Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | T | Texas Monthly

25 things I love about Dallas.

Article Excerpt
When I went to Europe in 1981, Americans were no more popular there than they are now. As soon as I opened my mount, hotel clerks and waiters would scowl at me and ask me where I was from. If I said, "America," I might not get a room or a meal. But if I said, "Texas," they would break out in a big smile, say, "Bang, bang! Who shot J.R.?" and we would be the best of buddies. So I learned to love Dallas because it probably saved my hide more than once during that journey. As for Dallas, I'd hardly ever been there at the time, and from all reports, I wasn't missing much. But during numerous visits over the next two decades, I discovered many reasons to love the actual, much-maligned city, reasons that have nothing to do with its well-known tourist attractions (the Sixth floor Museum, the Dallas World Aquarium, the flagship Neiman's downtown, Pioneer Plaza's herd of bronze Longhorns), its 80 billion restaurants, or even a prime-time soap opera. Don't believe me?

1. I thought about claiming that the DOWNTOWN SKYLINE is best viewed from your car as you cross the Trinity River via Houston Street. But since Houston runs one-way here--out of town--the cityscape would be in your rearview mirror. Hmmm. Okay, head back into town via Jefferson (also one-way) for a commanding view of what Norman Mailer once charmingly described as "a collection of Kleenex boxes standing on end": Reunion Tower, which blossoms like a giant onion, on your left; the Bank of America Plaza, Dallas' tallest building, outlined in argon tubing that lights up the night with the color of money; and reassuringly, in the midst of it all, the familiar red horse still flying atop the Magnolia Building. I was proud of myself for discovering this particular view--until I learned it was the one shown during the opening sequence of Dallas.

2. Confronted with towering pyramids of melons, tomatoes, peppers, squash, peaches, eggplant and on and on, shoppers at the DALLAS FARMERS MARKET must figure it's better to eat their veggies than be crushed by them. But awesome as this cornucopia was, I was even more impressed with the offerings at Texas' Own Texas Grown, the sole booth in the market's sun-drenched Cesar Chavez Plaza. Here, on the Saturday morning I visited, Jackie King served up the market's only certified organic produce, grown by a handful of the state's farmers: perfect squash blossoms, the cutest bunches of carrots I've ever seen, Sweet Heart watermelons, black-eyed peas, chocolate mint, and leeks so lovely I thought they were ceramic. Downtown between Harwood and Central Expressway just north of 1-30 West 214-939-2808, dallasfarmersmarket.org. Open daily.

3. "Sensory overload" is the theme four nights a week at DON CARTER'S ALL-STAR LANES DALLAS WEST. You've got your throbbing music, courtesy of video jockey George Crenshaw. Big screens hang over the lanes so you won't miss a move by Justin Timberlake or Sean Paul as you try for that impossible spare. The place is as dark as a disco, the better to see the tiny runway lights that race up and down the sides of the lanes. Bowlers dance up to the line. And best of all, beneath the oh-so-seventies black light, the fluorescent pink, orange, or green...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!