Category: Wrestling

Texas

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date September 5, 2024

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. 4 days ago – I returned home from Texas. Back in mid-July I got a really good deal on American Airlines for round-trip airfare from Sarasota-Bradenton (#SRQ) to Dallas-Fort Worth (#DFW) and back. It cost less than $225 – taxes and fees included. I flew out on Wednesday August 28TH, and I returned on Sunday September 01ST. (There’s only one flight daily between the two airports.)

Fun Fact: I sat in a window seat on the 32ND row out of #SRQ, and I sat in an aisle seat on the 33RD and last row out of #DFW. I guess when you pay the bottom-of-the-barrel cost for airfare – you’re placed at the very back of the aircraft. (I could have paid extra to sit closer to the front, but why bother ?)

The inbound flight on that Wednesday afternoon flew a bunch of circles off the Florida coast northwest of the Tampa Bay area, and then it was diverted over to Jacksonville (#JAX) due to heavy thunderstorms over Sarasota at the time. It refueled there, and then it continued its flight to Sarasota. I got in to #DFW about 2½ hours late. Better late than not at all.

Me and my brother packed a lot of activities into our 3 full days together.

On Thursday I experienced a couple of firsts. A bunch of outdoor scenes were filmed for an upcoming movie that I’ll be appearing in. I’ll be an extra with about 20 others, and I do have a speaking role. I’ll be appearing (with the others) as a protestor. (Dress code = all black.) More on that (perhaps) sometime next year when the movie premieres. Later that same day – I attended a high school football game for the first time in my life. My oldest niece is in high school now, and she’s a cheerleader for the junior varsity football team. We watched her, and we cheered on the Raiders. (They won.) #DUBEAST

On Friday we drove up to Wichita Falls to visit our Uncle and Cousin. At their home – a dog (Lacey) and a cat (Gracie) loved me dearly. We enjoyed reminiscing about our extended family, and we also enjoyed a nice Mexican buffet lunch at El Mejicano.

On Saturday we rested and stayed at home for much of the day, and we enjoyed WWE Bash In Berlin (LIVE from Germany). We also watched one of my favorite recent movies – Thelma.

On Sunday it was the return flight back to Florida. It departed early. It arrived early. Thunderstorms were approaching the Sarasota area from inland, so the pilot wanted to get up, get over, get down, and then get back up again before the storm clouds descended.

It was a fun 3 days and 4 nights in Texas with family. I’m looking forward to my next visit in a couple of months. I’ve already got my flights reserved.

#CountUp & #TravelThursday is on Facebook.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll tell you all about a historic hotel in Avon Park Florida. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Florida, Texas

Blogging Food Movies Sports Television Travel Wrestling

My Wild Wrestling Weekend Vacation 2022

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date April 7, 2022

And I am back from yet another vacation – this one a 6-day trip out west. I flew in to the Dallas Texas area early last Thursday morning (March 31ST). First stop after my brother picked me up at the airport (DFW) was a restaurant nearby that the locals love – Old West Cafe. I enjoyed a hearty breakfast during my first hour within the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, and it continued a new tradition for me and my brother. This was our first stop the last time I flew in to DFW (in November 2020), and it worked out so well that we’ve decided to do it every time I fly in to DFW.

Here’s me a few seconds before diving in to this culinary masterpiece:

We saw a movie that afternoon – The Lost City (starring Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, and Daniel Radcliffe – among others). I enjoyed it. A solid ‘B’. 3.5 out of 4 stars from me. It was my 3RD movie seen at the theatres so far in 2022, and that ties both 2020 and 2021. (By comparison my 2000 to 2009 average was 20 movies per year, and my 2010 to 2019 average was 30 movies per year.)

That night we went to WrestleCon in downtown Dallas at a large hotel with a convention center. You may have heard of ComicCon held in various cities each year around the U.S. (and probably the world.) Well this is the professional wrestling version of that. Picture a lot of vendor booths with well-known wrestlers behind many of them selling photographs, autographs, and selfies or pictures of you and the wrestler. These are real-life TV stars of the wrestling realm – past and present – of rival companies – sitting or standing right in front of you in living color. Just you and them meeting and greeting each other. It was quite the experience. I was a bit starstruck. My brother talked to a few of his favorites, and he bought their photo and signature, and I took a picture of them with my brother’s smart phone.

Also part of the convention was a show at the wrestling ring with a full card of matches. We had front row seats ringside for that first night’s show. These are mostly independent wrestlers. I’m a huge WWE fan (more on that later), but beyond that I’m not really in to the independent wrestling scene (or other promotions stateside and worldwide). I know of some of them because they used to work for the WWE. I was very impressed with this first night’s experience.

Night 2 (Friday), and we were in Garland Texas (a Dallas suburb) at the Curtis Culwell Center – a nearly 7,000-seat arena. We were there for the reboot of Ring Of Honor and their annual Supercard Of Honor pay-per-view event. It was a stacked card with a dozen matches that thrilled the more than 2,000 in attendance. (We had ringside seats again.)

Nights 3 and 4, and we were at WrestleMania 38 at AT&T Stadium (where the Dallas Cowboys play). This was my 21ST WrestleMania (since WrestleMania X8 in 2002), but it was my very first LIVE and in-person. It was a bucket list event for me and my brother, and we finally did it. We were there for 8 hours on Saturday night and 6 hours on Sunday night. (The show itself was 4 hours on each night.)

If you have followed me online for a while then you know that I am a huge WWE fan. (I even preached a sermon about it here on my blog.) My brother got me hooked in June 2001 at a Raw and Smackdown in Tampa and Orlando respectively. Before those two LIVE events I had never seen an episode of either show. Since then I don’t think that I’ve missed one. I became a sudden and instant fan at those two shows at the atypical age of 34. (I never watched it as a kid either.)

Me and my brother watched the post-WrestleMania edition of Monday Night Raw at his house, and then I flew back home the next morning. My wild wrestling weekend vacation was complete.

A couple hundred million dollars were pumped-in to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex economy last weekend due to professional wrestling and its loyal fanbase worldwide, and I was part of all of that.

Tags AEW, ROH, Wrestling, WWE

Blogging Driving Food Sports Travel Wrestling

My Spring Break Vacation 2022

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date March 31, 2022

And now – Week 4 of my 4-week series on my 6-day / 626-mile road-trip adventure here in South Florida and also up in Central Florida.

Last #TravelThursday I wrote all about my fun family day at Legoland near Winter Haven in Central Florida. From there I proceeded over to U.S. 27 (my favorite highway in Florida – affectionately known as the Chris M. Day Retirement Highway – or the #CMDRH). My family did the same in two other vehicles. We said our “good-byes” in the parking lot of Legoland. I’ll see my brother, sister-in-law, and two nieces again – today. (More on that later.)

I stopped for Dinner at a place that I’ll probably be spending a lot of time at in the future (during retirement life) – Bob Evans in Sebring. Hopefully service greatly improves with future visits. I’ve eaten there a handful of times in the past, but this time service was the worst I’ve ever experienced.

I spent the night at a hotel in Lake Placid. That’s the other town that I’m eyeing for my future retirement / forever home. It’s very likely that I’ll purchase my forever home before I retire (maybe even later this year – but more likely next year). I’d begin to move things into my new home with each visit over a period of time.

My 6-day / 626-mile road-trip adventure ended the way it began 5 days earlier. I drove 3 hours to my workplace on the morning of Tuesday March 08TH 2022, and I worked much of the day. Then I went home and unpacked. That was the official end of another fun and successful vacation.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll write about my next vacation (which actually started yesterday). I’ll be spending 5 fun days hanging out with my family in the Dallas Texas area. Me and my brother – well we’re going to Wrestlemania !

I’m going to try to recap this vacation in a single blog post, but if I can’t fit it in 700 words or less (basically a 3-minute read) – then I’ll do a 2-part series.

I really want to get back to the original format of #TravelThursday where I write about a fun place I’ve visited (not necessarily while on vacation), or even a place somewhere in this world that I want to visit but haven’t done so yet. I think that’s the plan going forth after I write about this trip to and from Dallas Texas.

I thank you all for checking-out my blog and making #TravelThursday consistently my most-read blog post of the week (by far). Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Wrestlemania

1980s Blogging Career Driving Health History Military News Television Travel Weather Wrestling

Weekend Kickoff Mini-Thoughts

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date January 28, 2021

It’s Thursday, and it’s the start of a fresh new weekend of blogging. Longtime readers of my blog will know that this was once a Thursday night tradition. I only do this every once in a while these days. It’s my ‘Mini-Thoughts’ – a rapid-fire session of random thoughts on my mind right this minute: