Day One in Dallas

First things first, airplanes aren't always fun. Unless you have a much higher budget than I do, you're not flying first class and you need to remember it's only "x hours". My flight from Orlando to Dallas was a little less than 3 hours, and even after paying for my carry on bag I saved over $175 by flying Spirit Airlines. People love to hate on Spirit it seems, and yes, the seats are small, they charge for everything, there are no extras. But if you are willing to be cramped for a few hours and you know how to read you can make Spirit work for you, and I am balling on a budget over here so I am a fan.

So I arrived in Dallas around 2pm and I had a friend pick me up at the airport. I usually travel alone to places where I don't necessarily know people, so this was quite the luxury. We went to Galleria Mall in Dallas, which is a phenomenal, upscale mall for those who like to shop. Since I'm not much of a vacation shopper myself, I was most enthralled with the fact that they have an indoor ice skating rink open to the public year round! One of the coolest features I've seen in a shopping center.

Next we went to the Water Gardens in Ft. Worth. This is a park of fountains which are architecture to be admired. The one pictured above is a steep climb down in so you can see the fountain from all angles. It was absolutely stunning, next time I go I will probably pack a snack so we can spend some more time there, if you don't have a portable activity there isn't much other than visual stimulation.

We ventured deeper into Ft. Worth to the Stockyards, and wow what an experience. This was what stereotypical Texas looks like, very country, a rodeo every Friday, photo ops with various cattle, authentic boot stores every 300 feet. The mixture of homegrown cowboys and tourists was wonderful, and I definitely recommend it for a drink or if you want a more genuine take home souvenir than an airport keychain. (I recommend the belt buckles- everyone needs a gaudy buckle in their wardrobe).

To bring our evening to a close we went to Flying Saucer Draught Emporium for some dinner. I had the Brainless Raspberry Nitro Brew, 5 stars for an easy to drink sweet beer. My friend had the Gigantic Ginormous IPA, also delicious and a better choice if you want a more traditional beer flavor. I also had a turkey meltdown sandwich, which I haven't stopped thinking about since. The atmosphere and service were impeccable, I recommend it to everyone in the area.

That concludes day one of Dallas.