Dallas Fort Worth is a busy airport hosting a slue of connecting flights. Ollie and I had a stop there on our flight from Chicago to San Diego and missed our connection due to maintenance issues and a flight delay in the windy city. We decided to make a day out of our layover, since neither of us had been to Texas before. We arrived at our hotel around 11 pm and were out the door by 10 am the following morning (we wanted to get a good nights rest). We had to head back to the airport at 2:30, which gave us about 4 solid hours to explore Dallas.
Our first stop was ATT Stadium, home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. It is located about 25 minutes outside the city center. It cost ~$17 to do a self-guided tour which gives you access to the field, players and cheerleaders locker rooms, post game interview room, and bars that only the fans with private suites get to use. You can also do a VIP Tour, Art Tour, and more. We opted to do the self-guided tour so we could go at our own pace and not be stuck with a crowd. We are not Cowboys fans, but that didn’t make the tour any less fun. The stadium is very impressive, and I would recommend it to anyone slightly interested in sports. The huge screen is so amazing to see in person! You also can’t beat being able to run around on a real NFL field.
I’m a sucker for views, which led us to our next stop–Reunion Tower. It is in the city and offers a great view of the skyline. There is a rotating bar/cafe at the top where we passed time enjoying a few beers. Reunion Tower entrance is also ~$17. They have interactive TVs at the top to show you the highlights of the city and give some information about the assassination of JFK. Once we noticed how close we were to that infamous block, we knew we would have to head over to check it out before leaving for the airport (it was a 10 minute walk to the site). We would have gone into the museum if we had some extra time, but we at least got to see the X’s on the ground where the shots hit the president. It was crazy to stumble upon something so historic during our unexpected layover.
Our short time in Dallas was the perfect way to wait for a flight, mixing excitement, relaxation, and history. I definitely recommend getting out of the airport and checking out this city if you have a few hours to spare on a layover!
Check out the Dallas vlog here
