The “Crew” of the Touchdown Lounge consists of long time Patriots fans and season ticket holders John Skelton (a.k.a. the “Squire”), Lou DiMauro (a.k.a. “Luca Brewski”) and Tom (a.k.a. “Crash”) and Denise Cardone, and John’s children Michael and Kristin. Tom Mullins, a frequent tailgate attendee, is the “chief engineer” of the TD Lounge (in other words – he is the guy who constructed the TD Lounge and is generally responsible for making everything work). Be sure to check out the “Crew” section to learn a little more about the TD Lounge Crew and the other “lunatics” who regularly join us at Patriots home games.

John bought the Touchdown Lounge, a 21 foot Grumman Olsen Step van, from a local carpenter in the spring of 2002. That is when the “conversion” began. The exterior is painted Patriot’s Silver with Blue trim. The sides proudly display both the “Flying Elvis” and Pat Patriot logos. Behind the driver seat and front passenger seat area, there is a built in bathroom, game day lockers, and an 8 foot padded bench seat (the seat cushions are covered in Patriots red and blue). There is also a small “kitchen area” which has a 36 inch main cabinet with wall mounted cabinets above for storing the essential tailgating supplies. There is wall to wall blue carpeting and the walls are covered with light oak paneling. To keep the TD Lounge cool in the summer and warm in the winter, there is 1-inch foam insulation behind the paneling. For game day entertainment and watching pre and post game shows and other NFL games, there is a wall mounted 19 inch Television with built in VCR (we usually watch replays of prior games, especially playoff games). So no one misses any of the action, including, most importantly, the cook, the sound from the TV is piped to exterior all weather speakers. Because this is a serious tailgating vehicle, the TD Lounge has separate lockers for game day tailgaters and, of course, the walls are covered with autographed Patriots memorabilia, including several player autographs personalized for the “TD Lounge”.

The Touchdown Lounge is also equipped with a 10 x 10 pop up canopy (with sides) to cover the grill and cooking area and otherwise provide tailgating comfort during inclement weather. Exterior rear mounted halogen lamps light up the area for night games. The TD Lounge is powered by an elaborate battery system which includes four 75 Amp hour batteries mounted underneath the floor, a 1000 watt power inverter and a built in battery charger, which allows the TD Lounge to be recharged after the game by plugging it into a standard wall outlet. If you really want to know how it all works, you will have to ask the chief engineer.

The TD Lounge also proudly displays our Patriots pride. Because no tailgate is complete without a Patriots Flag. The TD Lounge is equipped with a telescoping 35-foot flagpole bolted to frame. We fly two flags, a Super Bowl XXXVI flag and the traditional Patriots helmet flag (it is a little torn and tattered having flown over a Foxboro stadium parking lot for almost 10 years). With the victory in Houston, we will be adding a Super Bowl XXXVIII flag. Also, in honor of Adam Vinatieri’s game tying field goal in the infamous Snow Bowl and his game winning FG in Super Bowl XXXVI (and now Super Bowl XXXVIII), mounted on the roof of the Touchdown Lounge is a fully automated 14 foot “field goal” post, which is raised and lowered by a battery powered motor. The Field Goal post also serves as a mount for the television antenna. Again, any questions need to be directed to Tom.

Ok, so how exactly did the TD Lounge come about? Well the history starts with our tailgating crew, all long time Pats fans. Tom and Denise started as season ticket holders in the 1980s as proud members of the Mosi Mooses’ section in the North End Zone, while John and Lou regularly attended a couple of home games each year. The entire crew became season ticket holders and started tailgating together in 1994 – right after the Kraft family purchased the team and prevented it from moving to St. Louis. At that time, we had four seats in Section 322 and the regular tailgaters were John, Lou, Crash and one of John’s children (Michael and Kristin had to alternate games). In 1996, we moved our seats to section 218 and added two more season tickets. At that time, Denise joined the crew as a regular (anyone who spent the first day of her honeymoon at Foxboro Stadium cheering on the Pats – had to be a regular). John’s extra ticket meant that Michael and Kristin no longer had to fight over who would get to attend games. During the 2003 season, the Patriots celebrated 100 consecutive sellouts. While some have missed a game or two, the TD Lounge crew has attended every home game for the past 10 years (plus 3 Super Bowls).

Tailgating has always been an important part of our Patriots game day experience. At first, like many others, our tailgating consisted of a couple of lawn chairs, a cooler, a small table and a hibachi for some burgers, dogs, chicken wings and steak tips. A quick look around the parking lots in Foxboro (home to some of the best tailgating in the NFL) gave us some inspiration. The tailgating improvements started almost immediately. First up was the construction of a 36 x 24 Patriot blue wooden field kitchen with a hand painted “Flying Elvis” logo. The “Patriots Kitchen”, as we called it, fit into the trunk of our car and held our propane stove and all of the various supplies (plates, cups, cutlery, etc.) we needed for the tailgate. Inspired by elaborate tailgating set-ups all around us, each season we acquired more gear. Over the years we (oh, ok John) added portable tables, gas grills, a heater for cold weather games, lanterns and a pop-up canopy. More gear meant the need for a larger vehicle. In 1995, John bought a Chevy Blazer, but there was still not enough storage for all of the tailgating gear, especially after he purchased a large 3 burner 20,000 BTU outdoor stove (John always liked a lot of cooking capacity). The solution was a blue 20” x 60” wooden tailgate box, affectionately named the “coffin”. The coffin was carried on a rack that fit into the Blazer’s receiver hitch. Although slated for “retirement” after the 2003 Season, this past year the coffin was bolted to the back of the TD Lounge and carried the gas grill and stove.

From early on, an important part of the tailgating setup was a telescoping flagpole so we could proudly display our Patriots colors. Having the straightest and tallest flag in the parking lot was important. It was a contest. So friends and other tailgating guests could find us easily in the acres of parking outside of Foxboro stadium, in 1999, we added a blue football to the top of the Flag (If you want to know why it is painted blue – you will have to stop by and ask Michael or Tommy Mullins). Because it got taller each year, anchoring the flagpole was always a challenge. Before the TD Lounge, the design called for the flagpole to be raised “Iwo Jima” style onto a 16-inch cast iron pipe mounted to a 2 x 12 piece of lumber. We parked the rear wheel of the SUV on the 2 x 12 so that the weight of the car kept the flag securely anchored. Raising and lower the flag, especially during windy days, was always a challenge.

While we saw numerous “RVs” and other modified vehicles in the parking lots in Foxboro, the inspiration to create a dedicated tailgating actually vehicle came in New Orleans prior to Super Bowl XXXVI. It was Saturday night and we were walking along Canal Street (heading to Bourbon Street, of course) when along came a St. Louis Rams’ “school bus” loaded with dedicated and passionate Rams’ fans (little did they know what was about to happen to them). Blowing its air horn, the Rams Bus was taunting any and all Pats’ fans. Strapped across the front grill was a life size Tom Brady. Needless to say one member of our party had to try to rescue Tom. Well “James” darted into the middle of the street in front of the Rams Bus, ripping open his jacket to proudly display his Brady jersey. James stopped traffic and demanded that Brady be taken off of the grill. Because Bourbon Street was calling (and we did not care to get arrested for tying up traffic the night before the Super Bowl) we decided that we would have to let Brady show the Rams what he was made of during the game. The next day on the way to the Super Dome we stopped at the Rams Bus tailgate for a chat and a picture. It was a great set up. After the game we returned to the Rams Bus (obviously to gloat) happy, of course, to see that the Super Bowl MVP had been removed from the front grill.

During the 22 hour ride back to Massachusetts (yes, we drove to New Orleans), John thought about the Rams Bus and how it would be great to have a vehicle dedicated solely to tailgating and honoring the Patriots. The vision of the TD Lounge was born. The name Touchdown Lounge came from Tom and Denise. They called the bar located in the basement of their first house in Springfield, Massachusetts, the Touchdown Lounge. As a place where friends would gather to enjoy good food, a few drinks and, of course, New England Patriots football, the name “Touchdown Lounge” was perfect for our new tailgate vehicle.

While the idea of a Touchdown Lounge was great, the execution of the plan was not without issues. First, someone had to come up with the money to fund the proposition. John stepped to the plate (of course, John’s wife Mary has no idea how much money has been poured into the TD Lounge). The second issue was the fact that in the spring of 2002, the list of half completed projects around John’s house was daunting, and before he could put a screwdriver to the TD Lounge, John knew he had to finish those projects. To solve this little dilemma, John did what any maniacal Patriots fan would do -- he purchased a new house. The third and significant issue was who would actually “convert” a carpenter’s van into a high tech specialty tailgating vehicle. Although John had some great ideas for building the TD Lounge, he is, after all, an attorney, so it was critical to have someone who actually knew what the hell he was doing involved in the project. Enter chief engineer Tom Mullins. Having spent literally hundreds of hours in John’s driveway (yes Sue that is where he was all of those days you were looking for him), Tom is the guy who actually created the TD Lounge.
Next time you are at Gillette Stadium, look around the parking lot for the goal posts and the blue football on top of the flagpole and you will find the Touchdown Lounge. Stop by and say hello! And remember, Go Pats!!!!!!