Thanksgiving in Dallas

Dave's brother is hosting Thanksgiving this year, so we made the trip to Dallas yesterday. We (read: I) thought it would be good to save a vacation day and leave after work Monday. That was not a good idea. It makes for a very long day...lesson learned. We arrived last night around midnight and went straight to bed after touring this humongous, beautiful house! :)

This morning, we took our time getting ready, and then explored Dallas a little. Rich drove us around downtown and uptown, showed us some hot spots, and then we met up with the in-laws who had just arrived in town. Once they got settled, we walked to lunch at the Village Burger Bar. I had an awesome chicken pesto panini! YUM! Then we drove back downtown to do the tourist thing.

All the Anderls used to live here and have undoubtedly seen the grassy knoll before, but they humored me when I asked to go. When we got to Dealey Plaza, it was just what I expected, but at the same time it was kind of surreal to be there. It's nothing extravagant or commercial, so you can just stand there and take it all in. We met some nice people there, including the proverbial conspiracy theorist and the pushy commemorative newspaper guy ($5 donation suggested, but it's free, take one for the family, TAKE IT! 5 DOLLARS!). Here's the guy who's never been here but knows everything about it and will contradict anything you say about it with a conspiracy theory, talking to Rich and Marv:







Knoll:


'Which window is it? That one, no that one. Oh, the corner? No?' Everyone around us was having the exact same conversation.


There is a white 'X' painted on the road at the spot where JFK was shot. This is a main road through the city, highly traveled, and you can tell which drivers are locals because they all swerved around the X. Some cars drove right over it, but it was cool to witness a local tradition. If it's not a tradition, and just a coincidence, don't tell me, k? Side note: you could tell who the tourists are, because they're the ones who run out to the X to have their picture taken while the cars at the top of the hill are waiting at the red light. It's like playing chicken...


We toured the Sixth Floor Museum, which guides you through Kennedy's life and career, and has evidence and artifacts from the investigation into the assassination. Very cool museum. They have the area of the warehouse where Oswald shot POTUS and where he hid his rifle afterwards. That was the surreal part - being in that room, with the window open and the book boxes stacked all around the area like a fort, including ones in front of the window that were used to steady his rifle.

After a short break, we headed to Lakewood to eat dinner at Matt's Rancho Martinez. When I told people at work I was going to Dallas for Thanksgiving, this place was recommended by just about anyone who had been here before. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint! I'm sure Mexican food can get more authentic, but this was exponentially better than Richmond's version. Sorry Mexico! I forced my party to eat the house specialty, Bob Armstrong Dip:

BOB ARMSTRONG DIP
House Specialty! Seasoned 100%
ground chuck, zesty chile con
queso, fresh guacamole & sour
cream.

MMMMMM!!!! I got beef and guacamole enchiladas for dinner and they were awesome too!

Tomorrow's agenda is pretty open, except for a hockey game tomorrow night! Not sure what the day will hold, but I'm sure it'll be fun! :)