Leftover pictures and collected thoughts after 2 months in Dallas, TX .
Dallas feels like a city still in search of itself. And we're not the only ones who thought so - the weekend before we left there was a front-page newspaper article in the Dallas Morning News on exactly that idea. TFS said that the city "didn't feel like Texas" and was like any other pretty much. If I wasn't from there I wouldn't think much of the place. Not that it was particularly bad - it wasn't - it was just that it wasn't particularly anything. Admittedly we didn't see the whole place, and were mostly just off downtown, but there really didn't feel like there was any "there" there. Dallas is undergoing a lot of change, from revitalization of a few older areas to massive roadway construction, but as the DMN article lamented, the city is constantly making plans for improvement, but not doing any planning. Lots on intentions, but progress, even to locals who care, is very slow.
In no order, here are some things I can recall of the notes that were on my Note before it was kept by whoever found it in the men's washroom when we attended the Anaheim Ducks at Dallas Stars playoff game and decided to keep it. :(
Driving was generally an obnoxious chore. Between the crazy-ass roads, widespread construction, mishmash of roadway alignments and generally poor shape of roads in and around downtown, driving is not pleasant. And I come from a place where there's a season between winter and spring where my my city fills many hundred thousand potholes. Dallas is so busy spending money on new roads it's $600 million dollars behind in maintaining existing roads. Not to mention that the whole place seems to be designed to bypass. Every little town that makes up the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex has at least one road between it. There are ring-roads nested in ring roads, linked to other ring-roads. And poorly maintained at that - it's not uncommon to have to swerve around divots in high-speed roadways. Not enjoyable at all, and I'm a fan of recreational driving - Los Angeles, CA is a treat to drive around by comparison.
There's a definite, and longstanding, disparity between north and south Dallas. Nearly every Google search I did for something showed multiple hits for north Dallas, but barely any for south Dallas. Didn't matter what it was, from shopping, to oil changes, to restaurants, every urban amenity seems to be in north Dallas. Our hotel was just south of downtown, and the area was an urnab wasteland, devoid of muchactivity or culture. Racially, north Dallas is where the whites live, and south Dallas is where blacks live, and this difference was readily apparent each time I took to the road to navigate around. And, in the opinions of people who heard where we were staying. And local news stories. A whole half of the city neglected and left to a (poorer) underclass.
It took about a week for me to notice that nearly every non-chain restaurant we went for dinner had unfinished ceilings. Dunno what that was all about, where it's chic or a product of reuse of older buildings or just cheap, but it became a running joke for us.
Speaking of restaurants, one of our biggest considerations when looking for somewhere for dinner was whether it was even open after 5 or 8pm. Really. Even on a Saturday. Well, maybe we'd have until 10 pm before everyone went home for their weekly bath before church on Sunday. Sunday? We had to find a place before 5pm, or possibly before 3. Hicksville. And i'm from a city with 1/6th the population.
OK that's enough negative. There were a few bright spots that come to mind after 3 beers.
Across from our hotel was the Full Circle Tavern with super-friendly people that recognized us and remembered our names after just a few visits. Good food, though a limited menu of mostly sandwiches, and pioneers in making a place to eat is the midst of an area a decade away from relevance.
Lee Harvey's was a dive-bar with a surprising non-dive-bar menu only a few blocks from our hotel. With classic illuminated bar signs "some of which are older than the typical Friday night crowd". I coveted a few of them. There's a cool outside area with fire-things and picnic tables that make eating and having a beer like being in someone's back yard.
The Dallas Arboretum was an oasis in the middle of the city. A little expensive, but I'd buy a pass to soften the blow and get some nature.
Babe's Chicken in Carrollton - pick yer meat (mostly chicken on big platters), pick three sides (all you can eat), bring yer own beer, and eat. For cheap!
Hmmmm... mostly restaurants in my "plus" column...
OK, time for pictures I have left over.
That's the end of what I have to say about Dallas, TX except for unfinished entries, mostly museums, that I'll have to backfill when I get home.
| from TFS
Making myself useful washing some of the windows in our hotel. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)