Photos From a Day in Dallas, Texas
My oldest daughter, Sherri, lives and works in Houston, Texas. Several times a year she has to fly to Dallas, where her company is headquartered, to attend meetings. When Sherri was about eight months pregnant with my first grandchild, her doctor restricted her from flying. I volunteered to fly to Houston and drive her to the next meeting as it would give me the opportunity to spend some time with her.
The drive which would normally only take about three and a half hours took closer to four and a half as it was raining and my unborn granddaughter was intent on doing baby pilates on Sherri’s bladder. Upon arriving in Dallas we had some wonderful ceviche at Gloria’s Latin American Restaurant. Early the next morning Sherri was shuttled off to her meetings. and I, with no itinerary, no agenda, and no appointments, set off to explore what was now a sunny Dallas.
I was particularly excited to take some photos from my day in Dallas as Verizon had provided me with a Hasselblad True Zoom Camera Mod for my Moto Force Z smartphone. I was anxious to see how the mod’s 10x optical zoom compared to the 8x digital zoom on my smartphone.
Fuel City
Breakfast was my first order of business. A friend told about Fuel City – a gas station that served some of the best street tacos in all of Texas. I was not at all disappointed. The gas station and convenience store reminded me of a kitschy motel as its amenities included a small outdoor pool guarded by a T-rex, and impressive works of taxidermy.
I ordered two sausage and two chorizo breakfast tacos for only $1.62 each – CASH ONLY. They were so good that I actually ended up coming back for lunch where I devoured pork, chicken, and steak tacos.
Another cool thing about Fuel City is that it is adjacent to a small pasture of several longhorn cattle. I couldn’t resist snapping a few photos of these magnificent critters.
Reunion Tower
Reunion tower is a prominent feature in the Dallas skyline and is a great place for snapping cityscapes. The only problem was that by taking photos of the skyline from the tower meant that my skyline photos would be missing the tower.
It was on the GeO-Deck of the Reunion Tower where I fell in love with my Hasselblad True Zoom Camera Mod for my Moto Force Z. The difference in quality between the optical and digital zooms are amazing! All of the photos below were taken from the same spot in the tower. The top photo is of the Old Red Museum with no zoom whatsoever. The bottom left photo of the museum’s clock used the maximum digital zoom my smartphone. The photo on the bottom right was taken using the 10x optical zoom on the Hasselblad Camera Mod.
Here’s a collage featuring the exterior of Reunion Tower, the inside the observation deck, and a couple of other snaps from the observation deck.
Dallas Farmer’s Market
The Dallas Farmer’s Market is a 26,000 square foot food hall and market of restaurants, venders, merchants, craftsmen, produce and specialty foods. I was still full from my breakfast tacos so I didn’t buy anything but I did enjoy walking around in the air-conditioning.
Ruibal’s Plants of Texas
Just across the street from the farmer’s market is Ruibal’s Plants of Texas. The ginormous nursery takes up almost two city blocks and has the largest selection of plants I’ve ever encountered. As a DIY gardening guy, I could have easily spent hours and a lot of money here.
Sixth Floor Museum
The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza is located on the 6th floor of the old Texas School Book Depository where Lee Harvey Oswald pulled the trigger to assassinate President John F. Kennedy. The museum chronicles the life of JFK and the political landscape of the time and even delves into some of the conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination. From the museum you can see the route of the presidential motorcade, the famous grassy knoll and an “X” in the street marking the spot where JFK was struck. The museum is the most visited tourist attraction in Dallas.
Fair Park
Fair Park is home to the State Fair of Texas which I am told should be on everyone’s Texas bucket list. Of course the fair wasn’t happening when I was in Dallas but I still decided to head out to Fair Park just to see the fair grounds, the Cotton Bowl Stadium, and the Texas Star ferris wheel which is the largest in the western hemisphere and the 2nd largest in the world! I hope to return this fall to experience the food competitions, livestock exhibits, live music and creative arts exhibits.
Pioneer Plaza
Located in the downtown convention district, Pioneer Plaza is a public park that is home to an impressive display of sculptures depicting a Texas cattle drive. This larger than life-sized creation features about 50 longhorn steers being driven by three cowboys on horses.
If you only had one day in Dallas, what would you like to experience?
Wow this looks pretty incredible. Loved this comprehensive post.
Thank you!!