With the World Series going on and other sporting events, rental car companies were sold out. I had a smaller SUV booked, but they put me in this gas guzzler Jeep Grand Cherokee. LOL.
I drove out to Grapevine to meet my buddy for a late lunch at Perry's Steakhouse. Of course, there was a McLaren outside. There is so much money in the D/FW area!
Perry's was rated as the top steakhouse in the country before. I was impressed at how busy it was for lunch. This reminded me of what we saw at the "Cattleman's Club" on episodes of Dallas.
I loved my petite filet mignon.
I had to go get ice cream and a shake at Braum's. This is what I grew up on when we lived in the DFW area. They pride themselves on getting products from cow to store in like three days!
My buddy got me this World Series Rangers hat. I felt it needed to be photographed with this Diet Dr. Pepper Cowboys bottle at the Springhill Suites where I stayed in Arlington.
The shuttle from the hotel dropped us off by the old Rangers ballpark. We had a quick walk over to Globe Life Field.
The Rangers dancers were outside Texas Live! getting the fans pumped up!
Inside Texas Live!, it was crazy! We went to PBR Bar to get a drink before the game.
TXU Energy had a photo booth at Texas Live!
I am standing by the Aikman mural at Texas Live!
Its almost game time at 7:00 PM CDT so I am getting ready to go in to Globe Life Field for Game 1 of the World Series!
I bought my ticket for $883 on Seat Geek from a reseller who had a presale opportunity.
Our Rangers Six Shooter girls are taking a selfie with me here.
This is the view from my seat during the national anthem.
H.E.R. performed the National Anthem. It was very impressive with both the US and Texas flags on the field!
President George W Bush threw out the first pitch to our former star catcher Ivan Rodriguez!
I got a Balcones Texas Whiskey as the game started.
It did not really hit me that I was at the World Series until I saw the cool logos on the field. This reminded me off the old Mastercard commercials where people can win a trip to a World Series.
The Rangers are on defense here.
The Rangers powerful hitting line up is ready to bat here!
Our Rangers Outfield are in a conference here during a pitching change. We got Carter, Tavaras, and of course Garcia!
The rally towels were out as the Rangers tied in the 9th with a 2 run HR by All Star Cory Seager.
We won on a walk off HR by Garcia in the 11th inning! Let's Go Rangers! We went on to win the World Series 4 to 1 games.
I went back to Texas Live! to get a drink and party with the Rangers fans after we won!
The next morning, I loved seeing Old Glory and our Texas State Flag flying high above the freeway on the way to the airport.
Since my company pays for the gas for my company vehicle back home, I do not really watch out for gas prices, but I was shocked how cheap gas was in Texas versus California!
As I was leaving Dallas Love Field for Las Vegas the next day, I had to look up who Rick Ross was. LOL. I listen to country mostly!
I went to my brother's house after landing in Vegas to see this little guy and take him the cool gifts we have been collecting for him including this custom figuerine from Hawaii.
On the way to the hotel, I saw all these Trump signs. He was in town for two events that weekend! I think he might have stayed by us since the road near our hotel was closed off. We saw the motorcade the next day!
We decided to stay at Mandalay Bay again this time, but the valet was so backed up! This is unacceptable for us VIPs! LOL.
We had dinner at Kumi at Mandalay Bay before the private Old Dominion concert hosted by MGM Rewards.
Joy and I loved the food at Kumi!
I got a Akashi Japanese whiskey to start out my culinary delight at Kumi. Of course, we got the $10 bottle of sparkling water. LOL.
We loved the sushi at Kumi!
MGM Rewards delivered our tickets for the private concert via the AXS app as usual.
We are ready to go into the Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay!
Kylie Morgan opened for Old Dominion.
Old Dominion was great!
My favorite Old Dominion song is "Hotel Key."
I love the private concert series from MGM Rewards. As a gold member, I get invited to these private free concerts.
The next morning, we went over to my brother's place to watch the Cowboys game at 10:00 AM with my nephew and have Fruity Pebbles!
Aakash liked his World Series t-shirt!
Joy and I went to Julian Serrano Tapas for dinner on Sunday.
The ceviche was amazing, but I loved my beet gaspacho!
The squid ink paella was delicious!
I went to Milk Bar to get my usual cereal milk soft serve with corn flakes after dinner.
After dessert, we went out in search of speakeasy at the Cosmopolitan.
The code word to enter the speakeasy is "we want to go skiing!"
This is the secret door to the speakeasy!
This speakeasy looks like an alpine ski resort inside!
I got a Frey Ranch which is a great Nevada bourbon!
A little magic show was performed inside the speakeasy.
Our attractive magician entertained us well. It did not hurt that she was good eye candy! LOL.
Joy and I walked over to Eataly for breakfast the next morning. I got a crepe with just fruit to be healhier. LOL.
For lunch, we went to Ping Pang Pong at the Gold Coast, which is very highly rated.
The dim sum at Ping Pang Pong was great!
We went over to watch Game 3 of the World Series with my nephew. He was texting me to see when I was coming on his iPhone!
I was in Fresno, CA enjoying dinner at a new fine dining establishment on a work trip during Game 7 of the ALCS where my Texas Rangers beat the Houston Astros to advance to our third World Series. During the 6th or 7th inning, I decided to go on Seat Geek and try to secure a ticket for Game 1 of the World Series. I had made my flight and hotel plans with points ahead of time since I can cancel those with no penalty. My first world problem was that Joy and I were scheduled to attend a private concert in Las Vegas that weekend so I decided to fly to Dallas on Friday morning to watch the game that night. Then, I would turn around and fly to Las Vegas on Saturday so Joy and I can attend the Old Dominion concert at Mandalay Bay. As long as Southwest was on schedule, I could make this work! My boss already told me to not worry about the PTO and wanted me to enjoy the World Series! So, I was all set to attend my first World Series in person.
On Friday morning, Joy dropped me off at the airport bright and early for my 7:10 AM direct flight to Dallas Love Field. Since it was an early flight, I had a cranapple mimosa instead of my usual Wild Turkey and Coke Zero. After arriving into Love Field, I went to the Budget Fastbreak Counter to get the SUV I reserved. With the World Series and Cowboys game in town that weekend, rental cars were sold out at Love Field. Budget asked me if I wanted an EV, and I told them I did not trust electric vehicles so they put me in a Grand Cherokee Limited. This rear wheel drive massive SUV gas guzzler was overkill for one person, but I would take it over some EV garbage.
I drove out to Grapevine, TX next to meet my buddy for a late lunch at Perry's Steakhouse. This place was rated the top steakhouse in the country before. Even during lunch, the place is packed and requires resevations. After the valet took my rental SUV, I noticed a McLaren outside. They actually had lots of exotic cars outside. I thought I was in another episode of Dallas, and this place reminded me of the old Cattleman's Club in that TV show. LOL. It was great to see all the people enjoying their late fancy lunches and bourbons. The DFW area has so much money. California is a shithole compared to Texas! I got my bourbon to start out my lunch. Afterwards, I got the amazing petite filet mignon. The butter topping was not overpowering like Ruths' Chris, and there was a nice kick to the spice with the butter. I was super impressed! After lunch, I went to Braum's Oklahoma based dairy to get ice cream and a shake since I grew up on their dairy products.
After checking Hilton, Marriott, and Hyatt properties on my apps, I booked the Springhill Suites in Arlington by the entertainment district for this trip. I used points since I had so many points with all those three chains with my business travel. The Springhill Suites had a shuttle service to and from the ballpark for $25 round trip. So, I figured that was the best way to get to the ballpark, but my friends down there told me not to worry since Texas is not a hippy loser state like California where parking is hard near many sports venues. Arlington had so many parking spots in fact for this game, and the traffic was not that bad at all! However, since I planned to drink, I decided to take the shuttle. A buddy of mine from Plano came out to join me for the preparty at Texas Live! so we both took the shuttle over there.
At Texas Live!, we checked out the PBR Bar and got my Angel's Envy bourbon as I took in the massive crowds ready for game 1 of the World Series! Texas Live! was so crazy that night. TXU Energy had a photo booth too with souvenir photos.
I entered the ballpark a little after 6:00.and got a selfie with some of our cute Six Shooter girls. Since I wanted to capture this amazing experience to the fullest, I waited forever to get a program too. My seats were in Section 241, and I liked being in the aisle seat. A nice family of three were next to me. I paid $883 for my ticket. The guy next to me said he paid a little more than that for each ticket so I figure he spent over $2,700 for this experience with his wife and well behaved son. I guess with no state income tax in Texas, families can splurge more than California. President Bush threw out the first pitch to our Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez. When President Bush came out to the field, chants of "USA" were loudly heard in the ballpark. I got goosebumps! Yeah! I was with MY people finally instead of these leftist pro-environment freaks we have in California who were COVID sheep. Life is too short to be a sheep to the government. Freedom is everything!
I got a Texas whiskey called Balcones as the game started and watched a close game. We were down 5-3 in the 9th inning when World Series MVP Cory Seager hit a two run homerun to tie it. Then, in the 11th inning, Adolis Garcia hit a walk off homerun! We won! I had my phone ready to go when Garcia hit that homerun! I was yelling out "El Bombe," which is the nickname for Garcia! How bout them Texas Rangers! I told my wife how I could just leave my stuff at my seat and not worry about anyone taking it when I got up several times to get food. Texas is just an amazing place!
The next day, I had a rainy drive back to Love Field for my flight to Las Vegas. After a short flight to Las Vegas, I got the rental car and drove to my brother's place to get Joy who had flown in the night before. I got to give my nephew a lot of gifts we had collected for him. He loved the BB8 toy which was remote controlled. We checked into the Mandalay Bay afterwards. On the way, we saw lots of Trump 2024 signs so I figured he might be in town. Sure enough, he had two events in Las Vegas. Also, Mandalay Bay Drive was closed until Sunday at noon so I was wondering if he was staying at our hotel. Wow! Presidents seem to be following me around this year. LOL. First, Biden stayed at my hotel in Phoenix when I was there for a meeting. Next, President Bush was at Globe Life Field the same day I was there for a World Series game. LOL. Now, I think President Trump was either at the Mandalay Bay or near it.
We had a great meal at Kumi that night before the private concert. MGM Rewards hosted another great event for VIP members like myself. Kylie Morgan opened up for Old Dominion. She had some cute dancers with her too Then, Old Dominion came on around 9:15. They were really good!
The next morning, we went to my brother's place early so we could watch the Cowboys game with my nephew. He really enjoyed watching the Cowboys-Eagles game on Christmas Eve with me so I was excited to watch the game with him. I figured there would be good sugar cereal for me too at my brother's place. My nephew was really warming up to us more this time. He kept coming by and giving us candy from his stash from the Truck or Treat event they went to before I got into town. Aakash is very cute and sweet. He also added me on Whatsapp on his iPhone so we could talk to each other. The Cowboys won big that day too!
For dinner, Joy and I went to Julian Serrano Tapas at Aria. I love having MGM Rewards Gold Status since I can just valet at any MGM property and avoid the $35-40 fee each time. We just leave the car, walk out, and go in to the casino for dinner with no hassle of self parking. Julian Serrano Tapas was great! We got some ceviche to start which was quite spicy. I got a beet gaspacho. For our entree, we got a squid ink paella which was amazing! Afterwards, I got my dessert next door at the Cosmpolitan. The Milk Bar has one of my favorite soft serve flavors of all time, "cereal milk." Then, we went to explore the alpine themed speakeasy at the Cosmo. We were told to say the scret phrase, "we want to go skiing" to get inside this cool speakeasy. They even had a cool mini magic show. I also got a chance to get a cool shirt at the All Saints boutique there at Cosmo that night.
On Monday, we walked to Eataly for breakfast. After getting our coffee and some good European style breakfast, we had time to still work out and chill at the Mandalay since they offered me 1:00 PM check out in the MGM Gold VIP lounge. I like how they have snacks and bottled still and sparkling water for us there too. After checking out, we went to Ping Pang Pong for dim sum. Then, we had some time to shop at the Las Vegas Premium Outlets North. While we were shopping, my nephew was texting me to see when we would come by. He even sent me a picture of the cotton candy he was eating. LOL. We went by and watched some of the World Series with him. It was cute how he would open a bite size Twizzler and give me half. He is a very caring boy. We had to fly back later that night. The Rangers went on to win Game 3. We won Game 4, and we won our first World Series after we won Game 5 on Wednesday that week when I was in Reno for work I texted my nephew to let him know we won!
I was so excited when we won the World Series in Game 5! Since the ticket was digital, I had to purchase a custom souvenir ticket from the Rangers website since I wanted to create a collage to commemorate this occasion! This was our first World Series win in sixty three years! I also ordered so much World Series Champions gear afterwards on Fanatics. Joy and I have so much disposable income that I can spend without having to budget or worry. I love my life!