From Rodeo to Ranches: An LA girl’s weekend in Dallas

I legitimately want to be on Travel Noire. No seriously, I do – I’ve even made it a point to tell all of my friends that all of my pictures should be taken a certain way, with me looking off dramatically in the distance, me frolicking in a field of artsy looking flowers, wearing a fedora, a floppy hat or some designer esque shades. The thirst is real ya’ll. I am also bougie – hence the title of this post, it’s “Roh-Day-Oh”, not Rodeo. But while I’ve scrolled through pictures on instagram for hours looking for places to be bougie in and travel internationally, I’ve come to realize that America ain’t so bad, and I just might be able to find the cool aesthetics, the food, the people and the culture right in my own country.

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Listen, traveling as a millennial sucks – and I’m at that age where I’m too poor to be staying at a nice hotel, but I also CAN NOT get down with staying in a hostel, and I’m just over that age where I can qualify for discounts on museums and touristy things that college kids can get. So what’s a girl to do? Well – black don’t crack so I can still use my college ID for most stuff! But in all seriousness, I’m very fortunate that all of my best friends live miles away from me so I usually just tell them that I’m coming to visit, and we’re going to be tourists in their own cities. And voila! I am a budget savvy traveler.

A few weekends ago I was in Dallas. I go there annually to visit my best friend. He just bought a house – and I’m totally not jealous, but I do wish LA was as cheap as Dallas! Anyway, no shade but Dallas was never on my bucket list. I’m not hating — I’m just saying that an LA girl like me going to the ranches of Dallas never appealed to me. But I said — ok, it’s a Chocolate City, Erykah Badu lives there — let’s get it. And you know what? I was pleasantly surprised this time. Dallas has some of the most beautiful houses I’ve ever seen, a bustling arts district and baby let me tell you about that food! Here’s a recap of the highlights of my trip.

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We did Yoga at Klyde Warren Park, and it was awesome! Kylde Warren is gorgeous, and I was surprised that we were able to find zen in such a busy park. And there’s wifi! The park is only 4 years old, and it’s already become a hot spot in the middle of the city. Not to mention, those nighttime views are stunning.

The African American Museum was next up on my list. I make it a point to visit every African American museum in every city I go to, if they have one. I love to see the achievements that we’ve contributed, how far we’ve come and the unique impact that we’ve made on that particular city. After we got enlightened, we were feeling artsy so it was time to go to Deep Ellum and Bishop Arts District. I can’t stress enough ya’ll, I love Deep Ellum. There’s just something about walking through art that touches and colors your soul. We also had some bomb donuts from Glazed Donut Works – so maybe it was also the sugar high too.

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I whipped my hair back & forth at Sanah Brown’s gorgeous mural, so much so that my best friend had to drag me off the sidewalk so other people could take a picture. I was just immersed in that black girl magic!

Bishop Arts District is great too – and let me tell you, I had a life changing fried green tomato BLT at Oddfellows. If you know me, you know that I love fried green tomatoes – random right? Well, it’s true – and Oddfellows did it right. There are so many cute shops, great restaurants and an artistic culture emerging in Bishop Arts and I’m glad each time I visit, I see more and more.

We made it a point the next day to go to Trinity Groves and the Dallas Farmer’s Market, which is such a cute picnic outing. Trinity Groves is fairly new and is a cluster of awesome shopping and restaurants near the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. With that said, we didn’t actually pick up food at Trinity Groves, instead we got popcorn, macarons and coffee from the Farmer’s Market and had a snack as we overlooked the bridge.

Dallas has a lot to do, and I think this time visiting, I was able to enjoy the quiet moments as well. I mean, after having shopped on McKinney Avenue, experiencing the nature at the Arboretum, laughing so hard at Improv Comedy in Arlington, and being bougie at the Dallas Black Dance Theatre performances—yes, I was definitely able to take in the quiet moments this time around. Mostly, what I took away from this trip was that we were able to create fun, discover the beauty and take in the peace of this big city.

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I had a great time in Dallas – but I still haven’t forgotten about you Rio, Tuscany, Marrakesh, Havana, Santorini……….(I’ll stop this list here because it will continue for pages upon pages…).

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