[trip style = sportcation + weekend getaway]
Have you ever traveled for the sole purpose of attending a sporting event? We'll affectionately call it "the sportcation".
With Super Bowl XLVI {46} approaching this weekend, let's talk football. In December I had the opportunity to do something I've always wanted to do: get a first-hand look at US football culture. To do this, I didn't start small with a Friday high school game or even a Saturday college game. Go big or go home, right? I went right to the big leagues, throwing myself into the epicentre of football in Dallas---technically Arlington---TX, at the largest domed stadium in the world.
{Trip Styler Tip :: Do/stay/eat in Dallas}
It was a big game; a late-season, home-field, divisional match at the state of the art, night-club-meets-airline-lounge Cowboys Stadium. Armed with the expertise of our friends who try and make a yearly pilgrimage to see the Cowboys at "Jerry's House" {fans refer to the stadium as the owner Jerry Jones' house}, we explored the 800+ concessions---from margarita-only outlets to the "healthy options" vendor.
Weaving up and down and back and forth along the stadium's floors and concourses---the equivalent of a 3km run---we settled into our 40th yard line, row 20 seats, again, go big or go home. Sadly, the team did not win, and their victorious opponents are battling for the trophy this weekend! Needless to say, I'll be cheering for the New England Patriots.
Was it worth it? You bet your super-sized nachos and beers it was! Thank goodness for my seat's cup holder.
{The exterior of Dallas Cowboys Stadium, which opened in 2009.}
{There were landscaped gardens, water features and planted trees fronting the stadium's glass and exposed-rock exterior.}
{@Nate_fri, my husband, getting a mandatory pre-game frisking. All stadium guests receive this gentle, yet mandatory treatment. Note, that evening there were 95,952 fans in attendance and we didn't wait more than two minutes to get into the stadium.}
{First peek at the field.}
{The massive high-definition screen hanging between the 20 yard lines is one of the world's largest.}
{It's a night club with a trio of dancing cages! Nope, it's The Dallas Cowboys Stadium where hip hop dancers kick-it for the whole game!}
{The game begins, with much fanfare and a fire show, naturally.}
{Cheerleaders, a tight group in every sense of the word.}
{Two Canadians, aka Mr. and Mrs. Trip Styler, at a Cowboys game.}
{I was tempted by the healthy concession, but really, when in Rome...}
PS - Ferris Bueller is back...for the superbowl...in a Honda commercial.
[photos by @tripstyler]