Editorial
Front Page - Friday, October 16, 2009
Are We There Yet?
Destin through Dallas
Jay Edwards
So our annual trek to the Gulf Coast took a 600-mile detour as we headed to Dallas to watch the first of 10 Southwest Classic games between the Hogs and Aggies of Texas A&M.
After leaving our house at 11:33 a.m., we arrived around six at our Irving motel, having loudly karaoked our way through the last 100 miles or so, with songs like “Born to Run” and “America Pie,” the latter of which we discovered we still remembered every word. Lisa Althoff drove the last few hours with Kathy as her co-pilot, while Bob Althoff and I guarded the ice chest in the back seat.
The Dallas skyline came into view and the lusty British GPS voice of Tom Tom told us to “Stay on the motorway.”
We somehow missed our exit and Tom Tom, obviously embarrassed, became silent as Lisa’s instincts and memories of her days as a Texas resident kicked in and she got us to the motel without anymore hottie technology.
Pulling up to the Hilton Garden Suites, Bob and I were delighted to see a Whattaburger.
We carried the luggage up to the room and headed back down to the lobby, in search of the rest of our group. We found them all sitting around a large table in the courtyard – Barbara and Dennis Althoff from Sherwood; Bill and Patty Hooper from West Memphis; Don Althoff from Little Rock; and our host Bill Althoff from Irving. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I married an Althoff, the youngest of the 10 kids.
After a beer, we loaded into two cars and headed to the Via Real Gourmet Mexican Restaurant, a high-end Tex-Mex dining establishment in Las Colinas. There was a Four Seasons next door and someone said Tony Romo and Dr. Phil live close by. Hopefully the much-maligned high-profile passer can get some advice about throwing into double-coverage.
We were seated immediately at our table for 10, and soon were served the largest green and orange margaritas I’ve ever seen, along with salsa, cheese dip and guacamole. I ordered shrimp fajitas, which were great. At the end of the night, another group of Arkies began calling the Hogs, which sent us home with good thoughts. And even better, Irving Bill picked up the check, telling everyone “Merry Christmas,” which meant he had just fulfilled his obligation as that year’s host of the annual Althoff Christmas party, which rotates between Kathy and her seven siblings.
The next morning, after a gourmet breakfast at Whattaburger (I had a Whattaburger with cheese), the guys headed out to Bear Creek Golf Club, a 36-hole layout located on the grounds of DFW Airport. If jumbo jets are a distraction while you putt, you’ll have a problem.
We finished the round and went back to clean up before the game. Kathy and I got down to the lobby 30 minutes before our scheduled departure. There is always a schedule with this crowd and you’d better not be late or they’ll leave you standing in the road.
Bob was already downstairs and I mentioned a snack next door at Whattaburger. The three of us walked over and it began to lightly rain. Kathy snarled at me and I told her a cheeseburger would lift her
spirits.
Because it was just a snack, and I knew there would be some great food at Cowboy Stadium, I went with the single Whattaburger. As we waited on our food, a rather disheveled stranger came over and said he had seen us come over from the motel and wondered if we were going to the game. The Razorback shirts were a dead giveaway. When I told him we were, he asked if he could get a ride.
I looked at Kathy and thought of the Bud Light commercial where the couple sees a scary hitchhiker on a dark road holding an ax and a 12-pack of Bud Light. The guy wants to stop and the girl says, “But he has
an ax!”
“I’m sure there’s a good reason,” says the thirsty boyfriend.
They pull over and the boyfriend asks the hitchhiker, “Hey buddy, what’s with the ax?”
“It’s a bottle opener,” comes the reply.
“Hop in!”
They drive awhile and soon see another scary hitchhiker with more Bud Light. Again, the boyfriend says, “He’s got Bud Light!”
“And a chain saw!” says the nervous first hitchhiker in the back seat.
The guy in Whattaburger didn’t have any Bud Light that I could see, but my wife was already giving him our answer anyway, which was basically, “Move along Jack.”
Oh well, you never know unless you ask, I thought.
We woofed down the burgers and walked back to the motel.
It was finally time to go see what a billion dollar stadium
looked like.
|
|