At Florida-Georgia's RV City in Jacksonville, friendships last a lifetime — and beyond

Here's all you need to know about the camaraderie at RV City, which is back near TIAA Bank Field after a pandemic year off: Outside their vehicle, diehard Gator fans David and Linda Allen have set up a photo shrine for their good friend Henry Matthews — a diehard Bulldogs fan.

After all, Matthews had planned it so that at his funeral in Georgia, his lead pallbearer would be none other than David Allen.

And that's how it worked out earlier this year. Allen, wearing a suit and "a big ol' Gators mask, standing at the head of his friend's casket, surrounded by Bulldog fans.

He and Matthews met, David Allen said, "years and years ago" at RV City. That's the encampment of RVs parked in a prime spot across from the stadium, where the rival University of Florida and University of Georgia teams will meet Saturday for their annual hotly contested showdown.

They met and became friends when Allen, who owned Amason's, a portable toilet company, helped Matthews fix a busted sewer line at his vehicle. This year, though, Matthews won't be at RV City.

"Henry aged out," Allen said. "Henry Matthews, Georgia Bulldog. Got cancer and died. He was 92."

Each year as part of their good-natured rivalry, they had wagered a shot of booze on the outcome of the game. But Matthews wasn't there last year when Florida beat his Bulldogs, so Allen came up with a plan.

"I went to his funeral up in Augusta, Georgia, went to the coffin, pulled out a little thing of Fireball, set it on his coffin, and said, 'You owe me this. We'll split it some day.'"

Matthews was an Army vet and hydroelectric engineer who had planned every last detail of his funeral, which overflowed from the church to a big tent and TVs outside. And it turned out he had one last good-natured dig to make at Allen, who's 68 and lives in Fleming Island.

"The preacher said, 'All rise please," Allen recalls. "Everybody stood up and all that. He said, 'There was one thing Henry really wanted to do — he really wanted to go out with a good happy smile on everyone's faces, especially David Allen's.' So they played that damn fight song for the Bulldogs."

Allen smiled at the memory. "Son of a b----."

That kind of friendship isn't uncommon in RV City, the city's official RV area, which well before gameday will be packed with partiers, grills, tents, flags and inflatable Gators or Bulldogs.

With a lower capacity smaller this year because of construction on the Hart Bridge ramp. it's a hot ticket that sold out within minutes of going on sale.

Gates opened this year at 8 a.m. Tuesday, though some regulars, eager to claim their usual spot, had lined up days before.

Nancy and Scott Wall of Hawkinsville, Ga., were No. 13 in line after arriving Saturday morning. They've been coming to RV City at least 13 years, though they've been tailgating since the late 1980s.

By Friday they'll have nine people sleeping in their deluxe RV. The Walls expect to have a good time, noting Georgia's No. 1 ranking. Nancy Wall pointed to her necklace, from which hung a small "1" symbol.

"I've just been waiting to bring this out," she said.

Wall, who notes she was mentioned in a Times-Union story on RV City eight years ago, didn't miss last year when RV City was closed and attendance at the game was limited. They camped out at a private lot by the river. It was beautiful, she said, but she missed her friends.

"All these people here, that I now camp with, I met them here," she said. "We get together now, besides Georgia-Florida. We've made really close personal friends, Gators as well as Georgia."

As for the game itself? Passions are high, but it's just four hours, give or take, out of a whole week of camaraderie, she noted: "But for those four hours? Grrrr."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Florida-Georgia football's RV City in Jacksonville draws rival friends