TRAVEL HERE: THE SOUNDS OF SUMMER

Have you been enjoying the sounds of summer? You know those great outdoor concerts that pop up all over the place. If you haven’t then shame on you.

Concerts on the Lawn at DABS

Take the Dallas Arboretum for instance. On a recent Tuesday night Bill and I were there for an UTD alumni event.  The band that evening was a Journey tribute band, cranking out memories from the eighties. But whatever your musical taste, from Brave Combo‘s electric polka to Le Freak’s disco, the Arboretum has a night for you.

What’s more, the venue is superb.  Sure the grass covered amphitheater is a great place to have a picnic and listen to some live music, but you’re at one of the best arboretums in the world and you’re free to roam the grounds.  Here’s a tip.  The arboretum has become so popular that it’s hard to get the gardens to yourself.  With everyone else tapping their toes by the concert stage, Bill and I took a stroll.  Being alone in the gardens just before  dusk is a romantic experience.  Then we rejoined the revelers and caught the last moment of the sun.

Free Concerts

The concerts at the arboretum require purchasing a ticket (unless you’re a guest of your alma mater), but there’s a lot of free music outside elsewhere, too.  Throughout the summer and fall the Nasher Sculpture Center throws a bash called ’til Midnight at the Nasher.  What’s really cool about it is that you usually have to pay to see the Nasher collection, but on concert nights, not only is the concert free, but so is the museum.

The Nasher is next door to the Dallas Museum of Art who used to rock downtown with Jazz Under Stars during the summer months, but they’ve moved their concerts indoors. Every Thursday you can sit under the Chihuly and enjoy the Uptown skyline in air conditioned comfort to the sound of live jazz.  There’s also Late Night at the DMA on the third Friday of every month and they host some great concerts then.  The DMA concerts are free, but you might have to pay to get into some of the special exhibitions.  Oh, but we were talking about outdoor concerts weren’t we!

Then perhaps you should go out to The Harbor in Rockwall.  I have it on good authority that on Thursday evenings, boats on Lake Ray Hubbard gather just off shore and the multi-use complex is covered in barely covered bodies getting down to the music.  Bill and I were there for a Sunday afternoon recently and the place was hopping, so I have to assume that it’s a pretty wild scene with a free concert going on.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.  I know Watters Creek has a Concerts by the Creek series. Their green is always a pleasure to visit, but we’ve happened upon one of their concerts before and it’s really something special.

For a do it yourself concert with fireworks, Summer Blast at Grapevine Towne Center.  You download the music, they provide the parking lot and Grapevine Lake has the fireworks.  Then in the fall, Grapevine Towne Center will have a Sunset Concert Series.

What about you?  What’s your favorite outdoor concert in the Metroplex?

TRAVEL HERE: CINDY SHERMAN – TALK ABOUT SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!

Education is a funny thing. My BA in Arts and Performance focused on creative writing, but one of the classes I think of most frequently is a photography survey course.  That’s where I first heard of Cindy Sherman.  Her method of creativity includes setting up a vignette and posing in it herself.  Her subject matter frequently deals with the ways in which images of women are exploited.  During the class, I found her work interesting, but when the Dallas Museum of Art invited me to the opening of the retrospect exhibition, I had other things going on.  I promised myself I’d get down there and see it before it left.

Who Can Resist the Dallas Opera at the DMA?

Then the DMA lured me down there with a more tempting prospect than merely looking at photographs about the exploited female form.  Partners of the museum were invited to a musical performance in conjunction with the Dallas Opera.  For me, that’s a reason to drop everything and run down to the museum.  I tried to imagine what kind of music would be paired with Cindy Sherman’s work, but I was sure whatever it was, it would be grand.

First the Music

I was right about the music.  Angela Turner Wilson, accompanied by Shields- Collins Bray, provided an interesting, entertaining and beautiful smorgasbord of modern American music, but not the sort of things you hear on the radio – unless you’re a fan of Classical 101 or KERA radio.  There was everything from a ditty about Billy the Kid to John Corigliano’s interpretation of Bob Dylan’s poetry.  The modern American music was meant to correlate with Cindy Sherman’s modern American photography.

Then the Art

After the music, docents showed up to introduce us to the exhibition.  Much of what they covered I knew about from my photography class, but the ideas were fleshed out in more images than I had the opportunity to see before.  I found things I liked and others that I didn’t.  Here’s what the docents had to say about the exhibition – along with a few observations of my own. Oh and Mr. Bill’s.  He went with me.

Her early work is in black and white 8X10’s.  If no one told you what was going on, you might think you’d happened onto a room of publicity stills from the movie industry, but Ms. Sherman is toying with us.  The starlet you see in every shot is no starlet. It’s the photographer dolled up to look like a starlet, but unless you really looked hard you might never figure it out.  Ms. Sherman is a chameleon and even when you know all the photographs are of her, you sometimes can’t believe she’s such a shape-shifter.  Though subtle, the theme of exploitation can be found even in these early works.

The room of centerfolds is more to the point.  Though mimicking the formatting of Playboy’s centerfold, Ms. Sherman’s works candidly portray women who have allowed themselves to become vulnerable to a man.  The viewer looks into the scenes through the eyes of the men who have done the exploiting.  Perhaps the woman is laying on the floor or sitting on a bed, but her eyes convey the message that she’s troubled.

Another room of photos frolics through the art of the ages.  Ms. Sherman parodies the famous tableaux of the past, like Madonna and Child or Judith with the Head of Holophernes, but never exactly replicates any particular piece of art.  Anybody who’s attended an Art Appreciation class will get the joke.

But I didn’t enjoy all of Ms. Sherman’s jokes.  Her work brought her fame and then notoriety.  If there’s a famous female photographer whose images of women are all the rage, what fashion magazine wouldn’t want her to shoot for them.  Well, Ms. Sherman agreed to do some fashion photography, but you wouldn’t want to be in any of her shots.  The viewer is not sure whether Ms. Sherman pities the women who buy outrageously expensive designer frocks or detests them, but I was quite sure she didn’t want to be one of them.  I seesawed between humor and a feeling of disquiet.

The fashion photos may leave you unsettled, but the final room of photographs should disgust you.  You might think I’m trying to insult Ms. Sherman, but that’s exactly the effect she was trying to achieve.  She must have been a little disappointed by the fashion photos.  One can imagine she was trying to shock us with them and when everyone got the joke and moved on, she wanted to shake us up a little bit.  If we’d accept the haunting fashion images without battling an eye, she wanted to find something we wouldn’t cozen up to quite so easily. In short, she turned to sex, vomit and body parts.  I didn’t stay in that room very long.

Cindy Sherman is an important name in the modern art scene.  Her work will both challenge and amuse you, if you come to it with an open mind, but if you just go to look at pretty pictures, perhaps you should stay home.  I take that back.  You should go to the museum.  There’s always plenty to see in the galleries and The Body Beautiful is a gorgeous exhibition, but if you’re easily offended, don’t go to the Barrel Vault until after June ninth.

TRAVEL HERE: DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART PRESENTS “THE BODY BEAUTIFUL IN ANCIENT GREECE

While admiring the Kimball’s exhibit of Bernini’s sculptures in clay,  I mentioned the ongoing rivalry between the Fort Worth museum and Dallas’s own DMA.  As if to prove my point, on the final weekend of the Kimball exhibition which  I called Bodies by Bernini, the Dallas Museum of Art opened The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece.  If the Kimball was going to show us masterpieces from the 1600’s, then the DMA would go back to the second millennium before Christ.  If the Kimball had clay models, count on the DMA to have marble statues.

I’m teasing, of course, but only a little bit.  If I had to judge which exhibit was best, I’d be hard-pressed to choose.

Slate Blue Walls Add WOW

In the category of displaying objects, however, I’d have to give it up for the DMA.  The dramatic effect of the creamy white marble against a backdrop dark slate blue walls is jaw dropping.  Plaster copies of Michelangelo’s David would look good in these display spaces, so you can imagine how marvelous the treasures of the British Museum are.  Much of the Bernini collection had to be viewed through glass cases, but in the DMA you’ll be breathing the same air as Aphrodite and Herakles.  It’s exhilarating!

The Privileges of Membership

When it comes to the DMA, which I lovingly consider my museum, membership does have its privileges.  For instance, as a partner at the sponsor level, I was invited to a discussion between the DMA’s director and the director of the British Museum.  It’s one thing to wander through the wonderful pieces and enjoy their remarkable beauty, but you gain a whole new perspective when the British Museum’s director laments that the pieces don’t look as good at home, because the DMA has done such a spectacular job of displaying them.  If I hadn’t had a chance to eavesdrop on the chat between the museum directors, I wouldn’t have considered the exhibit in relation to the questions of ownership the nation of Greece is raising about the irreplaceable treasures. Nor would I be reminded to celebrate the fact that due to the wonders of modern technology, I can now view these pieces in my own home town, rather than having to fly to England or settle for pictures in a book.

I always say that my museum membership is one of the best entertainment values in Dallas.  Heck, the parking privileges alone justify the expense, but that’s only the beginning.  My first tour of the new exhibit was led by the man who curated the show for the British Museum.  On my own, I would have passed by a pair of small statues in one of the first display cases  without even noticing them.  Even if I had been with a docent who explained their significance, I wouldn’t have been as impacted as I was, listening to the man who had combed the entire collection of the British Museum for the exact pieces to best illustrate what we needed to know about Ancient Greek artifacts.  His enthusiasm, charm and delightful accent were infectious.  I, too, wanted an elegant walking stick and I’m telling you, bespoke suits are still the best.

The Body Beautiful will be in Dallas until the first week of October.  I insist that you get down there and see it.  While you’re at the museum, check by the Partners desk.  Sure, you can get into the museum for free, but you’ll miss a lot.  Being a Friend in the museum’s “frequent flyer” program is fun, but for the really good stuff you need to pony up for a partnership.

If you want to see Chagall go before the 26th of this month.  I finally made it by yesterday.  It was interesting, but he’s still not one of my favorites.  Cindy Sherman will be here until June ninth.  I’ll tell you about her exhibit next week.

TRAVEL HERE:  IT’S A BRICK HOUSE? TAVERN OR GOLDEN OLDIE

To me, Brick House is the name of a Commodores song.  In Plano, it’s almost the name of a tavern restaurant.  Bill and I tried to go on a recent Friday night, but folks were literally hanging off the rafters and we weren’t in the mood for that.  So we made a Sunday evening visit to this popular joint, instead.  First I have to confess, my vivid imagination replaced “house” with “oven” and I thought we were going to a pizza joint.  They do have pizza, but it’s not the main attraction.  Once I re-oriented my brain I was able to move on.

Dining Alfresco

We were greeted by a hostess and seated on the patio before I had time to get my bearings.  The sun was already down and I was a little concerned that I’d get chilly out there, but before I had time to formulate a complaint, I realized each table had a heat lamp over it.  Not only did the lamps provide plenty of light for reading the menu, but they kept us toasty warm on a chilly evening.  I’m wondering about what they do in July, but I guess I’ll go back and find out, because the restaurant certainly deserves some return visits.

And speaking of menus – you get two.  The food choices are on a clipboard, which I thought was sort of clever.  The cost of reprinting the menu is minimal, but the customer has something more substantial to hold than a piece of copy paper.  The more important menu is the drink menu and they literally tear it off a paper towel rack.  I’m not sure what that’s supposed to mean, but it’s certainly different.

Beer is the main attraction at this tavern restaurant.  Looking through the large opening between the patio and the restaurant proper you see a bar with a wide variety of fancy beer taps.  Bill chose a wheat beer and I got an old favorite, Stella Artois.  For the beers on tap you have a selection between large, small and ridiculous.  Ridiculous being some portable, table-sized tap of your favorite brew.  Several tables were demonstrating how much fun they were.  Bill and I wondered if the beer stayed cold.  None of the tables we saw were giving it much time to warm up.

Bill was in the mood for a burger, but I wasn’t really as hungry, so I picked a bowl of mac and cheese – that’s what my cool nephew likes to eat.  They asked if Bill wanted his burger medium well, which we thought was odd, because most burger places recommend it a little less done.  Bill ordered medium, but said that the burger was actuallymedium well in his book.  He still liked it, but would have liked it better if it had been on the grill just a tad less.

When I ordered the mac and cheese, the waiter asked if I knew it was hot.  First I’m thinking temperature hot and I’m wondering why they would tell me something like that.  Then I realized they were talking hot taste-wise, but that sounded like it might be good, so I told him to bring it on.  The mac and cheese was hot both ways.  Totally delicious.  I loved it.

As we waited for our meals to come, I got to looking around and realized there hadn’t been very many people inside.  It was all happening outside.  You couldn’t see much beyond the bar, but I did see some ironic saying on the wall, like “we haven’t been around long” or something like that.  I couldn’t figure out exactly what the message was supposed to mean.

The unsung heroes of the meal were the tater tots.  Hubby loved them and I confess, I ate a couple.  The mac and cheese really was very hot and it was nice to have something to neutralize my tongue.  Hubby loved them because they were hot inside, crunchy outside with just the right amount of spices.  No ketchup needed.

After the meal we wandered around the almost empty interior and found a party just waiting to happen.  No wonder this place was filled past capacity on a Friday night.  I’ve already mentioned the huge bar with the fancy taps.  A sign above it reads, “Temple to Beer,” and I believe them.

There’s  TV lounge with multiple TV’s, so you and your buddies can cozen up to your favorite sport, not just be satisfied with whatever is on the megatron TV. We also loved the seating in the center of the restaurant – comfy loveseats pulled up on either side of a table.  We’ve got to try that next time.  Around the walls are funny food and alcohol related quotes.  The place is built for a good time.

Should you go to Brick House Oven?  Of course you should, especially if you have some time to hang out at the bar or want to catch the game – any game.

TRAVEL HERE: THEY BUILT VITRUVIAN PARK, SO WHERE IS EVERYONE

On Sunday afternoon, hubby and I visited Vitruvian Park in Addison, a huge master-planned, multi-use project with high rise apartment buildings, but it felt sort of like a post-apocalyptic movie where only the people are missing.  We’d passed by it a few weeks before and wondered what was being built.  This weekend, we found  out it’s already built, but no one knows about it.

Lonely Landscape

Well, that’s not completely true.  A few hints of humanity could be found, but only a few.  There were some kids playing beach volleyball in a park across the canal and we did happen by a few souls who, like us, were out walking their dog, but it was otherwise so eerily vacant, that we had to wonder if the other dog-walkers were zombies.

You can tell by the photos we took that this is a beautiful place – and I have to brag here.  We’ve graduated to smart phones and took these shots with them.  The phones can’t compare to our Nikon D-3100, but it beats the heck out of flip phones –  especially since we didn’t have a data plan and whatever picture we took had to stay there.

Anyway, the community is a wonder of modern architecture and landscape.  The Savoye Apartments are complete and have outdoor furniture on some of their patios, so one can assume they’re occupied. Another complex, Fiori, isn’t completed yet.  According to the Vetruvian website, this is just the beginning of a European-inspired village within the town of Addison.

My hubby, the wannabe criminal, found an unlocked gate into Savoye, so we strolled around the pool.  Apartment living wasn’t like this when I was single!  It looked liked we’d wandered into a five star resort.  There were several pools with high-quality chaise lounges, an outdoor TV room, a fire pit, deluxe bbq grill and more – but no one was enjoying any of them.  What a waste!

The master-planned community is built on two levels.  At street level are the entrances to parking garages and some retail establishments. Down below is the canal.  We climbed down a stairway to get to the canal and fell in love.  Even if you’re not looking for a place to live, you need to come check out this esplanade along the canal.  It’s really lovely.

Making the circuit we strolled down to a tree-lined section of the creek. Crossing a pedestrian bridge, the trees reflecting on the water gave a momentary sense of a rural setting, but then the volleyball players yelled and the red bridge caught my eye.  Continuing our ramble, we passed an island in the canal, connected to everything else with a bridge.  I can see it as the perfect venue for a small wedding or a stage for a concert.  Another island wasn’t connected to anything and Bill wondered how they mowed it.

About that time a quartet of four teen-aged males appeared and approached the island.  They tossed their backpacks across the water and then jumped over.  To make the gap, they backed away from the water’s edge, ran down the hill and gave the jump all they had.  Once they’d all made it, someone pointed out that they wouldn’t have the running start on the island and would have to jump uphill.  Their nervous laughter echoed across the water.  I’m happy to report that all returned to mainland unharmed, but their momentary panic gave us a chuckle.

Making the turn and heading back to our car, we appreciated the tree-shaded patio with table and chairs and imagined how charming it would be if anyone were actually using it.

Vitruvian sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t put a finger on it.  Seems Virtruvian lived in the first century and literally wrote the book on architecture.  His principles are still studied today.  However, the real reason we remember Mr. Vetruvian today is our friend Mr. da Vinci.  His familiar drawing of a man in a circle with multiple arms and legs is called the Vitruvian Man.

So next time you’re out walking your dog, go see Vitruvian Park.  You won’t have to worry about fighting any crowds.

TRAVEL HERE: “BERNINI SCULPTING IN CLAY” AT FT WORTH’S KIMBELL ART MUSEUM

The Kimball Art Museum, over in Fort Worth, is hosting an exhibition called “Bernini, Sculpting in Clay,” but I think, perhaps it should be called, Body by Bernini.  Do you remember when our American cars used to be built by Fisher Body Corporation?  Each car bore the seal, “Body by Fisher” and that assured the owner of a quality chassis.

Who is Bernini?

Bernini may not be a familiar name to you, but you’ve most likely seen what he did. As the go-to sculptor for the popes, about a century after Michelangelo, his magnificent works are all over Italy.  The central focus for all his sculptures are spectacular human specimens and let me tell you, he created some pretty amazing chassis.

Bernini’s finished works are massive works of marble, integrated into fountains, bridges and tombs.  There would be no way to transport them to Fort Worth, but this exhibition is not focused on his finished work.  In order to plan these triumphs in marble, Bernini thought out loud in clay.  It’s these clay models you’ll see at the Kimball and I found them fascinating.

Modeling in Clay

Modeling in clay is a beginning point for most sculpture,whether the finished product will be marble, bronze, gold or granite.  There are two types of clay models.  One type is the model presented to a client for approval.  “See, this is what it will look like when I get through!” There are examples of this type of clay model in the exhibit.  But artist usually indulge in a few other practice models before they tackle a block of granite or marble.  What was unique about Bernini was the sheer number of models he would create.  This is the focus of the Kimball exhibition.

The exhibition follows the creation of works through a series of models, so you can see Bernini’s creative genius in stages.  Through the wonders of technology, we can now peek behind the surface of paintings and see what changes an artist made throughout the creation of the work, but that’s impossible to do with marble.  Clay tells the whole story.  Through the clay of Bernini’s models we have his actual fingerprints, pressed into clay to create feathers on angels and scales on fish.  We can see where he picked up clay to add bulk and where he used tool to create a texture.

Bernini a Rock Star

Another reason the Bernini exhibition reminded me of the Fisher Body Corporation was the separation between design and execution.  Every car chassis bearing Mr. Fisher’s name was not crafted by Mr. Fisher himself.  He was just the designer.  And that’s just how Bernini worked.  Bernini was the rock star of his age.  Everyone wanted a piece of him.  It would have been impossible for him to produce all the masterworks attributed to him all by himself.  Many artist had people who worked with them, but Bernini was sort of the McDonald’s of art.

Bernini created the ideas behind the works, but he’d ship off his employees with an armload of models to sculpt the actual statues.  Art historians have been able to figure out that he’d even turn the creation of the patron’s model over to members of his staff.  Bernini would whip out sort of a rough clay sketch of his idea and his best modelers would turn that sketch into a finished piece for the patron’s approval.

Sculpture by Subtraction

One thing which has always baffled me about sculpture by subtraction (i.e. marble and granite) is how they know where to start.  In sculpture by addition, they work out from a base, and even I can figure out how to add material to make fingers, toes and hair.  But when you’re working with a block of marble, how do they know where to start forming that extended finger or a curl of hair or an elbow?

Bernini’s clay models give us an idea of how that happens, too.  Small holes in the models show where pins were placed.  Then the craftsmen would use string tied between the pins to guide them as they started chipping away at the marble.  I still can’t imagine doing it, but I understand it better.

The Kimball is one of my favorite museums and this may just be the most interesting and informative exhibit they’ve had in a long time.  Yes, I think you should go.  The models are certainly works of art in their own right, but seeing them adds to the appreciation of the final works, of which there are life-sized photos throughout the exhibit.  Besides that. once you see the exhibit, you can pop over to Joe T. Garcia’s for your Tex-Mex fix!

TRAVEL HERE: PERA TURKISH KITCHEN, A GEM HIDDEN IN THE SUBURBS

Pera Turkish Kitchen opened several months ago around the corner from my house.  We’re always on the lookout for a good Middle Eastern Restaurant and more of them are popping up every day, but too often, we’re a little disappointed.  I’m not sure why it took us so long to have a meal there, but Pera did not disappoint when we finally stopped in.

Dining at Pera 

See, my husband’s from Egypt, so he wants the good food he remembers from home, but he wants to find it in establishments which suit his Americanized expectations.  Pera fit the bill.  The storefront restaurant shares a strip mall with everything from AT&T to Firestone, but it would be right at home among the trendy spots in Uptown.

From the sidewalk you can peer into large plate glass windows and see a wide variety of diners enjoying a good meal.  The decor is crisp and modern with just a hint of the exotic.  Warm red walls and tasteful art beckon you to give the restaurant a try.  We walked into the double doors and were immediately encouraged to find a seat wherever we wanted.  Not long afterwards we had menus in our hands and cold beers on the way.

Bill chose a Bud Lite, but I tried the Turkish beer, Efes.  I made the better of the two choices, smooth with that delicious bitterness that I like.  The wine list was extensive and very affordable.

For dinner, I ordered the traditional Andana and Bill was going to have the same thing, but the charming waiter encouraged us to try a second dish and share.  So we got Hunkar Begendi as our second entree.  I loved the Andana – spicy ground lamb grilled to perfection over jasmine rice, with a side of steamed veges.  The HunKar Begendi was good too, just not as familiar – bite sized pieces of lamb in a delicious tomato sauce, served over a bed of smoked eggplant puree. Not a morsel was left on either plate.

While we waited for our meal to be cooked they brought out some bread, that all by itself, warrants a return visit.  Still warm from the oven it smelled heavenly.  The crust was dark brown with sesame seeds, but the interior was soft and white.  Along with the bread they served some kind of spread that I was unable to identify, but loved anyway.

The atmosphere was relaxed and each table seemed to be full of people who were enjoying their food and their table companions.  We saw trendy young twenty somethings, as well as not so trendy persons of a certain age.  A full range of ethnicities were chowing down on everything from Saksuka to Kunefe.

After cleaning our plates, we didn’t have room for dessert, but the waiter brought us samples of baklava, anyway.  He said we couldn’t leave without trying it.  One of the more pleasant things about the evening was the bill.  With entrees ranging in the mid-teens, we felt like we’d gotten great quality and value .

So put Pera on you list of things to try – and soon!  It’s at the corner of Preston and Summerside.  Easy to find and easier to love.

TRAVEL HERE: BLOOMS AT THE DALLAS ARBORETUM

I made my annual visit to Blooms at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. First I have to confess – I think the gardens look bare without Chihuly.  I adored the gorgeous sculptures spread throughout the garden and made many visits during the exhibition.  I wonder if I’ll ever be able to visit without missing them.

Visiting Blooms with Mom

That being said, the gardens were lovely.  This year seems to be a haze of orange and yellows and bright tulips beckoned us to come inside. Blooms will officially close April 7th, but DABs is a year round treasure.  You don’t have to wait for a special event.

My visit was on a Wednesday afternoon, but the garden was full.  On this trip, my main purpose was to entertain my eighty-five year old mother who volunteered in the DeGolyer house for over twenty years.  She’d still be doing it if her health allowed her to.

Mom’s a little frail to make it very far, but she shunned the wheelchair and eagerly led me to the tram stop.  We were lucky to get a very charming gentleman as our tram driver who behaved as if he were transporting a national treasure when he found out about mother’s career as a docent.  Her pride and pleasure were enormous.

Of course the flowers along the Paseo de Flores were beautiful as always.  Dark violet pansies had been planted early on and then the perky tulips grew up among them.  Overhead, blooming fruit trees seemed to fill the sky with popcorn.  A new garden is coming up between the Degolyer house and the Red Maple Rill.  The new garden will focus on Magnolias, one of my personal favorites and should be finished this year.  I can’t wait.

All of Dallas is waiting anxiously for the new children’s garden.  It was supposed to open this summer, but technical difficulties with some of the hands-on features, similar to those pesky challenges at the Perot, have caused the opening day to be pushed back. But the Arboretum is still a place for kids.  The special exhibit of this year’s garden is The Adventures of Great Explorers.  Visitors will find an Aztec Pyramid, Asian Pagoda and Geometric Dome among the tributes to great explorers like Cabeza de Vaca, Marco Polo and Admiral Byrd.  You should go explore them for yourself.

Several times as the tram made its way through the garden I caught tears glowing in my mother’s eyes.  She loves the garden as if it were her very own, and in a way it is.  She loved it when all these features weren’t even a dream and her generosity of giving twenty years of Thursdays to the arboretum helped to grow it into what it is today.

As the tram returned to its departure point, I suggested we stroll back to the entrance via the Jonsson Color Garden and get a peek at the Palmer Fern Dell.  As we crept along she told me about the misters in the dell and other features of the garden I’ve known and loved for many years, but she enjoys talking about it, so I asked questions to prompt her memories.

The Dallas Arboretum is the premiere attraction of our fair city.  There’s plenty to entertain you around here, but you haven’t been to Dallas until you visit the gardens.

TRAVEL HERE: PLACE AT PERRY’S A VERSATILE CHOICE

On a recent Sunday afternoon we decided to drink alfresco in Dallas’s Uptown area. Yes, I know I’m getting a little old for that, but I plan to keep on having fun, regardless of age. Let me tell you, Uptown is alive and well – so alive and well we had a hard time finding a place with room for us on the patio.

Avoiding the Crowds

We investigated venues like The Katy Ice House, 6th Street Pub and Nick and Sam’s Grill, but they were all so crowded  people were nearly falling off their patios.  Suddenly, we saw a patio we could live with, in sight of all the madness, Place at Perry. It sounded like it was missing a “the” to me, but what’s an article or two among friends.

Not so long ago Perry’s was one of those traditional steakhouses with lots of dark wood and white tablecloths.  I know, because it hasn’t been so long ago that I took my dad there for his birthday.  I remember clearly, because it was an epic fail – not because of Perry’s, but because my dad was on his way downhill and I wasn’t ready to admit it yet.  But that’s a story for another day.

I was pretty sure this Place at Perry was in about the same location as the old Perry’s, but it sure didn’t look the same.  I found out the restaurant had moved a block  north.  They probably had to jump for their lives to get out of the way of the condos and apartments popping up everywhere.  Now they’ve attached themselves to The Gable Villa Rosa Apartments.  According to the waitress, you too can have a viewless two bedroom for $2700 a month there.

On this particular Sunday afternoon, the patio was busy enough to know something good was going on, but not overrun with wild youths either.  A sign told us to check with a hostess before making ourselves at home, but we had to go inside to find someone who worked there.

All New Inside and Out

Nothing about the new interior has anything remotely similar to the old Perry’s.  Everything was made out of some warm golden stone and polished to a high finish.  I went to the very swanky ladies’ room and my husband glanced over the menu.  He also found a warm body who said we could pick whatever table we wanted on the patio.

Once perched at a granite table and protected by an umbrella, we ordered drinks and an appetizer, spinach dip with lavosh.  First, forget about any creamy spinach and artichoke dip you ever ordered.  Then let me tell you about this.  It was mostly spinach, with a little bacon thrown in and some tomatoes on top.  Some kind of sauce was holding it all together, but it was almost invisible   I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure this was healthier than the usual cream stuff, even with the small pieces of bacon.  It tasted amazing and you got a LOT.

I browsed the menu and if you have a meal there, it’s still a very steakhouse menu, so Perry held on to his food, even if he completely tossed the decor.  The prices are reasonable for  Dallas steakhouse menus.  I’d return for a meal in a heartbeat.

So, should you go to Place at Perry’s, even if it doesn’t have a “the”?  Based on the spinach dip and my previous steak experience, I’d say, for sure.

TRAVEL THERE: THE STARS AREN’T WHAT THEY USED TO BE

No not those stars, the rating stars.  I just got back from a five star cruise.  Five stars?  There was a day when four was the most stars you could get. Actually, the four star cruises I’d been on outclassed  this latest jaunt at sea by a mile.  And it’s not just cruises.  Hotels have also started sporting five and six stars.

Why?

So, what happened?  Getting that fourth star used to be a magical mystery tour.  Everyone was reaching for it, but only the best of the best made it.  It’s like there was a time when it was sufficient to say that someone put 100% into a project – nowadays, you better at least put in 120% or you’re a slacker.

I think at least some of it came from the large number of people doing the ratings this day and time.  Used to be there were only a few people that actually mattered in the ratings world – but now every Joe Blow in the world is out there assigning stars to hotels, restaurants and attractions.  The stars have no standard other than personal opinion and who has the most friends.

Opinion vs Amenities

Then there are the sites like expedia.  I like and depend on expedia, but it seems their ratings are tied strictly to amenities.  Ice machine, check.  Turn down service, check. Bathroom toiletries, check? Free breakfast, check.  Give them four stars.  Gorgeous, charming, local color?  No checks!  Elegance, mystique and je ne sais quoi just aren’t in the equation.

We’re also much more given to superlatives this day and time.  Everything is awesome.  An enchilada can be tasty, delicious and original  but awesome?  When was the last time you felt awe? I bet it didn’t have anything to do with a steak.  To boot, every restaurant has something on the menu that’s come up best in someone’s survey.  I think some of the surveys were taken by the chef and his survey takers were the waitstaff.

And another thing, some superlatives don’t really add to my enjoyment.  Take bigger, for instance. Bigger is not necessarily better.  Bigger is about maximizing return on investment for the business, not about providing anything better to customers.  Bigger usually means I’m not going to get my fair share of the employees’ attention.

And more is not better.  It’s not how many choices you cram into your square footage that matters, but the experience you provide your passengers or guests.  On my latest cruise there was some bar or activity shoved into every inch of the ship.  I was claustrophobic.  Sure the ship was BIGGER and I had more CHOICES, but I’d have much preferred a little elbow room with my deck chair or to be able to stroll from one part of the ship to another without dodging anything or anyone.

I could go on, but you get the drift.  I decided that part of the problem might be that I was letting everyone else do the voting.  It was time for me to decide how many stars hotels, restaurants and attractions deserved.  So I found my way over to Trip Advisor and I’ve been having a great time.  My link over there is http://www.tripadvisor.com/members/213JaneS213 .  They do have five stars, rather than the traditional four, but at least I’m participating in the conversation.  Come over and visit me.

How about you?  Do you think the rating stars have lost some of their shine?  Do you think we need seven stars or should we go back to four?  Do you participate in the conversation by rating your experiences online and if so, what sites do you frequent?