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.
Yesterday was the 146th Kentucky Derby. Like most of the world, we watched from the comforts of our house. Obviously the world today is full of unknowns and trips are almost obsolete, but our trip last year was one for the books. Record books, actually, since that was the first time in Derby history that the winner was disqualified.
Derby ready!
We went to Kentucky to celebrate Dan turning 50, go to the Derby and tie it all in a bow with a round of golf there as well. I was able to get us tickets not only for the Derby, but for the Oaks as well. So we got to enjoy the Twin Spires 2 days in a row – and boy did we enjoy it! From lillies to juleps, and a few spires in between, we braved the heat one day and the rain the next. We were thankful I went for a big hat on Derby day, that’s for sure!
A couple of days after the race, we went to golf at Nevel Meade, a course I had found when I made the reservation. Of course as usual I made sure to have a few little gifts on the course for Dan to open, and pimped his ride with birthday streamers and the like. The course was a nice one, nothing to write home about though. And when we got there we were informed it was a dry course – no food, no drinks. Um…what?! LOL.
Happy Birthday!
We had a great time, watching the races and golfing, and we got to even take a day trip to Noah’s Ark, which was really cool to see and take in.
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 3rd
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)
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.
Surprising him first with a jersey
Pure Joy
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.
Enjoying some eats after walking around
Watching Pre Game warm ups
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!
Dan and I got married in 2014 and didn’t take a honeymoon. Before we decided that every year we would celebrate by golfing in another state, we decided to take a long one year anniversary trip. I am not sure how we picked the location, but it was one I was VERY familiar with; San Francisco, CA. I grew up just an hour east in the valley, and I went to college just over the bridge in Hayward.
Enjoying an anniversary crab dinner at the Wharf
I went all out when planning this trip, I wanted to show Dan all the sights – and by sights, I mean the places I grew up with, went to school to, visited as a child. We had Alcatraz, Fisherman’s Wharf, Sonoma, Hayward and Tracy on deck for the trip.
Wine Tasting in Sonoma
The whole point of this though, is in 2015 we checked California off of our bucket list and golfed in San Francisco twice. Now, although I grew up in California, I definitely did not recall that the weather in the bay is much different then the weather I grew up in. Tracy was hot in the summer, barely ever rained, very dry. San Francisco … not so much. Gray every morning, it was typically cool when we decided to golf and the sun rarely came out.
Our first course was full of four-leaf clovers, everywhere we went it was wet and sloppy, and overall while it was a nice course, the weather didn’t pan out as nice. We made the most of it with some music, beers and laughs of course.
Our first round of California golf!
The second course we decided to play stated they had the “best view of the Golden Gate” from hole 17. Well, when we got to hole 17, the fog and clouds were so thick, we wouldn’t have even known a bridge was there! It made for a funny little video we posted on social media, and we made the most of it. Of course, once the clouds cleared and the sun came out we did make it to see the Golden Gate Bridge and get a few pictures.
Super windy, iconic view of the Golden Gate
Overall our California golf trip was one that we truly enjoyed, because we got to pack a lot into the trip; we caught up with old friends and family, we toured the area, went to a few wineries and made some great memories together.
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!
Dan and I have done quite a bit of travelling and we decided to start this blog as a way to document our
travels and our journey to check off our bucket list. This will be a
compilation of past travels and experiences as well as future excursions. We
invite you to join us on our journey!
We’ve now been married almost 5 years. One thing we talked about year 1 of marriage, was what we really wanted to do together. We both thought travelling to other states to golf would be a great way to visit multiple states, and celebrate our marriage. Section 1 of the Duncan bucket list; golf in every state. Another conversation brought us to Section 2 of the Duncan bucket list; see every NFL stadium. If you’re reading this and don’t know us, here’s a snippet: We both love football. Dan was a quarterback in high school in Arizona and I grew up a loyal fan of the Green Bay Packers, while Dan is a diehard Cowboys fan.
Please join us on our journey as we explore
our country and set out on a mission to explore some of the great golf courses
around the USA and visit every NFL stadium. Our life has been full
of great memories made with each other and we are happy to share with you the
many more that will follow.
Duncan Travels 