Dallas or Bust: Back to My Hometown after 7+ Years (Garland, Tx)

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DAY 1: Surprise Nay (mom)

First order of business -- Surprise knock on Nay's (mom) door… special delivery. It's me. your daughter! Nay's response, "Oh My Goodness!"

Parent's house in Garland, Texas - Acorns everywhere and oh how I remember those fire ant mounds.

Second order of business... BBQ Brisket at Spring Creek BBQ.

The sounds of Country music playing. The smell of firewood a burning. The bread basket lady coming around with fresh rolls. Mmmm-mmm!

Food coma + Jet Lag = Mid-day Nap

Time to check-in to the hotel where you're greeted by Royal Swans in the lobby:

Embassy Suites Dallas near Galleria Hotel
14021 Noel Rd
Dallas, TX 75240

Unfortunately, my first night's sleep at Embassy Suites, turned out to be as if I was outside camping in the woods. There must've been a Texan mosquito, who heard from their Hawaiian cousins, that my blood tastes like Nutella. I woke up with 9 bites on my leg and several behind my neck. Bugs love me.

Wakey Wakey. Time to explore The Big D.

Off to downtown: The Sixth Floor Museum - already closed for the day but we will return another day to tour the museum.

Reunion Tower - My dad used to work here. Now Wolfgang Puck's restaurant is up there in that revolving observation tower. I remember how my parent's used to bring friends there to enjoy the music and if there wasn't a live band, then there'd be a dj and a dance floor. Lots of hours were spent on that dance floor.

Bank of America Plaza - It only took leaving your hometown to question what building this was. "Bank of America Plaza is a 72-story, 280.7 m late-modernist skyscraper located in the Main Street District of downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the tallest skyscraper in the city, the 3rd tallest in Texas and the 22nd tallest in the United States." (Wikipedia)

West End Historic District - In high school, when I used to work in downtown, I'd walk to West End for lunch. Now all the retail stores are closed (sad face). I remember the entire basement floor was dedicated to an arcade. I remember playing classic games like: Off Road, Street Fighter, Moon Patrol, Frogger, Qbert, Tron, Galaga, Punchout, and more. Those were the days! As you entered the West End Marketplace, a fudge store would be to your right. They had free samples and would sing while they made all kinds of sugar-kickin' assortments of fudge. On the very top level was the food court and later in the years they fitted an indoor miniature golf course there. Now with all the high-rise condos around where they planned a mini-community of restaurants within walking distance of those condos, West End has gotten to be a bit of a ghost town... at least on the weekdays. Another great memory here was when Planet Hollywood opened. I remember seeing Danny Glover, Stallone and handful of celebrities here. My high school friend got to shake Bruce Willis' hand. Oh man! It was a great treat to watch Bruce Willis perform on stage and watch him play his harmonica.

Trying: Crispy Fried Alligator, Texas Redfish with Risotto and Louisiana Seafood Gumbo

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