The talk of Texas over the past couple of years has been the new Dallas Cowboy’s Stadium. Tickets to the inaugural game at the new stadium against the Tennessee Titans were going fast and were hard to find. Thanks to Eventchaser.com for hooking up our amazing Dallas Cowboys tickets, I was able to take my 12 year old fanatic football fan son and be part of the history at the new stadium.
The New Cowboy’s Stadium
Cowboy’s Stadium
925 N. Collins Street
Arlington, Texas
Google Maps – Dallas Cowboy’s Stadium
We live 35 miles from the Cowboy’s Stadium in Arlington. The game was on Friday, 08/21/09 at 7pm. I was worried about the traffic because I left my house at 6pm due to a school open house I had to attend. I thought we were going to be late because of rush hour traffic and Cowboy’s game traffic. To my surprise, traffic was pretty light.
I expected there to be a lot of traffic off of Hwy 360 as we exited near the stadium but did not run into any. Arlington did an extremely good job of planning and making several available exits to the stadium off of the highway.
As we got off the highway in Arlington, we immediately saw the roller coasters at Six Flags and the Rangers stadium but the new Cowboy’s Stadium dominated the landscape. Everything in Texas is big anyways but this thing was HUGE, even for Texas standards. My son was smiling the whole way there. Parking around the stadium was $40.00.
We found a private parking lot for $8.00 that was only a couple of blocks from the stadium. It was a great deal especially since we didn’t get caught in the traffic trying to get out of the bigger lots when the game ended. We parked at about 6:50pm and walked the short distance to the stadium. We walked through the parking lot and stopped at a couple of extravagant tailgate parties. Everyone one was stoked for the new season to start and was super friendly.
Inside Dallas Cowboy’s Stadium
We got to the front gates and the game had just started. We watched the opening kickoff from the world’s largest HD screen (160’x 7’) which was visible from outside the arena. When we got inside, there were ushers waiting at every corner to assist us.
Our seats were amazing! I think everyone was amazed at the size of the arena once inside. As we watched the game, we kept finding ourselves watching the screen instead of the actual game on the field. It got to be a little distracting and at times we really had to concentrate on watching the game not the screen.
Food and Drinks at Cowboy’s Stadium
The food at the stadium was pretty pricey. Bottled water was $5, nachos were $8.25 and hotdogs were around $7. We decided not to eat at the stadium and ended up finding a nearby Chili’s Bar and Grill after the game where we took advantage of their 2 for $20. It was a perfect ending to the night.
Many have heard the saying “Don’t mess with Texas!” There were several Titan’s fans at the game that started the smack talking pretty quick. Before you knew it, there was a collective roar from the Cowboys fans that quickly put them in their place. It was pretty amusing and added to the atmosphere. It was non stop.
As the Cowboys steamrolled the Titans and the fourth quarter got under way, a big Hells Angel-looking Cowboy fan got up out of his seat and approached the Titan fan he had been verbally battling with all game. With a smile on his face he reached his hand out to the Titan fan and said “No hard feelings man” and bought him an $8.00 beer. Texas is, after all, “The Friendly State.”
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