If you hadn't heard, there was a tragic event last week in
Austin, TX during the South by Southwest Music Festival. You can probably find the details online. It was so scary to hear something like that
happening in Austin, of all places.
Austin is known for many, many things but it is not, in my estimation,
one of those big scary cities.
I lived in Austin for two years by myself after college and
I remember the bars, the coffee shops, the bats under the bridge, the Texas
Chili Parlor, the breakfast tacos, the water, and of course the music. Every time I would go back to my hometown in
the Dallas – Fort Worth area, the weather would be just a little colder, and
the crime reports on the news, harsher.
Dallas can be one of those scary cities.
Mention the Oak Cliff neighborhood or the JFK assassination and people
visibly tighten up.
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Dallas loves Austin but Austin does not return the
love. Austin views its neighbor in the
north as the very antithesis to being.
Austin is light and Dallas is dark.
Since I've moved back, I've come to understand Dallas
better. See no one moves to Dallas for
the atmosphere, the night life, the food, the life style. In fact it repulses many, and I can
definitely understand why. People move
to Dallas for job opportunity. Plain and
simple. It brings many, many diverse
people together into Dallas. I moved
back for a job. Everyone has a story of
what brought them to this place. And you know what? It makes the city better.
There is a way to visit Dallas that will expand your
horizons, appeal to your senses, and reveal to you good, down to earth people. Austin has live music but Dallas got soul.
When to Come –
I would definitely recommend coming during the spring or fall
if possible. Winter is usually quite mild
but the summer can be a little too hot, albeit not as hot as Austin and not as
humid as Houston. Spring is our music
festival and film festival season.
The Dallas International Film Festival in April is great
for film buffs. You can catch celebrities stopping in, catch great industry
panels taking place in the Arts District and party in the filmmakers Lounge in
Uptown and probably even see me volunteering for the transportation team, shuttling
film goers to and from venues. The
program spotlights awesome documentaries, student films, animated shorts and
feature length movies from Latin America, Europe, Japan, etc.
My favorite music festival in Dallas is the Homegrown Music
Fest in May. It takes place downtown, in
a city park a midst all the skyscrapers.
Local acts perform and you can get the sense that Dallas truly has
soul. The line-up is usually very
eclectic and included the Divine Fits, The Relatives, and the Polyphonic Spree
last year. It’s truly one of Dallas’
bests.
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| The Relatives |
Fall is awesome for two things; Oktoberfest and THE STATE
FAIR OF TEXAS! Sure you can come down for football season but the Cowboys are
usually shooting themselves in the foot and none of us locals can afford
tickets. Plus, sporting events here are
year round.
I covered the State Fair in my
first ever post but there are so many things to see and so many things to eat. It's basically everything that makes America great and is held annually at Fair Park, which holds a large number of beautiful Art Deco buildings.
Fall also sees not one but two popular Oktoberfests! There is the Addison Oktoberfest, just north of Dallas, and the McKinney Oktoberfest, in a northern suburb. Now, I know the suburbs get a negative reputation pretty much everywhere but not here. The suburbs is where the cool people are at and we have festivals pretty much all the dang time but Oktoberfest is one of the best. The weather is perfect, the beer is plentiful and Texans honor the extensive German heritage found all over the state.
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| Prost, ya'll. |
I'll have more Let's Do Dallas tips soon, including where to stay, what to see and what to eat in the Big D!
What is your opinion on Dallas? Feel free to let me know.
Cheers!
Marg
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