You have been very helpful to other travelers i was wondering if you could help me.
I am looking to fly in from England to see my Saints play the Cowboys on the 10th of December. Iam looking for a hotel near some good sports bars and a little entertainment.
I was not looking to hire a car but i can if it will make things easier.
How far is the downton area from the airport?
how far is downtown from Texas stadium
how far is the stadium from the airport.
Thanks in advance
mark
can you help Crystinp
Texas is definitely easier with a car, but not absolutely required. However, check out the rates at Thrifty.com as I rent cars from them all the time (Stratus is the mid-sized car and it handles well and gets good gas mileage) and they%26#39;re extremely reasonable. You might not wish to do so with the switch from driving on the left to driving on the right.
We don%26#39;t have a really, really great public transit system, though, so you might have to use cabs more so than the public system.
Be aware the Trinity River Express is fine for getting from the airport to downtown and back again, as long as you don%26#39;t want to use it on Sunday, which I don%26#39;t believe you will.
Downtown is approximately 25 minutes driivng from the airport, and the stadium is midway between the airport and downtown.
Regarding sports bars, check out this site: …citysearch.com/bestof/winners/sports_bar
The first six are in the downtown, Uptown, Knox-Henderson areas, and one that isn%26#39;t mentioned because it%26#39;s not strictly just a sports bar is the Metro Grill, also in the Knox Henderson area.
If you want to be around nightlife and sports bars, then I%26#39;d recommend staying in the downtown area rather than out by the stadium. You had mentioned a SpringHills Suites on another thread, and that%26#39;s a reliable mid-price chain that%26#39;s part of the Marriott family. A similar equivalent to that in the downtown area would be the Bradford Suites (close to the American Airlines Center on the north-western edge of the downtown area), there%26#39;s a Days Inn, a Hampton Inn, and an Amerisuites all downtown.
If you wanted to go a little more upscale you might be able to get a good web rate at the Magnolia, which is in the center of downtown, close to the Adolphus and Neiman Marcus. There are scads of food options if you%26#39;re downtown. Not that there aren%26#39;t in the stadium area, but most of the options out that way will be chains.
Also, if you%26#39;re downtown you can easily get to a couple of the major sites such as the 6th Street Museum and the Kennedy Memorial. I%26#39;m assuming since you%26#39;re coming all this way, you%26#39;d like to see a little of the city.
Are you coming by yourself? How many days are you going to be here and specifically what days do you arrive and depart.
can you help Crystinp
Crystin
You are wealth of information all of it fantastic. I am not bothered about the driving as i have been to the states several times befor.
What i am looking at is to arrive about miday on Thursday the 7th of December and leave on Monday the 11th.
Now obviously i am a sports nut so if the Mavericks are in town i would go and see them.
I do try to pack in as much as i can on my little aventures (last year went to st louis to see the Saints play the Rams and managed to catch a ice hockey game tour the budwieser factory as well as going up to the top of the arch.)
I will be traveling alone as my wife hates football and to be honest i think she looks forward to getting rid of me for a couple of days.
Thanks again in advance again
mark
OK, I%26#39;m going to post a series of responses so it won%26#39;t be one huge response.
I just located the SpringHill Suites you mentioned and it is in an iffy area, but would be okay if you rent a car. Definitely not okay without a car. Also, note that the Stemmons location would make someone from Dallas think this is right off the freeway. On my way home from the airport last night, I kept a close eye out for it (I knew I%26#39;d never noticed one before) and didn%26#39;t see it. The location is actually on Stemmons TRAIL and it appears to be a block or so from Stemmons.
The benefits of that location is that it is close to the stadium, probably has a decent rate for the room, and with a car is in reasonable proximity to everything you%26#39;ll be interested in. It is a Marriott property and Marriott does not tend to have sloppy properties, so it%26#39;s probably a nice room.
Tonight when I was checking something out at Poor David%26#39;s Pub, I found they have a deal with the Lawrence Hotel for $60 a night. This is a pretty good deal! I’ll call the general manager tomorrow and see if that rate would be good the entire time of your stay. Note that they do have suites available, but the rate is $139 a night, which might be more than you want to spend.
The Lawrence is a boutique hotel directly across from Union Station. It is within two blocks of the Kennedy assassination area, the 6th Floor Museum and the Kennedy Memorial. Another couple of blocks gets you to the West End. The train will take you directly to the AA Center for a Mavericks game. This would be a great location without a car. They have a shuttle van that runs from 6AM to 10PM and will take you anywhere within three miles of the hotel. Tomorrow I’m also going to ask the GM if they would make arrangements for a Cowboys game to transport guests to and from the game.
Itinerary to consider:
You get in midday on Thursday. Grab your bags and go to the lower level of the terminal (you’re probably coming into D terminal and the whole things is lower level). Look for a bus that goes to the remote south lot. Buses run every 13 – 14 minutes or so. It takes about 10 minutes to get to the remote south lot. Once at the remote south lot, ask the driver where you get the bus for the TRE and they’ll point the stop out to you. That bus runs every 15 minutes or so and takes another 12 minutes to get to Centerport. You will pass the administrative offices of American Airlines and it’s a pretty interesting drive for a newcomer. If you catch the 12:43 train to Union Station you’ll arrive a few minutes after 1PM. If you don’t get the 12:43 train, the next train is at 2:07 (the mid-day trains run less frequently).
Thursday afternoon after you check into your hotel first stop is the Old Red Courthouse and the Visitor’s Center. You go out the front door of the Lawrence, turn left and walk 20 feet, then walk to the right on Houston St. This is one block south of the hotel and en route to the Kennedy stuff and directly across the street from Dealey Plaza. Check out the brochures and see if there’s something there that interests you that you want to include in your weekend.
Then do the Kennedy assassination area, the 6th Floor Museum (allow two hours and well worth the visit--I think it%26#39;s one of the best museums I%26#39;ve ever been to), and the Kennedy memorial. You could have an early dinner somewhere in the West End, I’d recommend Newport’s if you like seafood, or Spiatza’s for Italian/pizza (divine pizza).
Thursday night Mavs VS. Detroit (single ticket sales begin on September 30, get it the day they go on sale). nba.com/mavericks/tickets/tickets_index.html
Friday: Go to Pioneer Plaza when you get up. Our City Hall is right next door, I.M. Pei designed it, scenes from Robocop were filmed here because it was the most futuristic building in America.
After seeing the Plaza, walk over to Neiman Marcus. I know shopping isn’t a guy thing but Neiman’s is a premier destination and well worth a walk through. The Zodiac Room is great for lunch, but if it’s too much food/money for lunch, their sandwich shop on street level is excellent, too.
If it’s a pretty day walk over to the Nasher sculpture garden and walk through the outdoor museum. The front desk will also have a copy of a guide to Dallas’s city sculptures. There are about 35 pieces scattered around downtown and it would be a nice walk to see some of them. While you’re walking scope out the tunnels …taitlifto.net/DallasTunnelsLinks.html
If that doesn’t interest you then consider Fair Park. Fair Park has the largest collection of art deco exhibition buildings in the world. For $21 you can get a FairPass that allows you into all the museums at the Park. It’s a beautiful park and fun just to walk around without ever going into a museum. However, the Hall of State only asks for a voluntary contribution and has a nice display of Texas History. www.fairpark.org
Friday night: Pocket Sandwich Theater to watch the incomparable David Lambert as Scrooge in “Ebenezer Scrooge.” This will be the 25th year they’ve done this play, and David’s been Scrooge for about the last 12 years (as I remember). I’ve seen this play several times each year since 1991. I just love this theater’s production. pocketsandwich.com/press/dmn_Scrooge2003.html You can make reservations at the Pocket now, and I would because their shows of Ebenezer sell-out every year.
Saturday AM: Catch the TRE and head over to Fort Worth. Downtown Fort Worth is gorgeous during Christmas. Lots to walk around, see, and do. The Sid Richardson Museum of Western Art should be open. This is a very small gallery with lots of Remington%26#39;s and Russell%26#39;s. Stop in the Western store on the corner of Main street and Sundance Square. There%26#39;s not much in there that I can afford, but it%26#39;s the most exquisite stuff and fun to look at. Guys really like the boots and belts. Go to Cabo Grande for lunch and have the ribs for an appetizer at least, if not the full order. Yum.
Head back to Dallas early and catch at least the early part of Candlelight at Old City Park. You will know you%26#39;re in Texas at this event. This park museum hosts 40+ buildings from the pioneer period of Texas history (1840 - 1910). There will be singing and music in the church and old schoolhouse about every hour on the hour. www.oldcitypark.org/Event_Detail.aspx?EID=3
Saturday night, head on over to Poor David%26#39;s Pub. The music is sure to be good.
Sunday: Have a leisurely breakfast, then head to the stadium.
After the game hit the sports bars.
Check out the Lawrence at www.hotellawrencedallas.com/guestrooms.html. Ruthie tells me the photos are of a standard guest room. I am going to try to get over there tomorrow and do a tour of the hotel. I%26#39;ve always wanted to see the rooms, but have only been in the lobby.
Yea! ChrystinP! Going above and beyond the call of duty. Could this be made a sticky for all these football watching folks coming to town this fall?
Ditto! ';Yea! ChrystinP! Going above and beyond the call of duty.'; Or just start an Inside page and copy and paste the info.
Did anyone mention that Irving is dry? No nightlife. No smoking in Dallas resturants, important either way. Good news for some, Bad news for me. I havent been able to kick the habit yet. Great Job! crystinp!
