Heavens

OK, here goes. Had a wonderful time. I went for ten days to visit and stay with family, and it turned out to be the perfect amount of time to see everyone at a relaxed pace. Weather was great most of the time. Could have been a little cooler, but not bad. Some rain, but didn't slow us down too much.

First night went to my brother's house. We were going to load up and go to the Belmont for a drink, but it was UT/OU weekend and brother lives about a block from lower Greenville, so...decided to stay put. He went to Peggy's Beef Bar in Schnider Plaza for bbq takeout and we all shared that for a wonderful dinner. Their onion rings are to die for.

Went to McKinney, TX to stay with friends. If you all haven't been here this is a very cute, old style TX town with nice restaurants and very quaint shops. I dropped a few bucks on must have treasures and art pieces. You could easily spend a day here. Then we drove around and looked at the houses. Beautiful little town.

Checked out the "new" Northpark. OMG, it has changed. Huge. I liked it but it had a rather sterile feel to it. Great shops, but no personality, just my opinion. I do NOT get the big deal about Barneys. Seemed like a very big "boutique" with lots of things I would never wear or afford; a lot of black knit stuff...

My sister and I did eat at the Mermaid Bar in Neiman Marcus, like we have a 100 times before. We had a waitress who has been there for a long time and we laughed and talked about the good old days of the Mermaid Bar, the menu and some of the days gone by stuff. She was cute. They finished off a cake on the cake stand near us and she let us lick the plate. Pretty cool for NM. Some things never change, just good ole people.

Did not make it to the fair. Just one more thing to have to work in. I really wanted to go for the fair food, and didn't need to add that to my waistline.

Did make it to some other favorites for meals like El Fenix for lunch (got to have their cheese enchiladas with the chili con carne sauce, love them), Sonny Bryans for briscut plate and bottles of BBQ sauce to take home ( it is the BEST sauce).

Took my Mom to PF Changs, she had never been there before and, as usual, had a great meal. She took me to Le Madeline's and that was OK. Just kind of middle of the road attempt at French food to me. The onion soup was good, but the bread was just ok and our cheese things were too cheesey, IMO.

My last night, we went up to the new Legacy shopping/living community. WOW. Quite a concept. Interesting shops and restaurants, bakeries. Very beautiful area. We ate at a Cajun place there that was good food and fair priced. Little Necks I think was the name of it, but might need to check on that. It was a fun place to just walk around and browse the shops and choose where you want to eat. Pretty big place, though, and they are expanding.

Dallas has changed. So huge. Most of the family lives up north (Plano) and it blows my mind how everthing just keeps going north. The streets are so wide, the travel is so fast. It is looking more like LA these days. But I still love Dallas, love the people, they are charming and genuinely friendly, and they take time to smile and reach out. Some things never change...

I'll tack on the Austin part later.

P_M

Great report so far. I'm anxious to hear about Austin.

trippinkpj

Me too about Austin, as I'm going there in 1 1/2 weeks.

P_M

trippinkpj, I live in Austin so if you have any questions, post a thread and I will answer if I can.

Heavens

Well, only one night in Austin. We went to my sister's daughter's apt. Then went to Oasis, on Lake Travis for lunch. What a place. Food isn't wonderful, mostly Mexican and burgers, and a little overpriced (my opinion) but their chips were great. Beautiful place, worth a trip to go out there and see it. Great view and the day we were there, got to see a rainstorm come in. Nice place to just "be" for a while...

Then on to the town. We stayed at Extended Stay American. OK, ya'll, I hated this hotel. LOVED the location (on Guadalupe and 6th) but hated our room. But, we were only in it for about ten hours, so, it was ok for the price. Just had a not real clean feel. But we walked to Fridays in the Radisson to see the bats. No damn bats. boo hoo.

Then we went on to the Driskel for a drink. Loved this old, stately hotel. Lots of action and activity going on, everyone friendly and just enjoying life. Lovely place and drinks were reasonable.

Now onto 6th Street for a stroll, just to take it all in. The fun, at 9:30, was just starting. We walked one side and then bumped into Esthers Follies just by chance. Their show had already started so he let us in for a discounted rate. We got our cocktail, a big bag of popcorn and took a seat. Folks, this show was hilarious. Funniest thing we have seen in a long time. I would describe it to be like Sat. Night Live but funnier. Very talented individuals, very current and snappy skits. We really did enjoy this show and were so glad you all told me about it or we wouldn't have gone in. I highly recommend it to anyone.

By the time we got out the place was jumping. Kids everywhere. They blocked off the street for about five blocks and this is the place to be on a Saturday night. All kinds of people out there partying and having a good time. We had a lot of fun just watching the fun. We grabbed a slice of pizza, our dinner, and then eventually found our way back to ESA (yuk).

Got up earlier than I wanted. I walked down to the Whole Foods. It was about 9 am, not too busy so had fun just staring and drooling. Amazing place. Grabbed some danish and scones and went back to our oh so humble abode. I couldn't even make tea in our room bc the water tasted like mildew. Hope that isn't how regular Austin water tastes...

We loaded up and went to Concordia for a walk around. Beautiful campus. Then on to the UT Co-op store to buy some UT souvineers for my family. Really a huge shop with anything and everything Longhorns, burnt orange and TX on it. Had a hard time keeping under budget.

We went up the road. Stopped at a little place in Salado for beef jerkey and one of the best ham sandwiches I have ever had, called, oops, not sure, maybe someone here knows. Cute little shop and they are famous for their beef jerkey and smoked hams. It is on the west side of 35.

We drove home most of the time in the rain, so were pretty happy to make it back to Dallas in about 3 1/2 hours. I loved the trip and would LOVE to go back to Austin again and see more of the town this time.

P_M

I'm so glad you enjoyed Whole Foods, it's one of my faves too. And yes, Esther's Follies is a hoot, isn't it? I didn't know that arriving late would get you a discount, so thanks for that tip.

As for the tap water, lately I have noticed a nasty taste. It isn't always like this, I don't know what's going on.

I hope you will come again, there is much more to see. Maybe kopp and I will arrange a mini Fodor's GTG next time you're in town.

yk

Thanks for the report.

I'm sort of in a love/hate relationship with the new NorthPark. Yes, it's great that it's bigger with many more new stores (and the new AMC theaters), but it's gotten so big that it feels exhausting just to walk around the mall.

Didn't realize your brother is in lower Greenville. We're almost neighbors (we're close to White Rock Lake).

kopp

Howdy Heavens! You sure packed a bunch into your few days. My, my!!!

You were in Dallas during UT/OU weekend? Oh, you brave soul! We went to the fair the weekend before, and it was crazy already.

That's good (in a weird sort of way) to know about the Extended Stay. And the water taste - yuck! is all I can say for it lately. It's more than a mildewy taste. I mistakenly drank some the other day and practically puked. When water leaves such a bad aftertaste, all I can think of is that it's full of carcinogens. Oh, don't get me going on our water. It's been nasty lately. I even had to buy one of those Brita things for the fridge. Much better now.

At a Chinese restaurant the other night (Pao's in Lakeway - P_M have you tried it? YUM!) - anyway, even drinking a Coke you could still taste it.

Our water comes from underneath the ground in what are called aquifers, kind of like caves in the limestone. They're supposed to filter it out, but several times a year it gets this god-awful taste to it. Sorry you had to be here then. Otherwise it's tolerable.

Sorry for the rant.

Thanks, Heavens. Always happy to hear a good report on Texas!

trippinkpj

Thanks P_M. I do have a post on Austin dining.

P_M

kopp, there used to be a Pao's in downtown Austin and I went there often. It was very good and I didn't know about the one in Lakeway. I'll have to check it out sometime.

P_M

Hi trippin. I posted a reply to your thread. And kopp, you've got mail.

Heavens

The name of the place for ham and jerky in Salado is Robertsons. It is just off the 35, on the west side if you are headed south. It is worth a stop. We shared a ham sandwich and next to Honeybaked, it is the best ham I have ever had, not too sweet, not too salty, shaved into thin slices. I could eat one right now...LOL.