I had a great time in Dallas, Texas..!!
Friendlier Atmosphere
The people are ridiculously friendly compared to Montreal or Toronto. Everyone smiled and asked how we were doing, which is a TOTAL change. I mean COMPLETE strangers said “How y’all doin’?”.. All the security guards, or people just standing around, smiled, said Hello.. and in the grocery stores, the service was just amazing. I’d never experienced that kind of service before, and it’s such a change from being in Toronto or Montreal where about 80% of the time, you don’t get that level of service.
Yummy Yummy in my Tummy
The food is DELICIOUS. And CHEAP. I dunno but, the Central Market at Lovers Lane station was filled with great food, samples (y’all know FB ate as many samples as she could, right?) and again, the meat was of a higher quality in a grocery store than in Canada.
The ceiling in the Thanksgiving Chapel
My favourite spot in the entire city: the Chapel in Thanksgiving Square. I could’ve spent hours just lying there on the soft carpet, staring up at the gorgeous swirl of the stained glass. It was cool (air conditioned), calm, relaxing and quiet. A great place to really de-stress.
A couple of downers were that a lot of people didn’t speak much English. It was mostly Mexicans speaking Spanish, which wasn’t too bad because BF managed to use some remedial Spanish to get us through, but it was a bit frustrating at times. But through it all, they were sooooooo friendly, it was hard to find fault.
Another downer was that you couldn’t really get to major areas without a car. We spent something like $50 in cab fare to get to the Southfork Ranch off the TV series Dallas, because NO BUS or shuttle went out there.
And it was disappointing that the ranch wasn’t the REAL set inside. They did all the shots of the outside with the pool (which is NOT Olympic sized by the way), and around the ranch area, but the inside is disappointingly small because they built another 40,000 square foot set in Los Angeles where they did the actual filming inside.
Oh well, it was an experience at least.
Overall, I had a great time. Spent lots of time walking, visiting the museums which were really nice – the best one I’ve been to so far (but I haven’t been to the MOMA in NY yet nor to Europe), so that doesn’t say much I guess.
We also went to see the Dallas Aquarium which was a bit of a disappointment because it was more about the Jungle and the little tropical animals and birds than about the actual tropical fish which is what you’d expect an aquarium to have…. The aquarium near Phildelphia was MUCH better and bigger, in case you’re wondering. But I heard there’s an aquarium in Los Angeles that is just amazing 
Now I need the weekend to destress and to get out of this plane funk and motel nasty business (we had to stay in a Motel 6, long story short, Google Maps f*cked up and said the REAL hotel we had booked was only 5 minutes by walking but was actually 5 miles away)…
It’s kinda nice to be home. But at least we’ve got a good flavour of what to expect when we move to the States, especially to Texas.
- Thanks for all the tips!
- Short note: you are all so sweet!!
- Blog Link Love + 10 Lessons I’ve Learned on Vacation
- January 2009 Budget Recap
- Stop your headache before it starts
Ms. MiniDucky
on May 9th, 2008
@ 8:59 PM:
Whoa whoa, moving to the States?? What’s this? And welcome back!!! It sounds like y’all had yourselves a good time.
I’ve been looking at jobs in Austin, funnily enough …
The Ex
on May 9th, 2008
@ 10:02 PM:
I grew up in Dallas and my prom was at Southfork. It is totally disappointing!
But I LOVE IT THERE. I’m so glad you got to visit.
Esme
on May 9th, 2008
@ 10:50 PM:
I agree. I’m in Austin for two weeks and at first I was totally unused to strangers smiling and saying hello.
And how cheap is the food compared to Canada!? I was totally shocked at how much less my bills are.
Anonymous
on May 9th, 2008
@ 11:57 PM:
You totally should visit Chicago. They, to are very frienly and extremely helpful, plus the food is to die for (literally!)
Living Almost Large
on May 10th, 2008
@ 10:22 AM:
So why’d you go to dallas?
Fabulously Broke
on May 10th, 2008
@ 10:30 AM:
Ms. Miniducky: it’s been on my mind lately, I should do a post on it, but yes I’m going to be in the States sooner or later…
*LOL* hey, maybe if I move to Dallas, we’ll be able to meet up depending on how far Austin is from Dallas..
the ex: No kidding!!!! I liked it there, but I found the inside small, and if you aren’t really into the show (that and you thought you’d get to see the entire inside of the actual set), I can see why it’s disappointing.
Esme: Seriously, the smiling and the hellos are the best.. they’re not paranoid about rushing or losing time or stressed out like they are in Toronto or NY…
And as for the food, it’s amazing that 4 avocados for $5 is quite cheap, or that you can sign up for a kind of rewards program at Tom Thumb and get SPECIAl rates? What is that!? You never see that in Canada. Or the meat being $2.99/lb when it’s like $4.99/lb here in Canada or more… mind boggling. I should’ve taken comparison notes.
Oh and the fruit is MASSIVE. I’ve never seen such big apples in my life…
Anon: I’ll put that on my list for places to visit next – I’ve heard so much about it…
Living: To scout out to see what it would be like to move there
Dolly Iris
on May 10th, 2008
@ 12:14 PM:
You were missed! Welcome back!
I also noticed some foods were a lot cheaper in my trip to the US last summer!
Canadian Saver
on May 10th, 2008
@ 1:39 PM:
Yeah, I admit going to the US and picking up food… it’s so much cheaper!! But you have to make a day trip out of it or the gas price will really cancel the savings!!!
Sounds like a great trip
Thanks for the trip report!
DogAteMyFinances
on May 10th, 2008
@ 6:36 PM:
Glad you liked Texas! I always say that it’s a great place to live, not so great to visit.
If you thought the food was fantastic and cheap (which it is), wait until you see the real estate listings!
Fabulously Broke
on May 12th, 2008
@ 6:39 AM:
Dolly: Awww thanks hon
And yes, the food is cheaper and with more variety/plentiful… except they don’t have ketchup chips if you’re into that LOL
Canadian saver: I thought that was forbidden? NO meats and veggies and stuff?
Dog: Yes, I’m getting that feeling – great to live, not visit, which is perfect for what I want…
And the real estate listings, I’m itching to see that it won’t cost $350,000 for a small condo in a decent location
Living Almost Large
on May 12th, 2008
@ 12:58 PM:
I cannot believe you would move to texas and leave canada? LOL, talk about change. No more seasons really and no more high taxes. And a very different mindset.
Fabulously Broke
on May 12th, 2008
@ 3:40 PM:
Living: I think it’d be a welcome change with the tax situation
As for the seasons… I dunno.. I really like cool weather, I’m not sure how I’ll hold up as a desert flower
erji
on Aug 3rd, 2008
@ 2:32 AM:
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