DALLAS: Mizzou wins the Cotton Bowl

After a great football season, the Mizzou Tigers got picked to go to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. Despite not being there, Dallas was never my favorite US city, but spending it with friends would be fun. Needless to say, a large group of us booked our flights, got tickets to the game and showed up in Dallas. 

Dallas skyline from the Deep Ellum area

I met my friends in the West End after their time at the Sixth Floor Museum, and visited the JFK Memorial while I waited, since he was shot in Dallas. The West End was full of museums and history- for both the United States and state of Texas. The Old Red Museum looked gorgeous. The hungry bunch headed to YO Steak House for lunch.

West End of Dallas with the museums, JFK Memorial and Dealey Plaza

The Dallas chapter of the alumni association planned a bar crawl at four prevalent bars in Uptown - Social House, Kung Fu, BBC and Prime Bar. It was a fun, little area with a large patio culture, and it was great to see other friends out in Dallas. The specials were great and they were trying to get rid of all of the champagne from New Year's Eve.

Some of our friends in town at Prime Bar in Uptown

The next morning, we ate TexMex food at Pepe's & Mito's per a recommendation, a restaurant in the Deep Ellum area of town. I've traveled with our large of a group of friends before, but it's funny every time for different reasons. We were all incredibly excited to use the hotel's free shuttle that takes you anywhere within three miles, and enthused each time we all hopped in. We quickly learned on this trip that friend time no longer has to be a regurgitation of what you do every day, especially since we're not all roommates anymore. Rather, the majority of time was spent talking about sports, highlights, people and current events. 

Pepes & Mitos in Deep Ellum. Everyone even got their own salsa!

We took a 15-passenger van to Arlington, about 20 miles outside of Dallas. AT&T Stadium, or "Jerry World" as they call it, was beautiful as we pulled up. It's right next to the Rangers Park where the baseball team plays, and Mizzou Alumni Association was hosting a large tailgate at the Arlington Convention Center. There was a cash bar, live band and plenty of alumni and Tiger fans together. The craziest thought was envisioning all of us at an MAA Tailgate with our own families later in life. 

The game was not as action-filled as the SEC Championship in Atlanta, but the 1st and 4th quarters made the game. It wouldn't be a Mizzou sport if it weren't stressing us out until the very end, but Andrew, Sherman and I had great seats and a beautiful view of the large video screen (from the 20-yard line to 20-yard line, three stories high) that steals the stadium. AT&T lived up to my expectations with good WiFi and cell phone service too :P, so it was a very well-documented game. We had trouble focusing on the field with such a gorgeous screen. 

Rangers Park and AT&T Stadium where the Dallas Cowboys play in Arlington, Tx.

The crew with Truman at the Mizzou Alumni Association Tailgate-
It's crazy to think it's been more than four years since we all met!

Singing the fight song at the MAA Tailgate

Sitting with Andrew & Sherman at the game, we had a great view of the video screen!

AT&T Stadium

The trip ended with late night In N' Out Burger and brunch at Emma's on the West End. It was nice to know that in just two and a half days, we saw most of Dallas's downtown neighborhoods and Arlington, and didn't feel like we 'missed out' on anything or had to return. Overall, the quick trip was a blast and hopefully Mizzou football stays game so we can attend many more bowl games in the future!