Turning Megan Texan

My wonderful friend from California attended a conference over at the Gaylord Hotel in Grapevine. That's only 20-30 minutes from me…so Megan allocated some extra time too play! I was THRILLED. We haven't had ANY visitors from out of state since we moved here—so I've felt cut-off from my family and old friends. But a visit from Megan shortened the psychological distance and we had a lovely time!

DAY 1
Poor Megan told us she'd had a rough travel day. A bit of confusion left her running to her gate and her bag didn't make it. Consequently, after gathering her up from the airport, we went to Cane Rosso (Featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives) for lunch while we waited to hear if her bag had arrived on the next flight. Alas, we couldn't get word of it. So we took her home and decided to spend the afternoon in Fort Worth and watch the longhorns walk through town. It's a total touristy thing to do but still. Plus shopping at the stockyards is entertaining, especially for a couple of goobers like us. Furthermore, you can't be in Fort Worth Texas and NOT go to the Stockyards. It's as country cowboy as you can get.

PS. The horns are hollow. Which sparks the question…what if they get holes in them and fill up with water? Do they get infected? Do mosquitos lay their larvae in them…and then what? So on and so forth. Yes. Deep thinking went on over here. Deep. Thinking.

We discovered some interesting treats. These are the "original" worm snacks, whew…I HATE eating knockoffs—they don't taste quite right. And the suckers are sugar free, so you won't have any health concerns to worry about while you lick away at them. Just be careful, don't want any "added flavor" to get stuck in your teeth.

One of my favorite shops are olive oil and vinegar shops. Delicious. Megan is seen below licking the oil. Never thought I'd say those words together.

While Megan was in Texas she ate a lot of jalepeño. I could tell she was doing her darndist to become Texan. Was there a jalapeño vinegar, Megan?

The Sugar wall was another favorite. I liked the lime sugar. I think Megan tried…you guessed it; jalepeño.

A few hours later we drove across Fort Worth to Steel City Pops. It had been a HOT day and we were in no rush, so we each tried two flavors. Guess what one of the flavors Megan tried? Pineapple mixed with jalepeño.

We then couldn't wait any longer to hear about her bag. The airline's site had been down for the entirety of the day (for everyone) so there were no updates to be had. We went back into Dallas—lucky us, her bag had arrived! On our way home we ate at Chef Point (yet another spot on DDD.) Megan ordered the lobster bisque and LOVED IT. And then to bed.

I believe I've previously shared the story behind Chef Point but I'll do it again. When the owner of Chef Point went to the bank to get a loan to start his restaurant, he was rejected. But he WAS approved a loan to build a gas station. He built the gas station and then put his restaurant inside. It now serves award winning 4 star food, and is still a gas station. Good story huh?

DAY 2
The next morning we headed toward Dallas to visit a favorite accessory spot of mine, Sam Moon Trading Co. It has EVERYTHING, as you can see. We spent quite a bit of time laughing as well as shopping. Megan found a lot of Christmas presents, yay!

Then, into the city for lunch at Twisted Root (another DDD…and Megan promptly ordered jalapeños on her burger. Ha!) And after, we visited Knox street for additional window shopping. Megan found some fun dishes at Crate and Barrel which she took home. I found a fun cage which I left there.

Then off to Steel City Pops (again—this time the Dallas location) to end our day, and I took my friend to her hotel, which was AMAZING by the way. It has a glass covered atrium inside complete with rivers, running trail, gardens, and restaurants.

DAY 3
A few days later, when her conference was over, I retrieved Megan and she treated us to a tour of Jerryworld! I was excited, I've been wanting to tour it since construction completed.

What is a girl to do while waiting in the gift shop for the tour to start? Why this of course.

The stadium is incredibly massive inside.

I mean…look…there's a SEMI down there and it's itty bitty. And that screen? No matter where you sit it's in your face. It's ENORMOUS. The engineers designed the ceiling so that once the screen was installed it wouldn't cause the ceiling to sag more than 11 inches. It only sagged 5.

Where's all the grass? You'll see. They were setting up for Taylor Swift's 1989 concert tour to take place two days later.

Though we didn't take the art tour, we did pass by some of it. It's MASSIVE and covers foot upon foot of wall space. What fun those artists must have had. I would enjoy creating something like that.

Below: this was a gift from Mr. Jerry to his wife. Permission was obtained from the FAA before the piece was installed because the side that faces the sky is a convex mirror. Whoa! (That's the Rangers baseball stadium across the way.)

About to enter the Cowboy's locker room OoooOOOOoooohhh!

Fancy.

Tony Romo. Of course.

Aaaaaand no tour would be complete without seeing the cheerleaders' locker room. I think it's funny the girl's life-size photos are above the lockers—seems a little narcissistic. But after some thought, perhaps the pictures are there for those of us touring the facility. Yeah. That's it.

Here I am giving a passionate news conference to Megan.

She is an attentive reporter.

Pictured below are the rolls of grass. Each strip is 5 yards wide and they are latched together using Velcro. Some teams also store their own end zones here.

When the players leave the locker room for game commencement, they rally through this hallway and onto the field.

We finished off our day with lunch at Pepe's and Mitos (a DDD too.) And then I hugged my Megan and left her at the airport. It was sad.

I am SO GRATEFUL to Megan for coming. I have been looking forward to her visit for a while! It was fun driving us all over town (can we say I went into Dallas 4 different times that week, each from a different direction? I am now a pro! Thanks Megan for trusting me with your LIFE on these freeways!) I VERY much enjoyed her happy company. Together we are a couple of spazzes and I love it!!!

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