Kansas City

Kauffman Stadium/Arrowhead

So this was a fluke. My family plans a giant family trip to attend a Chicago Bears away game each year, and 2015 we were headed to KC. The way the trip fell, the Royals were on a roll and just so happened to have a home game the weekend we were in town. I tossed Kevin a baseball once we got off the plane with the date and “Kauffman” scribbled on it. After his initial confusion, I was able to explain that I had snagged us tickets to the ALDS game that was set to begin in 5 hours.

This trip was amazing for so many reasons. The weather was unseasonably amazing, we were staying in a casino (the next best thing to a live sporting event) and we were about to cross two stadiums off our bucket list. We started with a casino buffet, because, well if you haven’t figured it out by now, we love food. We met an amazing couple whom we chatted up and ended up heading to the stadium and tailgating with them there. Let me take a minute to marvel at the parking. Royals and Chiefs stadiums are right next to each other and there’s enough parking to host ten used car lots. We drank some beers and chatted with our new friends about our early stages of this stadium goal. Low and behold- we’re not the only fans that want to do this?? Crazy, right? So we had a common bond outside of casinos, beer and baseball.

I had bought us standing room tickets which was a nice way to see a new stadium, but also Kauffman allows lots of designated standing room areas. Unlike Wrigley, (always do your research if you’re buying standing room tix) you can access any part of the stadium with your ticket (Wrigley doesn’t allow you to flow between bleachers and the stadium seating). 9 innings later we’ve got our first MLB playoff game under our belt and our 4^th stadium together.

Now onto the rest of the weekend. Which for me and my family means lots of food and beer, very little sleep and even more sports talk. This trip was extra special for a lot of reasons. The Cubs were making an unlikely run in the playoffs (a year ahead of their “projections”) against rival Cardinals. Oh, and it’s college football season. So, you could say we were in heaven. We watched ND, followed by a Cubs win all in the Power and Light District, which showed us just how many fans were in town. After the Cubs won to advance to the next round, we made it outside in the courtyard of Power & Light in order to sing Go Cubs Go with hundreds of Chicago tourists for the weekend. Yup, the weekend didn’t end there.

Now we haven’t even gotten to the Bears/Chiefs game in which the Bears won in the last few seconds when Forte snagged a 7 yard pass in the very endzone we were sitting in. So let’s just say that we set the bar pretty high in terms of stadium travels…Did I mention we ate some amazing BBQ while in KC? Slipped my mind.