I just got back from Dallas, and I loved it!! We stayed at one of the Hampton Inns, which was cool. Then, we went to PetSmart, Lowes, and one of the Borders stores and hung out. If you like big-box retailers, you'll love Dallas.

Lastly, we drove around the massive freeway system and admired the sprawl. When Texans do something, they do it BIG, as evidence by their suburban outskirts which are now approaching El Paso to the west and Houston to the south.

All in all, a cool trip.

Glad you liked it dude. How about that airport? Now there's sprawl for ya'.

Umm....there is a lot of nothingness south of Corsicana and north of Conroe (between Dallas and Houston) Same thing west of Ft. Worth. If anything, Dallas is expanding north towards Oklahoma.

But that south of Corsicana nothingness becomes pretty nice scenery, especially when the spring flowers are out ... agree the direction of expansion is mostly northward tho'

I'm an Angelino who travels to Dallas a lot for work, and frankly as a business destination I enjoy it. The locals are generally very hospitable to business travelers which is a nice change from New York, Boston, etc.

Half of the year I think the city of Dallas is set in a gorgeous setting. Granted, it is flat as a pancake but the endless deep green prarie and blooming wildflowers are gorgeous. The sight of the lit skyline at dusk rising out of the plains is spectacular.

The other half of the year, the cold half, Dallas is downright ugly. The trees shed their leaves and the prarie grass is a dead brown brown brown as far as you can see. Combine this with the cold and ice and certain times of year I dread going there.

All in all, though, I like it. On trips where I've had weekend stays, there is great food (albeit high cholesterol) and some superb entertainment venues ranging from orchestra, great theater, world-class live jazz in Deep Ellum, to world-class NHL hockey, to the raucous Stockyards in Fort Worth. Of course it has its shortcomings... but then again, so does my home city of LA? Appreciate it for what it is... travel as life is only what you make of it.