Redskins/Cowboys Game 2006

Much like the string of THorum Meet posts, this one is going to be a long one, recounting an awesome trip out to Dallas in September 2006 (specifically the 16th through 18th), so I’m putting it all under a cut, to keep the front page from being too long-winded.

I first got to meet up with Mark on the THorum trip. We’d talked for a couple of years prior about going to a Redskins and Cowboys game, since we’re opposing fans, and we finally managed to make it work. Lisa came along, for which I’m really glad. It was a great trip.

Our flight on Saturday was fairly early in the morning. You’d think that flying to Dallas would be a straight shot, but we had a layover in Denver. I suppose we could have found a straight flight, but it would have been so much more. We got into Dallas in the early afternoon, and proceeded to the car rental area, where we met up with Mark.

After renting the car and spending 15 minutes just driving out of the airport, we headed for the hotel. I was driving (this time a Chevy HHR) and initially went to the wrong hotel, but we finally got to the right one, which was practically next door. They all said Marriott, so I take solace in that fact. Mike (ADSquirrel, not the Mike from the THorum meet) had been waiting for us. It was kind of funny, because Lisa said “Aren’t you going to introduce me? Hi, I’m Lisa” and introduced herself to Mike, and then I introduced myself, and she suddenly got a little embarrassed because she thought I’d met Mike before, which I had not. It doesn’t seem so amusing written out. I guess you had to be there.

The four of us have hung out a lot online in the past, in World of Warcraft, but it was neat to actually be all together in the same room and able to talk and such. We headed to a Buffalo Wild Wings near the hotel for lunch, and then went out to find something to do in the city.

We wound up hitting up The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, which is a museum set up around the location of JFK’s assassin. It presented a lot more information without a lot of the sugary coating you generally get about JFK, which was really interesting.

That evening, we met up with Kris (who used to frequent the THorum) and ate dinner at a Chik-Fil-A, then went to a Fry’s electronics and walked around. Lisa and I were getting pretty tired at this point. After Fry’s, we hit the hotel and basically went to bed kind of early. Everyone seemed pretty beat, so it worked out.

Sunday was a pretty busy day. We got kind of a late start on the day, and Mark dropped the other three of us off at a nearby mall, and went off to have lunch with a friend in the area. Mike, Lisa, and I wandered about the Galleria, looking in a ton of stores and eating lunch at La Madeline. Lisa spent a lot of time in the Coach store, and Mike and I spent some time gawking at stuff in Sony’s store.

Eventually, Mark called us and said he’d gotten lost on his way back. After a couple of calls, Mike and I went into a convenience store, got a map, figured out where he was, and guided him back to us. By this point, we really needed to get back to the hotel and get ready for the game. Mike left shortly after we got back, as he wasn’t staying for the game.

We were warned to head to the stadium a few hours early. I’m really glad that we did. Parking was a literal mile or so from the Texas Stadium, so we found some decent parking and started the trek. There were a ton of Cowboys fans, and one group was even blowing a whistle and throwing flags at Redskins fans, which was pretty funny. It started raining as we approached, and really dumped once we’d gotten inside. I’m glad we didn’t have to walk through that.

There’s something amazing about so many people in one space. I’ve heard people talk about the energy in the air, but never felt it until now. Nothing compares. Even though I was there for the Redskins, the Cowboys fans were generally nice to me. Lisa was wearing blue unintentionally — at least, so she claims. She was such a traitor that day.

The game was great to watch, even if we lost horribly. At least it wasn’t a shutout. For the record, it was 27-10 Cowboys.

The walk back to the car was a bit scarier, what with some liquored up people and much wetter conditions, not to mention the dark and overall commotion. Once back at the car, we realized we weren’t going anywhere anytime soon, so we turned up the radio and just kicked back.

The person parked opposite us, however, wasn’t so patient. The spot to my right had opened up, so he managed to maneuver his vehicle into that spot. He was now facing out, and trying to pull into the traffic. He found a gap and took it, but turned way too tight and was now rubbing our rear bumper on the right side. The car was rocking and we started yelling, but the guy didn’t stop right away. Finally after pulling the bumper off a few inches, he realized what was going on and backed up.

Having dealt with a few car accidents before, I sprung out of the car and got all of his information and gave him mine. I even had the time (the lot was still packed) to call the car rental agency and my insurance company and his insurance company, and I already had a claim filed by the time we finally left. We called an officer on the recommendation of our insurance, but he said that the accident was a civil matter and the other guy had already left, and he’d fulfilled his duties by providing me with information.

Due to the accident and how late it already was, we didn’t get back to the hotel until nearly 1am. Lisa and I had our flight at 6:30am, so we basically took a nap for a couple of hours and headed for the airport. Even though his flight wasn’t for a few more hours, Mark went with us, as it was more convenient for him to get to the airport that way.

The line to check in was crazy long, and I really thought we might miss our flight. We got checked in and said quick goodbyes to Mark, and made our flight just in time.

I’m probably leaving out some detail that I might have included, had I written this post in a more timely manner, and I apologize for that. I really do feel bad getting to this post so late. Still though, Lisa and I both made some great memories, and had a great time doing so. I’m looking forward to doing this sort of trip again.