85 Degrees F
Driving down the bayou to Natchitoches
Writing on June 27, 2011
Everyone we talk to warns us about how boring the drive through Texas is going to be. Not so. We drove three hours one day, three hours the next day and three hours the last day. Totally harmless. Our drive from Abilene was more or less uneventful. I wasn’t really that excited to get to Dallas—we didn’t have anything planned. Little did I know how much I would love this town!
But first, another misadventure. I twisted Teddy’s arm to do one of my crazy detours and we went a half an hour out of our way to go to the Museum of Earth History outside of Dallas. This is not a Museum of Science. This is a Creation Museum: one that tries to debunk the theory of evolution. I might have had this discussion with some of you before, but FYI, I am so fascinated with religion; I love to understand why people band together to believe certain things. Sometimes, these beliefs seem random or contradictory. I am obsessed with learning about the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (and the LDS in general), Scientology, Orthodox Judaism and other very strict or mysterious faiths. Anyway, that gives you a little insight as to why I wanted to visit the museum.
Foiled again! Though the website says the museum has been open since last April, it is most definitely not. We peered through the dark windows of the locked doors and saw “Coming Soon” signs all over the place. I should have learned my lesson from our failed attempt at securing an FLDS tour in Colorado City, AZ around the Yearning for Zion Ranch. I sent an email the day before to find out if the tour was still running—the phone number had been disconnected. I received an email back saying they had just closed the tours a month before. DEVASTATION.
As we drove into Dallas, there was tons of traffic—the first real traffic since home. Maybe that’s why I felt so comfortable here ☺ . Also, the cityscape and surrounding suburban areas reminded me of LA—little centers of activity with cute neighborhoods scattered about. It was super hot and we really wanted to get to our hotel—a Westin at the north end of town. But, I spied on the map that we were close to the JKF 6th Floor Museum. We stopped off to look—we paid $5 to park as long as we wished in Historic Downtown Dallas. As we approached the ticket line, which was about forty people long, we noticed that the price of admission was $14 a piece. We figured we were just spending way too much money on this trip so opted instead for the $7 Dallas History Museum. Neither of us regretted our choice—we learned a lot about Dallas’ roots. Also, I’m really not a huge JFK conspiracy bug, so I was happy to check out some pioneers instead.
We then browsed some tacky cowboy stores—very touristy indeed. Yes, we are tourists: no, we do not want a mood ring key chain with a gel decal of the Texas flag. We finally arrived at the Westin where our first room smelled like someone had smoked a pack of cigarettes and sprayed the place with perfume. It would not do. We made a lateral move to the same hotel room elsewhere in the building. I researched a bit and found the Knox/Henderson part of town where we decided to have dinner. I wanted some real Texas barbecue. Anyone who is reading this and knows Southern food chains will probably laugh at the fact that in our quest to find authentic barbecue, we ended up at Dickey’s—the Subway of barbecue. It was actually really delicious and hit the spot.
Fun with Michelle and Barack Puppets!!
Allegedly haha!
The Duke with The Duke!
Dallas Museum
It was Sunday and most shops were closed, but we discovered an amazing blow out sale at a Turkish goods emporium. I nearly died when I saw all the hand crafted Turkish jewelry and Uzbek suzani runners. After about an hour of telling myself I shouldn’t buy any more jewelry—I actually managed to NOT buy any jewelry. Teddy picked up an antique metal lock for his house “That was totally awesome”—T.
The Crooked Tree Café is a coffee house in a converted home on a residential street. There were a few hipsters with their laptops, sitting on couches and decorative pillows. I got an iced green tea + raspberry milk thing and Teddy had his requisite “stay awake Cappuccino”. It was nice to relax in a place with youngins like us. Some of the youngins gave us recommendations for live music. We ended up at the Warwick Hotel’s Library Bar. It reminded me so much of the King Cole Bar at The St. Regis in NYC. Mahogany columns partitioned the room and floor to ceiling book shelves lined the walls. As soon as we sat down, the evening’s “Jazz Standard Singer”, Aubriana, came up to schmooze us. She was about our age and so much fun to talk to—I think she was a bit tired of chatting up some of the older folks that populated the bar.
"Z Gallerie Dallas this is Erica how may I assist you?"
Turkish Everything
Sweaty!
The Library Bar at the Warwick
Occasionally, when Teddy and I go to a bar with, let’s say, more retirees than peers, one of the retirees falls in love with us. This one perfectly sauced lady came over to us and demanded that we stay in love. She gave us big hugs, knocking over a few things in the process. We waved goodbye to Aubriana, returned to the Westin, avoided the million starry-eyed teenagers staying at our hotel for a BS talent expo and went to bed.
Turkish Everything
Sweaty!
The Library Bar at the Warwick
Occasionally, when Teddy and I go to a bar with, let’s say, more retirees than peers, one of the retirees falls in love with us. This one perfectly sauced lady came over to us and demanded that we stay in love. She gave us big hugs, knocking over a few things in the process. We waved goodbye to Aubriana, returned to the Westin, avoided the million starry-eyed teenagers staying at our hotel for a BS talent expo and went to bed.
Don't shoot JR.
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