Today’s main agenda was a visit to the AT&T Stadium, the home field of the Dallas Cowboys, and a guided tour. It’s actually not in Dallas, but in Arlington. So after breakfast, I walked to EBJ Union Station to take the Trinity Railway Express (TRE) to CentrePort/DFW Airport Station. Of course, I was there too early and had to wait 20 minutes for the train to depart (it only runs once an hour).
The signs on the station said that the train would depart from track 3; however, a train that looked very much like mine was standing on track 4. I found a guy to ask, and he said something about how they had made a switch. So I got on and could escape the cold winds. The train departed on time at 9:15.
After 30 minutes of reading, I stepped off, and it really felt like I got out to the suburbs. Not that many houses and nothing more than two stories. There was no public transport to the stadium (I knew this), so I ordered an Uber. You can track the car that is coming to pick you up, and I saw him get stuck in an intersection (would do a left turn) for several minutes, until he gave up and did a U-turn a couple of blocks later instead. It was still very cold (no sunshine and windy), so I felt every minute.
The driver dropped me off Live! by Lowes so I could get a quick fika before heading to the stadium, which was just a short walk away. Since the train only ran once an hour, it was either this or maybe being late for the tour.
At about 10:40, I walked through Entrance A. Inside, there was a desk, so I asked where I should go for the tour. The guy behind asked to see my ticket and said, “Tour? We have no tour. Oh, you’re looking for the Walmart tour, that’s on the next block. Jokes aside, be over there at 10:45; there are restrooms over there.”
I took a quick peek into their pro shop, and it felt smaller than the one at Lambaeu Field, which surprised me a bit. At 10:45, we got up an escalator and got our picture taken in front of a green screen and got our first view of the field. I had my Packers sweater on, but I only got a couple of comments about it. And actually, a kid was happy to see a fellow Packer fan!
Some facts our guide told us;
- The complex consists of 8 floors, two of which are underground (I think).
- It’s about 325,000 m²
- There are more than 350 suites, in a bunch of different sizes.
- They have 3,500 TVs. Almost everywhere, except in the restrooms
- The big screen weighs 600 tons
- They can fit the Statue of Liberty inside
- The attendance record is about 107k for a basketball game, and about 106k for an NFL game
We got to see the cheerleaders’ dressing room. I can appreciate cheerleading as a sport, but I have my questions about what value they add here, except for looking good.
The Dallas Cowboys dressing room was nice, but not impressive. But it’s 17 years old, so when they renovate, I guess it will be fancier.
It was fascinating to walk around and see everything. Pretty good signage as far as I could see, clean areas, and lots of space. But then again, if there are over 100,000 people in the building, then it might feel crowded anyway. The tour ended after 90 minutes with the possibility to buy the pictures taken at the beginning. I didn’t need to pay $25 to have a Cowboys-branded picture of me 🙂
I went back to Live! By Lowes to get some lunch before heading back to Dallas. Google Gemini had recommended Lockhart Smokehouse, and I got today’s special, burnt ends. Really good! The place itself was pretty good-looking and had a nice atmosphere. Watched the second period of Leksands IF and Brynäs IF, but it didn’t give me any joy.
Started to look a the trip back. The price for the Uber had gone from $10 to $35. When I checked the price for going all the way to Dallas, it was $50 (and much quicker than the train). I had seen the signs and ads from Lyft, so I downloaded the app and checked. They had the price of $10 for the trip to the train, so I booked that instead.
It worked the same, but there were a couple of clear differences. The car wasn’t very clean. The driver had the phone with the GPS in the cup holder, which made him almost miss an exit. He skipped stop signs and wobbled so much that he once apologized. However, he used the indicator! Anyway, he got me to my train on time and for a low price, so I won’t complain that much. I even had to wait ten minutes in the cold for the train.
On the ride back, I bought a ticket for the Renunion Tower. You have to pick a time slot, so I didn’t dare to do it before I knew when I would return to Dallas. The tower is just beside the EBJ Union Station, so it was a short walk to the entrance, and after a picture (which was free!), I stepped into the elevator that took me 140 meters up in the air.
On the outside of the tower, there was a deck enclosed by a wire fence. I stepped out to take a few photos, and I was a bit nervous to reach for the fence and take the pictures. I don’t like heights, but I like the view, a complicated combination. It was also very windy, so after a lap, I stepped inside again.
Since I had bought a day pass for the DART (public transport), I took the bus back instead of walking 20 minutes to the hotel. At one bus stop, the driver asked a passenger stepping off through the back door to push the door closed. Not very practical. I left through the front doors instead.
When I got back, I took a power nap since I was quite tired. Then I watched Dodgeball before heading out for some dinner. I had found Press Box Grill, where I hoped to see tonight’s game between the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys. In the intersection outside my hotel, just when I was about to cross, five police cars with lights and sirens showed up and parked in the corner. No clue what had happened, but I didn’t stick around to find out. It was cold, and I had a kick-off to get to.
I went for both mocktails, nacho chips with salsa, and a ribeye. The chips were quite bland, but the salsa was spicy. The meat was quite salty but otherwise tasty. The place was about half full, mainly cheering for the Cowboys, of course.
Lions were, unfortunately, more successful and won 44-30. Walked back to my hotel room and got into bed.