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!

Thanks for the input! BigRuss - I really like your description on things, especially the Southlake Town Center, haha. So the Fairmont is a nice hotel but downtown? The Mansion on Turtle Creek is uptown? I do not mind spending the extra money on a really nice hotel since I am only staying 3 nights. I am really just looking for a safe/nice neighborhood where we can walk around and do some shopping when we are not at the game. Other then that, I am sure my husband will drag us to the historical areas (JFK shooting, etc). We are not into going to bars at night, so the night life is not a big deal.
Thank goodness I am not coming on OU-Texas weekend. Sounds horrible. Also, we will not be going to the State Fair either. Not really into museums or zoos either. Wow we seem boring!
I really appreciate the input from everyone since we are so clueless of the area!

I spend a lot of time around Southlake Town Center, but the best location for shopping will really depend on what you are looking for.

Southlake Town Center has chain stores - nice ones like Lucky and Coach and American Eagle and Buckle, but chains no less. (The strip center across the street has Nordstrom Rack which can be cool if you don't have one at home.)

If you stay in Dallas, you could shop at Northpark and the West Village - you'd get the big anchors, plus more unique stores.

Of course, if you want off price, stay at the Gaylord or Great Wolf Lodge and shop at Grapevine Mills for Off Fifth, Neimans Last Call, etc.

The October 10th game will be Tennessee Titans @ Dallas Cowboys, 4:15 PM start. That should be a very good game to watch. It'll be interesting to see Vince back in Texas against Romo.

The weather should be nice then. Hopefully you'll get an open stadium that day or at least Jerry will have the end zones open to get some fresh air in the stadium. Or if the weather sucks you'll be in a climatized mall with a football game going on.

4:15 PM EST which is 3:15 CST

One thing that MissMandy brings up is the "tram" system. The Fairmont is near the DART Rail, which is good because it goes to Mockingbird Station, which has restaurants, some shops, a couple of bars and an Indieplex (multiplex movie house for independent films) which is modern and nice.

But the Fairmont is also 1-2 blocks from the McKinney Avenue trolley, which has some utility for visitors. It's a historic trolley (that means really flippin' OLD) that goes from St. Paul Ave and Ross in downtown to the West Village (shops and many restaurants mostly non-chain and top-end gelateria Paciugo and another Indieplex -- this one owned by Mavericks owner Mark Cuban) along McKinney Avenue, which is the main artery through uptown. The trolley won't break any speed records (it takes about 20-25 minutes to get to the West Village, which is a 7-minute cab ride away) but will let you see the layout of the area and where you may want to go. It's the Dallas equivalent of the St. Charles trolleys in New Orleans, except the McKinney Ave. trolley is FREE.

You can also take the DART back to the Fairmont area from Cityplace station to Akard or St. Paul, which are about equidistant from the hotel.

If I were choosing between the Fairmont neighborhood and the ZaZa, I'd choose the ZaZa in a minute.

ok so the Fairmont, ZaZa, the Mansion on Turtle Creek, any others I should consider??? How about the Magnolia? Any other suggestions?
Are these hotels right on the main streets where you just walk out your hotel and there you are (as in right in the middle of the shopping area)? or do you need to drive to the shopping and dining areas? Is NorthPark and the West Village uptown or downtown? and what hotels are near there?

Dallas isn't a walking city. This is the South, and other than New Orleans and maybe Miami, the cities generally have a downtown where the commercial center is, and neighborhoods or areas where the various attractions are, and they're separate and spread out. It's not like NYC or Chicago where the commercial centers and shopping/restaurants/bars are jammed together. And there really aren't "shopping streets" like 5th Avenue or Michigan Avenue or even like downtown Minneapolis or Denver's LoDo area.

Dallas is trying to "revitalize" downtown like so many other southern cities, but that was only working a little bit before the '08-09 financial issues hit. There were two main areas to revitalize -- the core downtown box from Harwood to Griffith and Elm to Commerce, where revitalization has not taken hold; and the Arts District, which has grown and has a lot of museums, some theater and music venues and some restaurants but no shopping. Don't like museums? No Arts District for you.

The two areas adjacent to downtown that had lively restaurants, some shops and plenty of bars and clubs, the West End (mostly tourists) and Deep Ellum, are in fairly dire straits.

Ultimately, as a visitor you go from hotel to area and putter around the area. I don't know of hotels in the West Village (designed as residential and retail) or NorthPark (which is a big mall). ZaZa is in a decent area, but it's not a shopping zone, it's restaurant-and-bar zone.

Oh wow, I had no clue. I just assumed Dallas was a big city and you walk around to everything! So basically I should just pick a nice hotel that I like and just drive to the places we would like to visit. I should probably go buy a travel book about the area before we come to get familiar with it. We are basically just there to go to the game, but I figured we should stay a few days to check things out. It's not like we need to do any major shopping haha. It's just nice to be in an area to stroll around at night. The Mansion at Turtle Creek looks nice, but I wasn't sure if it was remote.

I personally favor Fort Worth and Tarrant county to Dallas. Downtown Fort Worth is alive and I feel safer at night. It requires a car to see the area and it is at least 30 minutes to drive from one area to the other... Dallas to Arlington, Arlington to the Airport, Fort Worth to the airport etc. That is why I suggested a place in the middle.

Yeah, don't kid yourself, Mers. In terms of square mileage, Dallas is larger than NYC and Fort Worth is nearly the same size. You'll be renting a car, so nothing's THAT remote.

Enjoy the Cowboys game! As far as where to stay, I'd stay in Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth, probably the Renaissance Worthington. The location is perfect. I stayed there this past spring and the rooms have recently been redone. There's plenty of entertainment and restaurants within walking distance. I'm familiar with both the Dallas and Arlington areas as well as our family has season tickets to the Dallas Mavericks, Texas Rangers and Dallas Cowboys. Hands down, I'd pick FW for the place to stay. If you do stay there, I'd be glad to offer more specifics on restaurants, museums, etc. Last year, there was a bus option to the Cowboys game, I'm not sure of the details as my son drives and has an off-location parking lot that he has found that works well. I'd be glad to scout out info for the bus if you'd like. Happy planning!

I'm beginning to think that I might be better off staying in Fort Worth. Is it a safer area then Dallas?
I will look into the Renaissance Worthington. Recommendations for restaurants would be great.

Downtown FW, especially in the Sundance Square area, is very safe at night. There are biked security officers galore. Great atmosphere - some downtoan dining recs include Reata (www.reata.net). They have an outdoor bar/dining at the top which is wonderful in beautiful weather. Thai Tina's for Thai food. Mi Cocina's for Mexican food is in Sundance Square but if you have a car, go to Joe T. Garcia's and eat outside. There is a TCU football game that Saturday afternoon so there will probably be a football vibe going on anyway. Again, if you have a car, try to hit great barbeque - either Angelo's or Railhead. The best steak place in downtown FW is Del Frisco's - would definitely need reservations. (www.delfriscos.com) Does this help?

yes that helps so much! and you think that the best place to stay is the Renaissance Worthington? Sounds like a great location.

There are several nice places places to stay in downtown Ft. Worth. I think the Omni is less than two years old.

Here's the deal: If you're in downtown Ft. Worth, there will be about 15 restaurants you could walk to at night. In Dallas, not so much. (If you stay at Southlake Town Center, there would also be lots of restaurants in walking distance.)

The Omni is newer and glitzier but is on the other end of town - making it more difficult to walk at night to and from restaurants/clubs/entertainment. It's across the street from the convention center and caters more to convention traffic. I've been in the rooms - yes, they are nice, but I'd choose location (Worthington). The Worthington is probably the nicest on the end of town where the action is...hope this helps.

I'm with dorkforce here. Omni is gorgeous, but not central to walking.

I highly recommend the Renaissance Worthington, also. Wonderful hotel right in the heart of downtown Fort Worth. Walk out the door to lots of dining and shopping. You are minutes from the Botanical Gardens (really, don't miss the Conservatory, which includes prehistoric plants bigger than my house!) and the Japanese gardens there, also.

Sundance Square (a couple blocks from the Worthington) has lots of goings on on the weekend, a number of excellent restaurants, and you really should try to catch a Saturday morning tour of Bass Hall. You can't miss it...there are two huge angels on the front with gold trumpets!

Here is a link to Sundance Square info: http://www.sundancesquare.com/

By the way, I live in Arlington, just 10 mts from the Stadium. There is plenty to do here, but I do absolutely love Fort Worth and Sundance Square.

If you stay at the Worthington, you are also just a hop from the Historic Stockyards, a part of Fort Worth that still celebrates the cowboy and our Western heritage: http://www.fortworthstockyards.org/

Don't get me wrong, there is plenty to do in Dallas, too. BUT, I'd choose Fort Worth for my hotel. You can drive to Dallas in about 30 minutes. The Sixth Floor Museum IS worth seeing; yes, it is dedicated to Kennedy and the day he was assassinated. Very well done, though. Not maudlin.

Also, Dallas has great shopping. I love North Park and the Galleria. Closer to Fort Worth is Grapevine Mills. But those are mostly outlet and chain stores, so don't know if the girls would enjoy that.

Anyway, I vote for Fort Worth Worthington: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...el-fort-worth/

Try to get a room near the top. View is wonderful.

Have fun! You will love the area, I'm sure, no matter where you stay!

thank you so much for your help.

It may be too late. In Sundance Square, there is a wonderful and very private 10 bedroom bed and breakfast inn called Etta's Place. It is a marvelous place to stay. Check out www.ettas-place.com. You can't miss.