rjw_lgb_ca,

If you can't find things of interest in a city of almost 6 million people, it's not the city's fault. Maybe it's your fault, maybe it's the Devil's fault, but definitely not the city's.

Party til 4 in the morning? You do that in Dallas... in Deep Ellum or Lower Greenville... places like Blue, 7, Club Liquid, Purgatory, Gypsy Tea Room, Trees.

South Beach? Pardon me, but I thought it was inferior to the club and restaurant districts we have here.

Sure, if you like San Antonio, go for it.

xbt -

We are tourists, travelers. That is why we come to fodors.com, a travel website. This is not an geographical economic development website, not a regional chamber of commerce website, not a US Census statistical website. We are all tourists and travelers who are exchanging information.

So when I say that I enjoyed shopping in Denver just as much as in Dallas, it is my impression from experience both. When I say that Dallas museums are average, that is what they struck me as. The fact that a museum has 25,000 pieces of work, statistically more than the next city's museum that only has 22,300, doesn't make my impression of that museum more favorable. Facts and reason have many important places in this world, but they do not make me enjoy or dislike a place. That is a gut feel, something that we all determine over several days of being in a place.

So when I go to Dallas, I am not walking around saying... gee, there are alot of good restaurants here. I wonder if there more more 3+ star restaurants here then in Houston, because if there are, I am going to decide that I really like this town.

And I don't go to Dallas, spend 3-4 days around town (which I have done) seeing the sights, and then get back on the plane and read some decade-over-decade census growth data to determine if I was supposed to enjoy Dallas. "Wow... I guess Dallas grew faster than San Diego. Hence, I guess I should enjoy Dallas more than San Diego."

The beauty of tourism is that you go to a place, experience it, enjoy it with the locals, and when you are done you take a piece of it with you. It is not a terribly rational and empirical process. If it is, you are missing the whole point of travel.

Based on my litmus test, my "how much did I enjoy my time in that city" approach, I didn't think all that much of Dallas. I'm sorry if you're looking for more data, but when I travel for leisure, I'm letting my experience tell me if I am enjoying myself, not US Government Census Bureau statistics.

Based on my "time enjoyed" tests, large American cities that I enjoyed more than Dallas:

New York City
DC
Ft. Lauderdale
Seattle
Portland, OR
Denver (close one)
Minneapolis & St. Paul
Chicago
Boston
San Fran
San Diego
LA

You guys are better than Philly, Cleveland, and Phoenix. Congrats!

Hazelmn, you're right this is a website for travel.

It is not, however, a website for reporting your idiosyncrasies and personal tastes. Nobody really cares if you like Denver better than Minneapolis, or vice versa... what they care about is where are the good things to see and do in Minneapolis or Denver or Dallas.

Sure, there are places I like better than Dallas for a vacation, some I like not as well. But I'm not vain enough to believe that people need to hear about my personal tastes.Or that they are meaningful to anybody but myself.

What I am doing here is assembling objective information that relates to the differences between Dallas and San Antonio.

I'll say it again... if you can't explain your experiences, and the reasons behind your judgments, they are probably too shallow to mean anything.

xbt: Nope, not my problem. Not the Devil's, either. Suggesting that someone's indifference to a city's charms must be a character flaw is presumptuous and insulting, isn't it?

And I've sampled Dallas' nightlife, and generally gotten back to my hotel quite early, for a good night's sleep, by midnight. Just nothing to keep me up. Miami is a bit past its "Use By" date vis-à-vis nightlife, but it's still pretty great.

And the best Miami eateries are world-class-- AND unique (Azul and Wish coming quite quickly to mind). Like Nobu's flagship continental US restaurant was in 1987-- that is, Matsuhisa, in West Hollywood, California.

xbt tells me that "(fodors.com is) is not a website for reporting your idiosyncrasies and personal tastes. Nobody really cares if you like Denver better than Minneapolis, or vice versa"

Yet fodors.com, in describing the intent of these very pages, says:
"Travel Talk is a place for travelers to converse with other travelers... Please keep to the topic -- travel.... in your own words."

I'll continue to give my impressions and opinions of what I see and experience. From what I can tell, that is what these pages are for.

I'm not suggesting anything. I'm saying it straight... being unable to find interest in where you are and what you see is an undesirable personal condition. A form of chronic boredom.

You'd be better off if you saw interest (and beauty) everywhere.But it's really hard to miss in a huge city like Dallas.

I can find great beauty in many things. I can find enjoyment in very simple things. I can also determine for myself when something is truly unique and exciting. I know when something's "nice", and I also know when I've "been there, done that, got all the T-shirts". I enjoy travel, and I like going places where my time and money are spent doing things that I don't (or can't) do closer to home....

xbt - Likewise, if you ever decide that Rome's culture is anything more than "mindless boredom and depravity" be sure to let us know.

Then, rjw_lgb_ca, you should be able to appreciate a place like the Nasher Sculpture Center, or the Dallas World Aquarium, or the Kennedy Museum... or the Art Deco in Fair Park...

All of which are unique in the world.

Haz - You're on.

Tell you what... I'll take another look at my DVD of La Dolce Vita. If the city looks less ugly, or the people are less materialistic and shallow... you'll be the first to know.

I promised myself I'd stay out of this one but I just can't help it....

xtb, instead of watching a movie about Rome, why not GO to Rome and then make an assessment. Don't forget to visit the Vatican Museum.

Those are all nice cultural high points of Dallas, sure. But given that my typical annual travel brings me to places like New York City and the boroughs, Philadelphia, Boston and of course the LA and San Diego metro areas, I think I'm set vis-à-vis museums and aquariums (the Scripps down in San Diego is world-famous) and architectural highlights. Of course, now you have me hankering to travel....

Down to San Diego and its great museums in Balboa Park. And great fish tacos afterward!!!

rjw - I'm with you! If there is one single thing that this thread has triggered me to do, it is re-explore beautiful San Diego. What a wonderful place!

Jocelyn, I may very well visit Rome someday. The movie in question was made in the late 1950's by a gifted director named Federico Fellini and is,in my opinion, one of the great films in the world, because of the sharp and clear way it shows the central character's inevitable descent, while using scenes and locales in Rome to move the story along. Of course, the real Rome is not as the film portrays it... how could it be?

rjw, maybe you're prejudging the Dallas World Aquarium because of the title? It's not really an aquarium, as in big tanks of fish, although it has some beautiful ones. There's nothing like it in San Diego, or anywhere else I know about. And it is very popular.

xbt, for someone who enjoys art and history, Rome is life-changing. I highly recommend it.

Hi xbt2316, just me again. I have a question. Have you ever been to Scripps Aquarium or to the world class aquarium in Monterey,CA? How about Chicago's Shedd Aquarium, the largest in the world? They are not just big tanks of fish either. If you haven't personally visited a place you can't really compare or comment on them. Speaking of Chicago, we just returned from a visit to that city & speaking of museums they have three world class museums & also the Institute of Art, a world class art museum, all within walking distance of one another. If you haven't visited these places then you cannot compare them to the same type of facilities in Dallas. You can comment on facilities in Dallas but you cannot compare with places you have not visited. By the way San Diego is one of my favorite places to visit too. We usually make one trip a year to San Diego to get a little sunshine, a margarita or two in Old Town, a bit of culture at Balboa Park, then to walk next door to the world class San Diego Zoo, etc, etc. I am not saying Dallas does not have it's attractions but until I see them I can't compare them. I will do that this coming March/April.

Interesting that xbt has such strong opinions of Rome-- and admits he/she has never visited. Hmmmmm.... My viewpoint on Dallas at least is based on personal experience. I wouldn't try to judge Rome myself, having never been (but knowing I must go there sometime).

Shea, you got me... I don't know Chicago... and according to my theory, it should be a stronger city than Dallas.And yes, its museums look stronger than Dallas, from what I've read about it.

I would suspect, though, that the Shedd Aquarium does not have a Mayan restaurant. Or howler monkeys.

Dallas' Fair Park is the equivalent institution to Balboa Park, although it has fewer museums. But I think its Art Deco atmosphere makes it interesting and different. There are other museums in Dallas, though, especially art museums. As far as zoos, the San Diego zoo is hard to beat, but the Dallas zoo is OK, ant the Fort Worth zoo is said to be better.

Dallas' downtown arts district has 3 good art museums adjacent to each other, including the Nasher sculpture center. A good history museum is opening sometime in 2005 downtown, and of course the 6th floor museum is the perennial favorite.

For margaritas, try the Iron Cactus in downtown Dallas. I couldn't finish mine...

Sure, come on by and visit. Dallas may not be Chicago, or San Diego, but it has some things worth seeing.

Oh for crying out loud, xbt - I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt all this time - especially when you implied that Rome's cultural life was somehow lacking in comparison to Dallas'. You're entitled to your opinion - even when it differs from mine.

But to learn that you haven't even BEEN to Rome - what's that about? You admit the only impression you have is from a MOVIE - and that makes you somehow qualified to make an "objective and reasoned" comparison?

So now I have to ask . . . have you even BEEN to San Antonio?

BTW, I have been to Rome and I feel to try to even compare it to Dallas is laughable.

I am seriously considering that this entire "debate" has been a carefully crafted manipulation by a troll extrordinaire.

rjw... you won't let a guy live it down, eh?

No... I really don't have any opinions of Rome, the city, and how it's put together... but I have a few about Italian movies. And even some of the spaghetti westerns are pretty fair.

One benefit of being in Dallas over San Antonio is our access to many specialty films. "La Dolce Vita" is playing in the Angelika, on the big screen, and I probably need to take another look at that film. Something about how increasing wealth will sometimes corrupt a city and its people, but purity is still there, if you just look for it.