Dallas, Texas

2015-01-19 11.51.58 (2)

I’m going to say up front that there will be more written about Dallas, Infact this post is a bit on the raw side, meaning that there will be mistakes. In debating on posting this, ultimately the goal is to have a semi live and up-to-date posting. There will be more thoughts and this will have a polished publication later in it’s life. You have been warned. =)

Dallas with 1.2 million people the 9th largest city in the us.  It’s kind of a big deal and after spending a day exploring there, we can see why. You can also read from hundreds of others why Dallas is the best or one of the best cities in the US. I’m sure I would agree with most of what they had to say.   We really enjoyed the time we spent in the city and would come back without questions.  One of the biggest impression it made on gail is that even though the city is in the top 10 in the us, it doesn’t feel like a large city. It didn’t feel congested, there is a ton of space.  So it’s big but it didn’t feel too crowded and eveyone was nice. It was a good change of pace.

Did you know Dallas has a relatively secret Pedestrian Network that consists of underground tunnels and sky bridges? Did you know you can get almost anywhere in the business district with it? We found that most people outside of the business district have no idea it exists, and even in the business district they were un away of it’s extent. It’s not a tourist attraction by any means, the walls are bland, and there is constriction in several locations, dead ends, loops, and odd crossovers.  Some sections look old and abandoned while others look modern.  There are shops along the way and tons of places to eat, some high end other not at all. We took pictures of the various entrances.  They also lock it down rather early (7pm) and when I say lock it down I mean almost every section is locked away from every other section.  Presumably, I image you could manage to get your self-locked in for a night in the right situation.  The whole concept has a lot of potential, and while it’s not unique to Dallas per say, I know there are other skywalks and such, but this has a lot of potential.  Just collaborating with an arts endowment would make this drab (yet cool) a great attraction. This guy has a page about the network and supplies map of its kind-of-current state. Apparently the whole network is voluntary so buildings are sold or as building management changes their minds, tunnels are opened or closed with no real notice.

While on the surface in Dallas we came across Klyde Warren Park.  It’s a great park and it was absolutely packed. The park is run by one of the local medical companies, it emphasizes healthy living and they have free games and sports equipment on site for people to check out. There are 2 blocks of park with a dog play area, a kid play area, and plenty of places for family activities. The park is also across the street from the Dallas Museum which is free for viewing all of their general exhibits. Once you are tired and ready to sit for a while you can catch the free trolley uptown to the arts district, other shopping and food options. The entire area makes for a great family day.

Here are some highlights from our above ground adventures.

 

We closed our evening with a trip to reunion tower.  We god a deal on groupon for Gail and I and the boys were $7 each.  With parking, the boys and the Groupon the whole endeavor for the tower cost us  $40.  This is not something we normally spend money on, 90% of what do is free or under $20 for the family.  I’m not sure why we decided to do it, but it was worth it.  We wanted a good way to see dallas at night, and this is a pretty great way to do it.

2 Comments:

  1. The “locked in the tunnel for a night” possibility had a certain appeal when I thought about it happening with carefully chosen company, a picnic basket, and the illicit thrill of…
    But before I go any further, what’s the restroom situation down there, anyway? I think that could be a deal breaker for this form of urban camping.

    • Ya, it would be kind of like caving. Pack it in Pack it out … or you know there are planters in some areas. Not sure about the ventilation though. — Actually some areas have restrooms, but you gotta get the code. If you could manage the triangle brick room by the closed pickle barrel I’m sure something may work out.

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