DALLAS PART I

The one unavoidable expense I have this summer is my trip to Dallas, TX with some of my best friends from college. When we graduated we promised to visit each other 3-4 time a year since we are all living hundreds of miles from each other now. This trip to Dallas might be the last one I can participate in for awhile both in terms of time and budget, so I wan’t to make sure I got the most out of it.

I have a friend on her first rotation in Tyler, TX so we decided to all meet in Dallas. (At the time we lived in Connecticut, Minnesota, Georgia, and Texas). We spent Thursday – Monday in the Deep Ellum neighborhood which is great for restaurants and bars.

Thursday/Friday

We all got in late Thursday night and due to weather we had some delayed flights – I’m talking got in at 4am delayed – so we slept in Friday and then went out for “supplies” aka Wine and Cheese. We went to Kroger (sorry to all my coast friends who don’t get to experience the great joy that is Kroger) and they had a sale on Stella Rosa so we got a few bottles. If you haven’t tried it before I highly recommend. They use a variety of grapes, but base is concord grapes. We all have a variety of wine favorites, but this is one we can all enjoy!

Saturday

On Saturday we headed down to Deep Ellum and started my favorite activity of the weekend – the Mimosa Walk. For $25 we got to explore Deep Ellum and sample 14 different mimosas. We also got to keep out glasses! It was a great introduction to the area and if you are ever in Dallas during this time of year I highly recommend checking this event out! It is hosted by Onsite Events every year.

Sunday 

Sunday was a MARATHON. The Margarita kind…minimal physical exercise was experienced during this event. Visit Dallas created an app called Margarita Mile which is a collection of 20 local restaurants that serve margaritas and is actually MUCH longer than a mile. S/O to out uber and lyft drivers for saving the day. It is probably meant to be completed over some time, but time is one thing we did not have, so we hit 14 bars and restaurants in 10 hours. Our reward? Fun, Friendship, and Bounding…and also the free gifts the visitors center gives away for visiting the locations. For 3 visits you receive a magnet, 8 a t-shirt, and  14 the grand prize of the super cute hat you can see below.

All in all the Marg Mile was an awesome event. We were smart an responsible and split margs when needed and ate meals at our favorite places. I would 10/10 recommend to all your 21+ friends. Remember to budget for this if you decide to do it. We spent about $11/person per location so as you can imagine this was not the most budget friendly trip.

Monday

On Monday we went down to visit Dealey Plaza and see the location where President John. F Kennedy was shot. We were running low on time so we decided not to do the 7^th Floor Museum though. We had taken advantage of the holiday weekend, but two of our friends had to leave so we said our goodbyes, dropped them off at the airport, and I headed back to Tyler with my friend.

I decided to extend my trip because I figured I won’t be able to spend a lot of time with her after this plus what can I do at home that I can’t do in Texas, especially since I can just bum on her couch instead of get a hotel room. Her family is visiting this weekend and we are all going to back on Tuesday. We are planning a drive through safari and a flea market trip so I am super excited.

After this experience I have learned that I LOVE Texas. Stay tuned for my Texas Part II update!