A Texan Spring
I visited Texas twice in spring 2022. Spring must be the best time of year to visit Texas — the weather was downright idyllic!
Dallas
Dallas made me realize that everything is TRULY bigger in Texas. Normal roads felt like highways, and all the cars were giant trucks. It felt like whiplash, as though COVID were completely over (so unlike my other early-2022 trips to LA, Boston, and New York, where people still wore masks).
I was a big fan of the Marriott Dallas Uptown. It had a cute lounge (my platinum status carried over from 2020), and plenty of USB-C charging ports. The food was super decadent and heavy (e.g., shrimp and grits for breakfast). Or maybe that's because a group of us went to the Pecan Lodge for our first meal before training. I love the sausage there, but would not recommend the $4 fried ribs add-on (the portion was way too large with too much barbecue sauce).
It felt funny doing Consultant training so deep into my career (delayed due to COVID and my secondment). This was probably a retention training, since we talked about our personalities, did some self-reflection, and went on silent walks along the Katy Trail (which was a beautiful green space within the city, very reminiscent of Singapore's treetop walk and the High Line in New York). We even went to Barry's! Unlike my first ill-fated Barry's attempt (which involved throwing up in front of my colleagues), I knew not to push myself too hard. While I still wouldn't recommend Barry's (especially to the non-uber-fit beginners), if you MUST go, please bring high-fidelity earplugs to not ruin your hearing.
Some of the other activities included: an American-style tapas dinner, bowling (where I immediately wrecked my fingernail), and shopping along cute cobblestone strip malls. The "West Village" in Dallas is supposedly a top 10 mall in the area, but it felt like a strip mall with at MOST 10 boutiques. I felt like the architecture in Dallas was all over the place with buildings from different eras beside one another. It was not pedestrian-friendly at all. For our last training-related dinner, we ate at a Japanese restaurant named Uchiba, where I met someone from Andrew's start class in New Jersey (we didn't identify this connection until years later). Hi Jessica!
Once training concluded, I stayed the weekend with Tania, Yvonne, and Townsend. We walked into Deep Ellum for Terry Black's bbq, and explored the quaint shops nearby (e.g., a beignet store, Pie Emporium, a candy shop, and Archer Paper Goods). We then walked to the giant eyeball, which was... cordoned off as PRIVATE PROPERTY?? I have so many questions. The sightseeing continued from there, as we walked over to the JFK Memorial. To be honest, I never really cared for that part of history. And the whole this was strange, with a highway splitting up the memorial and Dealy Park. I suppose a highway in the middle of a memorial makes sense in Texas.
After a week of fantastic weather during training, we finally had a rainy spring day. Dallas is kind of miserable when it's cold and dreary, but we made the best of it. Yvonne and I went to Chet's for lemonade and peppermint tea. The place gave old-timey Gatsby vibes. For dinner, the group met up at Miriam Cocina Mexicana, which was too spicy for my taste.
The next day, I visited the Dallas Farmers Market. I'm such a farmers market gal, and appreciated the mix of indoor and outdoor parts. I then explored the Bishop Arts district, which was cute. I think I've started to become a bit desensitized to these cute gentrified zones (like Deep Ellum or Abbott Kinney), full of artisanal shops and live music. Afterwards, I visited Trinity Groves, which had the strangest combination of people: a biker rally, Quinceneara photo shoots, the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, and bumping reggaeton music in an area that reminded me of Stackt in Toronto.
A bridge and a biker rally.
For dinner, I grabbed a delicious value combo of grilled cheese and baked potato soup from the Dallas Grilled Cheese Co. From there, I saw a BTS concert movie at Cinemark (by myself)!! The theatre was smaller than I'm used to in sprawling Mississauga (and lower quality?), but I'm glad I went. It was cool to immerse myself in Bangtan culture, and Dallas ARMY delivered with the cheers.
Austin
By the time I visited Austin just a couple weeks later, it was a broiling 35ºC. I arrived a day ahead of the practice area conference and did a free tour of the city. Here, I learned that the "Greetings from Austin" sign is really small, in the middle of nowhere, and underwhelming. It had a clear coat of paint to prevent graffiti on it, which cost (the city???) $8K.
Don't let my small stature fool you. The sign was tiny, I swear!
Almost got this jacket too, but decided against it.
From there, I headed over to SoCo, which was bustling (apparently true every "First Sunday" of the month, which is when I happened to visit). There were plenty of country buskers and white flea market tents. The shops started with iconic ones that screamed "Texas" (e.g., Allen's Boots, which sold country boots and hats in the hundreds to thousands) before eventually getting replaced by high-end chain stores. I really liked a boutique called Maya, where I got a pair of black pants and my pink strappy tank top.
Next, I went for pistachio and raspberry gelato at Gelato Paradiso. It was fine, but I didn't like the chunks of nuts. You can judge any gelato place by the quality of their pistachio. The raspberry wasn't too sweet or artificial though.
Austin is an interesting place because it's full of young, fit people. Everyone was wearing Lululemon and exercising. In the area I wandered around (at least), I saw no homelessness or smoking. And I covered a decent amount of ground by renting an ATX metro bike. The day pass enabled unlimited 60-minute rides for $12. I overshot the timing though and endured a $4.33 surcharge for dropping off my bike at 62 minutes. Don't be like me.
Austin by bicycle in April is absolutely lovely. There were bike lanes everywhere, and lime scooters EVERYYYWHERE. I biked around Ladybird Lake, which had all my favourite trappings: fresh air, organized nature, beautiful weather, and a body of water. It was cute that people took out boats, stand-up paddle boards, swan peddle boats, and kayaks in the river.
I also checked out the State Capitol and bat bridge. Apparently, the bats eat all the mosquitoes. We visited the State Capitol again for a formal tour with colleagues, and I realized it looked MUCH nicer on a sunny day than an overcast one. Surely my sentiments weren't tainted by the fact that I was keeling over with an allergic reaction to fish during the work-sponsored visit... speaking of, did you know Austin is known for its allergens? My stomach hurt, I had hives, and I had trouble breathing — but turns out that the local environment was innocent. Allergens aside, Austin felt quite liveable. It is big in a Texan way, but felt decently walkable. It reminded me of Chicago with some southern flair. And the home prices are SO reasonable.
...Then again, when I went to a restaurant called Loro for dinner, the staff were in shock when I said I walked there. While I enjoyed my trips to Texas in 2022, I'm certainly not sprinting to settle down there any time soon.
Trip dates: March 6-13, 2022 (Dallas) and April 3-5, 2022 (Austin)