The Trip Of My Dreams

WOW! What an incredible weekend! For Christmas Crystal gave me a trip to Dallas to see the Stars play the Ducks. Well this past weekend was the time I had (patiently) waited for for a month and a half. It was totally worth the wait!

FRIDAY
We arrived in Dallas and went shopping just north of the airport at Grapevine Mills. Some sweet deals to be had. I got 2 hoodies and Crystal got a buncha stuff. After shopping we met up with a friend for dinner. He took us to Fort Worth and we ate at a hole in the wall called Joe-T-Garcia's (Est 1938). It's in this run down area of the city, with empty buildings, no street lights, and one parking lot... RAMMED! Seriously, this place was so busy. They have 2 items on the menu; Enchiladas and Fajitas. They were SO good. I guess if you've got good food, people will come to you no matter where you are. After dinner we headed down to the Fort Worth Stockyards... It was like going back in time. Cowboys walking the streets, saloons line the street and the world's first indoor rodeo. So off to the rodeo we go... It was an experience, the crowd cheering for either the cowboy or the bull. We actually saw one of the cowboys fall off the bull, and then get tossed around like a rag doll. Not the most pleasant sight.

Once the rodeo ended we went to Billy Bob's Honky Tonk. (An apparent "must see" in Texas) It was this huge country-western bar with a concert venue at one end (All the big names make sure they stop in) and a bull riding area at the other end. So afetr a quick walk around we went to watch more bull riding. This time you were right down next to the "field." At one point we actually had a bull crash into the steel fence that was in front of us. Pretty wild! We finished up at Billy Bob's and then went for a tour of Fort Worth's downtown area, Dallas' Downtown, and the street where all the rich people in Dallas live. A lot of nice houses there. We also took a quick walk through Dealey Plaza and had a quick history lesson on the School Book Depository, JFK's assassination and the x's that are on the road (each "x" marks a spot where Kenedy was shot). We never actually got to go to the Sixth Floor Museum (all about JFK's assassination) because it was closed whenever we had the chance to go. After the last couple tours it was time to head back to the hotel... We were gassed!

Yellow - Where Lee Harvey Oswald was when he shot JFK

Blue - An "X" marking where JFK took the final bullet


SATURDAY

We got to sleep in a little and then headed for the American Airlines Center in Dallas. We arrived early so we took a walk around the arena, and headed inside to scope things out.

The security people wouldn't let me go through with my camera (apparently it was too big) so I was escorted to guest services to leave it with them until the game ended. After dropping off my camera we walked around the concourse and picked up all the free stuff they were handing out. (Stars Team Yearbooks, A Marty Turco goalie mask, mouse pads, buttons, and whatever else I could grab) It also turns out that All-Star game merch was half price! Needless to say I did some shopping. (Got a clock, travel mug, hat and keychain) We made our way up to the seats and got ready to cheer on (the best team in the NHL) the Dallas Stars. I was amazed at how much people in Texas knew about hockey... you always hear about people from the Southern US being clueless when it comes to hockey, but they were on the ball. There was a fight 35 seconds into the game, and that got the crowd into it pretty quick. No scoring until the 3rd period when Jussi Jokinen scored a pretty goal to give Dallas the lead, and the win. YAY! (So my team won)

After the game we headed to Reunion tower. The view of downtown was pretty good, and the trip was pretty fun.

We weren't dressed up enough to have dinner at the revolving restaurant (probably couldn't afford it either) so we began our search for "Macaroni Grill." We had passed it earlier in our adventures in Dallas, now we just had to find it. After about an hour with no luck, we decided that since we saw it when we were lost, the solution would be to get lost again. It worked! We found it, and we were so glad we did! The food was delish! Dinner was now taken care of, and we ate alot, so it was time to crash.

SUNDAY

We decided to go to The Potter's House for church (T.D. Jakes' church). We looked it up online and service times were 8 and 11:30, so we planned on going to the 11:30 service. We arrived about 15 minutes before we thought church started, only to find cars parked along the highway, on the side of the road and on every side street. WOW! I had never seen this before. So we began to search for a parking spot. We found one...about a mile and a half away. We began to walk to the church when a pasenger van pulled up and offered us a ride. We went into the church and were directed down a series of hallways into what they called the overflow. (This overflow was bigger than any church I've seen in Central Ontario) They had 2 small screens and one huge screen projecting Bishop T.D. Jakes preaching up a storm. It was interesting, he didn't preach like I was used to, he walked around and seemingly just talked. Anyway, about 40 miutes later he gave an altar call and service was over! I was a little disappointed. We went to a church service with over 28,000 people and missed the worship! Another difference i noticed was that the people there were dressed to the nines! I mean full out designer suits and ties. I was wearing jeans and a button-up shirt. Did I mention the church is almost 80% Black? Needless to say Crystal and I stuck out a little. It was fun though... The people we so friendly. The walk back to the car... 25 minutes.

The view from where we parked... The church is circled in red

After church we went to Fuddruckers for lunch. I had never been, and Crystal raved about it (as did Steve Jones). I can see why, my burger and milkshake was great! After Fudds we had to head for the airport to catch our flight home. (It was delayed for 2 hours, but we didn't mind too much)

It was an unforgetable weekend and I consider myself to be so very lucky to have an amazing wife to put it together for me. This smile on my face will last a LONG time