We actually stayed in Arlington, about 6 miles from Cowboys Stadium. But if they get to be the Dallas Cowboys, then this post is called Dallas, Tx.
Buzzard Billy’s (Waco)
This was probably the best seafood of the trip. I got he cajun sampler and it had everything I was looking for. Ann Schlotter recommended we go here and she wasn’t wrong. The beer selection was lacking, but the food more than made up for it. They are also right along the water and have a great view. They’re right next to the new Baylor stadium. They had a big tent set up and actaully had a green glitter trail leading to the stadium.
Robert Griffin III Statue (Waco)
Since we were so close I had to go see this. I’m a little worried that he’s becoming the next Jason Campbell in the NFL but that can never tarnish how great he was in college. So great that they made him a statue after only 3 years.
TreeTops Carefree RV resort (Arlington)
I didn’t really get to enjoy any of the amenities of this park. It was over 100 degrees every day that we were there. I really should have enjoyed the pool, but Laurel was out doing things and It’s not as fun without her. There are plenty of trees for shade, they had pull through spots. (Something we’re beginning to request). There didn’t seem to be much action in the neighborhood, I walked around a few times and only say a couple people outside their trailers. The WiFi is provided by Tengo and it’s only free for one day. The speed is passable for work, but not much else and you’re limited on the bandwidth. But it was pretty cheap, so I should stop complaining.
The Hideaway (North Dallas)
It was the first Sunday of football season and I wanted to watch the game. I was going to stay home, but then I realized that I’m not in Virginia any more and nobody cares about the Redskins. And I’m in Dallas, so they REALLY don’t care. So I looked up ‘Where to watch Redskins games in Dallas’ and was directed to a fan club that meets at this bar. DallasRedskins.com The bar itself was nothing special, the bartenders were friendly and quick. It was packed with Redskins fans (and a few Texans fans) so it was a really good environment to watch the game. You can tell that we’ve all been fans for a while, we all had that ‘hopeful but ready to be disappointed’ vibe. And the team played down to that level.But there were some bright spots and we did get to sing ‘Hail to the Redskins’ at least once.
Al Bernaits
Laurel has a friend that works here. It’s not somewhere that we would usually choose to go to. But it’s one of the best restaraunts in Dallas, we let Nicole choose what out meal was, she did a great job. Highlighted by the escargot and the amazing ribeye. We’ve been eating at places that are more ‘local flavor’ in the past couple cities, but I think this IS the ‘local flavor’ in Dallas. If you’re in the area and want a great steak where price is no object, go here and ask for Nicole.
Conclusion
We spent about a week in Dallas and I think I have a better appreciation for the city. It’s funny that DC and Dallas are rivals in football, because they have a lot in common. They are both large metro areas that are made up of many interconnected suburbs. While driving through other cities in the USA you realize that there’s a lot of ‘nothing’ out there between the city centers. But if you drive 20 mintues outside of Washington, you’ll still be in Arlington, 20 more minutes, still in Fairfax. 20 minutes outside New Orleans is a bridge over the swamp. But Dallas keeps going (at least to the west). Its also filled with the same kind of suburban people that drive expensive cars and pay too much for their mortgage. But I guess that could be any city.
It also reenforced the main thing that we’ve learned about Texas, it’s HOT HERE. Breaking news, IT’S HOT IN TEXAS. I know people are saying that it’s been a mild summer, but I don’t think I could get used to it. The AC in the RV was just barely keeping up with it. On Wednesday it was 104 degrees. That’s sweat through a suit jacket hot.
Laurel had a lot of appointments in Dallas so I spent most of the time in the RV working. There wasn’t much that I was excited to see in the city so I don’t think I missed much. Dallas is not somewhere I could see myself living, it has too many of the things that caused us to want to move away from Northern Virginia. But like DC it does have good people and unlike DC they seemed to have planned their highway system a lot better than the DC beltway. There was traffic, but it wasn’t DC (nightmare) level of congestion.
[ngg_images gallery_ids=”5″ display_type=”photocrati-nextgen_basic_thumbnails”]
Leave a Reply