Dallas Day 2: BBQ Good, DFW Bad

After Melanie went to the fitness center, we had hot breakfast at the hotel, which was a good change from the continental breakfasts that have been offered to us up until now. After breakfast, we walked over to the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, a concession to my history minor. The Sixth Floor Museum is inside the Texas School Book Depository, so it is all about JFK and, specifically, his assassination. Our hotel is on Elm St, only a few blocks from the site of the shooting. The museum was really, really well done -- they had a good audio tour and lots of terrific photos from Kennedy's presidency. The majority of the exhibits were about the assassination and the many investigations since then, and the mood was predictably somber. I got a lot out of the visit. We could see the window where Oswald sat and the infamous Grassy Knoll. After we went through the museum, we walked down to the street to stand near the spot where Kennedy was shot. Not the most uplifting experience, but I was really glad we did it. I was really impressed with the quality of the museum.

After the Sixth Floor Museum, we walked around the West End (the neighborhood our hotel was in). It was a beautiful morning, lots of sun and low 60s. We went shopping at Wild Bill's Western Wear, a good shop we visited yesterday and agreed to revisit to buy stuff today. I finally got the "Don't Mess With Texas" t-shirt I had been looking for since we got here, and I decided I also had to have the matching pajama pants. We walked around the area some more after we shopped. The West End is a really nice neighborhood, but you can tell that it is "new-old," that there is a lot of effort going into sprucing up the area. We stopped back in at Sonny Bryans to buy some of their awesome barbecue sauce to take home, and then we realized that if we didn't eat then and there, we'd be looking at airport food. Ugh! We went ahead and ordered yet more barbecue. It was still delicious. Seriously, it was the best ever. We agreed that we cannot eat the nachos at Southside in Alexandria anymore because there is just no comparison.

We got to DFW and returned our rental car with plenty of time to spare, which would have been great if our flight were leaving from DFW.

After lunch, we retrieved the car and headed out to DFW to go home. On the way, we saw Texas Stadium, home of the Cowboys (boooooo!) and a billboard informing us that DFW is bigger than Manhattan Island. Melanie took this last point personally. Anyway, we got to the airport and returned our rental car with plenty of time to spare, which would have been great if our flight were leaving from DFW. That's right: We were at the wrong airport. Yes, I am an expert traveler -- how did you know? I was annoyed with myself for not checking the itinerary one more time, but clearly we made the error back in February when we booked the rental car. Ack! We ran out and got a cab back toward the city to Love Field (which, in case you wonder, is DAL). No worries, we made it in plenty of time. We had a ridiculously fast connection in Houston to catch our plane back to Reagan. The flight home was uneventful except that I was seated next to a woman who (a) spoke absolutely no English and (b) had never been on a plane before. I am telling you that I had to help her put on her seatbelt...she kept trying to put the end into the hinge of the buckle. Wow! Really?! We got to DCA 20 minutes early and retrieved our bags. Joe picked us up right at the door and dropped me off at my house. Thanks, Joe!

We really enjoyed our time in Texas. We put 642 miles on the car; we saw a rodeo and ate barbecue; we saw bats in 2 different places; we saw a cave, NASA, an aquarium, the University of Texas, and the SXSW Festival; we saw an NBA game; and we sang along with approximately 1,924 songs. What I am saying is that it was great. I predict we will return. I would love to spend more time in all three cities we visited. Texas is a lot like everywhere else, only flatter. I bet you would like it there.