Day Two In Dallas

Travel Tip: As someone who travels frequently, and isn't 25 yet, rental cars can be a real pain in the ass. If you're in the same boat, I'm so sorry, and if you aren't, lucky you but I can maybe still save you some money.

My favorite resource for a cheap rental car is Turo, it's an app that is like "Air BnB for cars". It makes in incredibly easy to rent, most cars are a lot cheaper than even Dollar or Thrifty, insurance is affordable and the young driver fees are relative to the cost of the car! I managed to rent a car for under $40/day in Dallas, including my young driver fees AND extra insurance. It saved me hundreds of dollars this trip and has saved me tons of money on others.

On Monday after picking up my rental car I headed to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in downtown Dallas. This is an incredible place to visit for any age. When you arrive the first thing you notice is the spectacular architecture, even the solar paneled roof is gorgeous. Upon entering it is extremely easy to navigate, each level having a different theme to learn about. My personal favorite area was about gemstones, one of nature's most gorgeous creations. With admission you also get your choice of a film to watch in the theater on property. There is a restaurant and an above-average gift shop as well.

After visiting the Perot museum, I decided to take a ten minute walk rather than pay for parking again (parking in Dallas is expensive) and go to the Dallas Aquarium. This is an absolute can't miss if you're in the area. I spent hours here exploring by myself, took hundreds of pictures and was generally in awe for my entire visit. There are multiple levels, hundreds of unique animals, and even an outdoor penguin exhibit. Make sure you block some time off for this visit, you won't want to leave! They even have a cafe that serves beer, a great feature if you're taking a date here.

Next, I definitely needed to get some food in my belly so I headed to Bishop Arts District in Dallas to have lunch at Dallas Grilled Cheese Co. Let me tell you, this place lived up to the hype. I sat at the bar and had a local brew while I ordered my grilled mac and cheese. The bartender was super nice, and I made friends with other patrons quickly. The social aspect was wonderful and the drink menu was incredible. Of course the grilled cheese took the cake, with crispy sweet potato fries on the side. Yum!

I explored Bishop Arts District on foot (partially because it's a super walkable neighborhood, mostly because I was past buzzed from the delicious drinks at my previous stop) for a while after lunch (wishfully thinking I was burning off the bourbon lemonade and excessive carb intake). It's a super cute neighborhood with lots of local bars and boutique style shops, I would definitely frequent this area if I lived in Dallas.

I was still full from lunch so I ate a light snack instead of dinner, but couldn't pass up a trip to Churro Alley for dessert. You can get a churro sundae, but after my gluttonous food choices earlier in the day I went with just the sugar coated dough. Still delicious.

Time for bed to prep for day three. \