Detour in DFW, Texas: Last Night in the U.S.A.

After waiting in the Dallas Fort Worth Airport for a six hour layover, American Airlines canceled the flight until the next morning and put the whole plane up in a hotel. When I found out that we were taking a shuttle bus instead of just staying at one of the DFW hotels, I thought they were taking us to a dump. I was plesantly suprised when the bus approached the sign reading "Gayloard Texan: Resort and Convention Center." I was excited about getting to sleep in a bed instead of on the plane as I had planned to do, but sleep was still far off.

The Place was like a city inside, with enough open space in the lobby to make you feel like you were outside. There was even a river that ran under the main walkway. The place was buzzing with people and excitement when we arrived just after ten. I checked in, dropped my backpack off in the room, and went to see what was going on. I had seen a sign for a nightclup of some sort, and an inquiry with the info desk pointed me to the front door where there was a shuttle circulating between the hotel and "The Glass Cactus" nightclub across the parking lot. (Everything's bigger in Texas!)

The place was buzzing with people and excitement when we arrived just after ten. I checked in, dropped my backpack off in the room, and went to see what was going on.

On the Shuttle I got to talking with some seemingly 20 somethings and we waited in line together outside the club. One of the guys was advising me to hide my hat until I got inside so I wouldn't be denied entry. When I was shuffled past security to the desk I was surprised to find that my newly encountered companions paid my covercharge. Inside was a live band playing a mix of different funk, rock, and soul covers. We bellied up to the bar for some drinks, found a table, and soon made our way to the dancefloor. There were tons of people getting down on the dancefloor, especially a large group of ladies having a bachelorette party. Things carried on as usual, and soon enough the security was shuffling people towards the door. I soon found myself riding shotgun in a shiny new Mercedes Benz en Route to the house of one of my newfoud friends. We hung out there for a little while...a small slice of the big Texas pie.

I returned to the hotel with a few hours left before the shuttle came to take us to the airport. I didn't get much sleep, but I had a long flight ahead for that. The thing that worried me was that I realized on the shuttle that I had left my debit card with the bartender...