” Jonesboro does not yet have an airport to support major commercial traffic but as luck would have it, it’s just an hour northwest of Memphis. So grab that plane ticket to Memphis and then either rent a car or catch the Greyhound Bus for $26 to J-town and get ready for a 70 mile excursion up I-555. The trip will look like if Walt Disney had been moved to create a “Delta World” in California, chock full of wide open farm spaces.

When you get into town look for Red Wolf Boulevard (you can’t miss it) and head towards campus.

courtesy of astateredwolves.com

Game day at Centennial Bank Stadium

Two blocks south before you get to the stadium you will see tailgaters on the grounds getting ready for the game. This extends around to the north side of “The Vault” as Red Wolf Run will be packed with students, locals, and alumni all enjoying homecoming festivities. There is a very open and fun casual atmosphere to tailgating in Jonesboro and feel free to walk around and meet your fellow Sun Belters. You will probably be invited in for a drink and some bar-b-q.

Weather

This is the true south and the potential for a heat wave can last until Halloween. The average highs for this time of year are 74 with a low of 49, so bring a light jacket for the night and count on a warm day if it kicks off with the sun up.

Restaurants

The distinct areas in Jonesboro to eat for a football weekend are Red Wolf Boulevard leading to the stadium, which has probably every franchise restaurant known to man. The J-Town Grill, which is literally across the street on the north side of the stadium on Johnson Avenue is a favorite pre and postgame spot for locals.

Downtown Jonesboro, which is home to many locally owned restaurants and bars, is easily reached via Johnson Avenue. Downtown is home to Omar’s Uptown which has a cool vibe as well as good food and great cocktails. Ask Kyle to make you an Admiral Pat’s Grand Derby. New to the downtown scene is Eleanor’s Pizzeria but reviews are strong.

Final thought

Most Red Wolves fans expect first year FBS growing pains to be on display in Jonesboro in October but trust that they have not forgotten what that was like in the 90’s for this program. ASU is 22-2 in the last six years of conference home games, so look for the fans to be more hospitable than the team on the field will be.

GOOD LUCK CHANTS