That time I went to Dallas...

Remember that time (months and months ago) that I went to Dallas to visit Ally and then never really posted any pictures of the trip other than crazy Renaissance Fair photos?  Yeah...sorry about that.  I promise we did more than just the Ren Fair, it was just the major highlight and deserved it's own post.

So anyway, after the fair, we heading back to Dallas to check out the city.  This was my first trip to Dallas (other than layovers in DFW), so #1 destination on our tour was Dealey Plaza.  

As you probably know, Dealey Plaza is where JFK was assassinated.  With the recent release of The Kennedys mini-series on Reelz, I couldn't pass up the chance to see this historical location.  (Did y'all watch that?  Was I the only one that thought Katie Holmes was absolutely the most awful Jackie O in the history of acting?  For shame.  But the guy who played Bobby Kennedy was brilliant.  Yes, it was a "bit" skewed (Bobby was no saint, Reelz Network), but all in all, I thought i was pretty good.)

Anyway, back to Dealey Plaza.  So, it's pretty morbid, no?  Taking photos of a place where someone died?  Maybe?  Morbid and yet fascinating.  It's history, so I guess that makes it ok.  Sure as heck didn't stop me from whipping out my camera and taking a million photos of the X on the street.  Really, how many photos of that X do I need?  Apparently 367 of them.  Then again, there were all kinds of people milling around, taking photos, standing on the X, sitting on the grassy knoll (which, by the way had a giant plastic sign on it that says "GRASSY KNOLL" in huge red letters, just in case you didn't know), so I didn't feel too bad.

For the sake of brevity, I'll only post one X photo.

The infamous book depository.

Which is now a museum.

No siree bob, Katie Holmes could never be a Jackie.

Across the street from the X is the rest of the plaza.

There are a bunch of buildings and flags and stuff...I don't know, I was too focused on the X to really care.

This is the old courthouse, I remember that.

Gorgeous, no?

After driving all over Dallas (seeing Downtown, the Lake, the parks, cute neighborhoods, SMU campus, the house where Hansel and Gretel live, etc.) we headed back to Ally's house to get ready for our big night in Cow Town!  

Yee haw!  

We knew we'd officially arrived in Cow Town when we had to share the street with these guys.

After a slight detour through Fort Worth, we arrived at the Stockyards.

We did a bit of walking around and checking out the shops.

We were "this close" to going to the Wild West Show.

But instead we walked around a bit...

checked out all the local sites....

did some serious people watching....

met John Wayne...

did some window shopping...

thought about buying a saddle...

and MORE boots...

and had a beer and the best burger I've ever had in my entire life.

For serious.  

Best burger ever.

EVER!

I'm still dreaming about that burger. 

After dinner we made our way over to Billy Bob's, the largest honkey tonk in the world.

Holy shit.

That place blew my mind. 

Complete sensory overload.

I'm not sure I said a word for at least an hour as we walked around and took it all in.

I didn't even take any pictures because I was too stunned.

I'm decided I'm moving to Cow Town.

There were rooms full of guitars.

About 90 pool tables.

A giant photo booth with a enormous stuffed bull you could ride and get your picture taken on.

A gift shop.

A restaurant.

An amphitheatre for concerts.

Slot machines.

They even had a bull riding ring inside the bar. 

Yes, INSIDE the BAR!

Bull riding.

I'm not kidding.

I know everything's bigger in Texas, but really?

Bull riding...in a bar.

Of course we went!

This was too good to pass up. 

By the way, bull riders are very cute and VERY young.  

Like 12.

You will go to jail.

Be careful.

After bull riding, we headed back into the bar to see Pat Green perform.

You guys, I'm so embarrassed to say that I had no idea who Pat Green was.

Never heard of him.

I know, I know.

I thought Ally was going to defriend me right then and there.

But then I went and did the unthinkable.

I asked her who Miranda Lambert was.

I will never recover from the look of horror and disappointment on her face.

I vowed right then and there to load up my iPod with all the country music I could to avoid losing more friends.

I'm sorry Ally.  

I know better now.

The next day we went to the Dallas Arboretum.  

It was spectacular!

I've already posted 9,000 photos of flowers from that day HERE, if you're interested.

The weather was perfect.  Bright and sunny, but not too hot or humid.  Which made me extremely happy.

The fish were also happy.

The giant rabbits were happy.

But then it was time to go.

Eventually I had to catch a flight back to St. Louis.

I cried and cried and begged Ally to let me stay and move into her guest room and be her maid and dog sitter, to which she agreed, but I figured my pups would miss me too much, so I reluctantly got on the plane.

And it was sad.

But I'll be back!  

Thank you Ally for an amazing weekend.  

Thanks for inviting me down and driving my ass all over the state.

And thank you for being my friend, even though I didn't know who Pat Green was.

And thank you for letting me hang out with your pups and feed them way too many cookies.

And thank you for having cash and paying for everything while my credit cards were on strike.

I owe you BIG TIME.