Destination Dallas: Super Bowl activities

I’m headed to Texas for the Super Bowl!

No, that’s a lie. But I promise you can trust everything else I say in this article (probably). For those of you lucky enough to go to this year’s big game, the city of Arlington offers numerous chances for fun and chances to pump your hard earned money into the local economy.

Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys football team built this billion (with a B!) dollar stadium with one purpose in mind – to create a shrine to his football team and to the sport itself. During the first week of February, his dream will be fulfilled as the masses will flock to Jerry’s World to partake in wild events like these.

Stadium tours!

For $40 a person you can take a tour of Cowboys Stadium in the days proceeding the Super Bowl (up 167% from the normal $15 cost by the way). Even so, the billion dollar stadium is a must-see. Complete with lounges, restaurants, and a state-of-the-art hanging video board (60 yards long!) a Cowboys Stadium tour is well worth the price of admission.

Tour-goers can see both the home and visiting locker room, absorb all sorts of facts and figures from a helpful tour guide, and maybe even steal some towels from the bathroom. Also, the the annual Super Bowl showcase of interactive games known as NFL Experience for fans will be held January 27-30 and February 2-6 at the Dallas Convention Center. The cost is $25 for adults and $20 for children 12 and younger. Kids 2 and younger get in free.

Local quirky fun!

Super Bowl attendees should absolutely visit John F. Kennedy’s assassination site in downtown Dallas. Strolling around the grass on both sides of Elm Street, where Kennedy was shot on November 22, 1963, is free. An admission fee will get you in to the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, inside the building known as the Texas School Book Depository, where Lee Harvey Oswald set up his perch at a corner window.

Southfork Ranch is the white-column home that came to symbolize the TV hit “Dallas” in the 1980s. At least two Super Bowl parties are planned for the site in Parker, about 25 miles north of downtown.

Fair Park is the site of the annual Texas-Oklahoma football game at the Cotton Bowl. But the area east of downtown Dallas is a National Historic Landmark with one of the world’s largest collection of 1930s Art Deco exposition buildings. Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed are planning a Super Bowl party at Fair Park. The Cotton Bowl will have entertainment for three consecutive nights, culminating on the eve of the Super Bowl.

The Deep Ellum area has a collection of bars and restaurants east of downtown Dallas is the heart of the city’s music scene and figures to be a major gathering point throughout Super Bowl week.

So enjoy Texas, enjoy the local atmosphere, and enjoy the Super Bowl!

Matthew Moretti is a Project Manager at Mom Central Consulting and really only watches the Super Bowl for the commercials.

Mom Central