NFL Stadiums – Duncan Travels

Snowbird Travels – Stop 6, the finale in Florida

February 4, 2021 by tduncan8214, posted in Golf, NFL Stadiums, Snowbird

Days 55 – 79 – St Augustine, FL

The first weekend of January found us packing up the truck and heading south to Tampa. We were staying just for the weekend, as we got to catch a Tampa Bay game. I won’t go into much detail to save it for an NFL post … plus I am still sad they are going to the Super Bowl and knocked my team out. We enjoyed the time in Tampa, for the most part. This Covid era of things is definitely strange. Having to wear a mask the whole time suuuuuccckeed. After the game Sunday we were looking forward to a relaxing drive back to the trailer Monday morning. No rush, we just wanted to get back safe and take our time. That all changed when at 6am Dan woke with a start, as the hotel fire alarm was going off! Hurrying to grab the essentials needed we had brought (laptop, dogs, my wedding ring, gun LOL) we rushed out the door to the truck to wait it out. Thankfully the hotel was fine, just a kitchen fire, but we were quick to gather the rest of our belongings and get back to St. Augustine.

The remaining time in Florida was spent enjoying the company – Wes, Anke and Mike; lots of fun days of golf and delicious eats while we could get in the fresh seafood. A few highlights were playing at the LPGA golf course – the course was great to play and guess what it was COLD – AGAIN. Some of the coldest golf of our lives has been on this trip LOL. That time we brought a blanket, which was perfect for me and was put to good use all day! I was able to get in my January 5k – this time with Anke in person! (We’ve been doing virtual runs together since July 2020)

We also made sure to hit the Golf Hall of Fame, which was fun to see and take in the history of the game. One cool part was to see Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer play the King & Bear back in the day. It was a short video, but seeing them hit on a course Dan and I had just recently played was really cool. The course was incredible and is one of the best I’ve ever played. The HOF has a replica of the 17^th hole of the Players tournament and we each took our shot at this elusive hole … FYI Dan and Wes were much closer than I was and receive itty bitty buttons to prove it LOL. I’ll blame it on the clubs – without my own I just didn’t hit as well LOL.

Our last weekend the weather was much nicer, and we finally got to enjoy a dinner on the water. The views and the company were perfect. We also got our last round of Florida golf in, playing a course really close to the beach. Which of course meant we got that wind off the water and though it was sunny, you know the story, it was cold. That night we soaked up more time around a campfire and shared laughs as we said “See ya soon” to our dear friends. The following day was spent getting ready to leave and crying into my wine as I watched the Packers lose. (joking of course, but I was/still clearly am sad over that loss)

On to Gulf Shores Alabama!

Kansas City Chiefs – 2013

October 4, 2020 by tduncan8214, posted in NFL Stadiums

Pre Mahomes and pre Super Bowl era, we celebrated Dane turning 16 by bringing him to Kansas City to watch a Chiefs game. Wanting to always make sure birthdays are celebrated in style, we had a limo pick us up from the house and take us to the airport. The plane was a puddle hopper but the flight was quick and we arrived in KC full of anticipation.

To start, we found out when we arrived to the hotel we were actually staying at the same place as the opposing team (which was the San Diego Chargers) so that was pretty cool. Dane didn’t think it was, but his football loving parents did. The funny awkward moment was being in the elevator with Dane in his Chiefs gear and standing next to us was Ekeler, one of the runningbacks for the Chargers. We ordered room service daily for breakfast and Dane got to open his presents in the hotel room. We did some sight seeing Saturday, mainly to check out the stadium before game day and Dane was stoked to also get to see his KC Royals stadium too.

Game day came upon us and it was COLD! Part of the gift for Dane was to get a full stadium tour. We arrived early to get that started, and it was cool to see the history of the stadium and the team as we toured around. Icing on the cake for him was when we stepped into an elevator to go down to the field level and we were joined by the KC Chiefs cheerleaders – who proceeded to sing “happy birthday” when they found out we were celebrating. That was a smile that couldn’t get wiped away and only got bigger as we got to the field and watched some of his favorite players warming up.

The stadium is all concrete – and it was bitter cold. It was colder inside the stadium where I was buying hot chocolate then it was in the stands. Chiefs fans are some of the most passionate, and just being there in their element was too much fun. The outcome didn’t make our fan that happy (they lost) but it was definitely a trip of awesome memories overall. Fast forward to Super Bowl 51 and we watched that fan overcome with joy as his team got another trophy finally.

New England & Buffalo NFL Trip

September 13, 2019 by tduncan8214, posted in NFL Stadiums

Facebook Memories may be one of the best parts of the social media world. Just this last weekend, Facebook reminded me of our favorite NFL trip – New England & Buffalo. Let me start by saying, the sentence should end with “New England” because Buffalo was definitely NOT our favorite. But it did provide some interesting stories … but let’s start from the beginning.

We can never talk about this trip without mentioning the arrival into Boston. We took a straight flight from Denver, but landed around 1am, and we were exhausted. We never pack light, so Dan had to lug the 2 travel golf bags around, while I had 2 large suitcases, a backpack and of course my SUPER light purse (insert sarcastic eye roll here) We get our bags and trek through the airport to our rental car area – which is never an easy feat – and make our way outside to pick our car. I made sure to pick a larger SUV, for the bags and comfort, and walked outside to find … MINIVANS. Nothing but minivans lined the area we were supposed to choose from.

Of course, I was not pleased. I am whining and complaining to Dan, and noticing the tired, cranky, edgy mood I am in, he finds someone to help us out. I of course start to unleash on this poor guy, and a few sentences in he says “Be right back” and dashes out. I am shooting daggers at anyone I can as we stand there, patiently waiting. He comes back in a brand-new Cadillac Escalade, jumps out and says, “here take it” tosses Dan the keys and we thankfully load our luggage in. Not a bad deal, and great customer service for this very cranky passenger. We collapsed into the hotel around 2:30am, and luckily had no plans the following morning.

Thursday was the start of the NFL season! We woke up refreshed and ready to go to the New England Patriots game. It just so happened to be the start of the season after they won their fifth Lombardi trophy – so not only was it opening day, we also got to see the fifth banner get hung. The field in Foxborough is surrounded by a mall – so we headed out early, to get there, grab a bite, walk around and enjoy the area.

We enjoyed a seafood meal at one of the restaurants in the mall. Dressed in all Patriots gear, everyone thought we were part of the local crowd. The people were incredibly nice. We were surprised just how nice they really were. After our meal, we wound up at a bar close by. We sat outside and chatted with so many people – even told them we were in from Denver. They seemed surprised we were wearing Pats gear, but they rolled with it. One of the main things we also noticed, was even though there were plenty of the opposing teams fans there, they never trash talked or berated them!

We got into the stadium and prepared for the game. The stadium was super nice inside as well – but we weren’t there to tour around it, we were excited to watch the banner go up. It just so happened we were sitting right below them, so we got an up close view of the reveal of number five. The pre game ceremony included a performance from Mark Wahlberg, which did not disappoint, and the teams took the field.

We enjoyed the entire game – from the people around us, the atmosphere, the weather and the actual game (even though they lost). We left that stadium feeling so grateful for one of the best experiences.

A few days later we left Boston behind and drove eight hours into Buffalo. We had many friends who knew we were going to Buffalo and had been there before. You’d think they may have mentioned what we were about to face (they didn’t). We stayed in a really cool hotel that was an older building they renovated into the hotel. They had a “cocktail hour” upstairs and we were able to go up, enjoy some wine and got a great view of Niagara Falls. We went to the Falls that evening after dinner and before the game the following day. The falls were awesome to see and well worth the trip.

We drove into the city for the game, leaving early enough to beat traffic, find our parking area and of course get in with enough time to see what the stadium was all about. What it was about, well, was a disappointment. We were shocked at the fans, the insane amount of alcohol being consumed around us, and the lack of cleanliness. Maybe we were there for a bad day, but it was not fun. We went into the stadium early and got to watch a live band play some 80’s music, which was cool.

I’ll sum it up by saying, we left Buffalo as the 3^rd quarter was starting. I was not interested any longer in staying for the game. We witnessed someone throw up in their seat in front of us, during the National Anthem! Before the game even started! I also witnessed a full grown man ram into a woman carrying 2 beers, without so much as an apology or checking to ensure she was ok.

We got to the airport 4 hours before our flight, and we were perfectly content with that. Checking New England and Buffalo off the list – and never going to Buffalo again. (Sorry to any loyal Buffalonians)

University of Phoenix Stadium – 2013

July 10, 2019 by tduncan8214, posted in NFL Stadiums, Uncategorized

2013 was a big stadium year for us – we went to three others outside of our hometown Broncos. For New Year’s Eve 2013 into 2014, we decided to go visit Dan’s family in Arizona. We surprised his dad, Marvin, with tickets to the Arizona Cardinal’s vs San Francisco 49er’s game.

The Cardinal’s stadium is a dome, and they are actually the only field that rolls their grass outside to get sunlight. Their dome has a retractable roof as well which allows some natural light in during the game. It also allows the warmer Arizona temps in. We had really good seats in a section of the endzone, and beforehand we were able to walk around the stadium a bit for our Arizona fans to soak it all in.

A few days later we rang in the New Year with Marvin and the boys. In between, we got to visit Dan’s Uncles, Dan took me on a tour of where he grew up, and we just enjoyed the time spent with Marvin. It was a great trip – and we checked Arizona off of the NFL list!

AT&T Stadium – 2013

June 17, 2019 by tduncan8214, posted in NFL Stadiums

Before we started making it into a “thing”, one of the first NFL stadiums we travelled to together was all for Dan – AT&T Stadium. As a Christmas gift I got Dan tickets to see the Cowboys in Dallas (they just so happened to be playing the Packers) We jet set out there on a Thursday night, so we had plenty of time to explore the area.

One of the coolest things we did was go to the JFK memorial museum. I grew up in a generation that really didn’t go over history much. (OK, maybe I wasn’t paying attention) so I was very oblivious to what happened to JFK in 1963. The museum was fascinating and I loaded up on tons of books to learn all I could about the Kennedy family.

We spent a good deal of time driving around touring Dallas. And if you know Dan, you know that really means we were on the hunt for a Whataburger lol.

Gameday in Dallas is an experience for sure. For one, the stadium is incredible. I just so happened to get a parking pass for the lot that players were walking through pre game, and Dan got his jersey signed as we were walking in. Our club level tickets allowed us access to the entire stadium, which was also a highlight.

One of the major things Dan still talks about to this day is the giant TV’s Jerry has outside the stadium. People can literally come to the stadium just to sit outside it and watch (and there are bars and food out there) It’s incredible. Plus people pay over $100 just to stand around inside the stadium?! The ways to make money are endless here.

We had a great time cheering for the Cowboys. I promised Dan that since it was a gift for him I would wear absolutely no Packers gear … and the only Cowboy gear I told him I would wear was Aikman. Many a family member were not pleased with my decision, but back then I was just making my boyfriend happy – and that was worth it!

2013 – Dallas Cowboys stadium, checked off the bucket list!