Fans head to Jacksonville ahead of the Georgia-Florida football game

JACKSONVILLE, Fl. (WTOC) - Jacksonville is being overtaken by SEC football fans before one of the biggest days of the year when Georgia and Florida play each other at Everbank Stadium.

Even though the game is just a couple of hours long, fans of each team make a weekend out of it or even an entire week.

That’s especially true for people in what’s known as RV city - a parking lot by Everbank Stadium that’s filled with RV’s days before the game - and people tailgating out of them.

There are literally hundreds of RV’s parked next to the stadium.

People have grills going, fully functioning bars rolling, and endless games of cornhole being played.

And even though these two teams are rivals- what many of the people at RV city say that the comraderies throughout the week is what gets them so excited about the game.

“We’ve been coming here for eight years now and it’s all about family and friends you know, we make friends every year. Gator fans and Georgia fans, we all hang together until gameday and then it’s on. Georgia time!” said Henry Hinojosa, Georgia fan.

Everything has been all in good fun down here but that doesn’t mean that people don’t have very strong opinions about how this game is going to go Saturday.

Over the last ten years, Georgia has won the game six times, including the past two years.

Right now, Georgia also stands at the top of the SEC East with Florida sitting in third place.

Both teams are heading into this one with some momentum and fans think it’s all going to come down to who’s locked in on gameday.

“As a Bulldog, I want to say Dawgs win. I also know that it’s won every day on the field, right? So every Saturday. The Gators always rise too, right? Especially with this rivalry. But I gotta go with my Dawgs, man. I gotta go with my Dawgs,” said Bill Tomala, Georgia fan.

“It’s really a great rivalry. Georgia’s won over the last several years, and it’s time for Florida- you know, I think it might be an upset. I’m going to be quiet about it, but I think it might be an upset tomorrow. But I won’t tell my Georgia fans. But we’ve got a good game coming tomorrow,” said Rich Dean, the mayor of RV city.

This game is one of the biggest ones of the year when it comes to fan involvement and the actual game itself.

Fans come together to do the usual food, drink and cornhole. Some fans said they have been coming here for 25 years, and at this point, form their own communities with multiple RVs, making some RV city suburbs.

RV city residents may be rooting for their respective teams, but at the end of the day... it’s about friendship among all fans. One man calls himself the mayor of RV City, and his city council was comprised of bulldogs and gators alike, who spend the week having a good time.

“It takes a lot of work, we set the bar up, we set all the tents up. But we’re here for a week, we get in line, Sunday, Monday night we come back. We’re here from Tuesday until Sunday, we roll out. But we just have a great time. The fun part is every time we come here we meet someone new,” said Dean.

The game will start at 3:30 p.m. Saturday on WTOC!