Post by hurltomato on Feb 8, 2004 22:43:46 GMT -5
I spent last weekend taking care of the little neighbor girls and suffering through "Beauty and the Beast" multiple times. Their favorite song Be our Guest revolves around the famous French dinner at the castle and when they asked for pie and pudding en flambe' for dessert, I was almost ready to pitch the singing candlestick out into the snow bank...
But wait...Can it be? A great idea comes to me!
The candlestick may be a pest, but let us say- YOU be MY Guest?
The task be daunting? I say "oui," but let me be your Maitre d' -HurlT
If I can survive this weekend trip to phony France, you can surely stick with me on a Texas tour served up with six courses of Hill Country delicacies (3 being Andrew, Owen and Luke) and a slice of of life ala Wilson...
Course #1: Champagne cocktails and a ritzy welcome...
Dallas is a beautiful city and the northern suburbs where we stayed are definitely wealthy. Five years ago, we visited friends in Plano and at the time developers were building spec mansions. These properties were over 3-4.5 million dollars and totally open during construction. We spent a day and then some just going into unlocked homes with workers still painting walls. Fabulous granite-accented kitchens, wine cellars, home theatres, bathrooms with Jacuzzi and five-head shower stalls with benches long enough to accomodate any activity, walk in closets(bigger than my kitchen) with built in safe rooms to store valuables. My personal favorite had a cherry wood oval office with a curved stairway to a small book-nook. Off the nook, on the second floor, was a room with ceiling suspended bookshelves, big enough to store a small Library of Congress and certainly big enough for Owen's considerable collection... The stone lions at the front steps were intimidating enough to keep the most determined paparazzi at bay. This past spring we returned to find these whole neighborhoods occupied and there is no more room for development in Plano...Someone's making big money!
The locals all drive a high buck car- BMW & Porsche have the market on their versions of the SUV. Seeing a Hummer is not out of the ordinary and our sons went crazy! Plano is the center of many corporate offices and Ross Perot's company was one of Andrew's documentary efforts. Just thirty minutes away south on the Dallas Tollway...we launch into Course #2...
Course#2: Savory Tex-Mex hors d'oevres with a salsa kick...
Heading south on the Dallas Tollway, you'll pass exits to Dallas Love Field and just before these- the map designates neighborhoods and a street named Farqunar...sound familiar? Wilson students should know this one and agree that it would be a nightmare having to be a little kid spelling that as your street address! Heading into downtown Dallas, the metro area is stunning and a good map is necessary. No grid streets here. Dealey Plaza is the most visited site and it has not changed since the Kennedy assassination. The picket fence, the grassy knoll, the railroad yards, and the underpass at Elm Street remain the same. The School Book Depository houses the Sixth Floor Museum that begs for 3 hours of your time detailing JFK and the events of that day in Dallas 40 years ago. Outside of the nearby Convention Center is Pioneer Park/ Cemetary that boasts 30+ king-size scultures of Texas long horns in bronze. They amble down the hill in succession, herded by three mounted bronze cowboys to a fountain and pond. They are surrounded by large brick markers commemorating the branding irons of the large cattle ranches of Texas. Heading out of the city, sashay up Turtle Creek Blvd into the Highland Park area and the OLD money of Dallas. These daughters are the junior league debutantes and the homes are architectural wonders in park-like settings. Beautiful shops, studios, galleries in restored historical buildings will make you run out into the street yelling, "Laura, where are you?" Any time left? Head out ot Los Colinas Urban Center in the suburb of Irving. Corporate headquarters at Williams Square have larger than life bronze sculptures of the Mustangs of Los Colinas. Three high-rise buildings shelter the huge square complete with a stream running diagonally. The mustang sculptures run through the stream with fountains at their feet to simulate their speed and are truly beautiful in the pink granite plaza...
Getting hungry for the really good stuff in Course #3? Ma chers... Tomorrow we serve up your next dish...
But wait...Can it be? A great idea comes to me!
The candlestick may be a pest, but let us say- YOU be MY Guest?
The task be daunting? I say "oui," but let me be your Maitre d' -HurlT
If I can survive this weekend trip to phony France, you can surely stick with me on a Texas tour served up with six courses of Hill Country delicacies (3 being Andrew, Owen and Luke) and a slice of of life ala Wilson...
Course #1: Champagne cocktails and a ritzy welcome...
Dallas is a beautiful city and the northern suburbs where we stayed are definitely wealthy. Five years ago, we visited friends in Plano and at the time developers were building spec mansions. These properties were over 3-4.5 million dollars and totally open during construction. We spent a day and then some just going into unlocked homes with workers still painting walls. Fabulous granite-accented kitchens, wine cellars, home theatres, bathrooms with Jacuzzi and five-head shower stalls with benches long enough to accomodate any activity, walk in closets(bigger than my kitchen) with built in safe rooms to store valuables. My personal favorite had a cherry wood oval office with a curved stairway to a small book-nook. Off the nook, on the second floor, was a room with ceiling suspended bookshelves, big enough to store a small Library of Congress and certainly big enough for Owen's considerable collection... The stone lions at the front steps were intimidating enough to keep the most determined paparazzi at bay. This past spring we returned to find these whole neighborhoods occupied and there is no more room for development in Plano...Someone's making big money!
The locals all drive a high buck car- BMW & Porsche have the market on their versions of the SUV. Seeing a Hummer is not out of the ordinary and our sons went crazy! Plano is the center of many corporate offices and Ross Perot's company was one of Andrew's documentary efforts. Just thirty minutes away south on the Dallas Tollway...we launch into Course #2...
Course#2: Savory Tex-Mex hors d'oevres with a salsa kick...
Heading south on the Dallas Tollway, you'll pass exits to Dallas Love Field and just before these- the map designates neighborhoods and a street named Farqunar...sound familiar? Wilson students should know this one and agree that it would be a nightmare having to be a little kid spelling that as your street address! Heading into downtown Dallas, the metro area is stunning and a good map is necessary. No grid streets here. Dealey Plaza is the most visited site and it has not changed since the Kennedy assassination. The picket fence, the grassy knoll, the railroad yards, and the underpass at Elm Street remain the same. The School Book Depository houses the Sixth Floor Museum that begs for 3 hours of your time detailing JFK and the events of that day in Dallas 40 years ago. Outside of the nearby Convention Center is Pioneer Park/ Cemetary that boasts 30+ king-size scultures of Texas long horns in bronze. They amble down the hill in succession, herded by three mounted bronze cowboys to a fountain and pond. They are surrounded by large brick markers commemorating the branding irons of the large cattle ranches of Texas. Heading out of the city, sashay up Turtle Creek Blvd into the Highland Park area and the OLD money of Dallas. These daughters are the junior league debutantes and the homes are architectural wonders in park-like settings. Beautiful shops, studios, galleries in restored historical buildings will make you run out into the street yelling, "Laura, where are you?" Any time left? Head out ot Los Colinas Urban Center in the suburb of Irving. Corporate headquarters at Williams Square have larger than life bronze sculptures of the Mustangs of Los Colinas. Three high-rise buildings shelter the huge square complete with a stream running diagonally. The mustang sculptures run through the stream with fountains at their feet to simulate their speed and are truly beautiful in the pink granite plaza...
Getting hungry for the really good stuff in Course #3? Ma chers... Tomorrow we serve up your next dish...