Trip Report: Experience of a Lifetime!
 

So, wanted to share about our(8 year old son and I)experience with the game yesterday. I suck at technology so I don’t know how to post pics so that’s out, but here’s how it went:

4:30a(MST)- I wake up my son. I tell him “hey buddy, I know it’s early but I have a surprise for you. I need you to wake up and come with me”. He looks at me, tired and a confused, and says “oh, okay”

4:45a(MST)- son is now awake and drinking his mocha. He asks “dad, are we going to the Chiefs game?”- he’s a smart little ****er. I tell him that we are(was planning on revealing at the airport, so no biggie). He gets the biggest smile on his face and practically leaps into my arms from his seat at the kitchen island. We depart shortly thereafter. He asks questions about what it will be like the whole way to the airport.

6:00a(MST)- We board the plane. You guys would’ve been proud. Almost the whole plane is decked out in Chiefs gear. One dude is in full Packers gear. Weird. Flight leaves at 6:35 and arrives right on time at 10a(CST).

11:00a(CST)- Arrive at my buddy’s house in OP. Quick run to the shitter for me and a change of clothes. I go with long sleeves Chiefs shirt, Mahomes Salute to Service Jersey and a big, yellow Chiefs hoodie for the walk through the parking lot. Chiefs headband and Salute to Service hat. My son dons a Chiefs hoodie, his NFL Flag Chiefs jersey and gloves and a wool snow hat or whatever those are called. Uber arrives to take us to the game.

12:15p(CST)- Arrive at Arrowhead. It’s soooo cold. Definitely the coldest my son has ever experienced(he’s an AZ native). No time to hit a CP tailgate(bummer. Next year for sure)so we walk through the parking lot. My son is just soaking it all in. We arrive at the Tower Suites.

12:45p(CST)- We make our way up to the Penthouse Suite. If you’ve never been up there, do yourself a favor and hit a game there at least once. It’s on the press level and the view is unreal. Great view of the game(we had such a great look at Pat’s amazing TD!), and amazing view of the rest of the crowd. Plus, the food and drink is included. First half was a buffet of BBQ salmon, chicken, sides, great salads and some unreal desserts. Second half was brats and chili dogs!

12:50p(CST)-We take our seats(nice and warm in there), intros, anthem all that.
Right before the game starts, my awestruck son leans over and whispers “this is the best day of my life. I can’t believe you brought me from another state to see this”. I give him a hug. The game starts.

1:05p(CST)-6p(CST)- You don’t need me to recap the game. It was awesome! The suite crowd took a bit to get into it. I kinda think people up there are a bit afraid to make noise. That went out the window by the time Pat had his run. Prior to that, my group was certainly brining the noise the whole time. My son quickly got used to yelling and high fiving anyone, young or old, within 3 seats of us in all directions. He had such a blast. By the end of the game he was down by the glass, with his face pressed against it, hooked to the last few minutes. Speaking of, with about 10 minutes to go, a guy would yell on the minute, every minute “10(9-8-7-etc)minutes to go!” And the whole suite would freak out! After the Hardman PI play, I took a minute to look at all of you(literally and figuratively)and I saw so much pure joy. And I thought of all my CPers in AZ and I thought of Notorious and Nzoner and Clay and George Blowfish and so many others I have never met but love anyway. And it was glorious. Game ended, we watched the ceremony and left.

6-7:30p(CST)- We hit the elevators. I play “Miami” by Will Smith on my phone. The crowd in the elevator digs it. We hit the sidewalk in front of the stadium. I’m holding my son’s right hand in my left as we walk. I’m yelling and high fiving everyone in sight. I look down to the left. My son is doing the same thing with his left hand. Total proud dad moment. I’ll never forget that walk as long as I live. We get to the Z Trip line and get a cab back to OP. We eat Q39 and find out who our SB opponent will be.

9p(CST)- We crash hard.

Monday morning 9:45a(CST-11:50aMST)- We fly home. My son wears his Chiefs headband proudly the whole way and walk to the car back at Sky Harbor. He says “I can’t believe I got to see my favorite team make it to the Super Bowl for the first time in 50 years!”



I’ll never forget that 24 hours. It’ll be the day my son and I will always remember with love and pride.


I just wanted to share that with y’all. Thanks for being a part of one of the best memories of my life.

That's awesome. Lucky kid. He'll never forget that.

I want to be your son.

Your son is ****ing awesome. You’ve got a good one.

Geez.....more dust in here....

Awesome! Great moment that will live forever!

Awesome!

Funny how the current planeteers never have time to tailgate...;)

That is awesome, he will remember that for life.

Love this story.

My father had no interest in sports and we had no connection to Kansas City, but I randomly became a Chiefs fan and when I was in high school we flew up from Florida to KC to go to a game. I remember his reading a book throughout the entire game not paying attention at all, but the Chiefs won on a last-minute goal line stand (thank you, Mark McMillan), the trip was amazing, and it right then occurred to me: life is all about experiences like this one. Not toys, gadgets, games, or clothes. Experiences.

That realization has guided me from that very day forward and given me so many wonderful and memorable experiences. So happy you and your son got this one and hope he was able to take that away as well.

Thanks again for sharing. Go Chiefs!

How awesome. Congratulations! Thanks for sharing this story.

Incredible retelling, it makes the heart swell... epic stuff, dad

This made me tear up a bit. Just awesome and probably as big as the win for you.

<img src="https://i.gifer.com/Sxj9.gif" alt="Related image"/>

ya, that was my favorite part, too.

7-10 is such a great age.

Awesome story! Thanks for sharing

Thank you for sharing, Mr. Why Not. I have two daughters (youngest is also eight), and wish they’d be interested in going to a game experience exactly like that.

That. Is. Awesome. I took my daughter to her first game at the age of 21 so we could tailgate together. Not as heart warming as your story but man, we had a helluva great time the two of us. It was the 3rd and 48 game and Arrowhead broke the noise record (the first time). She was not a Chiefs fan before that, but after the game, she is ALL about the Chiefs. Now, her son is 7 and I promised I'd get him to a game by the time he's 10.

Great story dude. Dad of they year kind of stuff!

Great story ,happy for you nothing like memories with your kids.i took my son and daughter ages 7 and 8 to the Denver play off game in 97 great time and memories just not the happy ending y’all got to enjoy lol. Glad yours turned out better!!!

These response are what make this a special place. Thank you all

Great story!

What a great day!

My son and I have had awesome Chief and Royals moments over the years. Sports is a great bonding agent...

I told my son since he was 3 that if the Chiefs make the Superbowl we are going...

We are finally going and he's 26!

That’s amazing! Have a great time!

The kid sounds like he had a great time.

Hope you're taking him to the Super Bowl now.

How do you get tickets to the Penthouse Suite? And glad you had a great time with your son that is something that neither of you will forget.

I have a good friend that does a lot of business with Wells Fargo, I think it is? He was out of the country but was able to get me 2 tickets on the house. Thanks for the kind words.


Edit: I originally read that as asking how I got the tickets. Anyone can by them, I think. I think they’re around $600 a game but don’t quote me on that. That’s just what I heard from some guy

I remember watching Chiefs games with my dad, and he always apologized for turning me into a Chiefs fan. I'm glad I grew up watching the Chiefs and the Royals with him, and I wish he could have been here to watch this with me. But, I am blessed with a wife, who has been with me for every KC experience since he passed away. And I can't wait to make some spur of the moment memories like that with my family. Awesome experience with your son. Father of the Year stuff indeed!

Damn I would have been terrified to cut it that close with possible airline delays - especially in January. Glad it worked out!

Thanks man. Here’s to your entry in that arena one day!

Yeah it was a bit of a dice roll but both kids had sporting events Saturday so couldn’t leave until Sunday early. Ending up missing all the bad weather and no delays. Just one of those perfect all the way around things.

Hope you took plenty of two-shot selfies, you and your kid. What a great memory for you you both.

My son is 39.

I can relate dad.

He and your guy could talk for hours.

You made me proud again. Good job.

Well now that you and your kid have come this far, bring him to our next meet-up and he can have another first time, game day experience: jello shots with scho63 and the Phoenix CP crew.

What does he prefer vodka or tequila? o:-)

That's awesome, what a whirlwind couple of days!

Glad your boy didn't have to freeze his ass off. It was really cold out in the unwashed masses.

As lewdog would say

“Reported to cps”

Lol

Awesome Story! My son is 4, and the only football player he knows is Patrick Mahomes! He tells everyone he is a Chiefs fan! We live in Indiana, can't wait to take him and his little brother to Mecca some day, like my dad did with me!

I posted this in the game thread, but I had a trip of a lifetime as well.

When KC started coming back against the Texans, I knew we had Mahomes and hope started growing like flames fanned by the wind. When it got to be 24-21, I said to my son, “If KC wins this, we have to go to the championship.” He thought I was kidding, but I bought tickets from Anchorage to KC.

We flew from Anchorage to Seattle on a red-eye. I don’t like red-eyes because I’m too old to sleep on a plane, but it worked. We got on the plane to MCI and about ½ the people had KC gear. I frequently fly AK Air and so I was in first class, enjoying my mimosa and watching movies when the pilot says that the KC airport is shut down and we have to turn back. I’ve flown a lot and have never had to turn back because of weather. Mechanical, yes. Someone ill on the plane, yes. But never weather.

We land in Seattle and I call the airlines to re-schedule. they tell me we are re-set for Saturday. I get a hotel for the night and grab our luggage. I am in Seattle a lot and I know where to stay and eat, etc. Figured it would be a slight hiccup and we would just be in on Saturday instead of Friday. But, I am scheduled to fly on Saturday morning. Turns out my son is set to fly on Sunday. That doesn’t work.

No other flights to KC. None via travelocity. None via Kayak. None via SW air, which doesn’t partner with anybody. I’m talking with Alaska Air. I’ve been 75K Gold for the past 6 years and they take care of me but there’s just no flights. None to KC, Omaha, Wichita, St. Louis or Denver. None through partners. I’m starting to sweat, wondering if we would actually get there. I finally find a red-eye through Chicago. I never fly Chicago in the winter, but there’s no option. I go to Omaha through Chicago.

But I learn that flights to Chicago on Friday have been cancelled because of weather. I’m set to travel over night and land Saturday morning, so I hope it will be different. Everybody on American is telling me to cross my fingers. But since its American and I don’t fly them, they won’t work so hard to upgrade me or re-route me. But the flight boards on time and takes off on time. Apparently, people Outside get cold in the winter so the flight is the hottest I’ve ever been on. I sleep fitfully, waking almost drenched in sweat because the interior of the plane would roast a turkey.

The in-flight WiFi says that we are on time and my connecting flight is on time. The incoming flight that becomes my connecting flight is from Kalamazoo and should land about 6:15, plenty of time to connect to my 7:30 to Omaha. But about 1 hour outside Chicago, I see that flight is delayed. Then delayed more. Then cancelled. WTF?!? I panic, wondering if I will land in Chicago only to find no flights to Omaha. There is one late in the day, but I’ve got family to meet and BBQ to eat. I don’t want a late flight.

We land and the monitors shows that the flight from Kalamazoo is cancelled but my flight is on time. We get to the gate and get on the plane, only to see the plane is covered in ice. All of those episodes of ‘Airline Disasters’ that I watched on Smithsonian flash through my head. I wonder if this is the flight where Chicago doesn’t de-ice. But I don’t care. My son doesn’t care. There’s a Chiefs game to go to.

We get in our seats and a whole group of Indians board the plane. Among their group is a 4 year old brat. He petulantly yells in Hindi, probably that he doesn’t want to go. He’s screaming and kicking and writhing against the restraints of his mother’s hands. Of course, he winds up in the row immediately behind us. Sitting with him is an aunt. at least, I think she’s an aunt. She’s about 20. She’s Indian. And every time she moves, there is the miasma of horrific BO. Strong, pungent, and laced with scents of Indian curry covering rotten meat, its strong enough to cut through steel I-beams. Off course, she sits immediately behind us as well.

My son and I are still recovering from the oven of a flight from Seattle, so we are glad that this flight has fans that produce a lot of air. But with the BO wafting over us at irregular intervals and causing us to break out in rashes, we aim the fans to the back to hopefully head the BO to the back to the plane.

The little shitbird keeps making noise, getting out of his seat and running up and down the aisles. His mom tries to stop him. His aunt tries to appease him. The flight attendant tries to bribe him, saying that if he doesn’t get into his seat, the plane cant go. The little shit doesn’t care. I ask Lyn if I should do something and he begs me not to. Finally, the kid gets belted into his seat and the plane turns to taxi in the gray, dismal Chicago rain.

We soon ascend above the clouds to a day enhanced by snow. The lighter turbo-prop buckles in the wind more than a heavier 737. The turbulence and the eye-watering BO conspire to keep us awake and we finally land in Omaha.

Our bag is drenched from the rain and snow from Chicago, but it arrives. We grab a Jeep Cherokee that the rental car guy swears has 4WD. We look and look and look, but we cannot find the 4WD. We are told the roads are covered in ice and there’s only about 200 miles to go to KC. Fortunately, the roads have not been in cold weather, so the ground has not really frozen. This means that most of the snow and ice has either melted or turned to slush/water. As we start down the road, my son looks at me and says, “We are going to make this game. WE really are going to make it. I didn’t think we would, but we will.”

And we did. We hit KC and take a nap. We go to Q39 and meet my aunt and uncle and cousin and his wife for dinner. After dinner, we hit a bar and chill for a couple of hours before getting to bed around 1:00.

I wake early because I can’t stay asleep. Seeing lines at Arrowhead, I roust my son and we head out early. Despite my best efforts, we wind up on the ass-end of Arrowhead parking and I promise to either get a better parking pass or a Z-trip in the future. We look for CPers tailgating and we wind up with Lzen. He and his wife welcomes us with open and we meet his friends. We enjoy biscuits and gravy and eggs and bacon and donuts and cupcakes and beer and whisky and are quite ready for the game to begin.

The game goes as well, if not better, than we hoped. We are on club level right above where the Chiefs take the field. My son looks down and tells me excitedly, “Dad! There’s Travis Kielce! He’s like, right there!” I beam with pride. The game goes well for us. People around us ask why we aren’t wearing gloves or warm hats or boots and we explain how we are from Alaska and it hasn’t hit 0 for the last few weeks, so temperatures about 18-20 aren’t really “cold” but are more “chilly.” The ladies behind us are from Texas and say they’ve never experienced weather this cold. My son and I laugh and admit we do not handle heat well.

You know how the game turns out. We start to watch the award presentations but my son asks if we can go to get out the stadium, so we take off. We catch a steak with my aunt and uncle and get back to our hotel about 11:00. The lights are out in our room. My ears still ring from the roar of the crowd at Arrowhead. I’m pondering how this was a great day.

“Dad?” I hear my son say from his bed across the room.

“Yeah?”

“This was a great day. This was one of the favorite days of my life. Thank you.”

I pause for a couple of seconds. “You’re welcome. It was one of my favorite days of my own life as well. Thanks for coming with me.” And I drifted off to sleep.

Love it! What an ordeal you went through to get to the game. Thankfully, it paid off 100x over for all of us.

Awesome! This - like the OP's - honestly deserves its own thread. Thanks for sharing.

Great story! As much as we are complimenting your son, the same should be said for his Dad. Well done!!

Damn, Why Not? and frozenchief, you guys had great stories. Is it getting dusty in here? I absolutely love hearing about how your boys really appreciated the moment and how special it was.

My wife and I bought season tickets this year for the first time along with my oldest son (26) and his wonderful wife. It truly was a special season for us, too. They didn't reserve their tickets for the playoffs, though. I think they thought they were going to be a lot more expensive and they are planning for a baby this summer. I texted him that this place was electric and that I wish they were there. But we went over to their house after celebrating for awhile in the Arrowhead parking lot. What a great day.

I guess I should mention that my middle son and I texted back and forth after the game, too. Both of my boys, like me, are huge Chiefs fans. My daughter never really cared about football but even she was excited and texted us when she saw they were going to the SB.

As a father of a 16-month old, this is what hits me right in the feels. I cannot wait to experience this with him.