Dallas Cowboys
 

I would like to surprise my husband with tickets to a Dallas Cowboy game for his birthday, but I know nothing about the area. Can anyone recommend a nice hotel to stay at. We will probably stay in the area for a few days. Also is there anything else in the area to do? or is it just basically the stadium? We will be flying in from NJ.

There are many hotels right next to Cowboys Stadium and The Ballpark at Arlington. I wouldn't stay anywhere else as the traffic in that area is horrendous on game day. I recommend the Hyatt Place Arlington. It is an absolutely beautiful and brand new hotel and really close to Cowboys Stadium.

As far as anything else to do in the area, if your husband's birthday is in September, then the Texas Rangers will still be playing at The Ballpark at Arlington and a game there is worth seeing - it's a beautiful baseball park. Six Flags is also next door, they have limited hours after Labor Day but are open throughout September. Into October and past that area is quiet except on game days.

When is his birthday? I'll tell you who they are playing and how difficult tickets will be to come by.

Ticketmaster is now the NFL official site for season ticket holders to resell their tickets... it can be pricy but you will get good seats and they're legit... be careful about scalper sites...

If you are staying near Dallas Stadium you'll only be about a 15 minute drive from Fort Worth where, depending on your own preferences you can visit the Historic Stockyards, the Kimball Art Museum, the Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame, the Modern Art Museum, the Amon Carter Museum, the Fort worth Botanical Gardens, the Fort Worth Zoo or even take in a show (concert, play, etc.) at Bass Hall.

wahhhooo woman after my own heart :) Dh has taken me to Dallas games twice for my birthday - it was on my bucket list. We have not been to Jerries World..errr... I mean the new stadium though. :)

We got tickets through people we knew but I also echo the warning about scalpers. I have had good luck with other ticket purchases via Stubhub.

By the way, tickets are much more expensive to Jerrie's World than to TX Stadium. Call me old fashion, but I kinda liked the old rundown TX Stadium, lots of great games there. Oh well, the new Cowboys Stadium has large plasma screens and central air and heat.

Me, I'll watch the games from the comfort of my own home thank you.

Texas Stadium stank of rancid meat fats and beer and was a heinous dump. The remains and the surrounding construction are more attractive.

JerryWorld (who is "jerrie"? that's a stripper spelling) is not a hideous eyesore, just an enormous construction.

There's not much to do in Arlington for a visitor other than watch the Rangers and Cowpatties. Arlington is about 30 minutes from downtown Dallas and its arts district, and 20-25 minutes from FW and its arts district (which is outside of downtown FW and on the far side [west] of downtown FW from Arlington).

The Kimball's special exhibits are usually better than those at the Dallas Museum of Art, but the DMA's permanent collection is far superior. The FW Modern is more interesting for its design than its holdings. The Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas is worth a visit. The Dallas Zoo, which has worked hard to improve, is now better than the FW Zoo, which has coasted on its reputation. Sundance Square in FW is a much better downtown hangout area than the Dallas West End or Deep Ellum.

If you're here in late September/early October, the State Fair of Texas will be hosted at Fair Park in Dallas. Anything that can be fried, will be.

I laughed out loud at the stripper spelling :))

I know the tickets are more now - but if dh lands the position in Dallas I will have to get at least one game!

I have been a long time fan. Mers I hope you get to go.

By the way, the State Fair of Texas is definitely worth seeing. I went last year and loved it!

That is really cool Rich. Thanks for sharing it.

Sorry, I didn't realize anyone replied to this. I thought I got email notifications.
I ended up getting 4 tickets for the October 10th game. It was the only game we could go to because my daughters had off the next day. We are going to be staying for 3 nights, so I was wondering if we were better off staying in Dallas? We will just try to put up with the traffic and the stadium.
Any suggestions on really nice hotels? Uptown or downtown better?

I have no clue about anything in the area so any help will be greatly appreciated!

If you have any interest in art or architecture then it would be worth your while to make a trip to the Kimball Museum.

Louis Khan (the architect) was one of the finest American architects who set a new standard for art museums with the Kimball. Art museums were simply buildings that housed art, Khan created a building that merged light, space and art and became, in itself, an art experience. Although, other museums may have larger collections, the Kimball’s collect is exquisite.

The Adolphus Hotel, The Fairmont or Hotel ZaZa are the best hotels in Dallas. Make sure you eat at The French Room restaurant at The Adolphus.

Dallas is fabulous there is so much to do, I don't understand people who say it hasn't. Also check out FortWorth so your husband can pretend to be a cowboy! All men would love that for their birthday!

The state fair will still be open. It's great fun.

How old are your daughters? If they're fairly young, the Adolphus, Fairmont or ZaZa would not be the right place (formal.) I'd go with the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine. but if you can find an Arlington hotel with a shuttle to the game, stay there. Parking at the new stadium is $$$$$$$$.

They are 21 and 18. Is the Fairmont and ZaZa in a good location. I also read something about a Turtle Creek hotel being nice???? I wasn't sure if it was better to stay uptown or downtown? The girls are into shopping.
We mostly likely would not be going to the state fair though. I just thought it be fun staying in Dallas since I figured there would be more to do then staying near the stadium.
I don't mind the traffic or the parking prices. We are used to it being in New Jersey!

Try staying at the Hilton in Southlake. About Half way from Dallas and Fort Worth. It is a nice small Hilton with shops and restaurants all around and even a movie theater...all just by strolling Town Center. It is a 25 minute drive to the stadium and about 15-20 minutes from DFW. I think you will enjoy the area! If you get to Fort Worth don't miss Joe T Garcia's on the North side of Fort Worth and downtown Fort Worth is much nicer to feel the Texas experience in my opinion! Bass Hall & the Kimball... A great weekend!!!

Thank you, I will check out Southlake. How far is it from Dallas? Also, how far is Dallas and Fort Worth from each other?

I don't know about ZaZa being formal -- very much the cocaine-and-boob-job type of place that's glorified on a show like Entourage.

Uptown has more fun stuff for after hours than downtown. The Fairmont is a downtown fixture and convention/meeting/business hotel. There's not much going on in downtown Dallas at night generally (the West End, to the extent it could count doesn't), and the Fairmont area is worse than most.

Dallas and FW are about 40 miles from downtown to downtown. Southlake is north and west of Dallas, and about 25 miles from Southlake Town Center to downtown Dallas (it's not a crow-fly measurement, this is on the roads). Southlake Town Center is a nice place to stroll around, but on weekend nights it has mindless high schoolers flocking to the place like grackles during nesting season and looks like a Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber convention.

Are any of the uptown/victory plaza hotels running specials? That may be more enjoyable than staying in the 'burbs.

The "turtle creek" hotel you refer to is The Mansion on Turtle Creek, which is a top-end hotel. Both it and The Crescent Hotel are Rosewood properties. Rosewood owns The Carlyle in NY, which you may know, and the internationally renowned Caneel Bay resort in St. John.

At least you avoided coming on OU-Texas weekend, which is a week early this year. That would have been a mess -- tons of Okies and, even worse, scores of UT fans.

The Fairmont is a wonderful hotel, and the area is fine. It is nice and quiet at night which is what most people want and is near some fabulous restaurants. The main advantage is that you are near the tram system which covers a wide range of areas so you don't have to drive across and acround Dallas which can be intimidating!