maria_so

Hi All! DH and I are plannig to drive up to Dallas friday afternoon for Valentines, staying 2 nights.

We want to stay at an embassy suites. Which one is the closest to nightlife/restaurants?

We hate going out to restaurants for valentine's eve because most of everywhere is a set menu so we were thinking of going out for a nice meal that Friday night when we arrice and just do bar/pub/local hangout type plase (that doesn't do a set menu for valentines) for Sat night. What would you recommend? We like good food so any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Also, I haven't been for awhile and DH has not been at all. What would you suggest to do/see/etc. What are what not to miss things? We like galleries, museums, festivals, outdoors. Is there an outlet mall nearby I can talk DH into going for a couple of hours?

Many thanks in advance!

maria_so

BTW, here's the list of ES Dallas locations:

Embassy Suites Dallas Texas - Dallas Market Center Hotel
Dallas, TX Hotels 2727 Stemmons Freeway

Embassy Suites Dallas - Love Field Hotel, TX
3880 West Northwest Highway

Embassy Suites Hotel Dallas Texas - Park Central Hotel -
13131 North Central Expressway

Embassy Suites Dallas Texas - Dallas Galleria Hotel
14021 Noel Road

yk

Hi maria_so-

We want to stay at an embassy suites. Which one is the closest to nightlife/restaurants?

I'd pick the Embassy Suites at Market Center. The area surrounding is a bit dead, but it's a very short drive to the hip Victory Park area as well as to Uptown.

Re: restaurants. I haven't been back to Dallas for a while, but the restaurant suggestions and reviews on Guidelive is a good source.
www.guidelive.com

What would you suggest to do/see/etc. What are what not to miss things? We like galleries, museums, festivals, outdoors.

I can suggest a bunch of museums in the Arts District, which is a short drive from the Embassy Suites Market Center.

Dallas Museum of Art - HUGE King Tut exhibition right now. You MUST book your tickets in advance if you want to see it.
http://www.dallasmuseumofart.org

Nasher Sculpture Center - great museum with a nice outdoor sculpture garden
http://www.nashersculpturecenter.org

Crow Collection of Asian Art
http://www.crowcollection.org/

The 3 above are right next door to one another.

A bit further north is the Meadows Museum at the SMU campus.
http://smu.edu/meadows/museum/

For art galleries, there are a large congregation in the Uptown neighborhood.
http://www.uptowndallas.net/Events/U...Galleries.aspx

For other events for that weekend, go to Guidelive and do an event search by date.

Is there an outlet mall nearby I can talk DH into going for a couple of hours?

My favorite is the Allen Premium Outlets, in Allen, about a 30-min drive north of the city.
http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=5

A bit closer is the Grapevine Mills Mall in Grapevine.
http://www.simon.com/mall/default.aspx?ID=1248

For regular shopping malls, do not miss North Park Center. Even though I don't like shopping, I enjoy going to North Park.
http://www.northparkcenter.com/

maria_so

yk, those are great suggestions and thanks! that's the ES I booked but wanted to see if there was a better one. So is uptown or Victoria park where the bars and nightlife are? Many many moons ago when I was last there, it was at the westelm (?) area. Is that still a good area?

Many thanks!

maria_so

..or maybe I'm getting that confused with the store. perhaps west end?

yk

maria_so-

It could be West End, which is the area near the 6th floor museum. It still has plenty of restaurants and bars, but I always consider that area as touristy.

Or it could be West Village, which is part of Uptown (Uptown is a fairly large area along McKinney Ave). West Village has many shops and boutiques, a cinema, and plenty of restaurants. It has a parking garage and you can walk around the "village".
http://www.westvil.com/

The one area that I like most, is the section called Knox-Henderson. It is about another mile north of West Village. You can find street parking there, and there are also many shops and restaurants all around that neighborhood.

Lastly, Victory Park is the newest area, which is where the W hotel is, and is right next to the American Airlines Arena. I haven't been there too much before I moved away, but at that time (1-2 years ago) it was still up-and-coming. I don't know if there are more restaurants and bars now, but even if it does, it won't be as many as Uptown/West Village and Knox-Henderson area. But of course, the GhostBar on the 33rd floor of the W Hotel was THE hip place to go when it first opened. Not sure if it's still the case.
http://www.victorypark.com/

maria_so

Thanks yk! These are superb! We've been reading alot about Dallas (funny how I don't know much about the city so similar to my own!) and we would really like to visit Dealy Plaza and the book depository. Also, is there a place to visit for the show "Dallas" or is that some studio somewhere?

For another neighborhood, how about deep ellum? I think that was what I was remembering because the last time I was in Dallas, I was quite young and I remember we drove up to check out the nightlife there but didn't do much else.

Thanks again!

starrs

Southfork - http://foreverlodging.com/foreverinf...ontentKey=2923

yk

maria_so-

we would really like to visit Dealy Plaza and the book depository.

Print out this coupon and bring it with you when you visit the Sixth Floor Museum.
http://www.mapamerica.com/coupon.php...Floor10_05.gif

Also, is there a place to visit for the show "Dallas" or is that some studio somewhere?

You can visit the Southfork Ranch, in Parker, TX. That's where the series was filmed, and they offer tours. It is just a bit south of Allen, so you can combine it with the trip to the Allen Premium Outlet mall. I have never been to Southfork so I cannot comment.
http://www.southforkranch.com/

For another neighborhood, how about deep ellum?

I rarely go there, except for lunch a few times. To me, that area is too grungy and young for me (I'm in my mid-30s).

Another "fun" thing you may want to consider, is to attend a Valentine's Pops concert by the Dallas Symphony at the Meyerson Hall.
http://www.dallassymphony.com/Ticket...7&selected=560

maria_so

thanks a bunch yk!!!! those are all great and we will probably skip deep ellum (we're in our mid 30's also).

yk

Oh, maria_so-

I know you said you prefer to stay at an Embassy Suties, but I just saw this great deal so you may want to consider this:
http://dallas.destinations.starwoodh...SHACC_SI_96_TX

$69/n on weekends at the newly-renovated Sheraton Suites Market Center.

maria_so

Shucks! I tried to do that but first it was giving me a rate of $89/night so then I typed in the actual code and it said it no longer was available. I called the nubmer and they said it had to be booked directly with travelzoo.

Thanks anyway though yk. It was a great idea and one I would've used. If you see anything else, I would love to try it!

Thanks again!

yk

Hmmm... maybe try again online? I just followed the link and did a dummy booking for feb 13-15 for 2 nights. The code was SIDMKT, and I get a choice of $69/n for a 1 King + 1 double sofa suite. Or $89/n for a King Club Suite room.

maria_so

ok yk, that worked but as I was about to book it, i saw they charged for parking. So with parking fees and free cooked to order b-fast at embassy, I think we'll end up staying at ES. I was able to get the state rate of $85/night because I work for a state hospital. Thanks for the heads up though!

Now, I want to do something special for DH while in Dallas for Valentine's. Any suggestions?

yk

Hard to believe they charge for parking, because there is plenty of space in that area of town and parking should be FREE! If you're really interested in the Sheraton, give the hotel a call back again to confirm this. If they charge for parking, they really will have a hard time competing with the other hotels in that neighborhood, which is a lot.

Now, I want to do something special for DH while in Dallas for Valentine's. Any suggestions?

You'll have to give us more info in order to make nay suggestions. Are you thinking of something to do during the day, or just a special dinner somewhere? What are his interests?

You mean, he won't appreciate spending the morning shopping at the Allen Outlets and the afternoon touring SouthFork ranch???

maria_so

;-) Yeah, I can try to pass shopping at outlet mall as his present but somehow, I just doubt it would work! I wish.

I called the hotel and yes, they confirmed that they charge. Too bad, it was such a good deal.

Uhmmmm, nothing big. We're going to try (if it's open) the new Wolfgang Puck restaurant that's opening end of Jan but we want to do that for Friday night so we're not sucked in on the set courses that usually happens on valentine's day. We just don't eat that much so it ends up to be an expensive wasteful meal. I was thinkng something for sat evening - maybe a band or something? I can check the guide for what's happening then. I was thinking more like is there a chocolate tasting or special champagne tasting that we can go to for sat night? or something kind of fun and romantic like that.

maria_so

this looks good. how far is grapevine?

http://www.suvinowinery.com/news.aspx?showarticle=49

maria_so

can anyone suggest a great lunch place i can take DH for valentines?

yk

Grapevine is about 20 miles from your hotel.

Which part of town do you think you'll be for lunch? What type of cuisine?

maria_so

not sure. I kind of wanted to hit dealy plaza, etc in teh am, then head to a nice lunch place, then drive to grapevine to check out some wineries. Head back to town then there was a shrimp boil that day in plano (how far is that?) between 5:30 to 9:30 that I thought may be fun. Then head back to dallas for a light dinner, a few bars, then call it a night.

Any suggestions? Where would you suggest for a good lunch that is well known as a favrite in dallas?