lockmat Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Going for a quick trip to Dallas (Arlington) to see a Ranger game this weekend. Leaving Saturday around lunch and coming back Sunday evening. I've never really spent time there, mostly just driven through.What are some of your favorite touristy places? What are some hidden gems?I'd also like to maybe just drive around and experience some of it from the road as I won't have much time to stop, and compare areas similar to Houston. Basically just to get a feel for what Dallas really is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsal29 Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 I lived there for like 5 years, and as far as driving around, all you see is a lot of burbs. To me, the most interesting things in Dallas are right around town - lower Greenville is neat. The 6th floor museum downtown is interesting if you have never done it, and the Nasher sculpture center is also downtown and quite good. My recommendation is to take the actual train from downtown Dallas to Fort Worth and take in the Stock Yards. There is a place by the stockyards called Joe T Garcia's that sells pitchers of margaritas and it is excellent. I just think this is neat as you get to ride a real functional train! you can also take a light rail from downtown to mockingbird station where there is shopping and an angelika theatre.Other areas neat to drive around Dallas to me is Uptown, University Park, and Turtle Creek.We lived up in Frisco which is a whole other ballgame, but it is more homogenous up there, but they have Stonebriar mall which is a bohemoth, as well as the FC Dallas Soccer team, and the Frisco RoughRiders minor league team which is fun. If you like fried chicken, check out a Babe's Chicken Dinner House. Fantastic. There are a few is different suburbs of town. Hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisPHous Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Try Angry Dog, in deep ellum...I believe on commerce? not too sure. But it is one of my favorite burgers, if you are into that kind of thing!I agree with alsal, Joe T's is a very fun place, but expect a pretty long wait. Also, don't go expecting to have great Mexican food. It's pretty good, just realize it is more about the atmosphere and experience, definitely a fun place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedScare Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 If you're going to Arlington, why waste time driving to Dallas? Fort Worth is a mere 15 minute drive away, and you will see things that you rarely see in any of the other car centric southern and southwestern cities. Downtown FW has brick streets and a beautiful entertainment district. There is also the aforementioned Stockyards (though Joe T Garcia's is a crappy tourist trap). The Cultural District is impressive, and includes the Will Rogers Convention Center, a truly impressive Art Deco structure, built during the Depression. There are also many intact old neighborhoods, if you like that sort of thing. One of the best is the Elizabeth Avenue Historic District south of downtown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
infinite_jim Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Ft. Worth: Go see the construction of the Kimball addition by Renzo Piano, the Modern by Tadao Ando, and of course the Kimball itself by Louis Kahn. As far as food goes check out Woodshed on the Trinity River. Dallas: Here's my Dallas map from a business trip I took about a month ago. Both cities have plenty of things to see and do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted April 28, 2012 Author Share Posted April 28, 2012 We drove around downtown Dallas a little on our way to the hotel close to the stadium. It feels a little bigger than Houston, I guess part of the reason is for all the resi midrises to the north. Some of their skyscrapers are more impressive close up than far away. They have a few of what I think are hotels north of downtown that are beautiful and very classy looking. I kind of like how the north/south streets angle in the northern part, it gives a cool perspective on some of the buildings.A pretty decent amount of people out on foot too.Will go to fort worth tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted April 28, 2012 Author Share Posted April 28, 2012 I'm at the Rangers game now. Cowboys Stadium is next door and it gave me a similar feeling I had when walking up to the Astrodome when I was a kid. Place is massive and pretty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarface Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 with all the building dallas has done in around its entire downtown area, it probably is bigger than Houston now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedScare Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 with all the building dallas has done in around its entire downtown area, it probably is bigger than Houston now. Yeah, especially considering that they were nearly the same size already. Well, that is, if you consider 27 million square feet of office space almost the same size as 43 million square feet of office space. So, sure, Dallas' downtown has probably passed Houston downtown by now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarface Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Yeah, especially considering that they were nearly the same size already. Well, that is, if you consider 27 million square feet of office space almost the same size as 43 million square feet of office space. So, sure, Dallas' downtown has probably passed Houston downtown by now. Redscare there's also the hotels and residences in Uptown that are being merged together to form one unified area. I wasn't just talking about office space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedScare Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Redscare there's also the hotels and residences in Uptown that are being merged together to form one unified area. I wasn't just talking about office space.Oh, right, we're going to start up the magically expanding Dallas downtown debate again. Whatever you wish. You may proceed without me. Dallas really isn't in my sphere of thought anymore. It is a 20th Century city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisPHous Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Oh, right, we're going to start up the magically expanding Dallas downtown debate again. Whatever you wish. You may proceed without me. Dallas really isn't in my sphere of thought anymore. It is a 20th Century city.Did Dallas touch you inappropriately as a child? You can tell us, you are in a safe place here... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Redscare there's also the hotels and residences in Uptown that are being merged together to form one unified area. I wasn't just talking about office space.Oh, puh-lease. That's Dallas' solution to everything. If their MSA is too small for their Chamber of Commerce's liking; re-define its boundaries. If their CBD sucks; virtually abandon it, then re-define its boundaries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Stone Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Imaginary lines drawn on a map don't change the fact that uptown and downtown Dallas are rapidly becoming one entity as far as most people are concerned. The new park over the Woodall Rodgers is certainly not going to hurt this perception. If midtown Houston ever explodes the way uptown Dallas did, and I think that is a very real possibility, it may be mimic uptown/downtown Dallas one day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted April 30, 2012 Author Share Posted April 30, 2012 Downtown Fort Worth had some beautiful art deco buildings. The Urban Gardens was pretty cool too.Call me crazy, but I like all of Houston's freeway frontage retail. It makes me feel like I'm somewhere. "Scenic" freeways make me feel like I'm nowhere and it's boring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted May 1, 2012 Author Share Posted May 1, 2012 Coming from 45, it felt difficult to get into downtown. We just felt our way there, but signage was non existent. But I don't really remember if Houston has any either, but maybe that's because I don't look for it since I don't need it.Also, there was tons of freeway/toll road construction going on there; tons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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