Yeah, Let's Go To Dallas

Following our visit to Arkansas, we still had four days of vacation left. And given we were already 8 hours south of Kansas City, we decided to head to Dallas. We had previously visited Dallas over the 4th of July…so had a pretty good understanding of the city and what attractions the boys had enjoyed. But what really drove us to Dallas was the abundant availability of hotel rooms at great rates. We chose to spend one night downtown at the Sheraton Dallas Downtown and the other two nights at the Westin Stonebriar Hotel and Golf Club located just north of the city in Frisco.

Given the traffic that one can sometimes encounter getting into downtown, staying right in the heart of the city at the Sheraton was a great move. While situated just a tad Northwest to the city center (closer to the Arts and Financial district), this hotel was still a great hub. The hotel was your typical Sheraton convention center hotel, but did have a great pool that was packed and allowed the boys to get some of the wiggles out of their system after a 3 hour drive from Arkansas. To be honest, there was nothing great and nothing horrible about this hotel. After a quick visit to the pool, we were off to explore the Perot Museum of Nature and Science – a phenomenal kids museum. And the best part was that our Science Center passes got us in here free. The Perot Museum really does bring science to life and offers five floors of fun which allow your little ones to get out and explore. You can lean how the universe was formed, see a huge gem collection, experience a earthquake firsthand, touch dinosaur bones, drive a robot and more. This museum truly does help stimulate curiosity

After a restful night, we got out and were ready to explore the city. Our journey took us down Ross Ave from the

Arts District to the West End where all the attractions of the city were located. We did pass by the Opera House, Symphony and the Dallas Museum of Art…but these were all attractions when it was just time for Mom and Dad. We had three little speed walkers with us who were enticed by the promise of ice cream and Pokemon-go to just “go one block further” and get to the end of the street. Our destination was the JFK Museum located at the Texas Book Depository where Lee Harvey Oswald shot President Kennedy. By the way, the place is now known as The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. We weren’t sure if the boys would get what was going on here, but your entrance fee included a recorded tour with headphones (on a retrofitted iPhone) so they boys were in

heaven. They listened to every word, watched every video and seemed to enjoy their two hours working their way through the museum and story of JFKs assignation. We continued to walk around the West End for another hour visiting the memorial located outside the museum, saw the X on the street where supposedly the car was situated when the bullet struck and than walked our way back to our hotel following a strategic path (per National Geographic) that took us past several monuments that make Dallas unique including Union Station, Reunion Tower, the flagship Nieman Marcus store, Bryan Log Cabin, the Majestic Theatre and a couple of historic hotels. I enjoyed it, but the boys seemed to be ready for another bribe, so we hit McDonalds on the way and enjoyed an ice cream. I know that breaks the rule for living the destination and only eating local…but oh well. After making it back to the hotel, we loaded up the car and were off to Frisco and the Westin Stonebriar.

We had previously stayed at this hotel last year, so the boys remembered everything about it and as quick as you could say lickety split…they were off to the pool. Because it was a holiday weekend, the hotel had a DJ by the pool who did a great job of keeping the guest (and kids) entertained with plenty of games and contests. We really do love this hotel. It is a corporate hotel during the week servicing the number of corporate headquarters who call Frisco home, but it is empty oh the weekend. But this particular hotel built in some resort amenities including a great pool, putting green, great activities, and was located on a spectacular golf course. So it felt like you were at a true resort vs a corporate hotel. The only thing this hotel missed were more kid friendly/approachable restaurants (outside the pool bar). After spending an afternoon at

the pool, we decided to get out and explore the new development north of the city where we found a Blaze Pizza that was a delicious choice. Blaze is known for their natural farm fresh ingredients that are cooked crazy fast (180 seconds) in a blazing hot oven and fired to perfection. We had their Cheese and BBQ Chicken pizza and they were incredible…but what really caught my attention were their 7 local beers that they had on tap. We opted for the Deep Ellum IPA and Dallas Blonde. …both equally as good.

Did I tell you about this pool? Well the 4th of July, the boys spent over seven hours at the pool and we had a fantastic day. Again the DJ was spinning poolside and the day was filled with activities and contest to keep everyone busy until the fireworks could start. A little secret….I love watching fireworks from this hotel. Because you not only have a front row seat to the firework display put on by the resort and golf club, but also see 5-7 other firework displays going off in the horizon under the main display. It is just pure heaven…and once that is done, you move to the front of the resort (or go back to your room) and watch the end of the Kaboom Town display (one of the top in the US) which is shot off in neighboring Addison.

Dallas really is a great city to visit (both with and without kids). Because we had previously been here, we only were able to touch a handful of items. We had previously been to Forth Worth Stockyards and the Aquarium (which is world-class) and explored some of the other suburbs. But if you can fit it into your vacation calendar, we strongly recommend you check it out.