Howdy from Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas

My partner and I stayed at the Renaissance for 5 nights. He had a business meeting and I came along. The hotel is located in the heart of Sundance Square. From the Renaissance Worthington (also known as ‘the Star of Texas’) you can walk to the restaurants, bars and shops. When walk into the hotel, you’ll notice the high ceilings and waterfall. There are benches and chairs in the Southern style of Texas.

The room color gives you a warm and welcome feeling. The yellow, crème and red color and the dark brown furniture is a good combination. The bed has cotton white linens, which looks very fresh and several different pillows so you can choose the one you like and sleep well. The rooms are spacious. There is a chair with a small table (with magazines), a desk with a comfortable chair, an extra bench and a nice bathroom. The finishing touch were the flowers and plants. For longer stays this hotel is just perfect! We had a Club Level room and therefore access to the Club lounge. That means breakfast in the morning; they call it ‘hot buffet breakfast’. The only hot item was scrambled eggs. The pastries were good and there is a lot of fresh fruit. There are also afternoon snacks and drinks. There is a refrigerator with several beverages and water. You can take beverages 24/7. The Club Lounge is closed in the weekend.

The hotel can be crowded with business people. There are always a lot of conferences going on.

The Stockyards are a short drive away. If you don’t want to drive you can take the trolley. The trolley station in next to the hotel. The day I wanted to take the trolley, I couldn’t find it. I decided to take the bus and for 2 dollars I had a two-way ticket to the Stockyard!

The hotel staff is very friendly and polite. I will stay here again, if I ever go to Fort Worth. I highly recommend this hotel to business people, tourists and everybody else who needs a decent hotel.

P.F. Chang’s is my favorite restaurant in Fort Worth. This restaurant offers Chinese cuisine in a nice atmosphere. You can choose to dine inside or outside. The terrace is not very big, but if you can get a table than you’re lucky. You can always wait for a table outside or just choose for dinner inside. I had dinner twice at P.F. Chang’s. The first time we had a table inside and the second time we had dinner outside.

The menu features traditional Chinese meals. I had for example the SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN, stir-fried with pineapple, bell peppers and onions in a sweet sour sauce. My partner had the ORANGE PEEL BEEF, tossed with chili peppers and fresh orange peel. Both entrees were delicious. It comes with white or brown rice which you can mix with the very tasty table sauces. If you are with more persons, you can order several entrees, put them all in the middle of the table so you can taste different Chinese meals.

The food is well prepared and very tasteful. I always get the feeling that I have a healthy meal. Too bad the calories are telling me a different story (my meal was 770 calories and the Orange Peel Beef was 1580 calories). That doesn’t change the way who I think of P.F. Chang’s. The food is too good and it’s a nice change of the steaks and burgers. For those who don’t like meat or fish, P.F. Chang’s has also a very large variety of vegetarian dishes.

I never knew that P.F. Chang’s was a chain restaurant. It’s a good sign though. I prefer local restaurants in staid of chain restaurants, but at P.F. Chang’s it’s just like a local restaurant.

P.F. Chang's; why this name?
P.F. stands for Paul Fleming (chain's founder), and Chang’s is for Philip Chiang, restaurateur and co developer.

Great beer selection at The Flying Saucer!

The Flying saucer is located in the heart of Sundance Square. It’s an old two story building with the main bar on the first floor. The interior is like an English pub with a twist of Texas. The walls are covered with personalized plates to honor those who have tasted at least 200 different kind of beers. Some persons have two or even three plates. What more can I say than well done! If you want a plate as well, you have to become a member of the UFO Club (±$14).


There is also dinnerware on the ceiling that looks like ‘Delfts Blauw’, which is typically Dutch.

This bar has over 70 beers on tap and many varieties in bottles. They have lagers, ambers, browns, pales, domestic, or imported; they even got ‘beer soup’ (sorry, didn’t try it). In the summer you can sit on the roof patio and if you’re lucky you can enjoy the live music of the ‘8.0 bar’ across the street. Especially on Wednesdays when the band that plays at ‘8.0 bar’ is performing outside. The Flying Saucer has live-entertainment on Thursday and Sunday night.

For those who like to smoke cigars, this bar is cigarette and cigar friendly! If you didn’t bring your own cigars; no worry….not only do they have a large beer list, but also a huge cigar list! What more do you need; beer cigars, great atmosphere and for the men Britney look a likes in school uniforms (the waitresses)…..many say this is heaven!

You still don’t know were to go with your friends?? Well, hurry up and go to the Flying Saucer. It’s a great place to go hang out!

8.0 has a great location at Sundance Square. They have a street corner patio during summer months. It’s great to spend time here with your friends and live music at the (outdoor) stage. Last time it was half November and it was a beautiful warm evening. Too bad the band performed inside, while the weather outside was perfect. We had no dinner, only drinks. We came because we heard the band play and we decided to grab a beer. The interior is nice with some (local) art on the walls and even some couches to chill. The atmosphere is casual. It was a bit quiet inside, not many people. Not good for the band and not good for the bar. Maybe because it was a weekday and not a Friday or Saturday. After a few songs and some tasteful beers we left to our hotel.

Hours:
Monday – Wednesday: 11pm – midnight
Thursday – Friday : 11 am – 2am
Saturday – Sunday: also till 2am

The Shops at Stockyards Station

The shops are located in the old Stockyard pens. About 25 shops are selling jewelry, souvenirs, candy, ice cream, clothing, boots, hats or other Western gear. It’s not my kind of stuff, but it was fun to see what they were selling. But if you like typical western clothes and souvenirs you’re at the right place. For those who doesn’t want to shop, they placed benches outside the shops. Ideal place to sit for a little while. At least in the spring and autumn. I think that it is too warm in the summer and to dusty. Halfway the station you’ll find the restrooms. The shops and the station had Halloween decoration everywhere.

Although the shop are wheelchair friendly, the cobblestones are not. The path of cobblestones is not very comfortable when you are in a wheelchair. It’s very bumpy.

Don’t look up if you come out of a store and a train is passing by. Once a day a train is running through the middle of the Stockyard station.

Opening hours:
Monday through Thursday - 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Friday & Saturday - 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Sunday - 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

If you come by car, you can park your car near the visitor Center. It costs $5 for a few hours. If you’re staying in the Sundance Square area, you can grab the trolley to Stcokyard Historical District.

The Stockyard is a historic place, because it used to be the center for the cattle drives. In 2007 they still keep the tradition in honor. Each day at 11:30 am and 4:00 p.m. (weather permitting) cattlemen (and women) control the Longhorns thru the street. The longhorns are coming right down main street. I must say… this is a bit touristy. The (seem like old) longhorns look tired and boring; I don’t blame them. Everyday, twice a day walking thru the street of Stockyard exchange. Day in, day out! People gathering early to have a great spot to see the cattle drive. It’s just like Disney, where they stand early for the parade, so they have the best spot. After a few minutes it’s over and you get the idea how it’s was in its heyday. The cowboys (and cowgirls) are very friendly. They are walking with their horse thru the street on the Stockyard Historic District. They talk to you and pose for you so you can make the perfect shot. There is nothing much to do, beside shopping, after the Cattle Drive. The cowboys are done with their daily work and leave.

When:
Daily at 11:30 am and 4:00 p.m. (weather permitting)

Best spot:
In front of the Visitor Center or at the end of the street (just before they turn left).

Dealey Plaza

I had Dallas on my ‘wish list’ for a long time and when the opportunity came I did not have to think twice. Finally a few weeks ago I visited Dallas. Dallas is one of those places with a historical significance. What happened on November 22, 1963 was horrible. I wasn’t even born yet, but with the media, history books, television programs and the many conspiracy theories, we all know what happened that day. The assassination of John F. Kennedy. I had to see Dealey Plaza with my on eyes. I always wanted to get to this place, Elm Street, where a devastating event took place.

We parked the car at the parking lot next to the Sixth Floor Museum. The first thing I saw, when we stepped out of the car, was the wooden fence at the ‘grassy knoll’. (we parked our car behind the fence). I was standing behind the fence and immediately recognized the area of Dealey Plaza. We were early and there were no tourists yet. This place was exactly how I thought it would be. I walked around the plaza and imagined how it was for the people who were there at the moment of the assassination. We walked further to Elm Street. On the street is a mark: ‘X’. The first ‘X’ marks the spot where the first bullet struck the President. The second ‘X" marks the final head shot. If you standing in front of the grassy knoll and you go across the street, look for the mark of the missed bullet. The bullet made a scar. Still visible in the curb today. So many thoughts go through your mind. What really happened here?

Sixth Floor Museum

After spending some time at the Dealey Plaza area, it was time to visit the Sixth Floor Museum located in the Book Depository building. The museum has an ‘audio tour’ with headsets. Very special are the fragments of news broadcasts and speeches by JFK. The tour was very informative and interesting, although not everything was told in the museum and there was not much to found of the many conspiracy theories. And than…there it was; the window that Oswald ‘shot’ JFK from. Standing there (next to window) in person tells you more than a documentary can do.

It was definitely the highlight of my trip to Dallas/Fort Worth.

Note:
Photography is not allowed in the museum.

Remarkable detail:
John F. Kennedy was assassinated near the spot where the city was founded in Dealey Plaza.

Many people stay around Deale Plaza, but another interesting monument is the John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza. It’s a short walk from Deale Plaza. It’s a minimalist monument, which contain out four walls and has an open-air structure. It symbolizes an empty tomb. This monument was designed (1970) by Philip Johnson, who was also a friend of the family. Inside the monument is a dark granite object with the inscription of the name of John F. Kennedy. There was a bouquet of flowers with the lines:

" President Kennedy,
Whom in live we loved and in death we mourn"

Because of the private donations from the citizens of Dallas, this monument stands here today. I don’t know if it was because of the time of the day, but it was very quiet, when we were at the monument. I think many people stay around Dealey Plaza and that’s it. You have to go to the Monument to make this visit complete.

Address:
Market Street and Main Street