This weekend, I got a weekend.
Which is a rare occurance. As in, the first time since I got here.
They keep us pretty busy here, with Saturday classes and "work trips" where we work on an airplane for free as trainees. Look for me on the next LaGuardia bound trip from Dallas passing out napkins , logo side down (Coming to A Weekend Near You!)
Since we were able to leave our hotel rooms without fear of missing our 5am wakeup calls, I had the distinct pleasure of visiting actual Dallas, and let me tell you what--its not actually a hellhole full of roadkill and Jack-in-the-Boxes! I spent most of the day getting lost ("wandering") the Downtown-Uptown area, weirdly avoided a sunburn, and went to several free museums!
There are a couple really weird things about Dallas, though.
First, when we got off of the train, the city was completely empty. Devoid of human life. I'm not kidding, it was eerie. This is a Saturday afternoon, on a holiday weekend, and no one was downtown. The financial area of Dallas looked like a post-apocalyptic movie set. All of these beautiful glass buildings were shining in the sun, completely empty. They were paired with relatively clean streets, several affectingly closed Starbucks, and empty buses that shuttled no one across the city. Even the populated areas seemed to be"small town" populated, rather than "enormous city" bustling. It was kind of nice, because we got a chance to properly explore the city without the stress of interfering strangers. The Dallas museum of Art ( is actually really impressive (and free!) and we found some food carts ( I Pledge Allegiance to Food Carts) and I got a more than decent Banh mi for cheap from the guys at the Nammi Food Truck.
Speaking of Empty, Weird Thing #2. Everyone I have spoken to laments the horrific traffic conditions in Dallas. Apparently, its a hot mess at 330. While in downtown, I "discovered" a train station within one mile of my hotel in (godforsaken) Irving, that shuttles all over Dallas. These trains were fast, clean and freakin' everywhere. It's $5 for an unlimited day pass. Get your shit together, Dallas. Use the DART, you crazy cowboys.
Finally, everyone in Dallas is still transfixed by the Kennedy assassination. You literally cannot swing a dead cat without hitting some kind of apologetic installation regarding the last couple days of Kennedy's life, which were spent in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. We drove over the little "X" where he was shot. Its all very macabre, and its got me thinking about how we often replace the memory of someone's life with the memory of the specific event of his death. "Oh yeah, Kennedy was president until he was shot in Dallas". Of all of the things we can choose to set in stone, we memorialize what is usually the least important, least defining part of a person's living. I think it makes some people feel better, but I guess it just makes me feel worse. Death is terrible enough, why dwell on it? Why put up monuments to murder? What's the DEAL, Dallas? Don't you have better things to create tourism around? No? See, this is why I wanted to be trained in Austin.
The night ended with a nightcap with my friend here who also has my name, and her fella. This is where One Bear reared her demure and flaxen head once again.
One Beer Lloyd is my name in several cellphone logs. It came from a time when I had the stomach flu, drank a beer, took a shot of whiskey, and then puked. (of course this happened when i was 21. Obviously, 21.) Thus, One Beer was born. And she hasn't really been out to hang much since. (that's a lie.) Generally, I am just as insane while intoxicated as I am while sober and its not a big deal. (that's not a lie.) BUT we don't have a lot of time to drink here. Of course I make time, but its never enough. Its hard to keep up the important hobbies under a demanding schedule.
So, I had two little bitty cans of beer at the world's most hilarious bar, Single Wide, and have spent the majority of today in bed, curtains closed, with a massive hangover headache. One Beer may go in hiding, but she never really leaves for good. By the way, Single Wide is the bomb. They have hilarious cocktails (Like a White Russian made with YooHoo and a Boons Farm manhattan), tons of taxidermy deer heads, and curtains that only a granny could love. Totally made me feel like I was back in West Virginia.
Yee Haw, gonna try to sleep after a day of sleeping! Its so healthy!
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