Friday, August 23, 2019

Birthday Trip to DFW: Part 1

While Parker and Esme were vacationing with my parents, Jimmy and I took a quick trip to Dallas-Fort Worth, TX.  The Minnesota Twins were playing the Texas Rangers and it happened to be the weekend before our birthday.  Two great excuses for a getaway.  We took an early flight out of Minneapolis on Saturday, which gave us most of the day to do things.
From the rental car depot, we headed right to Tender Smokehouse in Frisco for lunch.  I happened to see a few of the Twins office staffed were there with part owner and former Twin, Torii Hunter.  It was a bit out of the way, but totally worth it.
It was a quick service style restaurant where you order at the counter and they bring you the food.  The management noticed our Twins gear right away and chatted us up.  I am not sure if that contributed to the great service, but it was top notch!  I order ribs and Jimmy had brisket.  We shared sides of beans and mac and cheese.  Everything was so delicious, even the complimentary banana pudding we got to end the meal.
We made our way back towards Arlington, where our hotel and the ballpark are.  We made a quick stop at the Apple Store in the Dallas Galleria Mall.  It had some neat center pivot doors and the mall had an arched glass roof.
Much to Jimmy's suprise and excitement, there was also a Tesla showroom in the mall, so he took a quick seat in the Model X before heading on our way.
Our next stop was at Urban's Tattoo and Piercing Studio.  A couple months ago, Jimmy made a comment that he thought I would look cute with a nose piercing.  It surprised me at first, but I was immediately on board and decided it would be a fun vacation adventure.  I settled on this location after some Yelp research.
 
Their piercer, Cody Loman, was great! He explained the whole process to me and was able to calm my nerves.  He was also able to refer me to a shop at home for a follow-up in a couple months.  Not exactly painless, but as easy as it could be.
We made a quick stop to check in at the hotel before going on our AT&T Stadium tour.
 
We were lucky to arrive when we did because I neglected to check the website for early closures.  We had all of 30 minutes to check things out before being kicked out.  We got to run around on the field for a bit, which was fun, but it would have been nice to have more time.
It was reaching some pretty extreme temperatures by this time.  Luckily it wasn't more humid, or it could have been unbearable.
Globe Life Park is in its final year, as they are building a new retractable roof stadium next door.  With heat like today, that roof will get plenty of use.  The whole weekend was steamy and even lead to heat sickness for one of the Twins on Sunday. We strolled around the stadium before getting in line for the gates to open.
We had lots of time to burn since we had planned on being at AT&T Stadium longer.  We walked to just about every part of the place, then found some shade to watch batting practice.
There was a special hall of fame ceremony before the game for Josh Hamilton, who was a big part of their success and road to the World Series in 2011.
One great thing about an evening game is the sun going down!  It really helped once it was gone.  
We grabbed some tasty grub in the form os a chili dog.
The ushers approached us in the third inning to verify our tickets.  I thought this was a little strange since the place wasn't even half full.  A short time later I heard him say that Josh Hamilton was coming to our section and several more security personnel arrived as well.  He came with his daughters after the fifth inning to do the "games remaining" countdown that was located there.  It was an unexpected event that made me smile!
The benches cleared in the 8th, but I still don't know exactly why.  The Twins took an early lead and kept it to win 12-7.
Always glad to see a Twins win, but even better on the road!

Next Up: A day in Fort Worth and dinner in Dallas

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