Dallas, Texas – The City We Hate to Love

Let me start off by saying I was fully prepared to hate Dallas. I was positive this was going to suck.  I mean, come on, Dallas?

The arrogance of the state alone is enough, but then throw in their atrocious women’s rights stance, and machismo attitude of JR Ewing.  Dallas was supposed to be dirty, humid, and bug ridden.  I prepared for this horrible city that I was made to suffer through for the sake of my eldest son’s birthday.

Sister Side Note (ssn) – and while we are hating on Texas, DFW is one of my top 3 least favorite airports in the USA. But here we are and man, did we have a good time!

But now I’m just pissed at how much I really loved it.  And how I can’t wait to go back and do and see and eat more!!!

So, let’s just talk about what we did, and what you can’t miss out on when you are forced to suffer through this city.  Which we will assume you are only doing as a business trip or a family torture trip. So following our amazing experience at the Virgin Hotels Dallas, we headed downtown for the rest of the weekend.

The Assassination of JFK

We, naturally, have to start with the big one.

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated here. And they aren’t about to let you forget it.  A pox, a shame, an embarrassment to this city, but also a much-profited angle of their tourism.

You have to find a JFK tour.  And there are hundreds of them, so choose wisely.  How much time do you want to spend?  How interested are you?  Full day, half day, an hour?  Do you want to walk the area or take a full bus/trolley/limo tour to all the important spots? 

We desperately wanted to do the replica limo tour of the route, but they were closed for the one weekend we were there – family holiday or something like that, whatever. But here is their link, in case you are lucky enough to book it!

Our Tour

We opted for a 2-hour walking tour. So as not to fill too much of our day on one subject, but to be sure we got all the information we needed going forward.

So, we chose an Airbnb Experience with Sam called “The Assassination of JFK”. 

Sam was fantastic. He clearly has done all the research, and is not shy about sharing his opinions about who was really behind the murder.  He goes in to full time line details of the entire event, from Oswald’s employment at the Book Depository, to JFK’s love of attention and media.  We learned a lot and had a fantastic time and ended up going over our 2-hour time because there was so much information to share. 

ssn – it really is not a “walking” tour, more of a “standing” tour. The entire tour was focused on sights in and around Dealey Plaza.

There are other tours available if you are interested in the full gotta-see-it-all experience, including visits to Oswald’s boarding house, the theater he was arrested in, and the route from the airport to the assassination site. 

Do it all, do a little, or just visit Dealey Plaza, there are plaques and landmarks, and men selling little newspapers that tell you all about what you are looking at. 

ssn – and probably not a surprise, but when we got back to the hotel that night, we spent a couple of hours watching old footage of the assassination day’s events on YouTube. It’s safe to say we have some theories!

But it’s a must-do in Dallas.

Art Museums

Immersive Frida Kahlo

Lighthouse Artspace is the home of the Immersive Van Gogh and Immersive Frida Kahlo exhibits. This is a fairly new trend in the art world. It involves moving displays of famous artists work in floor to ceiling rooms. 

We chose the Frida Kahlo because Peggy had already seen the Van Gogh exhibit.

The Lighthouse Artspace is a beautiful building (an old Masonic building, noted by the Freemason’s mark on by the entrance, please google your own Freemason’s conspiracy theories at a later time).  The Frida Kahlo wing spanned 4 different rooms, as well as a fantastic balcony in room 2 where you would experience the display from a high viewpoint where you can see the floor display as well.

Museum of Biblical Art

Dallas also has the Museum of Biblical Art.  Such an interesting concept for an art museum, and so fascinating. It is in a beautiful building, with a surrounding sculpture garden. 

During our visit it housed an exhibit on the works of Michelangelo, including full-size replicas of the Pieta, Saint Paul, Saint Peter, and Moses (ok, in fairness, he looked exactly like Zeus). 

In a separate wing, there is a full display of Jewish art, including a special section for Andy Warhol.  And I do love Andy Warhol.

One of the most moving exhibits I have ever seen was in this museum in the Barbara Hines “Celebration of Survival”.  The entrance of the wing is floor to ceiling tapestries of the holocaust, with fantastically angled mirrors between the tapestries for a full immersive experience.  Then the following room opens up to a hallway lined with Ms. Hines artwork and the stories of people who put their lives on the line to step in and assist Jews in the escape from the Nazis (for example, one of the most known ones would be Oskar Schindler). 

It was moving, informative, and so important to share these stories. 

Other Art Options in Dallas

Dallas also has a full Art Museum, The Dallas Museum of Art, and a Contemporary Art Museum, creating an Arts District in Downtown Dallas. Dallas is also home to the George W. Bush Presidential Library, checkout their wing on Presidential humor, no matter your political affiliation it will help you really appreciate the man that George W is on a personal level.  The Perot Museum of Nature and Science is a hands-on approach to dinosaurs, DNA, and all things science-y and fun, they pack 5 levels with new things to learn and discover, this is a great option if traveling to Dallas with children.

There is an African American Art center and an Asian American museum. And back to our JFK topic, the 6^th Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza gives you a look at the inside story of Lee Harvey Oswald’s perch about the plaza.

In short, if you are an art lover, there are many fabulous exhibits for you to check out.

A couple of worthy stops in downtown Dallas

We stayed downtown at the Hotel Indigo (a IHG property), so in the morning we did our usual wandering and stopped in for a coffee at The Flying Horse Coffee Shop. They have house-made flavors for your latte and alternative milk selections.  A couple of lattes and we headed out for a walk of the downtown area.

ssn – we loved our Hotel Indigo. Just because we were enamored with the Virgin Property doesn’t mean we didn’t make an excellent choice with Indigo. We do love IHG as well. The location could not be beat, the staff was incredibly friendly and the vibe was beautiful. And the double queen bed setup was the best!

Downtown Dallas Historic District

This is in the Downtown Historic District, fantastic older buildings with the Magnolia Hotel, The Adolphus Tower (and hotel), Pegasus Plaza, and some really interesting architectural features.  Reunion Tower is a little bit east, and it isn’t the prettiest by daylight, but the panoramic views of the city are fantastic, and it’s cool lit up at night

Our first stop was the AT&T discovery district.  It was a lot like the Amazon district in Seattle, full of AT&T products and shops but also a little greenery, sculptures, a performance area and a Starbucks. They have live music and dining in this area on weekends

Our second stop, the eyeball. 

Like why?  I don’t know, but there’s an eye ball.  An eerily accurate-looking, giant fiberglass eyeball, right in the middle of downtown.

But really, we were just killing time until Thanks-giving Square opened.  A peaceful park in the middle of the city, it’s an all-faiths gathering spot that includes art work, fountains, and a peaceful atmosphere.  It also houses the amazing stained glass spire.  It’s a beautiful, calming contemplation area, and includes a board where you can post your own gratitude, with a hope of passing on inspiration, hope, and feeling of harmony.

As it turns out, Downtown Dallas is very walkable, clean, and has a limited homeless population for a very safe feeling.

Yeah, I know, shocking, Dallas was nice. . . UGH

Dallas Street Art and Points of Interest

Yes, I already mentioned the Eyeball as a street art option.  I still don’t get it, but it’s a thing.

But as we were headed on our walk down to Deep Ellum (lots of fun restaurants and bars that will be covered in our Day Drinking blog), we sought out The Traveling Man statues which were right by The Biscuit Bar.  The Traveling man is a three part statue of a funky little metal robot like creature with these super cute little chickadee friends.

ssn – we didn’t get a pic of the 1st in the Traveling Man series so here are the second and third.

At the east end of downtown, closer to Dealey Plaza is the Cattle Drive Sculpture.  No chance to mount these beauties, as they were a little too tall and a little too public for us.

And as long as you are down on that end, swing by Founders Plaza where you can see the John Neely Bryan Cabin for the log cabin and a little history of early Dallas from the 1800s early settlers.

Additionally, Dallas has done a great job incorporating murals and art work into their downtown area, creating an artsy feel and a welcoming atmosphere. It’s definitely more than just high rises and steel.  It made me miss Minneapolis, because I really loved their murals.

And Naturally, All the Sports

Yes, we hate the Cowboys.

Cowboys suck, so do their fans.

But we did catch our Mariners in town playing the Texas Rangers at the Globe Life Field.  It’s a new stadium, but they’ve built a great area outside with bars and restaurants and activities. 

But let’s not forget Dallas also has The Dallas Stars NHL hockey and The Dallas Mavericks NBA basketball.

So, catch a game, just not the Cowboys. (My son said the Cowboy stadium tour was cool though, if you are a football fan).

The Wrap-Up

So, all in all, we had a full two days. 

And we are slightly obsessed.

And we can’t wait to go back.

There’s still so much left for us to do.

And if you want to know who killed JFK, let us know!