Went to Dallas over the weekend and had a great time.

I told you guys Friday that I'd been invited to go up to Big "D" with some friends to see a food show at the Convention Center (Thought it was gonna be at Market Hall - Not!). We had a great time, even thought a few of the folks turned out to be dullards (love 'em anyway). The others are still up there, staying till Tuesday. I had to teach classes Monday, so I couldn't stay that long.

We left the main campus (central meeting spot) at about 8:15am. I drove my own car, wanting to be able to jet if the scene turned out to be lame. Another guest (not a cook, but a friend like me) rode with me so she'd have a way to get back. We stopped in West for a breakfast of Czech bakery fare, and made it to Dallas by 11:00. We unloaded everyone's crap, parked the cars at a lot down the way, and checked into the Hyatt.

These folks were on an official visit for the school, so their rooms and entry fees to the show were paid for by the college. The room I got bit my ass for $160 for one night, but what the hell? It was worth it to enjoy the weekend. It's only money. I can make more. The room was very comfortable and nice, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Here's what my view looked like out the window,



looking at the train station (white bldg. in foreground) and the downtown area beyond.



And the view down left, towards Dealey Plaza, and the old Texas School Book Depository, now the Sixth Floor Museum. I'd been there a few times, but others in the group hadn't, so when we were thinking about things to do this first day, I said that we should walk over there.

It's a very moving place. The emotion wells up as you think about what happened there, and what might have been. It's a shrine to JFK and the official memory of the Camelot era, which can be a bit nauseating if you know some of the details of the history, but you can't help but be moved in that place. I have persistent fantasies, standing next to the 6th floor window and looking down at the mark on the street where it all happened, wishing I could be magically transported back, beat that syphilitic mother fucker to death with his own rifle and throw his ass out the window. Anyway, If you ever get to Dallas, you should check it out.

We walked back to the hotel after, and I tried to go swimming in the piddly-assed little pool on the 3rd floor roof. That lasted about 15 minutes. Then we got together and talked about going somewhere and getting some food; just a snack before dinner. We didn't want to get a full meal. A few in the group were taking naps, and we had plans to go out on the town and get a big dinner eventually. I told them we could walk back over just beyond the JFK museum and check out the restaurants in the West End. Lots of cool spots over there. So that's what we did.

We ended up going into a place called Gator's, and ordering the Garbage Nachos and chips 'n queso. The nachos were covered in sour cream, guacamole, Cheese, pico de gallo and salsa, all piled onto a plate of chips. That stuff was great, and filling, and I stayed full the rest of the day. We noted that the place had a piano, and a roof area that some people were heading up to, but the sun was out and we weren't interested in goin' up there and bakin'. After eating we strolled back, checking out the menus and prices at all the steak places along the way. Goin' out with these cooks is a trip, I wanna tell ya. Not only do they know how to cook, but they know what sounds like a good deal from the cut of meat and how it's prepared. It's like eating with pros. Well, it's like them going to the Sixth Floor with me, frankly, and then asking me a lot of questions. We complement each other very nicely. Good friends.

So, we walked back to the Hyatt and relaxed for a few hours. I watched TV in my room with the lady that had ridden up in my car. She was feelin' kinda like a fifth wheel. Didn't wear the right shoes, and was working up blisters on one foot. She soaked her feet in my tub and I gave her a foot massage at one point, and then she used my band aids to bolster her hooves for the nights walking (I'd cut my finger a few days earlier, which is why I had the band aids). We were gonna be heading back over to the west end, and I was determined to get these guys to go to Deep Ellum if I could swing it. I wanted to hear a real Blues band, and wasn't gonna be denied.

When the time came, we walked over to the west end and decided to try the Hoffbrau Steak House. There were seven of us in all, so we had to sit and wait for a table that was big enough.



As we sat there, the professionals looked over the menu and we all decided what we were gonna have. I ordered the 16 oz. T-Bone, a side of bacon wrapped shrimp (BBQ this time, and different from the ones I've told you about before - called Sweetwater Shrimp), fried okra, a good salad, and a large, cold draft Coors Light from the tap. The drinks came out quick, and the salad and bread came soon after.



One little loaf for the seven of us, so the professional set out to cut it neatly and we ended up having more than enough. We were all still full from that late lunch anyway, and didn't need the bread.



My first draft didn't last long. Went down so smooth and cold, I killed it way ahead of the others. Just ordering it threw the others into a tizzy. They know I don't usually drink much, so after I ordered it, the lady next to me (cutting the bread earlier) was so frazzled she ended up ordering a root bear float as her beverage (she'd been thinking of having it for desert). We all looked at each other and laughed, but that float was damn good. I was seeing people walking up the street with ice cream cones, so I knew what desert I was gonna be looking for after we left.

The cone was chocolate chip, and it was delish! Two scoops. Head west down the way from Hoffbrau and you can't miss the place, on the left. As we walked out of the restaurant and looked for the ice cream, we heard music coming from across the way. The band was playing on the roof of Gators, and they sounded good, doing a cover of Blue on Black, by Kenny Wayne Sheperd. I'd given up on getting these folks to drive down to Deep Ellum and see some real Blues bands by this time, so I figured this was my only shot left. Most of the group went back to the hotel, but the lady who'd ridden up with me and one of the cooks joined me on the roof. It couldn't have been a better night.



Turns out they have live bands up there most nights, performing from 9pm to 1am. These guys go by the name Elmo Blue, and they rocked our asses off. They played a mixture of contemporary and classic rock/blues covers, from Santana to ZZ top, to SRV, to a rocking rendition of Ticket To Ride that was better than the Beatles version. Plus they played some older blues tunes, some of which I didn't recognise. They took a fifteen minute break at about 1145, and then came back with Red House, and then I'm Tore Down. My buddy and I couldn't believe our luck. He ordered another round of CLs, and the three of us were feeling very happy. May well have effected my picture taking.



This guy is a great buddy of mine. We went to see ZZ-Top a few months back, and had a great time. We love the same music.

I remembered another good buddy about half way through that Hendrix number. Thought about how much he'd be lovin' this whole scene. I thought about it for a while and then remembered that I had his cell number. I opened the phone and gave him a call. I knew it was WAY past his bedtime, and that I'd get his voice mail. I set the phone down to try to let him hear the music for a bit and hoped the message would get through. Life is fucking useless as hell without good friends to enjoy it with, and I've got some great ones, but they're spread out all over. This one lives too fuckin' far away. One of these days buba!

The view from the roof was cool as hell, from the green argon lights of the Bank Of America Building, reflecting on other buildings around it...



To the sight of the amazingly cantilevered ladies that were strolling in and out of the place (Sorry, no pictures). One such product of surgery strolled up on the arm of an old geezer, and my buddy and I just looked at each other and started to laugh. Our female companion laughed as hard as we did, watching us act like fools. The night was good.

After the band shut down, we went downstairs and had a listen to the piano player. He was good too, but I was missing the guitars. Someone yelled out that they wanted to hear Piano Man, and he yelled back "Fuck You!" Hilarious.



We walked back to the Hyatt, and my buddy was bobbing and weaving from the booze.



I took this picture from the walk home, showing the green lights of the Bank of America plaza. reflected in the glass of the hotel.

I told him "Son, you need more meat on those bones, to soak up that alcohol." I was steady as a rock. We got him to his room on the 20th floor, and then I left this nice lady at her room on the 16th, and then headed to mine on the 8th. Showered and collapsed on the queen size. Woke fresh as a daisy at 9ish, thinking "Is that rain?". Turned out to be the trains across the way. I called around and found out the plan was to head over to the food show at about 11. There was a shuttle to the convention Center from the hotel. Easy peasy.

We hit that place like a storm. It was a lot like a gun show; lots of rows to walk up and down and cool shit to look at, and folks tryin' to sell you somethin'. The first three rows were all booze.



All these vendors were trying to sell this stuff to the folks who run restaurants and bars. I was swillin' little cups of this vodka, this other beer, and that smoothie, thinkin' that if this crap keeps up, I was gonna be lit up in no time. Hell, It wasn't even 1130. And the stuff was good too. Free booze and all the crap you can hall away. Pens, Frisbees, you name it. It was like trick-or-treating for adults.



And the place was HUGE! This is isle 3, out of 28. Lots of walking. They had every sort of kitchen implement, freezer, oven, dish washer, even refrigerated trucks, that you could imagine. And the food; there were little finger foods all over. Fried this and that, sea food, dessert pastries, ice cream, and more booze. We just walked around and grazed all day. The Borden folks even had a cow or two.

Some dude was demonstrating food carving.



Purdy eh? There was even a seminar on restaurant security; how to keep from having all the copper ripped out of your AC units, and your kegs stolen. We sat in just to take a load off for a while. One guy talked about putting razor wire around the roof of his walk-ins to stop crooks. I thought, "damn!" I know enough about that business to know that if they're loosing shit out of the walk-ins, it's more likely the employees doin' the stealin'.

My passenger and I cut out at about 4pm, after seeing everthing there was to see. We had to drive home, and I was tired! The drive was OK. Filled up the tank in Waco for $2.72 a gallon. We stopped at a Mexican place in Temple for dinner, her way of paying me back for the ride, and I dropped her off at her place in Killeen. It felt good to be home. Great to have a weekend that tires you so that work seems easier. I'm gonna go back though. Too much fun to be had up there. We're all talking about going tubing in New Braunfels in a few weeks, so the fun will continue.