My wife surprised me for my 30th birthday with plane and game tickets, and we had an awesome time. Took a bus with some friends from Winston-Salem (all Bills backers) and tailgated all day on the front lawn of the local Archdiocese.
Not sure I can really comment on Carolina tailgating since we were with Bills fans, but as for it being "White Bread and Mayonnaise," people tended to be pretty lively, and fun. There's a big black guy with a blue wig and a Thor hammer they showed on the Jumbotron a couple of times. For the most part the Panthers fans around us were pretty cordial, they were impressed that we flew in to watch the Bills.