Big D, Part 1

Big D, Part 1

It’s been a busy last couple of months for me filled with some time off the island. I went to a conference in Plano, Texas and then Keao and I took a short trip to the Big Island to introduce Slugger to her cousin and her aunties and uncles for the first time. But that’s for another post (I’m trying really hard to catch up), this one is about my time in Dallas.

A few of us were sent to the Fellowship One conference to learn about the system powering our church’s database. I know, it’s super exciting. But we arrived the day before the conference started so we decided to do a little sightseeing.

Our first stop was lunch. When I go to the mainland there are three fast-food restaurants I like to eat as that we can’t get in Hawaii: 1. Chick-Fil-A, 2. Sonic, 3. In and Out Burger. I know, some of you may think that In and Out should be higher, but truthfully, while I like their burgers, I would still rather eat at the other two places first. Plus, they just opened the first In and Out in Texas while we were there and the line reportedly stretched over a mile.

But Sonic. I love Sonic. Not only do they have a wonderfully large menu, but you get served by carhops wearing roller skates! Plus, with all the drink combinations you can order a different drink every time you go there.

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They even have instructions on how to eat this massive foot-long Coney Island beast

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I got mine covered in chili and cheese

Last year when I went to the Fellowship One conference with Cindy, we saw Cowboy Stadium from a distance but we didn’t have a chance to visit it so this year I really wanted to make sure i got to take a tour of the “House that Jerry Built”. In a word, Cowboy Stadium is massive. I’ve been to other ballparks before but this one was so huge and impressive I don’t think pictures will do it justice. It’s a sight you have to see for yourself, in person.

The first thing you notice about Cowboy Stadium is the insanely large HD video screen. It’s reportedly the largest in the world and it cost $40 million to build. To put it in perspective, Texas Stadium, where the Dallas Cowboys played before, cost $35 million to build. The entire stadium cost $5 million less than the HD screen.

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How would you like that in your living room?

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A view from the owner’s box

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Pretending to be Jerry Jones for a few minutes

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How many ways can you say “win”?

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I wanted to spike a football, but I was afraid of the ramifications

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The locker of former University of Hawaii punter Mat McBriar

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Tony Romo’s locker (I hear you can rent the locker room to do weddings too)

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Do you really need to tell professional football players NOT to share razors?

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A statue of the great Tom Landry

After the tour we were a little tired so we headed to our hotel to take a short nap and then we headed back to Arlington to take in a Rangers game. Cindy and I attended a game last year too, but you never get tired of watching a major league game live. Plus, the Rangers did make it to the World Series last year so there is quite a buzz going on in Dallas.

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The Ballpark at Arlington

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Your better-than-average stadium fare, a BBQ brisket sandwich

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Home Run!

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The ground crew covering the field during the rain delay

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Apparently one guy fell down and got covered too!

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The stadium quickly emptied when the lightning started

Truthfully I’m not sure who won since we didn’t stick around through the rain delay. We had traveled all night and we were tired (plus we didn’t want to be too tired for the conference). I didn’t take too many pictures of the conference since I figured that it wouldn’t be that exciting for everyone to see but I did take more pictures of food so please join me next time where I’ll show you what else i ate in Texas.

Until then, happy trails!

3 thoughts on “Big D, Part 1

    1. They make the best chicken sandwiches. I actually don’t even know if they make anything other than chicken sandwiches now that I think about it.

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