The first tailgate party probably occurred in Green Bay, Wisconsin just about a century ago when Packer fans started the tradition in back of their pick-up trucks. However, Ivy League schools like to say that they were doing that long before. Grilling of meats and alcohol are synonymous with this social event.
My first exposure was as a graduate student at Louisiana State University. In my days, you saw a lot of men in jackets/ties and women in gowns at the actual football game. They probably came from fancy tailgates. Our group of married students generally convened at one of our apartments on campus, as complexes were across the street from Tiger Stadium. 
247Sports surveyed the national scene, selected the top 25 college tailgates and placed LSU at #1. At the other end, #25--which is still pretty good, as there are 774 such institutions in the USA--was the one I attended in September, Army West Point (my meal below).
Most tailgates are held outdoors, but I've re-invented the celebration. Mine are held on my lanai or next to the TV set, and I'm alone. The standard version is in the midst of thousands in the hot sun, rain, cold, dust, wind.... Here are three I've had this past week, two on the same day, and none for football.
Let me begin with a new kind of "tailgate," for the Midterm Elections, something which occurs at all campaign headquarters, which was this past Tuesday. This was a lunch, and the featured items were beyond the budget of those political ones: o-toro (fatty blue-fin tuna) and grilled Costco blue plate ribeye steak, with a few choice libations:
Then for dinner that day, my tailgate was in prelude to the University of Hawaii women's basketball team opening game, against Pepperdine. Doesn't look like much, but this was foie gras spaghetti with a salad, and the leftover 2001 Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon from lunch. My next four-case batch from Stanford arrives in a couple of weeks and I've recently been imbibing aged varieties to make room in my electrical wine cellar.
This was the best wine I've had in years. How often can you afford a 17-year old classic? Unfortunately, I got a headache. There must have been a lot of impurities that added to the bouquet and taste. The Rainbow Wahine also lost the game. However, I think this team will in time find a defensive strategy that will make for a successful season. Why? There are a dozen average players, some still out with injuries, who all play decently well. They will press the entire game to make that difference. Numbers will wear out talent.
My tailgate #3 was before the opening night of the University of Hawaii men's basketball team, against the University of Portland. Featured was Japanese home-made sushi, with o-toro, ikura (salmon eggs), miso soup and avocado:
That is about the most expensive bottle of sake you will ever see. Avocado? Consumed within the Korean spicy seaweed, the avocado passes for o-toro. With this type of nori, you don't need to season the rice.
After beating Portland, things look good for the future, including last night when we humbled Humboldt State by 44 points (we now have three 7-footers and an excellent new 3-point shooter--Eddie Stansberry), I had a Louis VIII cognac, and pondered whether I should have that cigar in crystal. For the record, I might not have because smoking is not allowed here.
What is this?
See that spot below the screen?
While not a tailgate, the 15 Craigside Photo Club had a special thank-you bento luncheon for Scott Kubo, our Honolulu Museum of Art mentor, here with club leader Irene:
If you think all we have here are parties, you would be mostly right. The photo club, in particular, provides much of the displays decorating our walls and organizes regular photo-shoot outings.
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The Indian Ocean region is heating up:
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