The Fourth Walsh

On Monday, Rosie had her interview with Camp Bow Wow.  I’m happy to report she was accepted and flourished on her first day.  She didn’t have to to resign herself to a ‘safety’ doggy daycare.  She got in on her dream pick.  She and her dad are elated!

With Rosie pursuing scholastic excellence, Rich and I are were left on our own.  Despite major storms throughout the night, Dallas continued its three days of cloud coverage.  In addition, wind was our latest element of weather excitement. Regardless, we persevered.  After a delicious breakfast at Dream Cafe (I had a spinach-tomato-goat cheese scramble in a homemade popover), Rich took me on the car tour of Dallas.

Dallas isn’t really a touristy town.  There is no double-decker bus excursion.  There aren’t any downtown kiosks boasting day, night or ghost tours.  It’s more subtle than that.  For example, there are two ‘X’’s marking the bullet shots that killed President John F. Kennedy.  Tourists pose standing on an X -in the middle of traffic- for their photographic historical remembrance. It’s a mixture of tacky and ballsy. (The Lee Harvey bar has also been named one of the best Dallas’ bars.) We just did a drive by (no insensitivity implied) on our way to Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge.

The MHHB is over a dry river bed.  Alright, that’s not quite accurate.  There is water but it’s more like a creek than a river for such an elaborative bridge monstrosity.  Rich says two more similar bridges are in the works.  I giggled at the idea that they are building bridges over futuristic water. Yet, I’ve seen how cool Lake Mead is, the gorgeous Nevada manmade lake.  It makes sense to build bridges in anticipation of a major water development. 

After our bridge excursion, we went to the Bishop Arts District in Oak Cliffs.  It’s a neighborhood of cute cafes and stores filled with artisan wares.  Unfortunately, Monday is a day off for most of the stores,  Still, we walked around and got a flavor of its usually bustling, bohemian activity and i got some interesting artisan trinkets; earrings recycled from beer tabs and a stone carved into an orange heart with ‘peace‘ on it.    

Later, we met up with Austin for a late lunch at The Rustic.  We arrived to a taping of The Fame, a reality show about the Dallas Cowboys.  We sat on the fringe of their forced good times for another delicious Dallas meal.  Our server, Tall Jen, was also an Illinois transplant.  She is pursuing a music producing career while she waits tables.  She was just another example of the friendly and personable service in Dallas. All too soon, it was over, lunch and my weekend stay.                        

My 48+ hours in Dallas did have an impromptu extension.  My flight was delayed three hours.  Winds in Dallas and weather in Chicago created a midnight arrival home.  I was actually fine with it.  DFW airport is quite nice with charger stations and cozy chairs everywhere.  I didn’t seethe until I was at O’Hare.  First, they ‘complimentary‘ checked my carry-on.  So, I stood at the plane waiting for its ‘complimentary‘ return.  Next, O’Hare is doing construction to the main terminal exit and didn’t have any signage indicating an alternative exit.  I could see the cab queue.  I just couldn’t see how to get to it.  The third person I asked was finally kind enough to help me breakout of O’Hare.     

Thank you Richard, Rosie, Bobby G, Dale, Antonio, Caty, and Austin for the Texas-sized  hospitality!  🙂