Rangers Ballpark at Arlington #14
Monday, July 5, 2010
7/4/10, 8am CT: Aboard the Amtrak Texas Eagle. After a pretty decent night’s sleep in our compartment, I woke the boys as we were pulling out of Marshall Texas. Our car attendant brought us a continental breakfast and closed up the beds, converting the room to “daytime” configuration. The train actually arrive a bit early into Dallas Union Station where we grabbed a cab to Love Field to pick up our reserved Hertz car. We then drove west to Arlington, where we will spend the next two nights.
7/4/10, 3pm CT: After lunch at Joe’s Crab Shack, and a swim in the hotel pool, we drove over to Cowboy’s Stadium for the “self-guided” tour, essentially, a chance to walk on the field, see the Miller Runway, and team locker room. For a hard-core Cowboys fan, it was a really neat, rare moment. Because we were at the tail-end of the tour window which ended at 5pm, the boys and I got to play catch on the field for 45 minutes without anyone else in our way. At the very end, we were the only ones on the field, if not in the entire stadium. How cool is that?
Our 4th of July, early-evening swim party was preempted by a trip to the Emergency Room as Peter had the misfortune of stepping barefoot on some badly-place metal edging along a walkway by the Marriott pool. Despite the horror stories one hears of the ER on the 4th of july, we were in-and-out in less than two hours. Peter was well-cared fore and now has a two-stitch souvenir from his stay in Dallas. Sorry for posting these pictures, but Peter insisted.
The offending metal hazard, courtesy Marriott and the handiwork of the Arlington Memorial ER doctor.
We finished the day with a quick dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings and took in the fireworks across the street at Ranger’s Ballpark at Arlington.
7/5/10, 10am CT: Given the trauma of the previous evening, we had a nice late sleep-in morning. Peter woke with a bit of pain but rallied nicely once the Motrin kicked in. Our plan for Six Flags was shelved in favor of a movie. We took in Shrek 4 at the Valley View AMC and then I showed the boys the old ‘hood in East Dallas and University Park. At the very least, the boys humored me and feigned interest in my old boyhood stomping ground.
7/5/10, 5pm CT: We put on our game gear and walked over the Ranger’s Ballpark. We had interesting seats, right on the foul line. Highlights of an otherwise lackluster performance by the hometown team, were an autograph by Colby Lewis, and a ball from the ball girl seated nearby. Rangers 3, Indians 9.
