I’ll be in Dallas arriving 3/8 and leaving 3/13. My days are fully spoken for on Monday-Wednesday, but at least one evening should be free, and as far as I know, I’m free all day Sunday.
Anybody up for something far short of a drunken debauchery? (I’m not a party-girl–dinner and a few drinks is all I’m up for. But if others want to continue on to drunken debauchery after I go back to my hotel, more power to you. )
And while I’m at it, anything in particular I should try to see in Dallas while I’m there? This is a city I know almost nothing about.
I’ll be at the Gaylord Texan, I think it’s called. And generally, I’m not so much into anything particular when I visit a new city, as much as I like walking around taking pictures and soaking in the atmosphere.
Really? I have no idea. It’s where the conference I’m attending is located. I like to stay in the same hotel when I can, for simplicity’s sake. A lot of people attending the one in Vegas last year ended up at different hotels, which, being Vegas wasn’t a big deal. Might be a bigger deal in another city, though.
Be prepared…Dallas will be FULL of geeks from all over that week.
The Gaylord Texan is about 30 minutes or so from Dallas proper. I hate to say it, but you’re way out in suburbia. Grapevine Mills mall is there and a ton of chain stores/restaurants. There won’t be much of a city atmosphere at all.
Anyway, let me know what you’re interested in. I haven’t been to a Dallas area dopefest.
Oh, peachy. Well, I imagine we’ll get into the city at some point, anyway. Our company will pay for car-rental. (Hey, at least I can go shopping, right?)
I don’t know how to go about planning anything for this, so if someone can suggest a place to meet/have dinner/whatever?
Yes, the Gaylord is about halfway between Dallas and Ft. Worth. It’s also just a few minutes away from both my house and where I work.
There’s a number of options in that area for a Dopefest. If we do supper at a restaurant, I like El Fenix because it’s a local chain and authentic Tex-Mex for a dose of local color. There are also restaurants in downtown Grapevine that aren’t chains at all, but I’ve not been to any of them so I can’t vouch for the food or atmosphere.
Bass Pro Shops is out there. For some reason, it’s a big deal. If shopping is your thing, there’s a lot…catch I-635W toward Dallas and you can go to the Galleria.
Napoli Italian on Main in Grapevine is pretty damn good, as is Esparza’s (one block off of Main about halfway down).
Other than that, I can’t really recommend any local joints, in spite of my wife having lived there 2.5 years while we were dating.
There’s a good pizza joint (Bari’s) in Flower Mound, which you get to by basically taking the road that marks the eastern boundary of Grapevine Mills (Grapevine Mills Rd?) north until it hits what was Main St. in Lewisville. (the actual intersection is Long Prairie @ Cross Timbers)
Things to do while you’re in the area (in order of ease of getting there):
The Gaylord will have a shuttle that will take you to the Bass Pro Shops, Grapevine Mills and downtown (if one could call it that) Grapevine.
Bass Pro shop: You should definitely plan on going here just for the surreal Disney does Redneck tourist trap atmosphere.
Grapevine Mills: A supposedly “outlet” mall, with quite a few non-outlet stores, but it does have a J.C. Penney’s outlet store for really cheap clothes, and a Neiman-Marcus outlet store for clothes that are only cheap if you’re Laura Bush. It also has a bookstore.
Downtown Grapevine: Grapevine was a small town until the suburbs swallowed it amoeba-like. It has kept its downtown area as an antique/boutique shopping district. I’m almost positive that about 1/4 of the shops sell beads and jewelry making supplies, of which most go into jewelry being sold in another 1/4 of the shops.
The Gaylord may have a shuttle to Southlake town center. This is an upscale open-air mall trying to pretend to be a downtown area. Lots of nice stores and restaurants.
There are assorted other enclosed malls around the area. I’m sure that someone can point you to a good one if Grapevine Mills doesn’t do it.
The Fort Worth Museum District has several good museums within walking distance of each other; it’s about 30 minutes from the Gaylord. Just down the street from that is the Botanical Gardens, the Japanese Gardens and the Zoo. These are the places I like to take people to.
I’m sure there are interesting places somewhere in Dallas.
Oh, crap, I’m in trouble. I’ll have to get Jackie and Chris to keep a leash on me. I make jewelry, and I already have so many beads and findings that I’ll die before I use them all. :smack:
)
Other shopping, however…oh, boy!