Weekend in Dallas

After living in Texas for over 13 years and traveling all over the world, one place that I have not visited is Dallas, Texas…until this past weekend. Whether it was going bar hoping or walking the trails of a nature preserve, I think that I did a lot in the short time I was there and I can't wait to go back.

Dinner at Rapscallion

I started off the evening on Friday walking around a nice neighborhood that is about a five minute drive northeast of Downtown Dallas with two of my cousins. First, we ate at a restaurant called Rapscallion where we ordered three different pastas, a farm to market salad and some drinks. All of the food was good, but my favorite had to be the Chicken & Dumplings. After eating, we walked over to Truck Yard Dallas, a beer garden. The atmosphere was great (and so were the drinks).

Saturday was very eventful. We stared the day off with pastries from a local pastry and coffee joint, then headed off to Cedar Ridge Preserve located southwest of Dallas and just about 10 miles southeast of Arlington, Texas. I could not believe that a place as beautiful as this is located so close to the city. This preserve provides a great connection to nature and the best part is that both parking and access to the trails are free.

I was limited to only about an hour at the preserve during my visit, but you could easily spend half a day here. This time, I only walked about one of the nine miles of trails at Cedar Ridge Preserve. However, I enjoyed the scenery and I believe that the trail I chose was one of the main trails on the preserve because it included a nice lookout spot at the halfway point, it crosses a stream with crystal clear water (the first naturally occurring clear body of water I've seen in Texas) and ended at Cattail Pond, which is a small pond with the hills in the background that made for a calming place to rest and take in the scenery.

My experience at Cedar Ridge Preserve was great and that's just my opinion after walking on one trail. I can't wait to go back and walk through all of the trails and I highly suggest visiting here if you're in Dallas and love the outdoors.

After a hike, it was time for dinner at Loro, an Asian smokehouse located just north of Downtown Dallas. This restaurant had a lot of great food and drinks to choose from and I loved the ambience. I only had the wonton chips & dip and the Loro Cheeseburger this time and they were both delicious! The wonton chips were different than any other chip I've had because of the texture and seasoning, which made them quite tasty. The cheeseburger was made just right to my liking and all of the ingredients made for a delicious burger that I look forward to having again.

For more details about the food and drinks here, check out the menu for Loro.

We wrapped up on Sunday afternoon with a trip downtown and a late lunch that consisted of street tacos. While downtown, we walked to the the Giant Eyeball, which was just a giant fiberglass sculpture of a human eyeball. It was very random and we couldn't get close to it because it is in a fenced in area. It is still an interesting thing to see if you're in the area. However, I would not go out of my way to see it.

Overall, this trip to Dallas was great! I did a lot in a short timeframe and I know that there are a lot more things to see and do, so I can't wait to return and see what else this city has to offer.