Tag: travel photography

What a nice weekend in Dallas celebrating my mom’s birthday a few weeks late.  We had the nicest time chilling out, watching football and eating out!

Friday night we went to Adelmo’s.  It is a long-time Italian restaurant in Dallas that used to be in a house in the Knox-Henderson area.  It recently relocated to Inwood Village.  The dinner and service were lovely.  While I can’t say the food was the best ever, it was an enjoyable, quiet evening.

Saturday night we went to Fearings located in the Ritz-Carlton in uptown.  Dean Fearing himself came out to our table to say hello.  Fearings’ plates were absolutely mouth-watering good!  Almost all of us ordered the Lobster bisque which included a lobster pot sticker at the bottom of the bowl…delicious!

lobster bisque

lamb

fish

scallop and crab

peanut butter crunch bar

dessert to go…compliments of the cheg

The entrees were fantastic as well.  Three of our party ordered the Arctic Char and raved about it.  My lamb chops, though not cooked to the medium temperature requested, had phenomenal flavor.  Phil, my god-father, ordered the scallops and king crab, and he found them to be quite satisfying.  We ordered a few shared desserts too.  I didn’t try my mom’s peanut butter crunch bar, but it looked remarkable!  I just drooled over it.

Fair warning, both restaurants provided amuse-bouche between the appetizer and main course as well as after dessert, so if you don’t have a big appetite, a three-course meal isn’t necessary.  Of course, it is fun to indulge on special occasions.  Fearings even served a bite-size, gratis tomato bisque prior to our appetizer which was tasty too.  If I’m being picky, for a fancy place, the service could have slightly improved, but it certainly didn’t damper the occasion.

With Dallas being a test market for restaurants, it’s tough to beat the food here.  If the eatery isn’t good, it goes out of business in a year and another fills its place.  The food scene is something!

The flowers in the lobby of the Ritz were another spectacular scene and made a perfect back drop for our pictures.  It was sort of fun to dress up.  I don’t do that often, nor do I really want to regularly, but once in a while it is probably good to put on a little make up.  Not to sound obnoxious, but I think we all looked good!

Sunday, when we weren’t watching the football games, I was training for my Olympic distance Triathlon.  I’m not sure why I decided to compete in a triathlon, but one benefit is weighing what I did in high school!  Anyway, when possible I prefer a soft surface path rather than pavement for running, so I searched out a nature preserve.

The Oak Cliff Nature Preserve was definitely the most unique nature preserve I’ve visited.  I suggest taking a picture of the map at the trailhead which shows all the colored loops as there are many intersecting trails (some less traveled) without signs.  Having said that, there are many signs pointing in the direction of the loops in an open space so you can at least find them, it just might be hard to find the parking lot on one’s first visit.

I had to run for 40 minutes or 4 miles today, so I planned to connect the white loop, to the blue loop, to the purple loop.  I didn’t take much time reviewing the map because the damp air coupled with 20-mile per hour winds made we want to find the cover of the trees quickly.  I probably should have focused a bit harder as I never did connect all three trails and sometimes ended up on the same portion of a trail twice.  But all that really mattered was getting in the mileage.

After the big thunder storm last night, I thought the trails might be somewhat muddy, but they really weren’t too bad.  I only had to watch out for tree roots and slick limestone at times.  I expected to have to look out for mountain bikers as it seemed like the nature preserve catered to them.  The description of each loop discussed bike jumps and technical portions of the trail.  Most nature preserves I’ve been to don’t even allow bikes, so it seemed odd to me.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to dodge any cyclists, and for that matter, I only saw about six people on the 7+ miles of trails the preserve offered.  The preserve must attract mountain bikers at some point, however.  Many trees are decorated with bike reflectors and there is a pump station for tires.  There is a variety of “art” (for lack of a better word) on the trails as well.

Anyway, I can’t say it was the most beautiful place I’ve been, especially in the winter, but there were a few different types of berries growing, birds flitting around, and a bush with lavender colored leaves that I have never before seen. It was definitely a nicer way to get in my miles rather than weaving around runners and cyclists on the Katy Trail or at White Rock Lake.

what type of bush is this?!?

The only thing that proved frustrating was to wonder which gadget I should believe.  My Fitbit claimed I ran just over five miles while MapMyHike calculated only 4 miles in 48 minutes!  As much as I’d like my Fitbit, which is set to automatically calculate the length of my stride, to be correct, I don’t think I averaged less than a 10-minute mile pace.  By the same token, I surely hope I ran better than a 12-minute mile!  I guess I’ll have to go to the track some-day soon.  All-in-all, it was a nice visit home, and it was nice to catch up with one of my best friends from my horse show days too.  ETB

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