My daughter’s school, ended Wednesday, June 8th. We had two workdays before summer camp began, and my husband took the first day off to take her to the Dallas Aquarium. I was in charge of the second day and was looking for something other than our normal zoo and arboretum routine—a low key outdoor adventure that was enriching.
This can be a challenge in Dallas .We cannot run to the mountains or beach. We do not have caverns or the dessert or extensive trails. Dallas is made up of mostly urban landscape set against the hot concrete paving. For the most part, there are 4 types of weather we experience in Dallas—too much rain, too hot, too cold, too many mosquitos. This makes planning outdoor activities difficult. Since we woke up to cloudy weather, I thought outdoors may be doable. This idea of going to downtown Dallas kept popping into my head, and I went with it.
A Ride through the Neighborhood in a Trolley.
Although I have been in Dallas since 2001 and lived in uptown, I have never ridden the trolley. It is a better alternative than driving into downtown and finding parking. We got on the Green Trolley at West Village. The Green Trolley is renovated with wood floors, seating and most importantly–air conditioning. Although I did not know it at that time, all the trolleys have names. This one was called the Green Dragon. It reminded me of the trolley in “Meet Me in Saint Louis.” The Daniel Tiger reference worked better for my daughter. She did not know what to expect next so her curious eyes were wide open and ready for our adventure.
As we rode through the neighborhood, I told her about my personal experiences with these places.—where I lived and visited with the people we know. I pointed to landmarks and talked about the buildings we liked. My daughter is very curious about my life before she was born. Sharing you before they were born is a way of connecting with your kid and an opportunity for them to know you better.
Stop # 1 Thanksgiving Square
Our first stop was at Thanksgiving Square. This is a public park in downtown Dallas with water fountains, sitting area and a beautiful chapel. Their mission statement is “coming together on common ground, moving together to higher ground.” I would describe it as a place of reflection where you can pause while taking in the beauty of the structure and its surrounding.
I have been to Thanksgiving Square multiple times. Its unique architecture is not something you expect to find in Dallas. This is a place you find in a book, and yet it is right here in our backyard. The design was inspired by a minaret in Samarra.
I was hesitant to take my daughter there because I did not think she would appreciate it. Like any enriching experience, it is what you make of it. The conversations and narratives are just as important to the experience as is the exhibit itself.
She was enamored by the waterfall and foundations and wanted to sit on the chairs and listen to the flowing of the water. The square blends in with its surrounding. If you are not looking for it, you may just miss it. Inside the square, I forget I am in the middle of the hustle and bustle. When we finally went inside the chapel, my daughter was floored by the stain glasses on the ceiling. I told her about the oculus and explained how it pulls light into a building. She twirled looking up at the glass till she was dizzy.
Meeting with Stranger
I started talking to one of the other visitors. He told me he has lived in Dallas since 1983 and never knew about the square. This was his first time and appeared to be just as awe struck as my daughter. I enjoyed my conversation with him about the various exhibits that have come through DFW over the span of our lives. If finding common ground was the purpose, I found it with this stranger. There is something about connecting with strangers that gives you a sense of community and makes the world feel like home.
Stop #2 Refreshing Drink/Stop #3 Eyeball.
We had some time before lunch and decided to go look at the eyeball on Main Street, but first we went on a quest for our green and white mermaid friend. We found her on Elm and Ervay. My daughter saw her first, and rejoiced! Her shop was busy. My daughter and I love the refreshers at Starbucks-for her it is dragon fruit and for me its strawberry lemonade. We took our drinks to the Eyeball.
For me this is a fairly new exhibit. Although, we have seen it multiple times, my daughter wanted to see it again. I am not surprised that this gigantic eyeball the size of a small building gets soo much attention. At this point, the cloudy weather held up up and the heat was not impeding on our trip. We were enjoying the day.
Stop #4 Lunch at Hospitality Sweet
Next, we stopped at Hospitality Sweet in the old post office for lunch-chicken salad sandwich on a croissant and tortilla soup. Hospitality Sweet is in the old Post Office Building. This is a beautiful structure as well.
During lunch I received a text from my sister-in-law. She works in downtown and offered to show us downtown from her office space up high. So we got our dessert at H to go and headed in her direction. My daughter got sprinkled cake pop. I got my sister-in-law a cookie and a Texas scone from Hospitality Sweet. A Texas scone is like a cheesecake custard sandwiched between sopapilla layers. We will never know how delectable these treats were. I forgot to ask my sister in law, and the cake pop fell and landed on the sidewalk. The 5 second rule does not apply to downtown streets. We threw it away, but I made up for it later.
Stop #5 Up in the Air
At my sister-in-law’s office, my daughter stated that we were not in Dallas anymore. I asked her where we were. She told me Houston. For my daughter this stop was about seeing her Aunt not the view. A familiar face is always a welcome sight—the aunt trumps the view. We tried to point out different landmarks to her including Thanksgiving square, but it was lost on her. I am not sure she understood that we were looking at things she had visited from a higher ground and could not appreciate the view. This is something we will have to try again.
Stop #6 Something Sweet at the Park
At this point, it was officially too hot, but my daughter wanted to go to the playground at Klyde Warren. We hiked all the way. It was too much hiking for my daughter especially in the hot sun! The trolley did not come this far south. I ended up carrying her for a couple of blocks and working out my supermom muscles.
When we made it to the park, the playground was closed. It was not a total disappointment. Alana noticed the ice cream food truck from far away. The smell of the food trucks filled the air. Given better weather, I would have enjoyed eating out here. We got ice cream from Cone Creamery. I need to keep this place on my radar–the ice cream was delicious. However, it did not help with the heat.
Stop #7 Puppets at Asian Crowe Center
The heat motivated us to seek out an indoor venue–Asian Crow Center. At one point, the Crowe Center had this big bell and red sweeping monks. I would love to find out where they are now. The Asian Crowe Center is a collection of Asian Art located on Flora Street in the Art District.
The air conditioning at the Crowe center was very welcoming. They had a stone/gem exhibit and exhibit by artist named Joo Young Choi. She created her own mythological universe of various characters. Play and imagination are a big part of her exhibit The shiny colorful gems and colorful characters are definitely a 4 year old girl thing.
Some of the puppets in Choi’s exhibit scared her. It was the warrior puppet and green large one on the first floor, but she still enjoyed watching the animation that was linked to the exhibit. The first part of her exhibit was interesting almost a 3-d mural. The kids were allowed to draw on a circular disk with glow in the dark pens and place it in the front of the exhibit. These glow in the dark pens have lights on the end so you can see what you have drawn.
Alana created her own masterpiece on the disk with the glow in the dark pen. She also took extra care finding the right spot in the exhibit to place her disk. One of the attendees told me that all the disk glowed in the dark when the lights were turned off. Since we would not be there at night or when the lights were turned off, I am not sure how this worked out.
If this universe was about healing. Surrounding yourself with characters of your own creation could give you this healing and protection.
Back Home
It was early afternoon, and the hot sun was chasing us home. We caught the red trolley back to West Village. The red trolley’s name is Matilda. She is from Australia.
My daughter asked to go back to Thanksgiving Square and ride the trolley again. Our trip to Downtown was time well spent. All things lined up for us at least on this trip. Not all of our trips to Downtown since this trip were smooth.
None of the places we visited required Admission fees. They all operate on donations. If you decide to go to these venues, please leave a donation-however much you can so these sites will be available for generations to come. To me they are worth preserving and adds value to this city.
