Dallas: A city holding its breath

I spent last week in Dallas and I was surprised by what I saw. The city will be hosting the 45th Super Bowl and it is the talk of the town. I was at the Cowboy's Stadium and the place it packed with moving trailers and construction equipment. They were in the process of building a three story tent structure and stage in the parking lot that costs millions of dollars for the a three hour tailgate party. Here is a pic of the stadium.

Cowboys Stadium on a rainy day.

One of the conditions of hosting the Super Bowl is that any reference to the Dallas cowboys had to be covered or removed. The stadium itself is quite an impressive structure that houses the largest plasma screen in the world at nearly 60 yards in length. Parking and security are going to be major issues for the game. When i took that pic I was standing in the Wal-Mart parking lot across the street which i found out later has been rented for the day strictly for press vehicles. That is a lot of press. Jerry Jones, the owner of the Cowboys, is selling standing room only spots in the parking lot to watch the game on outdoor big screens for 200 dollars a pop and you must buy at least eight of them. 

The general consensus with the security and firefighting forces was that they can't wait for it all to just be over. many of the businesses and people of Arlington felt the same way. 

I have to admit to being surprised by the greater Dallas area as a whole. One expects cowboys and ranches to be everywhere but the city centers of Dallas, Fort Worth and Arlington were attractive happening places. Downtown Dallas in particular was filled with high end shops and restaurants as well as attractive and varied architecture. 

A picture of the Dallas Skyline from Trekearth.com

I stayed on the top floor of the Market center Crowne Plaza hotel about 15 minutes from the downtown area and had a nice view of the entire region. Unfortunately I didn't get to enjoy that much as the weather was crappy almost the whole time. There was a weight room and pool with hot tub at the hotel that i took full advantage of. The hotel restaurant was just to expensive to eat at so we got out a little bit for dinner, that being said we didn't go to any premier steak houses, just a Texas Roadhouse franchise spot that was good if you like that sorta thing. 

One thing that was very off putting about the place was the twisting and twirling and very confusing highway system of the greater Dallas area, even with our TomTom we got off on the wrong roads a couple of times. The interchanges and crossovers are sometimes three and four levels up and there are so many of them that often times you are just hoping you picked the right one. 

Typical highway merge

When looking at it from above one can make out the sense of it by my god try it in the dark and the rain. Not to mention that many of these interchanges are complicated by ongoing construction and detours. Even my cousin who has lived there for nearly twenty years got turned around trying to take me to the hotel after our visit. 

All in all, it was a good visit to Dallas and i wouldn't be opposed to having to go back someday but I don't think of the place as a tourist or vacation destination. There are plenty of things to do and the sports arenas in particular are big and impressive. last year they hosted the World Series and This year the Super Bowl which adds to the prestige but the locals are a little put off by all the extra people. One local business owner told me that he likes the extra revenue but the hassles are almost not worth it. Yep, Dallas was a surprise to me and the city itself is a very nice place to visit but visit is all I would ever want to do.