The DMA (that's the "Art Museum" you're talking about, right?), Trammell Crow Asian Art Museum and the Nasher Sculpture Center are all closed on Mondays. The Sixth Floor Museum is open. People in Dallas can be reticent to discuss the JFK assassination so that's not a casual conversation piece around here.

What is "cheap"? You want tickets to a Mavs game, you need to pony up, and the Magic are one of three teams in the Eastern Conference that's capable of getting to the Finals, so you won't find many seats for cheap -- it's a marquee game. Just be glad you're not paying for a Stars game.

One of the best cuisines in Dallas is actually Thai food, and Royal Thai in Old Town Shopping Center is near the top of the list. Tex Mex is comfort food and the differences between the various restaurants seem negligible. Gloria's on Greenville would work for you. Cafe Izmir, about 50 feet away or so from Gloria's, is also good. There are a number of good restaurants in the Bishop Avenue Arts District that are relatively new, check www.guidelive.com for recommendations. If you just want to spend a ton of money, you can go to Fearing's or The Mansion.

If the San Francisco Rose exists, that would be a good neighborhood type bar to watch the game and it isn't a chain.

The Stockyards are not worth a visit right now -- what are you going to do, walk around a bunch of animal pens while nothing is going on? Check their website, but if there's nothing notable, then don't go. Fort Worth's arts district is good and if the Kimball has a top-notch exhibition (the DMA has a far better permanent collection, the Kimball tends to pull better exhibitions), it's worth the drive.

Absolutely rent a car in Dallas. There may be cheaper parking garages near the Adolphus, if you don't want to pay for the parking rates at the hotel. It's hard to flag down a taxi in Dallas, so if you go anywhere, you'd have to call a company and wait for a taxi. Costs will add up very quickly and I won't be surprise it'll be way more than renting a car.

Definitely go to the Dallas Museum of Art; and Nasher Sculpture Garden right next door is lovely. If you like art, I'd go to Fort Worth as well, I love their Modern Art museum but the Kimball is great too. There's also the Meadows Art museum at SMU.

I've always enjoyed the Dallas Arboretum, and if you go to FW, the botanic garden is really nice (esp the Japanese garden).

If you like modern architecture, it's easy to spend an hour or 2 walking around the Dallas Art District (within 3-4 blocks from the Dallas Museum of Art). The Art District has the HIGHEST number of buildings designed by Pritzker Price-winning architects: Koolhaus, Foster, IM Pei, Renzo Piano etc. Among those buildings are the new opera house, the new theatre, Myerson symphony Hall, and the Nasher Sculpture Center.

If you like classical music, check out the schedules for both the Dallas Symphony and the Dallas Opera to see if anything is on during your visit.

I'm pretty sure the Adolphus has a very nice afternoon tea (on weekends only, I think). I've wanted to try it before we moved away from Dallas, but never got around to.

Oh, worse come to worse, the original Neiman Marcus store is very close to the Adolphus. For mall-shopping, you'd want to go check out North Park Mall.

Agree you should rent a car. We love the Sunday brunch at the Blue Mesa which is in a strip shopping center near NorthPark Mall-wonderful food with lots of Tex Mex items, omelet station, etc. In the Highland Park shopping area is another nice place with excellent TM, La Cucina. Don't live in Dallas but visit often so I may have restaurant names slightly off. The Arboretum is very nice but not sure about this time of year what may be blooming. Have fun!

It's MI Cocina, not La Cucina. And it's a chain.

Thanks all for the good advice - I'll reserve a car tonight! And what a good heads up on downtown architecture, thank you!

So we'll visit the DMA, the sculpture gardens and the JFK/Schoolhouse Depository. We probably will not "pony up" for the Mavs however.

Can someone give me a rundown on the general areas of town? Northpark, Highland Park, etc...Fodors online is not as helpful as it could be on that. What are cool areas for people watching, grabbing a cup of coffee, what is your Saturday night date place? Any flea markets that are fun?

Uptown & West Village area is best for people watching, esp Fri/Sat nights.

North Park is just North Park, an upscale mall surrounded by mostly office buildings. Highland Park is a historic neighborhood with plenty of fancy houses. Another posh area within Dallas is the neighborhood surrounding SMU.

Both the DMA & Nasher have evening events - can't remember if they are on Friday nights or Sat nights or both. Check their websites. I've been to their evening soirees and it's lots of fun and they attract a younger crowd, ie 25-45 range.

You MUST rent a car. Seeing DFW in a cab will be prohibitively expensive. Just getting from DFW to downtown Dallas will be over $50 each way!

Big Russ has NO CLUE about the Fort Worth Stockyards. It is NOT a "bunch of animal pens" and hasn't been for about 50 years! The Stockyards is a national historic site, and is full of shops, restaurants and a couple of bars, one of which, Billy Bob's, is the World's Largest Honly Tonk. http://www.fortworthstockyards.org/

If you're into art museums, head over to Fort Worth and check out the Kimbell https://www.kimbellart.org/ and the Modern. http://www.themodern.org/ Although I'm not a modern art fan, the Cafe at the Modern is a great spot for a meal!

Hi All-
We are settled in and happy to have a rental car! We went to Gloria's for lunch when we got in, food a little bland for me but a very pretty place. We just got back from the 6th floor museum which is very interesting and worthwhile.
So now we head out for some people watching, trying to get more of a feel for the city. Downtown will be dead from the looks of it. Is Highland Park our best bet?

As you found out, downtown Dallas is dead on weekends and an night. The only shopping in Highland Park is Highland Park Village, and it is somewhat small and outdoors. I'd head for Uptown, which is pretty close. That is the happening place these days!