From JuJu with Love

Football, Friendship, and a Very Bad Hotel Choice

In 2012, my beloved Michigan Wolverines were set to take on the University of Alabama at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas. Michigan football. Alabama football. Jerry World. What could possibly go wrong?

As it turns out… quite a bit—but that’s what made it unforgettable.

My best friend J. was a huge Dallas Cowboys fan, so we decided this weekend would be the perfect way to combine our passions. He flew in from Vegas. I came from Detroit. Neither of us had ever been to Dallas, but how hard could it be? We just needed a hotel close to the stadium. Simple.

Or so we thought.

When we pulled up to the hotel, it became immediately clear that we had made a terrible mistake. This was not a hotel. This was a motel—the kind where you enter your room from an outdoor hallway. The kind that time forgot. The kind where you pause at the door and exchange that look with your best friend that says, Oh no. Absolutely not.

We went inside anyway (because hope dies hard). The room was old. Run-down. Questionable. Within minutes, J. and I were both on our tablets furiously searching for a new place to stay. There was no way we were spending the night there.

At some point during this crisis, J. decided it would be a good time to relax—so he lit up. Wanting to be considerate, he opened the door to blow the smoke outside into the fresh Dallas air.

Unfortunately, the moment he exhaled, a housekeeper happened to be walking by.

The smoke went directly into her face.

I don’t think either of us has ever laughed harder in our lives. The timing. The horror. The absurdity. I truly thought I was going to pee my pants laughing. To this day, just thinking about it makes me laugh.

We did, in fact, find a new hotel. A real one. With interior hallways. Crisis averted.

The game the next day… well. Let’s just say it didn’t quite live up to my hopes. Michigan was completely dominated by Alabama. As a die-hard Wolverines fan, that part hurt. A lot.

But here’s the thing—sometimes the game isn’t the point.

We still enjoyed the day. The energy. The experience. Being there together. And then the next day, J. pulled off something truly incredible: a behind-the-scenes tour of Cowboys Stadium.

We saw it all—from the cheerleader dressing rooms to the player locker rooms, all the way to Jerry Jones’s private box. J. was absolutely in his element. Watching him geek out over every detail made the entire weekend worth it.

Michigan may not have won that game, but I walked away with something better: one of those trips you’ll laugh about forever. A reminder that travel rarely goes according to plan—and that the best stories usually start with a really bad hotel choice.

And honestly? I’d do it all again.

Go Blue. Always.

From Juju with love 💙✈️🏈