Dallas, Texas
This trip was from late May, Memorial Day weekend. I have done a lot of travel in the last month – Playing catch up now!
Can’t say there was much to Dallas or that there was anything special about the city. There is only one city in Texas that I have fallen in love with, and it was not Dallas! I have been once in the past to visit a friend, but nothing memorable about that trip, either. This trip wasn’t even about exploration.
It was all about VOLLEYBALL!
One of the teams in my club was heading to the Nationals Tournament, and I was honored with an invite to play with them. I was a little hesitant at first, but after a little persuasion from a crazy friend (crazy in a good way!), I was all in. The trip would have been 100x better if our team played better, but either way, I walked away having a grand ole time with my teammates and new friends. And while this trip wasn’t too much about exploring, I was able to find some hip-trendy spots within the city limits. Here’s what I found!
Dallas Cattle Drive Sculptures
Large cattle sculptures in the middle of a park. Who knew something like this existed? Well, it does – in the middle of Dallas, around the corner from the Convention Center. My (crazy) friend did the research on this landmark and found out it was situated near the gym. So after our late session one night, my team ventured out together to walk amongst the cattle and herders. It was fun to see my teammates climbing around, taking selfies with the cattle, and just being “young” again.
Since there was really nothing else to see in the Financial District of Dallas, the cattle and herder sculptures might be the best bet for some action. Even though the sculptures were nothing spectacular, getting to see the sunset on the Dallas skyline was worth the exploration.
Dallas Farmers Market & Mud Hen
During this trip, I was mid-way through Whole30, so I was doing my best to stay compliant. Luckily, I found a paleo/”farm-to-table fresh” restaurant that just so happened to be across the parking lot from the Dallas Farmers Market. Thank you Yelp and Google! The farmers market was a daily market for local artists and business owners to sell their produce and products. I’d like to think that it gets busier and fuller over the weekend, but nonetheless, it was a cute hidden gem that could you visit all week.
The Mud Hen…nom nom nom! Regardless of being on Whole30, this restaurant was right up my alley. It had kombucha, “farm-to-table” fresh items, and no antibiotic proteins – the story of my life. I absolutely loved this place for multiple reasons, but it was fun to see them growing their herbs and vegetables in garden spaces surrounding their building. Of course, I tried their local kombucha and crushed a half chicken and mashed sweet potatoes – I was in absolute food heaven.
It should be noted that my friends should really stick with me when it comes to trendy, hip food locations 🙂
Lime Bikes
I had never heard of Lime Bike, but they’re the same as the DC’s Capital Bike Share or Blue Bikes…which might be in Boston. The experience with Lime Bike was actually my first time ever using a bike share and I can’t wait to do it again! Guess I better head into DC to do some exploring – so much fun!
As soon as my (crazy) friend saw the bikes, she insisted we take the bikes to Whole Foods – we needed to make a grocery run before the rest of our teammates got into town. And thank goodness she made the suggestion. Not only was WF a lot further than we thought, but riding the bikes around Dallas was a quick way to see the city.
The bikes were perfectly equipped with front baskets, which held our groceries quite flawlessly. The only problem with the bikes was…they didn’t have a cup holder. This became a major problem when we went bump-bump-bump over some railroad tracks on the way back. Needless to say, my delicious smoothie splattered all over me and the ground…meaning I lost about half to this fault in the bikes. By the time we got back to the hotel, I was covered in dry, yet sticky, green goop! It was definitely a good look for me.
Regardless of the major disaster and smoothie-down, the Lime Bikes were AWESOME! If you ever get the chance to ride bikes around any city, I say “go for it”. It’s an easy and quick way to explore the city limits. Hop on and get ridin’!
Truck Yard
This might be my best food-activity find to date! I mean, I am good at finding hidden gems or the best food places in town, but this might take a Top 3 spot. I don’t think I could have done any better than the Truck Yard (thanks to Yelp).
Three teammates and I caught an uber and ventured out for some good food truck BBQ. Little did we know that we were going to get live music and air conditioning. (The AC was imperative for one of my teammates.) This place was poppin’ – tons of people, good music and such a warming vibe. And I haven’t even mentioned the BBQ…from the food truck. O-M-G! Mouth watering goodness!
After devouring our food and hanging out in the AC, we walked across the street to the Trader Joe’s. We ended up sitting outside TJ for hours, just people watching. Surprisingly, TJ was a great place to watch people. We had some good laughs, soaking in the rays. To wrap up the evening, we found a local popsicle shop with the most delicious popsicles. I can’t remember what flavors we ended up picking, but I can easily remember how amazed my friend and I were after having a wonderful evening out in Dallas.
While I didn’t have high hopes for Dallas, I easily walked away saying I enjoyed the overall trip. I hadn’t even mentioned all the cool, fellow volleyball players we met. There was a team from Florida, who needed help ironing numbers on their jerseys. We hung out with a family from Australia, a large team from New England, and some characters attending some Bear & Beards convention (don’t ask, really! Too much to explain). Overall, Dallas wouldn’t be a place I would voluntarily go back to, but have good memories from this round in Texas.
