Dallas was our last fun stop in Texas, and it was more fun than I expected (even though I didn’t get to meet up with my friend Janet, which was one of the reasons I wanted to go to Dallas in the first place). We got in pretty late, and ended up staying at the W Dallas. The room was beautiful, the view of downtown Dallas couldn’t have been better, and the best part: no need to leave to go to dinner! We were exhausted, but when I discovered that Craft, one of Tom Colicchio’s restaurants, was right downstairs, I wanted to eat there. I had to canoodle Michael a bit to get him to acquiesce, because he was even more exhausted than I was, but once we got down there it was one of the best dining experiences of the trip. Everything about it was perfect: the decor was beautiful, the service impeccable, and the food divine (well, except for the cheese that tasted like death, and I’ll get to that in a minute). First they brought out something as an amuse bouche; I don’t remember what was in the little morsel, but it definitely amused my bouche. We started out with the yellowfin tuna with smoked enoki mushrooms, then shared entrees. I ordered the diver scallops with mushroom jus; the scallops were perfectly seared and tender, and the jus was the precise balance of light and flavorful. Michael ordered the braised pork tortellini, which were rich and hearty with a delicate tomatillo sauce. Everything was so delicious and served in perfect small portions that we had enough room for dessert, which is where Michael ordered the most amazing blueberry cobbler and I made the mistake of ordering the cheese plate without being familiar with the cheeses on the menu and not really capable of specifying what I like and don’t like. Our waitress, who was delightful, said she would pick a selection for me…and none of them were particularly good. I don’t blame her, and I don’t even remember the names of the selections she brought so that I can avoid them in the future. One of them was truly awful and pungent, and the others were merely palatable and not very enjoyable. Sigh. At least Michael let me have some of his blueberry cobbler so I didn’t have to have the Cheese of Death as the last taste in my mouth! Oh, and they also brought out a pre-dessert aperitif (I think it was some kind of limeade?) that Michael and I couldn’t get enough of (it was the size of a tall shot), and then after our dessert they brought out a little extra dessert of tiny walnut brownies. All in all, it was definitely one of my favorite meals of the trip, made even better by looking across the table at Michael and feeling so very lucky. One of the things that I love about him is that he really enjoys food and going out to dine, which is definitely an interest of mine. We just have so much in common, and I love everything we do together.

The next morning we had planned on waking up early, getting to the Dallas World Aquarium when it opened, and getting on the road around noon to head to West Texas. However, we ended up sleeping in, calling for a late checkout, and meandering around Highland Park in Dallas trying to find a restaurant that one of the guys at the W recommended to us. There were all sorts of lane closures and detours, but we got to see TONS of straight-up mansions in the process. The area we drove through had the most obscenely large houses I’ve ever seen in my life!

We finally found Patrizio’s, and it ended up being well-worth the hour we spent trying to find it! (It may not have been a whole hour…but it seemed like it!) For being smack in the middle of a pretty ritzy, designer-label shopping area, the prices were ridiculously affordable (cheaper than your local TGIF) and the food was delectable! We had an appetizer (caprese salad), two entrees, and dessert (some of the best tiramisu I’ve ever had, hands-down) for $33 (not including tip). Yum! So thank you, unnamed valet guy at the W for this recommendation! We loved it! By the time we finished lunch and headed back downtown to the Aquarium, it was almost 3:00 and we ended up in the position where we only had two hours until the aquarium closed instead of being there when it opened. We were only headed to Pecos, TX, though, so it wasn’t like we were going to miss out on any exciting plans if we were late.

The Dallas World Aquarium is a relatively new aquarium, and as Michael and I walked in, he said, “This looks like an aquarium as decorated by Pottery Barn!” It was really beautiful inside, and the first thing you walk into is a quasi-outdoor rainforest full of open exhibits, waterfalls, and an assortment of birds, monkeys, and even a free-range SLOTH. The pictures are all on my Flickr page. It was easy to navigate and walk around, and it’s definitely the best-designed aquarium I’ve ever been to. It had all my favorites: SEA DRAGONS, a tank where you walk underneath it and look at all the stingrays and sharks (this one was also visible from outside, however, which gave it a definite boost in my ratings), otters, and lots of different indoor exhibits. I loved it! The aquarium was doable in under two hours, with enough time to go back through a few exhibits twice because we thought we missed one (we didn’t). There was a little afternoon drizzle as we left, but there was one more necessary stop until we could officially be on the road out to Pecos.

CHROMOSAURS!!!! These were the last of my Roadside America attractions, but I was super excited about them. I love anything dinosaur-related, especially dinosaurs made of chrome. They were on our way out of Dallas, so we didn’t even have to make a detour except to get off the interstate and duck into the parking lot of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. It was also ridiculously hot and humid outside, so we didn’t spend long palling around with the chromosaurs, although I LOVED THEM. I want one to go in my future front yard! There was plenty of dinosaur impersonation (see right for an example) and climbing tentatively (they were burning hot from being in the sun all day), and as many photos as I could handle before Michael and I had to flee back to the comfort of air conditioning. Then it was back on the road again for about 7 hours of driving through a bunch of flat land and cattle until we reached Pecos for a night at the local Quality Inn. The best part of the drive was when the fireworks started–as we drove through the night, past several little towns miles in the distance, we could see tiny fireworks exploding in the sky, mile after mile. As we drove through, we answered more questions and shared “secrets” with each other…there’s something about driving in the dark that always brings out the deep confessions. That was when all the “taboo” subjects we’d vowed to avoid (namely: exes) came up under cover of night, but it made us feel even closer to each other. Nothing even came close to an argument, so we’re still waiting to see when that’s going to happen.

Pecos was our stop for the night, because it was the closest place we could find to Carlsbad Caverns with an available hotel room. We didn’t eat dinner because there was no food around, so the room was just a place to sleep before waking up early the next day. It was a little hard to fall asleep because we could hear people doing some 4th of July partying in the hotel parking lot (um, fun?), but we slept well.