We actually didn’t stay in Dallas ‘proper’, we were in a northern suburb of Dallas called ‘Frisco.’ From our perspective there wasn’t a lot for us to do as there wasn’t much in walking distance or biking distance other than go to strip malls. Also, it appeared that Frisco was frightened by the use of it’s denizens using bicycles… the sidewalks were littered with light polls, fire hydrants, or steps to a business. We biked to a bar near the Dallas Parkway and there were a couple of close calls with the sidewalk being a dick or disappearing altogether.
Some of the big surprises for us: Frisco was a ‘dry’ county in that they didn’t sell bottles of liquor. You could buy beer and wine, or buy beer/wine/liquor at a bar, but no bottles of liquor. Also, everything seemed to call it a night around 11pm or Midnight. As annual night owls, this tripped us all up a bit. We honestly couldn’t figure out what vices folks in Frisco had, perhaps franchising businesses?
My trivial complaints aside our friends Emily and Charlie were great to us. Emily and Charlie were actually in Michigan while we were in Dallas (Charlie was donating a kidney so that his brother-in-law Chris, one of our best friends, would be on the top of the list to get a kidney… which he had been waiting for nearly [or perhaps over] a decade) and still opened their wonderful home to us. Emily mailed us keys and directions to their place while we were in Lexington and cleared our stay with the apartment office. When we arrived Emily had cookies she baked waiting for us. If you’re reading this Emily or Charlie, thank you again so much for your hospitality. While in Frisco we had some very necessary rest and recuperation time. After the haphazard living in New Orleans it was a welcome break to be able to shower consistently and only take a few steps to use a bathroom.
I was the first to make a foray into Dallas, I specifically headed into the downtown area to get a tattoo. The guys at Charmed Life Tattoo in Lexington had referred me to Obscurities Tattoo and Piercing. You can read more about that in my Tattoos post.
Jake and I went out on the town on Thursday night to The Sundown At The Granada (they put on free shows) and met a fantastic young lady, Cynthia, and her friend. It was interesting to hear their perspectives on Dallas as they’re from Dallas but had spent time outside of Dallas. They confirmed some of what we were thinking, primarily that there is a shitload of highways and everything sprawls. While I wouldn’t choose Dallas as a place to live, I can see some of the things some folks might like. They also had some great recommendations on things to check along our trip (namely: Moab, CA). It would have been a shame not getting a chance to talk to some native Dallasites, and we were just very fortunate to talk to some really cool folks before leaving. I would certainly like to visit Dallas again but with our friend Chris with us.
