Museums of Dallas

[00:00:00] Dallas has a vibrant art scene that could keep a person busy for days on end.

[00:00:06] Join us at the table to hear about some of those wonderful sights we have enjoyed and want to share with you.

[00:00:14] Welcome to the Steel Magnolias Podcast. We are two sisters here to have uplifting conversations about life in the South.

[00:00:21] The South is full of beautiful diversity

[00:00:24] in landscape, people groups, and culture, and we want to showcase each part.

[00:00:29] We've got plenty of room at our table. So pull up your chair.

[00:00:37] Well, hello y'all. This is Lainie here and I'm Laura Beth. We're here at the table.

[00:00:43] I may talk for an hour because we're talking museums. Oh gosh, that's true.

[00:00:47] I do have some I've been assigned that I did attend and visit but this is Lainie's hot topic.

[00:00:55] Lover of art for sure. It was so much fun preparing for this one.

[00:01:00] I just feel like museums offer so much to explore. They have classes, films, lectures.

[00:01:07] True. There's so much. And great gift shops said the one that's less inspired but still enjoys.

[00:01:16] And I feel like it just really helps expand your horizons.

[00:01:20] There were several things that I saw in these museums that gave me wonderful pleasant emotions.

[00:01:27] Yes. There was several things that made my blood pressure go up and made me mad

[00:01:33] and felt frustrated, but isn't that the point? Yes. It's art. It's visually inspiring and evoking.

[00:01:42] Yeah, so it's supposed to evoke emotion and it works. Yes. There was some I wanted to, you know,

[00:01:50] talk to somebody. I started to say spit on which is terrible because we just did our episode

[00:01:55] last week on the decoration day and it makes me, you know, I said I didn't like what people

[00:02:00] were doing with the flag but in some protest. Yes. But it is interesting how art will make your

[00:02:09] emotions flow. Yeah. We've got several to talk about today because they have quite the arts

[00:02:14] district. They really do and I wanted to mention that this arts district is just under six miles

[00:02:20] away from Love Field Airport. Very easy to get to on a long delay. I mean really easy to get to.

[00:02:29] And it was the first place I went from landing at Love Field and it was so easy to get to. Which is

[00:02:35] Southwest. Right. That's their airport. I'm sorry I didn't say that. Yeah. If you're flying American,

[00:02:40] I want to say that's 16-ish miles. That sounds right. But a little harder. Yeah. To get in and

[00:02:47] out of because it's so large. But visit Dallas. The website, their tourism website is a great

[00:02:54] resource to help in planning a trip. If you want to see some of these museums. If you want to

[00:03:01] get a feel for if you could do it on a layover and all of that, check out their website. It's very

[00:03:06] good. Right. And you couldn't do all of these on a layover. Well. Oh my lord. I couldn't. Honestly

[00:03:11] the way that air travel has gone this summer already for some people. It's been disastrous

[00:03:17] out there. So there have been some overnight stays. Some of y'all listening know exactly what I'm

[00:03:22] talking about. But yes, for the most part this area and these museums are really not too far

[00:03:30] from the airport. And so we're not taking you off the beaten path by any means today. Right.

[00:03:35] And some are a little more digestible than others in a short period of time. Yes. And you'll know

[00:03:40] which ones as I'm talking. Yes. I want to start with the crown jewel. Okay. Oh my gosh. Of the

[00:03:48] Dallas Arts District. Three hundred and seventy thousand square foot building. Whoa. That houses

[00:03:55] twenty five thousand pieces of art. Goodness. The Dallas Museum of Art. It's one of the ten

[00:04:01] largest art museums in the country. Cool. And literally has art from all over the world in

[00:04:08] ten collection. Over ten collections. They have the African art, Asian art, design and decorative art,

[00:04:15] European art, indigenous American art, the Kier collection of Islamic art, Latin American art,

[00:04:26] oceanic art, post-war and contemporary art, prints and drawings, U.S. and Canadian art.

[00:04:35] That's not even including exhibitions. Whoa. I'm already curious to know like you probably

[00:04:40] didn't even get a tiny percent. I did this in two decades. Okay. And I didn't hit, I probably,

[00:04:47] I think in the permanent collection, strictly for time purposes and all of that, I, you could

[00:04:55] probably guess where I hung out. I was hanging out mostly in contemporary U.S. and European.

[00:05:04] I was gonna be. Because that's what I know. Yeah. I'm glad I bit my tongue on that. I was

[00:05:09] gonna say I can guess where you were but that's ugly. Well, stop that. I'll stop that. Okay.

[00:05:15] I have found that, I mean I really can find beauty in even the kinds I don't like. That's true. You

[00:05:22] know I can find some beauty like in thinking about what tools they had to work with. Wow.

[00:05:27] If it's some of that Egyptian stuff or African stuff where you know there was no

[00:05:33] good tools. Good point. That kind of thing. Good point. But that's not where I want to hang out.

[00:05:37] Give me the Matisse, the Monet, the ones I know and love. Anyway, this museum is free. Oh. So let

[00:05:47] that be part of your layover plan as well. Heck yes. Exhibitions are different but all of this.

[00:05:53] To walk around. Main collection is free. Nice. That doesn't necessarily mean parking is free

[00:05:57] though. I think I had to pay $20 to park. Hey, in a city that sounds almost cheap compared to what

[00:06:04] we've been paying in cities lately. I know. Okay. I don't want to get on that either. Yeah.

[00:06:11] I don't want to spend a lot of time on each of these talking about what days they're open and

[00:06:15] what times. You need to look that up but museums are often closed on Mondays or A-Day. So look

[00:06:20] that up. And they often have various price points for different persons, adults, children,

[00:06:25] vets, etc. So we won't go into the details of that unless it's I did want to say this is free.

[00:06:30] So okay. Because that's awesome. Good point. The current exhibitions they have right now,

[00:06:36] there was a Impressionist Revolution from Manet to Matisse that was or was it Monet? It might

[00:06:43] have been from Monet to Matisse. Amazing. Wow, that sounds awesome. That's only there through

[00:06:51] November 3rd of this year. So if you happen to get there that's worth an extra price. Yeah. So

[00:07:00] good. So really maybe if anybody's going to be looking to plan for a fall break,

[00:07:06] fall is a wonderful time to be in Dallas, Texas away from the oppressive heat that can be down

[00:07:12] there. Yeah. They also have, there's three I think usually three exhibitions going on and you can pay

[00:07:21] just to see one or if you know you're going to see all three they do like a little bit cheaper

[00:07:25] to do all three price. But that Impressionist Revolution exhibition is wonderful. There was

[00:07:33] also a, okay the title was When You See Me Visibility in Contemporary Art and History.

[00:07:42] It features 60 works by a diverse intergenerational group of 50 artists who contend with visibility

[00:07:49] both socially and formally. I think I showed you some pictures. Oh my goodness this is where you

[00:07:55] were showing me those blind pictures, the pictures for right? The braille? No, no that was actually in

[00:08:00] the Impressionist one. Okay sorry. Do you remember the one I showed you with the women's coverings but

[00:08:08] no face? Yes. Like you would see in a Muslim country that was one of the ones in this. So

[00:08:14] their works explore invisibility, hyper visibility, the desire to be seen and the

[00:08:20] right to be private. So all those different things. So that's why it's called When You See Me. Okay.

[00:08:26] Wow that's profound. Really interesting again this was an area where some of them

[00:08:31] you felt good things, some of them I felt yuck things, but it made me feel things. Yeah.

[00:08:37] And then there was one called He Said She Said Contemporary Women Artists Interject is the

[00:08:44] subtitle. Okay. It's only there through July 21st so you'd have to be pretty quick to get to see

[00:08:50] this one. But again there was different themes of women getting their their voices heard. Yeah. In a

[00:08:59] world where men are heard more. Sure. So pretty profound. That's cool. I've described one

[00:09:08] to you from that it's too hard to explain on a podcast but very very good. That's awesome. So

[00:09:14] you call that the crown jewel? Well I do because of its size, because of the amount of art that

[00:09:20] sits in that one huge building. It's a it's a jewel of the area and it's definitely worth seeing.

[00:09:28] Yeah I want to mention on the early part of this that if you are going to be visiting Dallas and

[00:09:36] know that you're going to hit a few of these you might want to check out what they call the City

[00:09:40] Pass. Yeah lots of cities have this and it's a great thing if you're going to be hitting variety

[00:09:46] places. The museum you were just talking about was free so no need there but this is for one-time

[00:09:52] admission to four attractions. So you get to visit the Perot Museum of Nature and Science,

[00:09:59] which we will talk about, the Reunion Tower Geodeck, which we're going to talk about you get

[00:10:04] in both of those, and then you get to pick two of the following three choices. The Dallas Zoo,

[00:10:12] the George W. Presidential Museum, and the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum. That's three

[00:10:17] different museums of which you get to pick two. Okay. So you don't you know you don't have to pick

[00:10:26] right away either like you just buy the pass and then figure out what combination of those you're

[00:10:30] going to do. It's really discounted. A City Pass price for an adult 13 and up is $55.

[00:10:38] And then you're getting to see you're getting to see a lot of several things. Yeah. I do think

[00:10:43] some of those places want you to like once you've got your City Pass in hand tell them what time

[00:10:49] you're coming day and time you want to come. Well I'm glad you mentioned that because you do yeah

[00:10:54] they just call it a reservation make a reservation and it's actually required for the geodeck which

[00:11:02] I'll talk about later and the Perot Museum like required. Remember when we showed up? Oh yeah I

[00:11:07] do remember. They were like what time is your reservation? We don't have one let me stand here

[00:11:10] and make one. Anyway but it's recommended for all. So let me talk about one of the museums that's on

[00:11:18] that list that's an option the George W. Bush Presidential Center. So in a previous episode

[00:11:25] I don't know maybe last year gosh we've done so many we've done so many they run together but we

[00:11:30] did do a Presidential Libraries that Fall in the South episode. Yes of which there are five

[00:11:37] of those libraries fall in the south and three of them are in Texas alone because Texas is huge.

[00:11:43] So the five presidential libraries that are in the south real quick are Lyndon B. Johnson in

[00:11:48] Austin, Jimmy Carter in Atlanta, George H.W. is in College Station, Bill Clinton's is in Little Rock

[00:11:55] and then this one George W. is in Dallas. It is on the campus of Southern Methodist University

[00:12:04] because former first lady Laura Bush attended SMU and I remember saying on that episode

[00:12:14] for the Presidential Libraries that I wanted to visit the George W. Museum for sure because that

[00:12:20] is the president that I have like adulthood remembrance for sure of you know I went and I

[00:12:27] was in college during his presidency so you're just more familiar with like what is happening

[00:12:32] you remember headlines and things yeah so W as they say that whole center is real or the library

[00:12:43] they really call the Bush Center and it's 15 acres in an urban park that's filled with they've

[00:12:51] got native flowers and trees and there's like a whole section actually outdoors that you can roam

[00:12:58] around called the Texas Rose Garden so that is actually kind of almost its own feature yeah if

[00:13:06] you will outside of the museum but I just wanted to highlight a few things the actual library

[00:13:13] portion of the center is operated by the National Archives and Records Administration so if you are

[00:13:19] a researcher there is a component that is truly for you which we didn't even go to no no I kind

[00:13:27] of wanted to we are researchers but we're down on archives and you nerd out on art so difference but

[00:13:34] since his presidency included the very catastrophic September 11th there's a very

[00:13:41] moving exhibit that is a significant portion of the museum but it's not all of the museum

[00:13:48] as I'm looking at the map as I'm okay talking you almost would expect that that's his whole

[00:13:53] experience you know his whole the whole center is devoted to that not even I mean it's this little

[00:13:58] tiny circle yeah of what I'm showing her on this map and they call it September 11th and response

[00:14:06] which I like yes yes so the you know there's some very moving pieces in that section including

[00:14:15] the bullhorn that George W used in shouting to the people of New York City encouragement there's a

[00:14:21] very significant piece that many of us saw live on the news or have seen clips since then where he

[00:14:29] was you know he was basically on talking to the crowd on standing on a pile of rubble and just

[00:14:36] with firemen and people around and somebody says we can't hear you because they were having trouble

[00:14:42] hearing him yeah and he responds I can hear you the rest of the world hears you and the people who

[00:14:49] knock down these buildings will soon hear from all of us you know this moment in time where you're

[00:14:54] like yeah so other moving parts were just parts that stood out we're seeing the gifts on display

[00:15:02] oh I loved that that were from all over the world yeah from other nations to the president

[00:15:08] extravagant golds and different figurines and beautiful jewelry beautiful I will I really

[00:15:18] enjoyed walking into the exact replication of the oval office that was so fun as it would have been

[00:15:25] because they get to kind of change things out the way they want what art do they want on the walls

[00:15:30] what yes carpet do they want yeah the Winston Churchill bust and the the phone the telephone

[00:15:38] with all of the presets that was interesting that was so cool there was a button that said 41 which

[00:15:45] I was like that was his dad it's so true so really an interesting experience wherever you fall on

[00:15:52] your political spectrum you can really be inspired from absolutely the themes of optimism and freedom

[00:16:00] and you know I think I would go to any presidential museum regardless of if I liked that person as a

[00:16:08] character or not yet yeah and you can buy individual tickets this doesn't have to be

[00:16:13] something you do just through the city pass you can get oh for sure at the bush center.org but

[00:16:18] really quite an experience it was fun for us to visit during um SMU graduation and see yes

[00:16:26] graduates in caps and gowns buzzing around and getting photos with their family there too yeah

[00:16:31] lots of families gathered around campus very cool where to next let's go across the street from the

[00:16:39] Dallas Museum of Art there's lots of places you can go across the street I didn't make it to the

[00:16:45] Crowe Museum of Asian Art I've heard that's beautiful cool you know you only have time for so

[00:16:50] much so I went over to the Nasher Sculpture Center and I actually had a wonderful thing that happened

[00:17:01] before we made our trip I was included in a press preview for an event that was going to be happening

[00:17:08] at the Nasher Sculpture Center so that's very unusual I've never done an art press

[00:17:13] preview before and now I want to do them all the time because it was so cool I got to

[00:17:19] meet these two artists that are twin brothers who had a an exhibit opening but first let me just

[00:17:25] talk about the museum it opened this sculpture center opened in October of 2003 it's the home

[00:17:31] to one of the finest collections of modern and contemporary sculptures in the world cool the

[00:17:37] center um is it was it was a long-held dream of the late Raymond and Patsy Nasher who together

[00:17:47] formed a comprehensive collection of masterpieces wow they have de Kooning they have Matisse, Moreau,

[00:17:54] Picasso, Rodin other amazing names that are permanent part of the permanent collection there

[00:18:04] this museum is very digestible if your layover I mentioned is not super long you could easily do

[00:18:13] the Nasher a lot of it is in this garden out back oh cool and I was there in the morning and so I

[00:18:21] had a coffee in hand which they're not going to let you walk around with in the inside but because

[00:18:27] I was outside sure I took my coffee out and walked around in this garden that has these big sculptures

[00:18:34] by the names I just mentioned wow and it was just so peaceful could hear the birds and I didn't hear

[00:18:41] cicadas actually even though it's that time of year refreshing yes maybe they hadn't come out

[00:18:47] just yet in that area of the corner of the world but anyhow there was a um there's a couple of

[00:18:55] changing exhibits that happened in the interior of the museum as well

[00:19:01] and so I got to see those but the press preview I went to was these twin brothers

[00:19:08] Nikolai and Simon Haas they're called the Haas brothers have a new exhibit there it's going to

[00:19:15] be there through August 25th of 2024 and it is beautiful it's one two three four pieces total

[00:19:28] and two of them are on the street you don't even have to go in the museum

[00:19:33] one of them you can is inside the museum and one of them is going to be in the permanent

[00:19:37] collection that's out in the garden good for them no matter when you go you're going to see at least

[00:19:41] one of the Haas brothers pieces they uh these guys grew up in Austin they're just a little

[00:19:48] younger than you and um really amazing guys to hear from on their inspirations of these sculptures

[00:19:58] they're very unusual I showed you some they are I would use the word whimsical that might be cheesy

[00:20:04] to use but they're very um they are whimsical whimsical to me they said they were very influenced

[00:20:12] by the Austin's 90s stoner culture did they really say that oh my goodness I definitely could

[00:20:19] see a Gaudi influence okay you know the Gaudi name who did a lot in Barcelona I could see a lot in

[00:20:26] of his influence on them too because I know that Gaudi and you've seen that stuff I haven't seen

[00:20:30] it but I want to get there uh but anyhow they these they're fraternal twins they don't look

[00:20:37] alike but they started a practice together in 2010 that just has so much playful flora and fauna and

[00:20:45] there's lots of curiosity they brought in this aspect of course you can tell they're younger

[00:20:51] than me because I don't even understand how all of this works with using 3D um technology

[00:21:01] and I know right I'm gonna read one thing that I

[00:21:05] I was like oh 3D now I'm lost well the the piece that's out in the garden that will be part of the

[00:21:11] permanent collection is called an emergent zoid okay and I'm gonna read from the Nasher did a

[00:21:21] spring publication and this is what it says using 3D computer graphic software the Haas brothers

[00:21:29] create simulated shapes reminiscent of one of their favorite childhood toys the wooden wiggly

[00:21:35] snake oh yes I remember that little snake sure they choreograph their movements digitally

[00:21:42] and the brothers call the shapes zoids an homage to Dr. Zoidberg a central character in Matt

[00:21:49] Groening's animated television series Futurama okay don't know that one but you know yeah the

[00:21:56] Simpsons guy yeah um so anyhow it's it's beyond my understanding but this they they have these

[00:22:05] wood this wooden snakes that I wish y'all could see Lainey's hand motions going like like a snake

[00:22:12] snake around and round this visual video and then they would freeze certain frames and see which one

[00:22:20] they liked and this is the one they liked the best was this particular interaction I'm showing her

[00:22:26] a picture of the sculpture before it was painted we'll have to put some of this up on Instagram

[00:22:31] because it's too hard so you guys can understand but it was super cool hearing from the guys

[00:22:37] on they did another piece that's inside the museum that they call the strawberry tree

[00:22:42] it's a sculpture but it also has blown glass strawberries that they made learned how to make

[00:22:48] and then made wow for this wow tons of gorgeous beadwork literally with teeny little beads there's

[00:22:56] wow yeah it's truly spectacular and creative but visit the Nasher Sculpture Center okay regardless

[00:23:05] of this exhibit is here or not you're gonna get a lot of cool inspiration and you know all of these

[00:23:12] pieces have stories like that yes of how they came about what they did I just felt so privileged

[00:23:18] to get to hear directly from them on what music influenced them what shows did they love these

[00:23:27] these moonlight sculptures that they have out on the street came from an inspiration Austin had

[00:23:35] 30 they called them moon globes I think okay but they were basically these towers that had

[00:23:43] lights on them okay there's not many of them left in Austin but I looked it up because they

[00:23:48] were talking about this is a real memory from their childhood of these lights that kind of

[00:23:53] had moonlight and they wanted to do their own version of a moon tower cool like tower so

[00:24:02] anyhow awesome very cool it was very cool highly recommend hitting that well I'm glad you got to

[00:24:08] be included in that what an honor that's very cool well one of the museums that I don't know

[00:24:15] if people realize is set up in the just I mean almost eerie way that it is yeah now where you're

[00:24:23] going now sixth floor museum at Dealey Plaza this chronicles the life and assassination and legacy

[00:24:32] of President John F Kennedy it's got you know a full exhibition artifacts this I would absolutely

[00:24:40] say is a must visit for any especially American to go see this if you are going to be in Dallas

[00:24:48] it was it sets up a timeline leading up to November 1963 which is when John F Kennedy

[00:24:56] was shot in downtown Dallas and when I'm talking about a book depository that really doesn't

[00:25:06] make sense to us right now because we're like what's a deposit you just don't hear that word

[00:25:10] very much anymore you don't depository so I mean I would just call it like almost like it was a book

[00:25:16] warehouse yeah is that what you would say like a warehouse would be almost an interchangeable

[00:25:20] word to that and it is literally the museum itself is built around what was this business

[00:25:30] where the shooting actually happened from yes so you know you've got in a timeline that walks

[00:25:40] through some events you know like I said again leading up to November 1963 but then I mean

[00:25:47] following through the the hours and days after that awful tragedy the conspiracies that came out

[00:25:57] the um the state of the nation I mean it was oh man yeah chaos yeah it was pure chaos so I just

[00:26:06] thought it was so well done the most eerie moment is when you are you're up on the sixth floor

[00:26:12] and they do have a way for you to look down through the window into Elm Street the street

[00:26:20] where there is was it a little x on the street there's a white x on the street permanently there

[00:26:26] to mark where the where he was shot yeah so he was in an open car in a you know procession

[00:26:33] and you can actually it's just weird it is very eerie it had it had that feeling of the

[00:26:40] museum in Memphis the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis where you're walking through the museum

[00:26:47] and you're ending where Martin Luther King Jr. was actually shot on his balcony yeah anytime

[00:26:53] you're literally like wow it was literally right here and it changed everything yes in our nation

[00:26:59] yes those marked moments yeah please put the sixth floor museum at Dealey Plaza on your to-do

[00:27:05] list whether you lived through that or did not yeah it is fascinating and like you said I thought

[00:27:12] it was mostly going to be focused on just that event yeah and it's more about JFK's life and

[00:27:18] legacy as well yeah it's not just about that one event so very cool the Perot Museum of Nature and

[00:27:27] Science ah so my son got a FaceTime call from this he did because it was this one it was that

[00:27:34] worthy of a FaceTime call dinosaurs so this is a four-story building it's features this eye-catching

[00:27:44] they call it the T-Rexcalator it's an escalator on the outside of the building with clear views

[00:27:50] of downtown as you're going up so cool and there's a big T-Rex dinosaur bones so cool

[00:27:57] your head it's really wild the best way to see this museum is actually to go up to the fourth

[00:28:04] floor and then make your way down okay once you're really wanting to um see all the different floors

[00:28:11] which it has so much to offer and that's just I'm just talking about not even including all their

[00:28:19] camps and stuff that they offer now I got to go to a really cool event for an adult and that is

[00:28:25] called Thursdays on Tap ah so Thursdays on Tap is uh 21 and over event they have live music it

[00:28:37] usually sells out it's 25 dollars is this year-round you think or is this like a no it's

[00:28:42] I think it's a year-round okay cool um it's 25 dollars for a ticket and if you're a member of

[00:28:50] the museum it's only five dollars so I thought that's actually a reason to join the museum

[00:28:54] yeah I'm not kidding yeah because it was really fun so yeah live music they had a couple of

[00:29:00] different bars where you could you know get alcohol for purchase if you want to

[00:29:05] um they had I believe it was four or five food trucks outside okay get food

[00:29:12] um it's from 6 to 10 p.m so I think I was there from 6 to 8 30 I almost said 8 30 I bet you called

[00:29:21] it after two and a half hours because keep in mind I had been to other museums all day so I was

[00:29:27] I was done if there had been a cute single guy that started talking to me while I was there I

[00:29:33] probably would have lasted longer but I did notice a lot of dates did you on this fun date

[00:29:40] and it would be a really fun day so they also do some incredible camps like STEM camps okay yeah

[00:29:50] if I lived in Dallas I would want my kids going to these camps and those also sell out

[00:29:54] I already I looked at the ones that they offer this summer and already a few of them are sold

[00:29:59] but definitely something to check out this was just dreamy they have exhibits as well they had a

[00:30:06] really cool exhibit called mission Mars where they have a NASA rover it's a wow it's one like

[00:30:15] there's one literally on Mars right now that's getting samples of rock and soil and all that

[00:30:21] but this was another one that was there I bet this is a staple field trip to every school in

[00:30:26] the Dallas area it has to be it has to be but they have a close-up you know where you can get

[00:30:31] pretty close to it and see this rover but their permanent exhibits are all things dinosaur fossils

[00:30:40] natural gems birds mammals some of the hugest dinosaur bones put together things I've ever seen

[00:30:50] think woolly mammoth yeah a whole one night at the museum rex yeah one yeah um turtle fossils

[00:30:59] that are swimming bird yeah what is the one Jacob loved the pterodactyl pterodactyl pteranodon

[00:31:05] family I know way too much about all of that yeah I had to I had to FaceTime from there because

[00:31:12] it was just too much to take in that's awesome anyhow that's definitely a great museum if you're

[00:31:20] a science nerd a nature nerd I mean I was nerding out on all the gems and rock formations and

[00:31:26] stalactites and stalagmites that I was seeing but yeah the perot very cool well I'll take y'all up

[00:31:35] high real high how about 470 feet up off the ground to the reunion tower geodeck this is one

[00:31:44] again I said it was on the city pass and you have to make a reservation or like us you could stand

[00:31:49] there in front of the cashier and make a reservation and then show your and be glad that they

[00:31:53] actually took us because it could have been sold out so this is affectionately known by the

[00:31:59] locals is just the ball it's been a part of the skyline since 1978 so this provides 360 degree

[00:32:09] views of Dallas you go up into this observation deck like I said it's 470 feet up they've got

[00:32:17] telescopes and all kinds of photo ops and they even have some like zoom in cameras but mostly

[00:32:24] telescopes that you can look through get ready for your new profile pic oh my gosh we saw so

[00:32:30] many girls getting new profile pics it was selfie hilarious you graduates lovebirds graduates

[00:32:38] we saw them all didn't we all kinds of dress some but I used a few more clothes

[00:32:47] give yourself time though because we happen to get there in like this little window where

[00:32:53] there were really wasn't a line but when we walked out there was quite the line just to get

[00:32:57] on the elevator to go to go up so give yourself time to get on to the elevator and to exit

[00:33:05] via the elevator you only need really like maybe half an hour went up there but now they had

[00:33:12] champagne you could buy that you know yeah you could do it there was a whole section where it

[00:33:16] had like the merry may if you wanted to propose to someone that you're going to need more than 30

[00:33:22] minutes I was good with 30 minutes so I read that weekdays daytime hour and sorry weekdays and then

[00:33:30] daytime hours of a Friday through Sunday are the least crowded times but yeah reunion tower it gives

[00:33:36] you quite quite the perspective of all of Dallas from all its different angles so really fun spot

[00:33:43] and the last one we're going to cover is the Dallas World Aquarium yes

[00:33:50] now this has been open to the public since 1992 and I really enjoyed myself here for so many

[00:34:01] reasons but it is laid out in a really surprising way for me because you've sometimes felt like you

[00:34:09] were outside but you were inside that's cool I didn't know it was raining oh until I got outside

[00:34:16] okay and so I was thinking this is a wonderful rainy day place to go yeah but they have this

[00:34:22] broken down by basically regions the I don't know how to say this word I think of Enya

[00:34:30] orinoco okay rainforest didn't remember that she had that song orinoco flow no but I believe it 100

[00:34:38] percent yeah the Mundumaya they had a South Africa area anyway you're seeing birds frogs

[00:34:52] snakes crocs all these different things from that region it's awesome and I was really surprised how

[00:35:02] close I got to everything oh really not through a glass like just not always through a glass nice

[00:35:08] little penguins flamingos I've got some great pictures that we can share more like a zoo than

[00:35:14] an aquarium so this is what I found fascinating I couldn't believe how much I saw how close I got

[00:35:23] without having to walk far distances from one section to another now you've got a lot of

[00:35:28] people's attention yeah so I am a huge fan of the Dallas World Aquarium for this reason cool

[00:35:36] because you also are going from an area where you're you know actually seeing aquarium fish and

[00:35:42] sharks and things stingrays yes I saw all kinds of stuff underwater yeah you're seeing that and

[00:35:50] then you come around a corner and there's birds and sloths and wow you know yeah that's like our

[00:35:57] the layout reptile and very cool all different section at the zoo I know I'm really impressed

[00:36:05] with how they really laid this out I didn't uh I was probably there two hours okay and I felt like

[00:36:17] I got a great view of so many things I got some wonderful pictures we can share on Instagram and

[00:36:23] Facebook or whatever but I would definitely recommend the Dallas World Aquarium on a nice

[00:36:28] day or a rainy day yeah or a hot day yeah because you're inside but you feel like you're seeing so

[00:36:35] much that's outside that is such a cool sort of ironic I know and they had this great field guide

[00:36:42] to kind of walk you through the different sections getting to see it now yeah so you see

[00:36:49] what all that's big but you're saying it was very walkable and doable so that's really cool

[00:36:53] it was very doable like I felt like yeah the layout was very expert yeah somebody from a

[00:37:04] large city that had to maximize their real estate yeah that's awesome so well cool we've

[00:37:10] got all kinds of places for y'all to hit on your next trip or layover dates family excursion solo

[00:37:17] and for the most part these are there's a there Dallas has what they call an arts district yes

[00:37:24] most of the ones we mentioned are in the arts district the George W is up at SMU's campus

[00:37:30] the the tower is like downtown the towers downtown and the Daly Plaza yes just outside of the it's

[00:37:39] not terribly far right from the arts district but it's not in that actual district yeah so there you

[00:37:46] go lots of explore exploration to come in Dallas yes be inspired and let us know if you've got

[00:37:55] any questions and we just can't wait to be back with y'all again next week we'll probably be taking

[00:38:02] our summer break at some point soon so so we can explore ourselves explore and relax and enjoy the

[00:38:09] summer months of the south but we will be back next week with more good culture conversations

[00:38:17] y'all have a great week peace be with y'all you've just listened to an episode of the

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