Cav's Eagles Tailgate

What, your cousin doesn't own an Eagles bus? Too bad. Mine does and he USES it! Welcome to Bobby Cavanaugh's Cav's Eagles Tailgate:

One of the things that I like to do each time I'm in Philadelphia is to go to one of my cousin Bobby's tailgate parties. What's a tailgate party? A "tailgate" is a pre-game (or event) party held in the parking lot of an arena. People gather to drink and eat before going in to watch whatever event (football game, baseball game, etc.) is happening that day. The name tailgate comes from the small door on the rear of a pick-up truck that has its hinges at the bottom. People will lower this "door" to its horizontal position and place food and drinks on it. Tailgate parties have changed over the years from simple picnic-style gatherings to all-out parties with RVs/campers, flat-screen TVs, barbecues, and full bars.

My cousin Bobby has been going to see the Philadelphia Phillies, 76ers, Flyers, and Eagles pretty much since I can remember. A bunch of years ago he decided to buy the used, small school bus to use for tailgating. He repainted it to become his Eagle Express bus and the rest is history.

Since his days doing the tailgating just for fun, he's since started his own tailgating and catering business. He now uses the bus and his huge, rolling barbecue grill for lots of events. In addition, he's gone on to win a bunch of different awards including the Jack Daniels Great American Tailgate Party award (three times!!!), which is sort of like the Olympics of tailgating competitions. This is a photo of some of the folks attending the tailgate where you can see the stadium in the background:

I think the thing that my cousin is really known for is the super-good food that he serves. My favorites that he does are a penne pasta with cream sauce, the awesome whole-roasted pig, and, of course, his signature, melt-in-your-mouth Filet Mignot sandwiches. Not only is the food good but it's a good time too. At one point or another, I've seen pretty much my entire family at one tailgate or another. This is an old photo of my mom and my cousin at one of the tailgates:

At last week's game, some folks rolled up a with a target board and a load of tomatoes, which they said was a "fundraiser" for charity. A guy wearing a hockey helmet with a wire mask stuck his face through the hole and people tried to hit him with the tomatoes. They weren't associated with my cousin so I'm not sure who they were but they did draw a crowd. Here's my cousin Mike taking aim:

What can I say? Tailgating, a tradition as American as apple pie. Fun for the whole family! Here I am with my cousin Bobby (on the right) and his brother, my cousin Mike at the last tailgate I attended:

Thanks again to my cousin Bobby Cav for all the great food and great times. If you're interested in going to one of the tailgates or having my cousin cater your event, you should check out his website.