May 10 2012, a quiet day in Dallas

Today we intended to look around the shops in Dallas. Once you've done the JFK stuff, and assuming you're not interested in visiting Southfork (remember Southfork?) we worked out that there isn't too much of interest in Dallas. Well, we were wrong - there's nothing at all of interest in Dallas! Apart from Neimen Marcus, which is a high class clothes and accessories store, all the shops have moved out to the suburbs over the past two or three decades, and downtown Dallas seemed strangely quiet to us. We did, however,  spend a couple of interesting hours touring the Red Museum, near Dealey Plaza.

The Red Museum

This was originally the Dallas County Courthouse, and was built in about 1890, but a new courthouse (awful looking place) was built in the 1960s and this building was allowed to decay until it was rescued by enthusiasts about ten years ago. It now houses an interesting museum on the second floor (that's the first floor to us, remember) detailing the history of Dallas. Among the artefacts on display are one of Clyde Barrow's guns (he of Bonnie & Clyde fame) and the handcuffs Oswald was wearing when Jack Ruby shot him (I bet the guys in the Sixth Floor Museum would love to have those). After we'd finished with the museum, a charming old gentleman took us and two Australian ladies on a tour of the building, which included a visit to a faithfully reconstructed courthouse on the top floor. On the way out, I noticed this sign on the main door...

Well, we are in Texas!

In the evening we departed in a taxi for uptown Dallas, where we had researched a top quality restaurant  called Abacus. It was well worth it, and we had a very pleasant meal. The following sign was not in the Abacus window, but in a fast food joint downtown...

Mmmm...lovely!

One final picture before we leave Dallas for New Orleans. There is a skyscraper downtown where the "stepped" arrangement of the windows on one corner produce this effect. See if you can work it out!

Jen's bit: Well, what a surprise Dallas turned out to be. Not a bad place but less downtown and more ghost town. Jx

PS from Peter: Just in case anybody thinks I've been harsh on Dallas, I will add that the locals are friendly and I ate steak of various kinds three nights running - certainly among the best three steaks I've ever had.