For a great many of us who will not travel to Florida in February, the activities surrounding Super Bowl are as much fun as the big game. Super Bowl parties have become a mid-winter tradition. Let AAA lend a hand at your bowl bash.

Good eats

Get ready for the second-biggest day of U.S. food consumption annually with creative menu ideas, recipes and cooking tips for game-day grub. Good recipes and ideas are at www.epicurious.com/cooking/holiday/super_bowl/super_bowl.

According to Hanna Miller, a food historian from North Carolina, 70 percent of Super Bowl viewers will be eating pizza while watching the game on television. Pizza is one of our favorite Super Sunday foods, but popcorn and chips are other popular snacks. According to the Super Bowl’s Web site, Americans will eat 4,000 tons of popcorn and 14,500 tons of chips. AAA members with the need to crunch can save 15 percent on popcorn gifts with the Popcorn Factory. Use promotional code AAAM2.

Doing some grilling for the big game? Buy gourmet meats and have them delivered to your door, ready to grill, in time for the game. All packages–including the barbecue special–are $99, including shipping and handling. For more information, see aaa.com/discounts.

Good stuff

For Super Bowl and NFL merchandise visit AAA.com/target and save 10 percent. Splurge on a new television before the big game and save 10 percent on purchases of $199 or more at AAA.com/circuitcity. Follow the playoffs with NFL Sunday Drive on Sirius satellite radio. AAA members save 20 percent on radios and get free ground shipping, activation and a free month of service with the purchase of a subscription.

Good times

There’s no shortage of entertainment during Super Sunday with pre-game, halftime and post-shows and halftime entertainment. And there’s always the commercials. Download TV commercial score sheets, vote for your favorite and link to film archives of previous Super Bowl ads at www.superbowl-ads.com.

Super Bowl trivia always works at a party. Here are some fun facts:

• Super Bowl XLI is the 9^th Super Bowl hosted by south Florida (Orange Bowl – 5, Dolphin Stadium – 3).
• Super Bowl XL (2006) was watched by 141.4 million viewers; ticket prices were $600 for most seats and $700 for club seats.
• All of the 10 most-watched programs in TV history are Super Bowl games. The television network for Super Bowl XLI is CBS.
• Cost of the Vince Lombardi Trophy, made by Tiffany & Co. of New York: $25,000.
• No host city team has ever played in the game in their home stadium. (The 49ers played in Super Bowl XIX, but game was played at Stanford Stadium, not Candle Stick Park.)
• Future Super Bowl Sites: 2008 (SB XLII) – Glendale, Ariz.; 2009 (SB XLIII) - Tampa, Fla.; 2010 (SB XLIV) - Miami.

Whether you want to watch the Bears, the Chargers, another team play football or pop icon Prince perform at halftime, the Super Bowl is a huge event, and a Super Sunday party is a great winter diversion. Pass the nacho dip.

Deborah Reinhardt Palmer is managing editor of AAA Midwest and Southern Traveler magazines.